B.F.F. (frerard)

Chapter 23

We helped Jamia bring her bags inside and upstairs. She was moving in today. It was official, she was moving in with us. She seemed nervous but excited. She's been staying with someone else temporarily who she claimed was nice but also there were bruises on her wrists that she didn't want to talk about.

"Alright, I think we're all set and you just need to unpack now," Frank said. "We can help you with that."

"That's okay, I can do it myself," she said with a small smile. "Thank you both so much."

We both gave her hugs before going to the nursery. Bandit had just woken up from her nap and was cooing at us with a bright smile on her face.

"Hello, beautiful," Frank said.

He picked her up, giving her a kiss on her little chubby cheek. She laughed, waving her arms.

"You want some food?" Frank asked.

"Bah Bah," she said.

She still called Frank Bah Bah. She even started called me Dada.

"I'll feed her," I said. "You need to stop procrastinating."

Frank was trying to write another album but he kept procrastinating to play with Bandit instead. I knew he wouldn't admit it but I think he was just scared. His last album...well, let's just say that he became a laughing stock. His cousins loved to tease him for it. I felt bad, there were still boxes of his unsold CDs in his mom's attic.

"Frank, it's going to be okay," I said.

"My last album was shit--"

"It wasn't shit...it just didn't sell well," I said. "You're going to be okay and your next one will be amazing."

"Fine, I'll be down in the basement then," he said.

I took Bandit from him and went to the kitchen. I set Bandit into her high chair and got a jar of baby food. Music streamed up through the vents. It was a little choppy and messy but still good. The floor creaked and I looked up at Jamia in the doorway.

"Hey, sweetheart, what's up?" I asked.

"Well, I was just thinking that maybe I could make dinner for you guys tonight as a thank you for letting me live here with you guys," she said.

"That's sweet," I said. "And I think I'll take you up on that offer."

Jamia smiled, looking around.

"Is that Frank playing?" She asked.

"Yeah but don't bother him, he needs to work," I said.

She nodded and went back up to finish unpacking. Bandit finished eating but knocked the jar off the table and it shattered on the ground. I sighed, cleaning up the mess. I let her crawl around but blocked off the kitchen, worried there might still be fragments of broken glass I missed on the floor. She crawled around happily, chewing and gnawing on some of her toys.

"Did you get some song writing done?" I asked when Frank came up from the basement.

"I did, it was pretty good," he said. "I'm really enjoying the way that it's going so far. Thanks for pushing me, I really needed it."

He came over and sat beside me on the couch, giving me a soft kiss.

"You can repay me later by pushing me down against the bed," I said with a small smirk.

Frank smiled, kissing my neck as I giggled.

"Maybe we can go right now," he suggested.

"No, not now," I denied, lightly pushing him away. "Later, though. I promise."

Frank sighed dramatically, flopping down on the couch.

"I always thought it was silly when those comedians would talk about having to schedule their sex when they're married with kids and I thought it was all just jokes but apparently not," he said. "We really are out here just scheduling our sex. Is that it, the passion is just got. The spontaneity?"

"Maybe we can have a date night this week and do something a little scandalous," I said.

"Yeah, like what?" He asked.

"Maybe we can do it in the backseat of the car," I said and he shrugged. "Maybe in a public bathroom."

That one seemed to intrigue him as he sat up.

"Can we do it now?" He asked.

"Of course not now," I denied. "Maybe on saturday. We can get Mikey to babysit."

"I can't wait now, it's gonna take forever for it to come," he said.

"Well, you can come on that day," I said.

Frank snickered, giving me a kiss. Bandit crawled over, laying down on her stomach.

We picked her up, showering her in kisses as she laughed.

"I can't believe we have such a beautiful little family," I said. "This is seriously more than I have ever dreamed of."

"Well, we aren't married anymore so we aren't technically a family," he said.

"What? Why would you say something like that?" I asked. "Of course we're family."

"We could be a family," he said, pulling out a little ring box.

"Frank, What are you doing?" I asked. "We said we were gonna wait."

"I know but I want to be able to tell people that I'm going to be able to marry the most beautiful man in the whole world," he said. "And Bandit is already seven months old, she'll be over a year when the wedding would actually come. And we could always just have a slightly longer engagement if that was needed."

My eyes watered as I looked at him, holding Bandit in my lap.

"So, will you marry me?" He asked.

I nodded and he slid the simple silver band onto my finger.

"I missed wearing this," I admitted. "I really did. I always want to wear this. I'm never gonna take it off ever again."

"Good because it suits you," he said.

He gave me a soft kiss.

"And I have one other surprise," Frank said.

"Oh god, I don't know if I can take any more surprises," I said. "The ring was already enough. What else could there possibly be?"

Frank stood up and took off his shirt.

"Okay, is your surprise that you got a job as Magic Mike?" I asked. "Because I don't know how happy I would be about that."

"No, look closer," he said with a roll of his eyes.

I looked him over and noticed a spot of skin that was a bit more red. It looked like he got a new tattoo on his hip below one of his dove tattoos. It was of a little baby footprint.

"Is that Bandit's footprint?" I asked and he nodded, making my eyes water. "Oh my god, Frank."

He smiled, wrapping his arms around me. We were sure to not squish Bandit as we hugged together.

"That's amazing, Frank, I love it," I said.

"I'm glad that you like it, Gee," he said.

"I love, love, love it," I stated.

I gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Isn't it beautiful, Babygirl?" I asked Bandit. "That's your footprint!"

She waved her arm, looking at Frank.

"Bah Bah," she said.

Frank smiled and took her from me. Jamia walked downstairs, heading to the kitchen. She began making us dinner and soon enough we were sitting together at the table. We put Bandit to bed and soon we were in bed wrapped up in each other's arms.