Nigel surprises Fran!

Fran takes a deep breath.

"Well, listen to me carefully. I truly believe I have an idea how it could work out for everyone."

Maxwell gives his best to look at her with an open face. He tries very hard not to think about the past. In earlier times, when Fran came to him claiming she had a brilliant idea, she often brought chaos into the house. But he also has to admit usually all her adventures ended well in the end. And the current situation is so serious that he is thankful for every hint on how to get out of this mess. Fran explains her plan.

"As I told you, I'm hundred percent sure I don't want to live with Nigel anymore. So it's only fair to me and to him that I break off our engagement. And I think it's for the best of both of us that I do it as fast as possible. So I'm going to speak with him tonight. I'm going to explain him, during my time here in New York, I re-evaluated our relationship and I came to the conclusion, it won't work and that I don't wanna go back to Paris with him, but that I want to call off our engagement. I assume Nigel will fly back to Paris as soon as possible. The entire idea with this new club here in New Jersey and all this trip here to New York, he mainly did because of me. He realized I was quite homesick. Without me, he has no reason to stay here any longer. I will ask him to send all my stuff back to New York or he can also throw them away. I don't care for them anymore. All I want is to stay here with you. And as I said before, I will leave everything concerning us, what happened between us and my feelings for you out of the discussion. It will already be hard enough for Nigel to process that I want to leave him, and I don't want to hurt him anymore than necessary."

Maxwell takes her hand.

"I understand your point, but as I said, I'm still not comfortable with you taking all the blame. I am as much involved in this craziness as you, and you shouldn't take all the responsibility alone."

"Maxwell believe me it's the best solution, especially for Nigel. It's going be hard enough for him losing his fiancée. He doesn't need to lose his brother on the same day, too. There is no need for this. Please, just accept my decision."

Maxwell realizes Fran is adamant.

"Okay, fine. But what next? What happens after Nigel and you are separated and Nigel will go back to Paris? Where does that leave you?"

"Well, I think we should wait a couple of months before we make our relationship official. After some time no one will be surprised if we get together. Everyone knows we have feelings for one another. So I'm afraid for the first time I have to go back to Maa in case I'm going to survive this."

Maxwell chuckles about her remark.

"Well, I can tell you what I would prefer the most. I want you to come back here to live with us. This is your home. You belong with me and the kids."

Fran smiles and plants a big kiss on his lips. Maxwell continues.

"The only thing is if you split up with Nigel and move back straight in here with me, everybody will figure out what happened."

"Not necessarily. I mean, without Nigel alone in New York, I need a job again for my living. So, let's say, if I show up at your door and apply for my old Nanny job, would you rehire me?"

She smiles at him mischievously. Maxwell stares at her with a mocking, shocking expression.

"Rehiring you as the nanny for my children?!. Am I ready to put up with all this, like you watching a movie with Brighton instead of him reading the book for his literature class, you teaching Maggie how to hide her hickey or you convincing Gracie not to grow up too fast because she is your last baby? Let's see…"

He gins with a playful, stern face.

"Am I really up to all this again?!"

"I can look for another job, a lot of people would hire me."

Fran answers him with a slightly offended tune. Maxwell laughs and takes her in her arms.

"Of course I would rehire you. What a stupid question. You know very well, in my opinion, you are the best nanny in the world for my children. So of course I would love you to be the nanny again. At least for a little while. In the long run, I would rather prefer you in the position of my wife and mother of the children."

Fran's eyes get glossy and she plants another big kiss on his lips. Being Maxwell's wife and the children's mother sounds too good to be true. They sink into each other's arms and kiss passionately. Before things get out of hand Fran frees herself from his embrace.

"I think it's better if I go now. For sure, Nigel is already at the hotel and wondering where I am."

Maxwell nods silently and leads her to the door. Then another question arises in his head.

"Hey, wait Fran! What about tonight? I mean, after you told Nigel everything, where are you going to stay? I guess you don't want to stay at the hotel with him."

"Well…." Fran realizes she didn't think about this yet.

"I could go to Maa, whereby after the confrontation with Nigel I don't know if I have the nerve to deal with Maa. The best thing would be if I go to Val and stay the night with her."

"Okay, fine. But call me as soon as you get there."

"I promise."

They hug and kiss for the last time. On her way Fran tries to come up with a way to confront Nigel with all of this. She thinks hard to find a beginning, how she could start their talk. But her brain is completely empty. She can only hope, when the situation comes, God will help her to find the right words.

As she arrives at the hotel, her heart beats very fast. Before she enters the suite, she checks in one of the mirrors in the hallway. her lipstick and her appearance. Then she opens the door to the hotel room. As soon as she steps in she is puzzled. In the entire suite all the lights are on and some of their luggage is crowded in the living room.

Fran calls Nigel's name and finally he shows up. He is relieved to see her.

"Fran, there you are finally! I was looking for you everywhere. I was quite worried, where have you been? I thought you didn't feel well and wanted to stay the day in bed?!"

"Well, I needed some fresh air so I asked Val to join me for a walk."

Fran feels her cheeks blush but this would be the last lie in their relationship. Nigel seems satisfied with her answer.

"Okay fine, I hope it helped and you feel better now."

"Yeah, I'm okay but would you please explain all this?"

She shows around the room.

"Oh yeah there's some change of plans. Pierre called me, there's some kind of emergency in the club that I need to take care of so we will fly back to Paris tonight."

"What, we will fly back tonight?"

Fran stares at him with big wide eyes. That ruins her entire plan.