Burning Love

Decisions

Chris POV 

I finally make it home for what seems like the longest 4 days ever. It's been tough with so many people out, and as the captain of the station the responsibility falls on me to make sure it continues to run smoothly. But damn, I have missed my bed, and holding Frankie in my arms.

I enter the house, setting my stuff down by the front door, before closing it and putting my keys down. I'll deal with cleaning my things later, but right now all I want is to see Frankie, Eli and Dodger, my little family.

I hear music and giggling coming from the kitchen. I follow it to find Frankie dancing around to 80's music with Eli as Dodger is happily bouncing between them. I smile and can't contain the laugh that spill from my lips.

Frankie looks up, our eyes meeting. She beckons me over with her finger. I laugh and soon join them in their dancing.

Picking Eli up as he excitedly shouts my name after not having seen each other these past few days. We start dancing and laughing until the oven timer goes off. I put Eli down and get out of Frankie's way as she goes to open the oven.

She pulls out an amazing looking lasagna. We plate out our food, and sit down, for the first time this week, as a family to eat dinner together.

Eli talks animatedly about how his week is going, and everything I've missed. Our dinner is fun, lighthearted and sorely missed by me.

Frankie brings out ice cream for us to have as dessert. I start cleaning up our dishes and usher Frankie, Dodger and Eli outside to enjoy the last few remaining nights of summer.

I join them and sit with them on the couch holding them both close to me, exhaling at the feeling of having them in my arms again. Happy doesn't even begin to explain how I feel right now.

I look down at Frankie and smile before giving her a soft kiss. She gets up before looking down at both of us. "I'm going to go to the bathroom and shower. Chris, Eli has something he would like to talk to you about."

She kisses both of our heads before heading inside. I look down at Eli and smile. "What's up, bud?"

He exhales a nervous breath before looking up at me. "Chris, you really mean a lot to me, and you've been so great with me, and I was just wondering if maybe I could..."

I laugh at his little rambling, something he definitely picked up from Frankie. "It's okay, bud, take your time."

He exhales once again. "Is it okay if I call you dad?"

He speaks a mile a minute, almost making me miss his words, but as they sink in, I'm frozen. My heart is beating loudly, I feel nervous all of a sudden. This is what I've wanted, but now knowing that he wants it too, it makes me feel overwhelmed with emotions.

I feel tears slide down my face. "You want to call me dad?"

Eli looks nervous as he nods his answer.

I exhale a shaky laugh and hug him. "Of course you can call me dad, bud. I would love nothing more! There's actually something I've been meaning to ask you. I've already talked to your mom, but it's honestly your decision. Eli, would it be okay if I adopted you?"

He looks up at me with tears in his eyes. "You want to adopt me?"

I nod looking him straight in the eyes. "I do. I would love to legally be your dad."

Eli throws his hands over my shoulders and starts crying. I pull him in closer and hug him tight.

I laugh, just like his mom, I think. "Is that a yes bud?"

He laughs now too. "Yes, it's a yes! I love you dad!"

Hearing the words for the first time being referred to me, almost make new tears fall. "I love you too bud."

After we calm down, I look down at him one more time smiling. "There's something else I want to ask you, but your mom can't know about it, okay?"

"Okay, what is it?" He asks intrigued.

"You promise you'll keep it a secret?" He leans forward and puts his pinky out for me to wrap mine around.

"I promise."

"I would like to know if you would be okay with me asking your mom to marry me?"

He looks up at me with wide eyes and a shocked face. "You're asking me for permission to marry mom?"

I quiet his voice down, hoping Frankie didn't hear him. "Yes, I'm asking for your permission to marry your mom. You're the most important person in the world to her, and I need to know if you are okay with me marrying her."

"Of course I'm okay with you marrying her dad!" He wraps me in a hug once again.

I laugh as everything that just happened starts to sink in. Eli is now calling me dad, and happy about me adopting him. And I also have his blessing to marry Frankie. This day started out with me feeling exhausted, and missing my family. But it has ended better than I ever thought it would.

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AN-here's another short chapter, but I thought it was completely necessary. I love Chris and Eli so much that I really wanted this chapter to bring them even closer! Tell me what you think! I hope you enjoy this new chapter! That's it for updates today, I'll hopefully be back tomorrow with more! Comment and vote if you would like to!