~Completed~Georgia Peters was in the middle of earning her master's degree when she met Frank Adler at a bar near campus. What started out as a one-night stand quickly became something so much more. When Georgia ends up in the Philosophy class that...
I helped get Mary home and settled in bed before Frank and I went outside. "So..." I say awkwardly.
"So? Do you want to talk about what you left in my truck last month?" He asks.
"We probably should."
"Why didn't you come up and tell me?"
"You had company. Didn't want to interrupt the first date you'd been on in years." I say, looking out over the complex.
"Date? She came to see how we were holding up since Mary's placement."
"That's not what it sounded like to me. To me it sounded like you were willing to throw away a decade's long relationship." I take a deep breath to keep myself from yelling. "I left and you didn't care enough to come after me. What was I supposed to think when I find you on a boat with a woman that isn't me?"
"I didn't know you wanted me to come after you."
"Why wouldn't I? You're my husband. Of course I wanted you to come after me." We fall back into silence.
"So where have you been staying?"
"My house." I answer shortly, not making eye contact.
"Your house?"
"I met with my father before he left town. He left me with some things. One of those was a check for a downpayment. Another was a legal form for my license to transfer over to Florida. I'm able to see patients here now, which is what I've been doing. The place I bought has a separate garage that was transformed into a home office. It's perfect. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and it's close to the marina."
"Are you trying to sell me on moving?"
"I can't force you to do anything Frank. It's been one of the few things I've failed at in my life." I joke. "But the option for you to move in with me is being offered if you want it." He smiles at me.
"Maybe we could come check it out tomorrow?"
"I think that'd be a great idea."
"What time should we be there tomorrow?"
I give him a look. "You're funny if you think I'm leaving here without you. We all stay here tonight, or we wake Mary up and go now."
He laughs and I almost melt. I missed him more than I realized. "If you're sure."
"Frank, I never want to be without you again. And I'm not just saying that because I'm pregnant. I didn't want to leave but you know my past. I never wanted this for Mary. And I'm not saying you did," I add when I see the look on his face. "But I didn't know what to do with myself and I needed some time to figure out who I am. And I did. And I found him."
"Him?"
"My biological father. Dick, I'm sorry, Richard, gave me a letter from him. With what little money I had set aside, I hired a private investigator in Boston who tracked him down."
"That's amazing Georgie." I just nod. "What's wrong? For as long as I've known you, this has been a dream of yours."
"Exactly. What if it's just a major letdown? What if I'm a major letdown? I was so young when my mom died I don't even have any memories of her. I have tiny, minuscule ones of him but nothing concrete. What if he takes one look at me and decides like all the rest, that I'm not worth it?" I choke on a sob. Stupid pregnancy hormones.
Frank gathers me in his arms and rubs my back soothingly. "Hey. You're not worthless. You are priceless." He lifts me up like I weigh nothing and takes me inside, to our bedroom and lays me down on the bed. I throw off my clothes and grab one of his shirts, breathing deeply at his smell, before I cuddle up to him and for the first time in over a month, I fall into a deep, peaceful sleep.
...
"Georgia! You're still here!" Mary says as she jumps on the bed, knocking Frank awake. He rolls over, groaning as he throws the pillow over his head. "Aww, Uncle Grumpipuss. Wake up!" I laugh out loud at that.
"I've only been trying to get you to call him that your entire life. So thank you. Thank you for that." I say as I get up to see what was in the kitchen for breakfast. "Why am I not surprised that as soon as I leave you revert back to your old ways? I guess we'll get breakfast when we get to where we're going." I yell back to the bedroom. I hear more grumbling from within. "Get yourself dressed Mary, and as soon as I can extract Frank from the bed and get him dressed, we'll go."
"Go where?"
"You'll find out when we get there." She groans now too before running back to her dresser and getting clothes before running to the bathroom and changing.
"Is she gone?" Frank asks as he emerges from the bedroom, pulling his shirt over his head.
"Momentarily." I say and he picks me up, placing me on the counter before placing one of his big hands across my abdomen. It was still flat, no evidence that there was another life growing inside. "So we never really got a chance to talk about how you felt about the whole situation." I say gesturing to my middle.
"Can we talk about it later? I'm not sure how much Mary knows and I don't want her overhearing and only getting half the story."
"Of course." I say and we drop the subject as Mary comes out.
"Good he's up. Can we go now?"
"Let's go." I say as we head outside and pile into my car, Fred too. 15 minutes later we're pulling up outside my house. "Welcome home." I say cautiously.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
