Not being strong!
A continuation after the opening of episode 6x08 'Making Whoopi'
Fran sits on the hospital bed and can no longer fight her tears. She is nowhere near as strong as she pretended to be in front of Maxwell. Fran feels miserable and incredibly alone, more alone than she has possibly ever been in her entire life. She feels a deep inner emptiness inside her that is eating her up. Even though her doctor explained to her at length that she had never been pregnant, for Fran the situation feels completely different. As if she had lost the baby. Already in the short time, she had gotten used to the idea of carrying a small living being inside her. She had never been so excited about anything in her life as she was about this baby. Of course, she had been very disappointed as well when Maxwell didn't react as euphorically to her pregnancy as she had hoped for. But she thought they had overcome this issue when he immediately rushed to her to the hospital. For a brief moment, it had looked as if everything would be fine after all. They had already imagined together what the baby might look like and then the next blow came.
The tears are now streaming down Fran's face and she doesn't feel strong enough to get up and get dressed. She would prefer to just pull the covers over her head and not hear or see anything and certainly not feel anything, especially not this pain. Fran is sobbing quietly into her pillows when after a while there is a knock on the door. She quickly wipes away her tears.
"Fran, darling! Are you okay?"
Maxwell comes back into the hospital room to check on his wife. He is worried about why she is taking so long. When he sees that she is still sitting on the bed in the hospitalgown, he looks at her confused. Fran tries hard and smiles at him with her usual big smile.
"It's all fine, honey! I just felt a little dizzy when I tried to get up." Maxwell scrutinizes her suspiciously at first, but then he buys her white lie.
"Come on, darling, I help you!"
He supports her as she climbs out of bed and guides her on the way to the bathroom.
"I need to freshen up a bit first…" she chatters on, trying to sound cheerful. "…I must look terrible."
A short time later, Fran has got herself ready. When she and Maxwell leave the hospital room, he explains to her.
"By the way, I already sent your mother ahead with the limousine and told her that we were taking a cap. I thought it would be in your interest if she couldn't barge in any further on the ride. I think your doctor is still recovering from her shock!"
"Thank you Sweety! That was very thoughtful of you. You are so sweet!"
Fran wraps her arms around Maxwell and clings to him. She desperately needs his closeness, his warmth and his love. Maxwell hugs his wife and strokes her hair lovingly.
"You'll see, everything will be OK. After all, we both still have so much time and one day a little Fran or a little Maxwell will surely ramp around our house."
Fran eyes her husband,deeply touched and the two share a brief kiss before finally leaving the hospital.
At home, they are greeted by Niles, who peeks uncertainly over to Fran. Val and Yetta are also there. Fran and Maxwell realize right away that Sylvia has informed them already of this situation. Fran doesn't want to sit down with them now. She feels the need to be alone and process the whole thing on her own. Maxwell seems to sense his wife's thoughts. Before everyone can pounce on Fran, he hooks her arm and pulls her up the stairs with him.
"Fran urgently needs her rest now. This whole thing has been quite an ordeal for her."
He leads his wife into their bedroom where she immediately makes herself comfortable on the bed, completely exhausted. She stretches out her arm to Maxwell, who immediately sits down next to her and takes her in his arms. They sit there in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts.
"Don't you have to go to work?"
Fran asks after a while. Maxwell checks his watch and says.
"Not yet. I have to go to the theater later. But I can stay with you for a while if you want."
"Of course I want to!"
Fran snuggles up to him even tighter.
"Tell me about Maggie, Brighton and Gracie. What were the three of them like when they were babies?"
Maxwell stares at his wife in shock.
"Are you sure you want to hear about it now?" he asks uncertainly. But Fran nods vigorously.
"Yes, I want to hear everything about it right now. Every little detail!"
Fran wants to distract herself from the thought that she won't have a baby herself for a while, and at the same time she wants to dream about what it will be like when they have a baby one day. Maxwell finally agrees to his wife's wish and tells her everything about the first years of his children's lives.
After a while he notices that Fran has fallen asleep and is breathing calmly. Careful not to wake her, he lets go of her embrace, covers her carefully and kisses her forehead. He goes into the kitchen where Niles has already prepared a snack for him. Before Niles can say anything, Maxwell waves him off.
"Just don't say anything, because whatever you say can only be wrong. But I have a request. I have to go to the theatre. Please if you will have an eye on Fran. The whole thing has affected her more than she wants to admit."
"You can count on me, Sir! I know how to cheer her up again."
After Maxwell finishes his snack, he goes to his office to pack his briefcase for the theater.
At the same time, Fran wakes up from her slumber. She panics when she notices that she is alone in the bedroom. She gets up quickly and rushes downstairs to look for Maxwell. Niles tells her that he is just getting ready for the theater. Niles has not even finished his sentence when Fran has already rushed out of the kitchen to catch her husband. Niles stares after her with great concern. Fran had a strange expression on her face that he had never seen before. She looked like frightened 'Bambi' when he told her that Maxwell might already had left. Niles suspects that not being pregnant seems to take a toll on Fran. But he also knows that only one person can really help her, literally.