After the contentious custody battle, Frank & Mary go on with their lives as usual. But it isn't until an eventful night at Ferg's that Frank starts to wonder if maybe his life might be missing something. Now that his niece has a normal life, maybe...
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Warning: Explicit Sexual Content
Frank and Joey snuck into his mother's brownstone and tried their best not to wake anyone up as they climbed up the stairs. Joey really thought that they could be sneaky but little did she know, Evelyn's stairs were ancient and as creaky as they came, maybe even more so at night; with every step, they seemed to defy the laws of physics.
The fundraiser had been more fun than Frank and Joey had expected and served to provide them with more fun foreplay opportunities then they could handle. All of the champagne and dancing had them feeling like they were in their own happy little world and their romantic walk home in the fresh snow ended up really set the mood and made it hard to keep their hands off each other.
Therefore, their plan was to buck Evelyn's rules and share Frank's old childhood bed to make good on the sexy promises they'd made to each other as they flirted all the way home. But they wouldn't accomplish their goal if they woke up the whole house before they even got to Frank's bedroom.
"Shhh!" Joey held on to Frank's arm and tried to get him to quiet down as he rushed up the steps like a bull in a china shop.
"Trust me, there's nothing we can do. We gotta just soldier through it." Frank explained in a hushed voice. "The faster we get in my room the better."
Frank was very familiar with those old stairs and they brought back memories of the many times he had tried, unsuccessfully, to sneak back into his house after curfew. Eventually, he'd learned that it was better to climb in his window and bypass the stairs entirely.
Diane had been great about leaving his window open for him on those nights. The memory of her waiting up for him hurt his heart in a good way. He had all but forgotten about their good times together. Being back in his old childhood home, after all these years, seemed to bring back a lot of old memories of his late sister; good and bad alike.
Frank had considered climbing through his bedroom window that night for old time's sake. But Joey was still dressed in her ball gown and there was no way that he was going to have her risking her neck just to fool around without his mother catching them.
But, he had to admit, it had been adorable how Joey had taunted him during the walk home and had boasted that she could easily beat him up the garden trellis with one arm tied behind her back; dress or no dress. He loved it when she got feisty like that, but he'd never forgive himself if she got hurt.
Once they finally reached the top of the stairs, Frank spun around and quickly kissed her with a giant smile on his face. "See, easy!" he whispered with a boyish happiness that always took her breath away. "Damn Joe, I can't wait to get that dress off of you."
"Lemme check on the kids first." Joey pleaded when he impatiently tried to pull her towards his old room. "Pleeeease. I miss them."
Frank was about to protest but stopped when he looked into Joey's big blue eyes, knowing that this was a battle that he was going to lose. So he, begrudgingly, tiptoed over to his mother's guest room with her and hoped for the best.
