21. Chapter 21
Frank
I’ve spent the last month with Edie and Matt. She always had funny stories after work, and she loved hearing about my day with the kids.
Matt and I found our groove after school. He liked hanging out with me until Edie got off work. Sometimes we hung out with the other kids at the park, but today I had something special planned.
Today we were going to have a man to man talk.
When the final bell rang, chaos ensued and kids of all sizes ran through the halls like maniacs. It was the start of Christmas break and not one teacher stopped them because we all wanted out as bad as they did.
“Doc!” Matt came running through the gym into my arms for a hug. “Guess what?”
“An alien landed on the playground, and you were the first to know?”
He lifted an eyebrow at me. “Did you start day drinking?”
Bending over, I burst out laughing. “Sorry, bud, what?”
“I won the math tournament in my class, and I got a family package to go to the movies!”
“That sounds like fun.”
“Yeah. So, you and me and mom can go.” He bounced in place.
“I’m hungry. Let’s go grab some lunch.”
“Are we going to the diner?” He walked along beside me.
“Not this time. I have a place I’d like you to see.”
“Sounds good.”
“Let’s go.”
We walked out to the car, and I made my way through a drive-thru, grabbing us some tacos for lunch when we got to my house.
He’s unusually quiet as we made our way to the door. Unlocking it, I opened the door and let him go first.
“Whoa! Look at that TV!” His eyes almost popped out of his head at the size of it.
“Better to play video games on and watch movies.”
“Totally.”
“Come on in the kitchen.” I carried the food into the room and set it up at the small table near the windows. “Have a seat, son.”
He sat down and I went to the fridge to get out two ice cold root beers in bottles. I popped the tops off and sat down with him, handing him one.
“Whoa.” He giggled. “This is the good stuff.”
“I thought we’d need it for our man to man talk today.”
His lips twisted up. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Not at all.”
“Okay, good.” He took a drink, wiped his mouth on his sleeve and folded his hands on the table, like he did the day we had our man-to-man talk at the diner.
“Here’s the thing.” I took a drink, then a deep breath. “I’m in love with your mom. And I love you too. This is my house, and I’d like for us all to live here.”
“This is a nice house.” He bobbed his head.
“I’d also like to marry your mom, if she’ll have me.”
“Marriage.” He stroked his non-existent beard. “So you’d be her husband?”
“Yes.”
“Well.” He threw his hands up. “I have questions.”
“Understandable.”
“Can you support her, so if something happened, she wouldn’t need to worry about money?”
That’s awfully specific.
“I can.”
“Will you always tell her she’s beautiful?”
“I will.”
His face took on a very stern look. “Will you be her best friend?”
Who is this kid? Columbo?
“I would love nothing more.” I took another drink. “Where’d you come up with these questions?”
A smile spread across his face. “I asked my Nana and Grandpa what were good qualities for a husband.”
“I see. Those are good qualities. Now, before I can ask her, I need to know how you would feel having me as a dad.”
“Hmm.” He took a drink of his root beer. “Will you be there when I need you?”
“Always.”
“Do you really love me?”
“I do.”
“I could be good with that.” He frowned.
“What is it?”
“Well if you marry Mom then she’ll be Edith Holliday.”
“Correct.”
“But I’d still be Matthew Malone.” He looked so forlorn it broke my heart.
“Well, Matt, do you want to be a Holliday?”
He nodded.
“Then as long as your mom is good with it, we’ll make that happen too.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Doc?” He whispered and leaned across the table.
“Yeah?” I whispered back.
“Can I call you dad?”
“Son, you can call me whatever you’d like. And if you want to call me dad, I would love that.”
“When can we ask her?”
“I was thinking tomorrow.”
“Why tomorrow?”
“Because now I need to talk to your Grandpa and make sure he would be good with me marrying his daughter.”
Matthew let out a gasp. “What if he says no?”
“Then we’ll have to figure something out.”
“Would we go on the run? Like in one of those movies?”
My eyebrow raised. “Are you day drinking?”
Matt laughed, and we tucked into our lunch and finished our root beers before I showed him the rest of the house. Once he’s satisfied, we loaded back up and went over to his grandparents.
“Nana! Grandpa!” Mattie ran in and I followed behind.
“Hello, Mattie!” Miss Irene came over and hugged him. “Hello, Frank.”
“Ma’am.”
“He needs to talk to Grandpa.” Matt tried to be mysterious, and she let him think he succeeded
“Well, he’s in the family room.”
“Come on, Doc, I’ll show you.” Matt led me down a hallway to a room that was still decorated how it originally was in the seventies. “Grandpa! Doc needs to talk to you.”
“Mattie, don’t yell in the house.” Irv laughed and motioned for me to take a seat.
“Sorry, Grandpa.”
“Hello, Frank.”
I sat on the far end of the couch. Matt sat in the middle and Irene came in and taking a seat at the end of the couch. Matt bounced in place, and I scratched my beard thoughtfully.
“Here’s the thing, Mister Malone, I’d like to marry Edith.”
“I see.” He nodded. “Can you support her?”
“I can.”
“What about Mattie?”
“I can support him too, and I’d like to adopt him.”
His eyes stared through me as he thought about his next question. “Mm-hmm. And you promise to take care of my little girl?”
“Until my dying breath.”
He nodded. “You got a ring?”
Matt snapped his fingers. “Shoot. I forgot to ask that.”
Irv smiled. “It’s okay, that’s a question for me to ask.”
Pulling a small ring box out, I handed it to him. “It was my mom’s.”
Irene’s hand flew to her mouth as tears ran down her cheeks. “Edith would love that.”
Still nodding, Irv handed me back the ring box. “I think you would be an excellent addition to our family.”
“Francis.” Irene choked up. “Thank you for being old-fashioned.” She reached out for me and I kneeled by her feet, hugging her.
“My parent’s wouldn’t have me any other way.” My voice dipped low. “And if they were here they’d love Edith and Matthew.”
Matt fell back against the couch. “Do we gotta wait to ask Mom?”
“Nope we just need to wait until the time is right.”
“This is gonna take forever!” He threw his hands up in frustration, making us all laugh.
After we talked for a bit more, I took Matt over to his place to do his chores and wait for Edie to get off work.
Edith
My feet hurt.
I’m crabby.
I’m tired and I just want to go home.
Frank and Matt started their Christmas break today, and I worked it out with Evie and Gene so I could take a few days off.
I made my way upfront and found Evie leaning on the counter, giggling.
“Now what are you up to?”
She flashed me a smile. “Bryan is out there trying to turn on the sign.”
“You didn’t.” I half smiled.
“I did.”
“C’mon Edie, you know it never gets old sending new people to plug it in while we flip a switch.” Big E leaned out through the service window,
“He deserves it.” She shrugged.
“Why are you still mad at him?”
“I’m not.” She grinned. “I’m just having fun.”
“You’re a nightmare, and God made you cute, so no one kills you.” I let out a snort. “I’m going home.”
“Sure, sure. Leave me to my own devices.”
“Evelyn.” I turned and looked at her.
“Ugh.” She frowned. “Killjoy.”
On the walk home, I couldn’t help smiling. I had the next few days with my guys. The past few months have been amazing with Frank.
And to be honest? I fall more in love with him as each day passes.
It’s time to tell him.
Besides. I’m tired of saying goodnight and waking up without him.
When I made it home, I walked in and found them both on the floor, building something with the blocks.
“Hey guys.”
Frank sat up on his knees, hobbling over to me. His arms wrapped around my middle, and I leaned down to kiss him.
“Ew.” Mattie made a vomiting sound. “Hey, Doc, is now a good time?”
Chuckling, Frank looked at the ground, shaking his head. I took off and walked over to check out the build. “Good time for what, Matt?”
They both stayed silent as I wandered over to the closet and kicked off my shoes. As I turned, I saw them with their heads together and my heart melted.
I walked over to them and cupped Frank’s face in my hands. “Francis?”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
He looked back at Matt. “Now.”
“Now?” I looked between them and watched as Frank pulled out a small ring box. “Frank?”
He’s got a ring box, and he’s not getting up.
“Edith?” He flipped it open. “Will you marry me?”
Tears clouded my vision as I tried to take in the ring. A center stone set with a smaller diamond on each side, white gold metal. The box looked old.
“Where … did you …”
“It was my mother’s.” Frank whispered to me and my hand flew to my mouth.
“Are you serious?” My hands trembled.
“Paper or plastic, Edie.” He deadpanned
I choked on a sob.
“Mom, I already said yes.” Matt nodded as he locked another block in place. “So did grandpa.”
“You asked my son and dad?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He took the ring from the box and reached for my left hand. “What’s it gonna be, Sweetness?”
“And Matt?”
“He’s already mine we just need a judge to make it legal.”
“What about more kids?”
“Then our family grows.” He looked at Matt. “Would that be cool with you?”
“Yeah. I could dig it.” He nodded.
“Now back to my original question. Marry me?”
“Yes.”
He slid the ring on my finger, then stood up, pulling me to him in a bear hug. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Francis.”