Francine & Earl

Fall: Pt I

(A/N The original version of this chapter was way too long, so it will be split into another part.)

"Lil, are you home?" called a deep baritone, punctuated by the slam of a door.

Francine's mother winced at the sound, hating the way the loud noise echoed through their small apartment. She didn't need the super to come and fine them again; they already had to pay thirty dollars that they couldn't afford because of Francine's constant, colicky cries.

Rocking the sleeping child on her hip, Lillian exited the nook they called a kitchen to see Grayson with a bright smile on his face. The ill-fitted suit he rented from the shop across the street was disheveled and his cheeks were flushed, as if he ran from his job interview and avoided the faulty elevator to vault up the six flights of steps.

"What?" she whispered, walking carefully to the only bedroom in the place. Like everything else, it was tiny, only having room for a dresser and Francine's crib. Settling her child into the the bed, she brushed a few blonde strands from her forehead before returning to the living room.

Grayson was pacing, looking as if he couldn't contain himself with how happy he was. Lillian leaned against the doorjamb of the nursery, a smile curving her own lips as she watched a boy who used to never smile giggle to himself like a child who'd just been told a joke. He finally noticed her, rushing to wrap his arms around her waist to swing her around, making her laugh as well.

"What's with all the excitement?" she asked breathlessly, feet finally brushing against the toy littered carpet, but looking into his light eyes she already knew.

"I got the job," he breathed, placing chaste pecks all over her face. "I got the job!"

*

"Hush little baby, don't say a word. Papa's gonna buy you a mocking bird. . ."

Grayson sang as he soothingly rubbed his daughter's back, her sniffles breaking the melody. Turning over, the four year old pouted up at him and swiped away the tears on her cheeks harshly. It had been her first experience with school that day, the place that he was made to drop her off, and she was very vocal in the fact that she disliked it.

"Why'd you leave me, Dad?" she had asked when he walked through the door that evening, frowning up at him while he loosened the tie around his neck.

Her thumb was shoved into her mouth as she glared at him accusingly, refusing to give him the usual warm hug and happy chatter about what her and the babysitter did that day. Instead, she turned on her heel when he knelt down, indignantly stomping down the hall in her princess footie pajamas that she disliked with a passion. The past few weeks had been tough, with her mother getting a job as an intern at the local law firm and him getting more business responsibilities passed onto him because the owner was getting sicker by the day.

Shaking his head, Grayson ran a hand over Francine's hair, sighing at the thought of the man that became more of a father to him than his own was dying.

"Where's Mommy?" she asked, holding her blankets tighter to herself as if he was going to tell her that her mother wasn't coming back. He almost wanted to laugh at that; Lillian would never leave them.

Smiling at her conspiringly, he gestured for her to sit up. She let out a sigh at his actions, but did it anyway, putting her thumb back into her mouth while she waited for him to speak.

"How about this? I tell you where Mommy is if you tell me how school was. Deal?" he asked, offering his pinkie to her. She hesitantly wrapped hers around his, the tiny finger dwarfed by his larger one.