Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was 5.45 am. You were trying to move as quietly as you could so you wouldn’t wake your sleeping husband, but the extra bleary eyes you were sporting, along with the fact that the clock had moved three times as fast, at least, that’s what it felt like, was making it difficult. But get ready you must. The company had a zoom meeting with an overseas company, and you needed to be at the office at 7 am to suit their 9am time. It was a big account, so punctuality was vital.

You went to the kitchen to make your coffee, sighing at the sight of the full sink and flowing trash can. You opened the dishwasher to load it, groaning when you were met with a full, unwashed load.

It was a busy night. Liv and Diana had to work late to prepare for today’s meeting. So Julie was left with you. You okayed it, it’ll fun, you thought. Those two were amazing together. Lovely little toddlers. They play quietly, heads down doing whatever they decided they wanted to do in the extra-large playpen Frankie and Will had wrangled together in the living room. And then Yovanna called, asking if you would be okay if she brought her nieces over, her brother and sister in law were visiting, and they would really like a date night. The two of you would do a better job looking after four toddlers and maybe watch a movie or two in the meantime.

What you didn’t expect was a frantic call from your Mom. Henry, your stepfather, may have broken his ankle tripping down the stairs and needed to go to the ER. As worrying as that was, there was a bigger worry. Your stepbrother had to work a state over and brought his family with him. His wife went with him, leaving their two boys and a girl with their grandparents. Could she drop the kids with you while she went with Henry to the ER?

Of course Mom, no problem.

So now you and Yovanna had to work together watching seven kids instead of four.

Yeah, you needed a word with Frankie. He had always wanted a few more children after Luna. Nope. Not happening. Maybe one more, no more than that.

To say you and Yovanna were outnumbered was a massive understatement.

You had no idea what happened to your darling Luna and Liv’s Julie. Last night, those two were not the sweet, demure little girls you knew.

You never wanted to say anything bad about your child, nor your Godchild, but last night, those two were miniscule menaces. Teeny tiny little demons. Demanding, princessy, feet stomping, wee fiends.

You and Yovanna ended up running around like dishevelled servants after only an hour. The amount of food these kids needed to keep them happy was insane. Yovanna had to make a quick run to the grocery store just to keep up. And although she was only gone for 20 minutes, you knew that you would rather go through labour all over again than repeat those 20 minutes. Yovanna came back with more snacks to you struggling to get chewing gum out of your stepbrother’s daughter’s hair.

By the end of the night, when all the children were picked up and gone home, the house looked like a warzone. You loaded the dishwasher and went up to put Luna to bed, thinking you had at least pressed start, and that you would come back down to tidy up a little before going to bed.

You fell asleep in Luna’s bed before you could even open a book to read to her.

And now you found out that none of the dishes were done, and the house still looked like a tornado had run through.

You started the dishwasher, made your coffee, extra strong, and went up to take a shower. Your entire body hurt from sleeping at an awkward position in Luna’s tiny princess bed. Of course, on this morning, the morning where you needed things to go right, nothing went right. You had to wash your hair again from the greasy hands that had somehow managed to find their way into your hair last night, even finding a piece of cheese as you brushed your hair, prompting you to have to wash it again, and of course, you couldn’t dry it, since Frankie was still asleep.

He’d only arrived home a little over three hours ago, a job ran long. He looked so tired, sleeping oh-so-peacefully, spread eagled in the middle of the bed. So you moved as quickly and as quietly as you could, putting make up on, spritzing some perfume before taking your coat with you to leave for work, dreading the fact that you were going to have to travel to work with wet hair before you could use the dryer at the office before your meeting.

You were about to leave, briefcase in one hand, thermos in the other, your coat slung over your arm when Luna started crying. You looked at your watch – 6.15 am. You really must leave right now. And if you went to her, she would cling to you and then you would never leave. You knew that for a fact. You ran upstairs, peeking into your bedroom.

“Frankie,” you called out.

“Frankie, baby?”

He didn’t stir. You moved to the side of the bed, calling a little louder. “Frankie!”

You had learnt, being with him all these years, that you should never shake Francisco Morales awake. With his Special Ops background, as well as the nightmares he sometimes get, shaking him awake could startle him. And while calling his name out loud usually did the trick, it wasn’t working at this moment.

A few more calls. Nothing.

6.20 am. Fuck, you were going to be late.

“Francisco Alejandro Morales!” you practically shouted.

He sat up in shock, frantically looking around, finally switching the light on, finding your eyes with his bleary ones.

“Your daughter is awake. I need to get to work,” you said, before turning around and leaving the room.

He jumped up and went into Luna’s room within seconds, picking her up, taking her downstairs to say goodbye to you. But by the time he got downstairs, you had reversed your car and driven away.

No kiss. No goodbye.

He brought Luna back to your marital bed after calming her down, determined to get a few more hours of sleep, his daughter held tightly in his arms, her little fingers playing with his scruff.

When he woke up a couple of hours later, a thought greeted him.

You ‘full named’ him.

You had never even called him Francisco. Ever. Frankie, Baby, Frankie Baby, but never Francisco. Let alone his full name.

Shit. Did he do something wrong?

He got Luna ready for the morning and went downstairs to make her breakfast and was completely shocked by the sight that greeted him.

He had come in late, the lights were out. He was beyond exhausted, so much so, he had gone upstairs without switching the lights on. He simply stripped, brushed his teeth and went to check on Luna. He tried waking you up, but you were not budging. He chose not to wake you since you looked to be deep in sleep. He himself passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Shit. What the fuck happened last night?

He made Luna her breakfast and unloaded the dishwasher, loading the remaining load. He spent the rest of the morning tidying the living room and entertaining his daughter before taking his phone and texting you.

‘How’s your day going so far baby?’

‘Going out for lunch in a bit, you want me to get anything from the grocery store for dinner?’

He put a movie on for Luna before putting a load of clothes in the laundry, brushing the collars of your shirts as well as his own, making sure the stubborn stains will go away. He went on and polished his dress shoes and work boots, working quietly next to his daughter as she cooed at Moana on screen.

Just as he was leaving the house, he checked his phone. No response from you.

Huh. That’s weird. You usually respond, no matter how busy you were.

‘Everything okay baby? Let me know about dinner, okay?’

He placed Luna in her car seat and drove the five minutes to Will’s, the man already waiting with Julie. He quickly placed Julie in her own car seat, climbing into the passenger seat, telling Frankie Benny and Pope would be joining them.

The men were swooning over the girls, Benny eating all of their veggies for them and giving them all of his chicken tenders in exchange, ordering another plate of food for himself just to keep full. Pope’s phone beeped, Yovanna texting him with a list of groceries to buy for dinner.

“Oh yeah, I should text Diana too. They’re far too busy this week. She won’t have time,” Benny said, taking his phone out, cooing at Julie when she tried to take his phone from him.

Will did the same, quickly texting his wife about the groceries before resuming his conversation with Santi. Within minutes, both of them received replies with a list. Frankie looked at his phone, still nothing.

“Hey, is Em with the girls?” he asked.

“Should be. Why?” Pope answered, wiping Luna’s mash potatoes covered mouth.

“She hasn’t replied to any of my texts.”

“Well, she’s the designer. Maybe she’s just busier than the others? Maybe the client wants to see a quick mock-up?” Will suggested.

But Frankie wasn’t feeling better, unlocking his phone one more time to check if you did text him. Still nothing.

Benny picked his phone back up and texted Diana, asking if you were around. Almost immediately, Diana replied you were at the office. But that was it. Nothing more, no new information that would help Frankie gauge whether or not he was in trouble.

“What’s going on Fish? So she’s busy. It’s nothing new.”

Frankie helped Luna drink her water, taking a wet tissue, wiping her messy face, the same one Pope had just wiped.

And then, his phone dinged.

‘Wrks ok’

‘Pasta’

‘Ok’

Frankie felt all the hair on his body stand up. Shit. This was not good. His panic must have been evident on his face, as Will immediately asked if anything was wrong.

“I think I messed up. She’s… different. Her texts are different. Short. Abrupt. It’s like someone else was texting me.”

“Well, like I said, she’s busy. Doesn’t mean she’s mad at you,” Will said.

“Yovanna said last night was rough. She practically passed out when she got home. Thank God her brother was already back from his date,” Santi told him.

“What do you mean?”

“The kids kicked their a… I mean, their behinds last night. Yovanna said the house looked like it’s gone through a typhoon.”

“Yeah. I cleaned up though. But maybe I should’ve done that immediately when I got home? She seemed really off. Or maybe I should’ve carried her to bed? She fell asleep on Luna’s bed.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“She was already asleep. I didn’t want to wake her. She looked really tired.”

“Well, they left for the office really early today. Maybe she was just in a hurry?” Benny suggested.

“It’s not just that.”

“What do you mean?”

Frankie sighed. “She ‘full named’ me.”

Oof! The men cringed.

“Shit! That’s not good,” Benny said, his fingers covering his mouth. Will slapped him at the back of his head, gesturing to the two little girls sandwiched between their Dads and uncles.

Benny clasped his entire hand across his mouth. “Oops!” he whispered.

“Great, that you whispered,” Will shook his head.

“Look, Fish, she was tired, she was in a hurry, maybe she wasn’t even mad at you.”

“So why the ‘full naming’? Why ‘full name’ me?”

None of them could answer, and their worried looks turned pretty quickly into pity.

“Well… if you are that worried, maybe do something? Have a nice dinner waiting, buy her something nice?” Benny suggested.

Frankie nodded, his head full of plans. Yeah, that could work. He will clean the house inside out and have a beautiful dinner waiting for you. He’s not the best cook, but he had gotten better since you started living with him. And flowers. Get flowers. And maybe that bracelet you were eyeing. Oh, and he will make sure the house was spotless, that goes without saying.

“Yeah, that could work.”

“Shit!” Luna suddenly screamed. Julie quickly followed. “Shit! Shit! Shit!”

Benny looked as if he had just been shot. He might as well had been, the way Frankie and Will were staring daggers at him.

“Er… that wasn’t their first word, was it?” he cringed.

***

Frankie was tap tapping his foot, waiting for you at the dinner table. He had gone to the bathroom three times in the past two hours, his nerves getting the better of him. The table was set, the flowers ready, the simple pasta Bolognese warming in the oven, the bracelet in his pocket. He had scrubbed the house spotless, Luna safe and sound with Julie at Will’s, the man offering to take her for the night to make up for you looking after his daughter the night before, as well as to give Frankie a fighting chance at apologizing.

He had texted you earlier letting you know that dinner was ready, and that he had a surprise for you. You replied with a short ‘K’, which was so unlike you. He glanced at the clock. It was way past your usual arrival time. Frankie took his phone to see if you had texted him but was left disappointed. He didn’t dare call – worried that you were busy during the day, worried that you were driving if he called right then and there. The phone suddenly dinged in his hands. He clicked on the text from you faster than he could think.

‘X make it. Bz. Wil b L8’

Huh?

He called Will, but Liv picked up instead. So Liv was home. How come you were not?

“Yovanna and I caught a ride with Diana. She was just putting some finishing touches when we left. We had to leave – Yovanna has her brother and family, and I have the girls. She’ll be back soon,” she assured him.

“She just texted that she can’t make dinner.”

“Huh… that’s odd.”

“How was she at the office? Did she seem… angry?”

“Now that you mentioned it, yeah… a bit quiet, grumpy.”

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!

He thanked Liv and hung up, his mind still spiralling.

Before he could think further, his hands went to work, taking the Bolognese out of the oven and packing two portions in Tupperware containers, putting together a picnic basket, complete with candles. He was going to show you he was sorry.

He had no idea what it was he needed to be sorry for, but he was going to show you he was sorry, nonetheless. He was going to get you to call him Frankie Baby again. None of this Francisco Alejandro Morales nonsense.

He drove to the city, quickly making his way to your office. The place was partly dark, most of the lights already turned off. He walked inside, going straight to your cubicle, but it was empty. The sound of a door closing made him turn. A young woman, too young, was closing the door to the meeting room. He could see you on your laptop inside, face serious, furiously clicking away on your keyboard and mouse.

“Can I help you?” the young lady asked.

“I’m here to see Emma,” he told her.

“And you are?” she looked suspicious of him, eyeing him up and down.

“I’m her husband,” Frankie said, rather defensively.

“Your name?” she asked again, getting quite aggressive.

“She knows her husband’s name,” Frankie said, his voice rising.

“Well, I don’t, so you’re gonna have to tell me. I can’t just let you go in there and bother her.”

“I’m not bothering…”

The door flung open. “Francisco? What is it? What are you doing here? Is Luna okay?”

“Yeah, she’s at Will and Liv’s.”

“He said he’s your husband,” the young woman told you, looking worried, her hand grasping her phone.

“He is my husband. You can go now, Debbie. I’m about done.”

The young woman nodded, eyeing Frankie suspiciously before gathering her stuff from a small desk and leaving, asking you one more time if you were sure before doing so.

You went back inside after nodding, not saying anything. Frankie followed you, but only to the door, his hand still grasping the basket, not daring to say anything. You had gone back to your laptop, your brows creased, typing so fast his head was spinning.

“Baby,” he began, but you lifted your forefinger, eyes still on the screen, typing with your left hand, signalling for him to stop speaking.

After what felt like years, you took the mouse in your hand, your eyes scanning the screen, your finger scrolling on the mouse wheel.  A few more clicks on the keyboard, a final scan, several more clicks of the mouse, and you took a deep breath, closing the computer. You cracked your neck, stretched your arms above your head, and turned to him, a sweet smile on your face.

“Frankie Baby, what are you doing here?”

It was as if the world had opened up, and Frankie could breathe again.

You approached him, wrapping your arms around his waist, burying your face in his neck.

“I came to check on you, bring you dinner. Are you okay?”

“I am now,” you mumbled, your face still in his neck, taking in his scent.

“So, you’re not mad at me anymore?”

Your head snapped up to him, “When was I mad at you?”

“This morning? All day?”

You frowned, confused. “I wasn’t mad at you.”

“But… you ‘full named’ me, you sent me short, abrupt texts.”

You laughed. “Baby, I called you by your full name cause you wouldn’t wake up, Luna was crying, and I was late for work. And I didn’t text you. Debbie did. She’s like, 20. We had to take a course to understand her texts. I was online with clients all day.”

Frankie placed the basket on the table, hugging you back, taking deep, deep breaths of relief. “Thank God. I was going crazy thinking you were mad at me. I’m sorry I didn’t clean up when I got home. I was too tired.”

“It’s okay, I know, I didn’t clean up either, remember? I’m gonna clean up when I get home, okay?”

“I already did. Scrubbed the house inside out in case that was the reason you were angry at me,” he laughed, giving you a peck on the lips.

“What? You didn’t have to do that,” you said, kissing him back. “What else did you do to say sorry for something you didn’t do?”

“I… cooked you dinner,” peck. “I got you flowers,” peck. “I may have spent too much money on a bracelet for you…” he cringed, smiling immediately when you laughed and kissed him again.

“I was just busy today. I’m sorry for making you think that…”

“You okay?” he asked, rubbing your back, putting a little pressure as he did so, making you moan into his chest. “You must be tired. You left early this morning.”

“So tired,” you moaned, as he continued kneading between your shoulder blades. “The client changed their minds like five times. And they want the site fast. Took everything I had not to curse at them.”

“You poor thing,” he cooed, kissing you. “You hungry? I brought you Bolognese,” another kiss to your temple.

“Starving,” you conceded, “But need more kisses. I miss you.”

“Miss you too,” he whispered, kissing you one more time. The kiss didn’t stop, quickly deepening, and the next thing you knew he was pushing you against the door, his hands on your ass.

“Frankie Baby,” you moaned.

“Hmm?” he asked, lips busy on your neck.

“Cameras,” you whispered.

Frankie cursed, his head swivelling around to locate the offending pieces of technology.

You pulled him back towards you and kissed him stupid, making him whimper, knowing he was never gonna be able to resist you. “Liv’s office doesn’t have cameras,” you mumbled between kisses.

“Perfect,” he mumbled back, lifting your legs and wrapping them around his waist, opening the door to take you to said office.

***

“Good night Mija,” Frankie cooed as he placed a sleeping Luna on her bed, kissing her chubby cheeks. Liv had called on your way home. She had refused to go to bed, wanting to wait for Mama and Papa, wanting to go home. She fell asleep in Frankie’s arms before he could even place her in her car seat.

You kissed her on her tiny forehead, stroking her cheek. Frankie’s heart just about burst from the love he felt for his two ladies. He led you by the waist to leave the room, switching the night light on.

Just as he was about to close the door, Luna stretched, her little eyes opening for a split second, smiling at the two of you.

“Shit,” she said, loud and clear, before going back to sleep.

Your head snapped to look at him so fast he could hear the bones creak.

Frankie’s eyes were the widest you had ever seen them as they looked back into your angry ones.

“Francisco Alejandro Morales, explain yourself.”

He gave a weak, whimper of a laugh. “Funny story,” he said meekly.

Damn it Benny.