The Promise of Forever

Chapter Five

That following Thursday I was lounging around at home going through some PR I had been sent because I was a little bored. Daniel's not super fun when he's napping, to be honest. As I sat at the dining room table filling a basket of make up  I wanted to give to Tara, I heard the front door open and my best friend's voice call out. Normally I detest people showing up at my apartment unannounced by my close friends and their children get a free pass every time.

"Sorry to just show up like this," Ivy apologised as I smothered Franki with kisses while he squealed gleefully, "but I was bored out of my mind because Franki's being too good and Chesa's at school and then she's going to a friend afterwards so thought I'd drop by to see my best friend and my new godson and I bought brownies."

"I will never so no to brownies or surprise visits from my favourite people," I laughed as we stepped into the living room.

"Baby!" Franki said excitedly, pointing to Daniel's bassinette where he lay staring up at the figurines on the mobile Oliver had attached to it for him.

"Do you wanna say hello?" I asked Franki to which he nodded enthusiastically. 

"Hi, baby," Franki cooed at my son in his sweet little baby voice as his little hand waved at Daniel whose striking grey eyes looked up at us in curiosity. 

"Ugh, it's like every time I see him he gets cuter," Ivy sighed happily as she cradled Daniel and pressed little kisses to his forehead.

"I feel that way every time I look at him," I giggled. 

After pouring both of us glasses of iced tea and some in a beaker for Franki, the three of us settled in the living room to dig into the delectable brownies Ivy had brought with her from our favourite bakery on the Upper West Side. We discovered Tout Ce Qui Brille in our freshman year and haven't stopped going there since. They make everything from your basic cupcakes to delectable deserts that have you coming back for more. Ivy and I devoured the gooey chocolate brownies they make almost every day when we were in college, much to the dismay of our waistlines.

"How have things been?" I asked her as we tucked into our sweet treats while Franki kept himself occupied with a kids TV show while making a mess of his own little brownie.

"Good," She smiled happily. "Chesa got into Spence for the fall."

"Oh, wow! Ivy, that's great!" I beamed, knowing how much my best friend and her husband wanted their little girl to get into the Spence School for Girls. 

"I'm so pleased and Ben's absolutely over the moon about it. You know how he is when it comes to our babies' education," She laughed and I did too. Ben is a big believer in giving children the best education possible. His family funds a bunch of children in Italy and New York to go to good schools. "And Franki got provisional acceptance to Collegiate, Browning and Allen-Stevenson and conditional to St. Bernard if we decide to send him to either when he turns five."

It may seem crazy to have an eighteen month old baby already being accepted to schools when he can't even speak properly yet but getting into one of the top schools in the state is tough and it's always made easier if you apply early like Ivy and Ben did for both Chesa and Franki.

"Ivy, that's amazing!" I said happily. 

My best friend smiled shyly at me and I instantly knew what that smile meant. 

"Okay, spit it out. What aren't you telling me?" I asked her. 

She let out an excited giggle and then covered both her cheeks. "I haven't anyone other than Ben yet so you have to keep quiet for a few more weeks, okay?"