Hold Me Close & Don't Let Me Fall ✓
~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 he's the assistant professor for, they're worried that others will call their relationship into question. Thankfully, they're able to maintain a professional relationship in the classroom and things go smoothly. She becomes close with Diane, much to their mother, Evelyn's chagrin and when Diane gets pregnant and Evelyn disowns her, it's Frank and Georgia that she turns to, even naming Georgia Mary's godmother.
When Frank blows off Diane one night because he's running late for dinner with Georgia, he thinks nothing of it, Diane assuring him she'll be fine. Then they get home and tragedy has struck. Diane is dead on the bathroom floor and Frank and Georgia are left with the responsibility of raising Mary. Fearing what his mother will do with Mary, who's already showing signs of advanced intellect, Frank and Georgia leave Boston with Mary and settle in Florida, hoping Evelyn won't think to look for them there. And there they've stayed. Frank repairs boats and Georgia got a job at a daycare, allowing Mary some interaction with children her age.
But as Mary gets older and her intelligence grows, the staff start noticing her gift, causing Georgia and Frank to reevaluate daycare. Georgia quits and turns to bartending during the day, while Roberta, their land-lady watches Mary.
They have a good thing going until Frank and Georgia decide it's time for Mary to go to normal school so she can learn to socialize. But things quickly go south and suddenly Evelyn is there, trying to take Mary from them. Will they survive if the unthinkable happens and Mary is taken away, or will they crack under the pressure his mother is once again asserting on their lives?
