Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
FRANKIE
It was strange to get back to work—to get back to the rest of his life.
It was odd to realize that the world kept turning, and lives continued to be lived while he was in the throes of falling in love and admitting that aloud to his new boyfriend, all the while trying to manage the shitstorm his brother’s ex had caused.
The adoption hearing was put on hold, thanks to the case against Charlie, but the caseworker told Frankie that wasn’t going to be a problem.
“It’ll be better that way. It’ll look like your environment is more stable if you’ve taken all the steps to protect Elodie. We want to make sure all the orders of protection are in place and signed by a judge and that Charlie won’t have access to her.”
He hadn’t really thought about being worried that Charlie’s bullshit could affect his custody over Elodie, and he supposed he was glad that he was reassured before panic could set in.
Charlie’s bond had been paid after the order of protection was served, and he was given a chance to respond to it but had declined. It meant they wouldn’t have to go to court and defend the reasons why Charlie shouldn’t have access to anyone in his family, and that was a weight off his shoulders.
Things began to calm down after that. Elodie was feeling better, and her seizures had lessened now that her doctor had adjusted her medication. She was back to school and working hard on her pre-braille, now able to identify almost all shapes with the tips of her fingers.
She had a surgery scheduled for next year to help with her muscle tension, which was going to take a lot of his time, so he was focused on work and starting to consider that maybe it was time to start looking at buying a house.
He had plenty of savings for a down payment since he’d been living below his means for years, and considering Elodie was a full-time job along with his paid full-time job, it wasn’t like he’d been able to spend tons of cash on vacations.
Now that he had Lucas though, he was wondering if maybe he wasn’t doing enough.
Lucas had invited him to dinner a few weekends before, but Frankie had to decline last minute and felt like shit about it. Lucas had been tense ever since, and though they saw each other nearly every night, he felt like something was off.
“I’m worried,” he said to Fenton when he met him for after-work appetizers.
Fallon had picked up Elodie from school and was watching her back at the apartment. His schedule had been packed full of inspections that week, and he was overly exhausted from fighting with kitchen staff who wanted a pass on violations.
Fenton tilted his head to the side. “About Fall?”
“No. He’s been doing better than I expected. I know the whole thing with Charlie scared the shit out of him, but I don’t know. He’s seemed a lot happier since it ended.”
Fenton sighed. “Yeah. I feel like an asshole for not pushing him harder. Maybe if we’d sat him down and made him understand what a shithead Charlie really was—”
Frankie shook his head as he sipped on his fizzy water. “You know that wouldn’t have helped. We need to trust that Fallon can figure this out for himself. He’s…different than you and I are, but he’s not less capable.”
Fenton wrinkled his nose. “Am I doing it again? Being an ableist shithead?”
Frankie blinked at him.
“Ivy called me on it after you called to yell at me about what I did with Lucas.” His cheeks were pink. “I didn’t even realize I sucked so much.”
Frankie shook his head. “You didn’t know.”
“I should have,” Fenton said, his voice fierce. “I mean, I have Elodie all the time. She’s always at my place. I love her to fucking pieces, and if someone was mouthing words in front of her because they knew she couldn’t see them—”
“I get it. I’ve had to check myself a few times now that I’m with Lucas. There’s a lot I do that isn’t blind-friendly, and I’ve got a blind daughter. Er…sister,” he corrected.
Fenton sighed. “She’s your daughter. It’s…god, it’s kind of fucked-up, and she’s probably going to need some kind of therapy thanks to Mom’s bullshit, but you’re her dad. And it’s not weird.”
Frankie bowed his head. It was the strangest feeling in the world.
They’d all agreed that Elodie would always know the truth.
They weren’t going to wait around until she was some mystical age of understanding before they told her about their situation.
She would grow up knowing that they were family, and he was whatever she wanted him to be.
For now, that was Daddy. Maybe in the future, it wouldn’t be. The only thing that mattered was that she was safe and loved.
And yeah, therapy was a damn must.
“Anyway, I’m just trying to say all of us are learning,” Frankie said.
Fenton drummed his fingers on the table. “His family? Are they cool with it?”
Cheeks heating, Frankie glanced away. “They don’t know yet. He said he was going to tell them. His best friend obviously knows.”
“The guy Fall has a crush on?” Fenton asked.
Frankie laughed quietly. “Yeah, him. Are they seeing each other now? The last I heard, they were playing Dungeons and Dragons, but Fallon doesn’t talk to me about his social life much.”
“Uh…no. He said the guy has a lot going on, and they haven’t talked since that night. It’s probably for the best though. Fallon’s still in recovery mode.”
Frankie couldn’t argue there. And they were young. If something was going to happen, they had time.
“For what it’s worth,” Frankie said after a long beat, “I don’t think you’re an ableist shithead. I think you’re a man who makes mistakes and learns from them.”
“If he’s important to you, he’s important to me. I just want him to know I can be safe for him too,” Fenton told him. “You gave up so fucking much for us. And for Ells. You gave up a marriage.”
“That was dying anyway. I had no business marrying some asshole who didn’t like that I loved my brothers.” There was bitterness in his voice, but it didn’t feel as profound as it had the last time he thought about Eddie.
“Yeah. That guy was a choice.”
“A bad one. I think I made a better one this time.”
“It’s weird that he’s younger than me,” Fenton said slowly, carefully, “but also, it’s not. He’s…different from most guys my age. It’s like he was literally made for you.”
Something in Frankie’s chest went very warm. “I think it might go both ways.”
“Uhg, okay, subject change. Schmoop gives me hives.”
Frankie laughed, then finished his drink and sat back. “Well, on that note, I’d better take off. I need to relieve Fallon of babysitting duties.” He stood up and froze. “Oh. Do you two need my help with the apartment stuff?”
“Nah. Fallon said one of his clients is offering to sublet his apartment, and then he can sign a new lease after. It’s over by the fire station, which I think made him feel better.”
Frankie smiled. One of Fallon’s special interests had been fire trucks, back when he was small.
It changed to photography when he hit high school, but one of the first really artistic photos Fallon had ever taken was a fire truck hosing down an abandoned mall that was up in flames. That photo won awards.
And Frankie had never been prouder.
“Let’s do family dinner soon,” he said, then yanked his brother into a hug, letting go before Fenton could accuse him of affection or schmoop.
The walk back to his car, he felt lighter on his feet, and pulling into his parking space, he couldn’t help but linger as he gazed through the open building doors at Lucas’s place. He wanted to stop by, but he wanted to see Elodie first and make sure that Fallon’s day hadn’t been too rough.
He palmed his keys, then unlocked the dead bolt and came to a stop because almost all the lights in the house were off. The brightest glow was one of Elodie’s light-up toys her occupational therapist had given her to help her track movement.
“What’s going on in here?”
“Playtime,” came a voice Frankie was not expecting.
His heart jumped in his chest as he flicked on the kitchen light and was then able to see the love of his life sitting on the couch with Elodie, using his knees to balance herself as she was putting shaped blocks into proper-shaped holes.
“You’re here,” Frankie said.
Lucas chuckled, his face tipped up toward him. “I’m here. Fallon had a last-minute photo call thing and asked me if I wouldn’t mind watching her. I hope that’s okay.”
Frankie walked over and palmed Lucas’s cheek. The bruising was still light green, but the cut had healed into a pale scar, and he wasn’t hurting while he ate. He kissed him softly, quietly so he didn’t draw the toddler’s attention.
“I always want to see you in my space,” he murmured, then kissed him a second time before pulling back. “I hope she behaved.”
“I always be a hayve,” Elodie said as her little fingers found the star shape. The toy flashed and made the reward noise, and she clapped before finding a circle.
“I had one of these. Well, sort of,” Lucas said. He reached past her and touched the diamond block. “Mine was made of wood, and there were no noises.”
“No lights, I’m assuming,” Frankie said.
“Fuu-uhhhdge knows,” Lucas stammered. “But probably not.”
Frankie laughed as he sat down beside two of the people he loved most in life, and he brushed a touch over Elodie’s shoulder. “Hey, Bugs. Did you have a good day at school?”
“No.”
He laughed. “Really? A terrible, awful, bad, bad day?”
“No.”
“Her word of the day,” Lucas said. “She said no to chicken nuggets but then was very upset when I didn’t make them.”
“Ells,” Frankie said.
“No, thank you.”
“I was worse when I was her age,” Lucas assured him. He sat backward and searched for Frankie’s hand, playing with his fingers when he found it. “Mine was mostly anger at my crap dad for, you know, being crap.”
“Crap!”
Lucas slapped his hand over his mouth. “I’m so sorry.”
Frankie shook his head, then touched Elodie’s shoulder. “Grown-up-only word, Bugs.”