Mr. Mom

57

"I really do not want to go to work today."

"I don't want you to go either." Alice tells him, pressing herself up against his side.

"You're making it really hard for me to leave."

"That's kind of the point. Take the day off, you work so hard." Alice tells him, pressing kisses along his neck. "We can go for round two if you stay."

"You're trouble." She laughs and nuzzles her face into his shoulder. "Believe me,
I'd love to have a repeat of that but I can't just leave Fred alone."

"Worth a shot at least." She leans over and brushes a kiss against his lips before moving over to allow him to get up and get ready for work.

He gets out of bed and slips into a pair of boxers, turning around and sighing at the sight of Alice wrapped up in his blankets. She's a vision and he really, really doesn't want to go to work.

"What's wrong?"

"You."

"Me?"

"Yeah you're too gorgeous, I don't want to leave you." She chuckles and slips out of bed herself, holding the sheet to her body as she does. "That's not helping."

"I'm just grabbing some clothes," she pulls on the pyjama shorts she went to bed in and claims his t-shirt from the floor. "figured we could have breakfast before you have to go to work."

"That sounds nice." He leans his head down to brush his lips against hers softly. "You look really good in my clothes by the way."

"They smell like you, it's why I like them."

They make eggs and toast and curl up on the couch together, just chatting away until he looks at the clock. "I have to go."

She groans but pulls her legs off of his lap so he can get up. "Do you want us to bring you lunch today?"

"No it's alright, I'll just grab a burger at Pop's. I'm not sure when I'll be home, I'm pretty sure it'll be around bedtime though so don't wait for me to have dinner."

"Alright, have a good day." She leans up on her tip toes to give him a kiss.

"Thanks. Give El a kiss for me when she wakes up."

"Will do." With one last smile from her he leaves for work.

___

He regrets telling Alice he'd grab something at Pop's for lunch, he figured he'd at least have Fred as company but he had to go to an appointment with Hermione. So, FP is all alone.

He knows if he called her up she and Ellie would meet him, but he has to head back to work soon anyway and it seems pointless to tell them to get ready and drive over just so he has someone to talk to for a few minutes. Instead, he reads the town paper and eats his lunch in silence. That is, until the door opens and his curiosity gets the best of him.

A dark haired woman walks in, wearing a pair of sunglasses, she looks so familiar to him but it can't be. It's only when she walks up to the counter to place her order and takes off her sunglasses that his thoughts are confirmed.

"Gladys?" The woman spins around and freezes at the sight of her ex husband. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in Toledo?"

"I was on a little road trip with my boyfriend and I figured I'd grab a couple of burgers for the ride home."

"You met someone?"

"Yeah," She slips into the other side of the booth. "shortly after I moved."

"That's good, I'm glad."

"What about you? Have you found someone?"

"I have actually, her name's Alice."

"Has she met Isabelle?"

He nods. "She lives with us."

"She lives with you?" Gladys rolls her eyes. "You moved your girlfriend in after only knowing her for less than a year?"

"It's complicated. We weren't dating when she moved in. She was in a bad situation and she needed somewhere to stay, I offered her to stay with us."

"You do realize you sound absolutely insane right? You moved a random woman into the house you share with our daughter? What if she was some crazy person, huh, FP? What if she had hurt Isabelle, huh? How irresponsible can you possibly be to do that?"

"Hey, you have no right to tell me how to live my life. And you have no right to comment on Ellie's safety, you gave up any right to her when you ditched us for Toledo without so much as a goodbye." FP growls. "And if we're going to talk about responsibility let's talk about you. You told me you'd be showing up to pick Ellie up from daycare and you were a no show, Alice had to go get her. You didn't even show up to the court date to fight for custody. You have no right to tell me I'm irresponsible, every decision I make is in the best interest of our daughter, I would never put her in any sort of danger."

Gladys is silent for a moment. "Is she good to her?"

"She's the best. Ellie adores her," he scoffs. "Even told her she loves her the other day."

"What if you two break up? It's not just you who will be hurt, FP. If she's already this attached to the woman you better pray that it works out between you two or she'll be crushed if it doesn't."

"Well you already crushed her when you left for Toledo, why do you care if she gets hurt anyway?"

"Because I regret it every single day that I didn't even say goodbye to her." She admits, her voice cracking as her eyes gloss. "I wasn't mom of the year, no doubt about that. I wasn't the most involved or the most affectionate but I do love her. She's still my daughter. And I know that I must of broken her heart which is why I don't want it to happen again." She sighs. "I know I don't have any right to tell you how to live your life but you need to think long and hard about this woman and if being with her is worth possibly hurting Isabelle if it doesn't work out."

"She's great with her, and things are great between us. I... I don't think things will go south."

"I hope not, but face facts FP. She'd be raising a child that's not even her own and she's only what? In her 20's? That's a lot of responsibility for someone to take on." She slips out of the booth and walks to the counter to collect her takeout bag. "Just consider what I said. And I do hope it works out, for you and for Isabelle. Tell her I said hi? Give her a kiss for me?"

He nods and she gives him a sad smile as she walks out of the diner, leaving FP to think over everything she said. Maybe, just maybe, she has a point.