Learning to Fall

"Frank!"

Gerard's eyes were wide, and his mouth was wide-open as he stared at me.

"Yeah?" I asked, raising my eyebrow, giggling a little. He began to laugh maniacally, actually having to hold his chest from laughing so hard.

Did I say something funny...?

"It's okay, really, I'm buying lunch today, okay?" he told me, trying to regain his composure.

I still had my eyebrow raised at him and gave him an amused look, but didn't think any more into why he was laughing so hard. Something told me I was better off not knowing.

"Are you sure...?" I asked, still not completely sure I felt okay with him buying me and Sophia lunch after he gave me the DVD for free earlier... I didn't want him to think I was taking advantage of him or anything.

"Absolutely sure. So come on, Frank. What'll it be?" he asked, giving me that look that meant he was serious.

"Okay, I give in. Umm..." I said, studying the menu. "Sophia will have a nugget Happy Meal with a Hi-C, and I'll... have the same, I guess."

Even though he said this was his treat, I didn't want to order a big combo meal or anything; that would be rude. But I didn't want to not order anything at all, because that would be rude also... so I figured this was the safest way to go.

"You're getting the same thing as your little girl?" Gerard asked, now raising an eyebrow at me. I nodded enthusiastically, which made him chuckle.

"Of course. It's all about the toy, Gerard," I answered him smoothly, trying my best not to come off sounding like a complete smart ass.

"Touche," he said, placing his son that had previously been perched on his hip on the floor.

"Logan, go with Frank. I'll order and bring it over, okay?"

I shot Gerard a surprised look, but he just winked at me and stepped up to the counter so he could order.

"Well, it looks like it's just me and you little man. Let's go," I said, sticking my hand out for him to grab on to. Logan looked up at me with his big hazel eyes that were identical to his father's, and giggled at me as he latched his little fingers around mine.

We toddled our way to a table that was located towards the playground, where the girls were busy running around and giggling with each other.

I picked Logan up and placed him on the seat and sat down next to him, watching happily as he ran up and down the booth with his little hands in the air. He didn't have far to go, but he made the best of what space he could.

Logan would grin when he reached me; he would pause for just a second before smiling mischievously and running all over again.

He flung his little body on top of me, to which I replied with an enthusiastic 'oomf' sound. The toddler smiled brightly at me, revealing all of his tiny white teeth, and surprisingly he didn't try to let go of me.

He poked my lip ring and giggled as I made a face at him. He really was an adorable kid.

"Looks like you've got a new friend," Gerard said, placing two trays down on the table in front of us. Logan giggled and gave his father a high five.

"This kid is awesome," I said, getting up so he could sit next to his son.

"Where are you going?" Gerard asked, stopping me dead in my tracks.

"Oh um, to get the girls. You've done enough, sit down already!" I told him, and he just smiled at me and sat down with Logan as I headed to the playground area to retrieve our daughters.

I spotted them playing in the ball pit, shrieking and laughing and having a good ol' time.

"Time to eat, ladies," I said to them through the netting that held up the wall of the ball pit.

"Yay!" They both exclaimed, scrambling their way out of the big plastic contraption and ran past me. They settled down at their own table, and Gerard and I both looked at each other and laughed.

"They're already too cool to eat with their old man," he said, shaking his head. "Here."

He handed two Happy Meals to me and I put the little boxes in front of them, earning a smile and a thank you from each. "Here you go, Ella, Sophia... enjoy."

I returned back to my empty seat in the booth across from Gerard, and he pushed my little box towards me. "There's your Happy Meal, Frank," he said with a smirk, but I accepted it graciously as if it were the greatest thing ever.

"Fank," Logan repeated his father and giggled, pointing at me as he stuffed a french fry in his mouth. Gerard whipped his head to stare at his son, smiling brightly.

"I think he likes you, Frank," he said, which made me feel all giddy inside. Logan knew my name, and he said it so cutely. I was beginning to really fall in love with this kid.

I shook that off and returned my attention to my Happy Meal, pulling the box apart and retrieving my toy.

"Oh goody, let's see what I got..." I said, rummaging through it until I found what I was looking for.

"Alright, a race car!" I exclaimed, a little more enthusiastic than normal. Logan's little eyes lit up as he saw the plastic toy car in my hand, and my heart melted. "Here, Logan. It's for you."

"Car!" he cried out excitedly, dragging it across the table and the wall next to him.

"What do you say, Logan?" Gerard said to his son, who looked up at me sweetly.

"Thank you, Fank" he said as best as he could, and continued playing with his new toy.

"Good boy," Gerard said to Logan, kissing the top of his head, before he turned back to me. "Really, thank you."

"Are you kidding me? I should be the one thanking you. You gave me a free DVD, and treated me and Sophia to lunch... and you only met me today!" I said to him, taking a bite of one of my nuggets.

"Oh yeah, speaking of which, did you get a chance to watch it yet?"

"No, I just had enough time to go home and change before I picked up Sophia, so not yet. I'll definitely watch it tonight, though," I replied, taking a sip of my Hi-C.

"Yeah, I haven't gotten to watch it yet, either. I'm dying to though, it's on my list of things to do tonight as well," Gerard said, looking as if he was debating something in his mind. He smiled, and peeked over at the girls at the table next to us.

"Can we go play now, daddy?" Ella asked, swinging around on her chair.

"Please, daddy?" Sophia added, who was pleading at me with her eyes for me to say yes.

I was about to say yes but then decided to check with Gerard first, and he nodded. "Have fun, ladies!" he cried out to them as they took off for more fun and adventure.

"So yeah, I'll watch it tonight and we can discuss it tomorrow," I said, as we returned to our previous conversation. "I'm pretty sure I'll be covering your route again tomorrow, or if not I'll see you at school when we pick up the girls."

Gerard nodded. "Awesome. Wow Frank, it seems like we'll be seeing a lot of each other, huh?"

I looked up at him from my nuggets and noticed he was smiling.

"Yeah, sure looks like it," I replied. I made a mental note to tell Angelica I would be picking Sophia up from now on....

And now I had to change the subject quick, before the thought of her ruined my day.

"So, it's only 3:30, what time does your store close?" I asked, deciding this would make for a good conversation.

He smiled. "Oh um, at six. But I have guys to cover for me. I wanted to make sure I got to pick these guys up. I get Logan from daycare then I have to get Ella," he replied.

"Ah," I nodded, deciding whether or not to tell him how much I liked it. Why the hell not?

"I'll tell you what, Gerard. That place is amazing. I've never seen such an amazing store before!"

Gerard smiled brightly, as if he was genuinely delighted to hear me go on and on about his store. "Really?"

I nodded again, "Oh yeah. It's like a fantasy land for me. All of my favorite things, like the gigantic Wolverine you have... wait, Logan!"

I stopped what I was saying, and looked at Gerard with an amazed look on my face. "You named your son after Wolverine, didn't you?"

"Guilty," he said as he burst out laughing, "I thought it would be so bad ass!"

I gazed at him, starstruck. That was right, that was such a bad ass thing to name your kid. Very clever, this guy was even more awesome than I thought.

"Just don't tell Miranda! She has yet to find out that her son was named after a comic book character," he said, putting his finger over his mouth as if to shush me.

"Miranda?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I stuffed a nugget into my mouth.

"Oh... yeah, my wife," Gerard said, rolling his eyes. "The kids' mom.."

"Oh," I said, mentally slapping myself as I noticed the wedding ring on his finger. I smiled, as he continued.

"Yeah, Miranda would kill me. She wouldn't be very impressed with the fact that her son is named after something she absolutely hates..."

He stopped talking for a bit, and looked down at his son as if he was a bit sad for a second. He held him close to him, and put on a smile.

"But hey, fair's fair. She named Ella, I got to name Logan."

"Yep, that's definitely fair," I nodded in agreement.

"Um, Sophia is named after my aunt. She was amazing, and she died just a day before Sophia was born, so I figured it would be a nice little tribute to her..."

"Aww, I'm sorry to hear that. Logan's middle name is Michael, after my brother. He was really honored that I picked it," Gerard said, smiling at Logan.

"Yeah, that's a huge honor. Angelica-my girlfriend, decided she wanted to make Sophia's middle name Francesca, it's kind of like Frank... as a chick name... so I was pretty excited about that, and was kind of blown away by it," I replied, continuing with the conversation.

"Is Sophia your only child?"

I nodded. "Yep, she's my baby. Her mom and I just... decided not to have any more. We figured she was plenty enough."

Gerard nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yeah, one is definitely enough. I don't see how people can have three or more kids, I've got my hands full with two!"

"I know I couldn't handle it," I replied, laughing.

I glanced over my shoulder towards the playground, watching Sophia and Ella running around and giggling like crazy.

"God, I am so happy Sophia and Ella found each other," I said, returning back to Gerard and Logan. "Sophia really never had any friends before, so I'm glad she and Ella hit it off."

"That's the same with Ella!" Gerard exclaimed, hitting my arm lightly. "She tried everything she could to get me to let her stay home from school this morning. It was... painful."

"Aww. Well, Sophia was excited to go to school this morning. I bought her a new dress and told her she couldn't wear it until today, so she had no problem."

"Lucky. God, I wish my daughter was so easily swayed by a dress," Gerard replied, laughing.

"So how long have you been a UPS man, Frank?"

"Oh, um..." I glanced at the ceiling, trying to think about that answer. "Well, since Sophia was born, really. I had a pretty ridiculous job before, but needed something better for her, and it pays pretty well. Like, I get benefits for me and for her, so that's good."

"Definitely. Do what you can," Gerard nodded, then laughed. "My wife has a pretty good job, she works a lot but makes a lot so I get to spend some time with the kids."

"Psh, I wish. My girlfriend is supposed to be looking for a new job today, her brother is apparently trying to help her with the job hunt. So we'll see how it goes," I said, rolling my eyes.

I started up at the ceiling, and it was in that moment that I realized how very different Gerard and I actually were. He had his own store, and was his own boss, which meant he probably made a lot of money. Ella probably has a closet full of beautiful dresses, whereas Sophia only has a few meant for special occasions. I made pretty decent money, but it went as quick as I got it. Like now, I have to pay Sophia's tuition, which is taking a big chunk away from my bank account but that's a necessity. I support her mom too, and pay every damn bill and it gets very hectic sometimes. I really hope Angelica can land her a job so she can start helping out, too.

"Frank?"

Thankfully, he snapped me out of my little trance.

"Sorry," I said, blushing a bit.

"Don't be. I was just saying, it seems like you and Sophia are really close. That's nice," Gerard said, which made me smile.

She's all I'm living for... is what I was really thinking, but I didn't want him to know my life was tragic enough for Sophia to be the only good thing in my life, so I decided on a different choice of words.

"Well, we spend a lot of time together after I get off of work, which is usually pretty late but now I have to take afternoons off so I can pick her up, but that's fine with me because I'll be able to spend more time with her," I said, turning around to look outside again. Sophia and Ella were sitting on the ground, still talking and giggling with one another.

"That really is nice. My wife wanted to get a fucking nanny," Gerard said, making me turn back around and eye him widely. "I was not having someone else raise my fucking kids!"

Logan pointed at Gerard and stared at him. "Swear!"

I burst out laughing at the look Gerard was giving me.

"Ooh, daddy said a bad word, didn't he, Logan?" I told Logan, and he nodded.

"Bad daddy," Logan replied, giving him a stern face.

"Yes, naughty daddy. Sorry, Logan," Gerard said, kissing his nose.

"Swear jar!" Logan exclaimed, still giving Gerard a mean look. Gerard's face squished up and he replied, "Yes Logan, swear jar when we get home... don't tell Ella."

I raised an eyebrow at them. "Swear jar?"

His face squished up again, which made me laugh even harder.

"Well, Frank, it's like this," he began, putting his arms behind his head as he relaxed in his seat.

"My daughter invented this charming thing called a swear jar. I have to put a dollar in it every time I say a naughty word. Right, Logan?"

The little boy that looked identical to his father nodded with a serious look on his face.

"Ahh. I get it," I said, nodding also. "Wow, you must be rich."

I mentally kicked myself, thinking how wrong that sounded.

"...from the jar, I mean," I finished my sentence, laughing nervously. I hope he didn't take that the wrong way...

"The sad part is it's almost full," Gerard sighed. "My kids are going to be able to buy a fu-freaking home entertainment system soon."

Gerard looked at Logan, who was playing with his car. Logan looked up at his daddy and smiled back, which was simply one of the sweetest things I have ever seen in my life.

"Eh, just so you know..." Gerard started to say, fumbling around with a straw wrapper, as if he was picking his next few words rather carefully.

"Yeah?"

"I'm not rich. Well, I'm not going to be rich, anyway. My kids get all the profits from my store. We send our kids to a very expensive school, and most of the people that send them there are very stuck-up and snobby. I don't want you to think that I'm like them, okay?"

His eyes were sincere as he spoke those words to me. I couldn't believe he actually felt he needed to say them to me.

"I could never think of you as snobby, or stuck-up Gerard. You're pretty much the farthest thing from that," I said, noticing his smile return.

"I mean, look at what you did for me today. I was a complete stranger to you this morning and now we're sitting here having a conversation like we've known each other forever. If anything I consider you very generous, and I'd like to say that we're... you know, friends."

I looked away, now playing with the same straw wrapper that Gerard was fiddling with earlier.

"I'd like that, Frank," he said, which made my eyes dart up at him immediately. He had a warm smile on his face, one that I'm sure matched mine considerably.

"Well that's great, then. And that's really awesome of you saying your profits are for your kids. That's the way it should be, in my opinion. Everything I do, I do it for Sophia. It's nice to know there's other people out there like that, too."

His smile went even bigger, as he replied, "Yep. They make it all worth it."

"Definitely," I said, taking the very last sip from my drink. "Well, thanks for hanging out with us today. I know Sophia is just having the time of her life with Ella, and talking with you has been really great."

"Thanks for having Sophia!" he blurted out, laughing.

I gave him a funny look. "Your welcome?"

"No really, I mean, thanks for having such a great kid. I swear, if my child willingly decides to go to school from now on because she has a friend like her, I will consider your daughter somewhat of a godsend," he elaborated, which made me smile.

"Oh... well, in that case, you can use Sophia as bait any day to get Ella to go to school," I said, giggling.

He laughed back, then looked down at Logan and sighed.

"Well, I think my son has sufficiently disgraced himself enough for one day," he said, cleaning the food that was stuck on his face. "So I guess I should be getting them home..."

He had a rather odd look on his face, one that I couldn't quite place, but it was quickly replaced by a smile as he stood up. I looked at my watch and gasped. It was nearly 5:30, we'd been here for almost two hours.

"Wow I didn't realize we'd been here for so long!"

He looked confused and looked at his own watch, and let out a gasp of his own. "Shit, you're right!"

"Swear!" Logan piped up, pointing at his father, who smacked his forehead as he let out another obscenity.

"Sorry sweetie," Gerard said, picking up Logan and kissing his cheek. "Daddy really is trying to stop..."

He made eye contact with Ella and gestured for them to come inside.

"Well Frankie the UPS man, it was nice meeting you," Gerard said, returning his attention back to me.

"Likewise, Dungeon Master Gerard," I replied, making us both laugh as Ella stomped her way inside.

"Daddyyyy, do we have to go?" she asked, a rather unpleasant look on her face.

"Umm let me think about that for a second..." Gerard said to his daughter, "Yes. Now say goodbye to Sophia, you'll see her tomorrow."

Ella huffed and walked back to Sophia, who was busy trying to put her shoes back on her feet.

"I'm sure we'll be doing this quite often, I know they had a lot of fun today and well, so did I," Gerard said, putting Logan down on the ground.

"Anytime, I'm free most afternoons so whenever, just let me know," I said, as I overheard Ella telling Sophia she couldn't wait for school so she could see her.

Gerard must have heard this as well, because he dropped to his knees in front of Sophia and hugged her tightly. "You child, are an angel. Thank you!"

Sophia looked at me weirdly but smiled and patted Gerard on the back. "Bye, Mr. um... Gee."

He let go of her and looked at her questioningly, but continued to smile and then hugged both girls together as they squealed loudly.

I felt a tug on my pants and looked down to see Logan, smiling up at me as he held out his arms.

"Aww he wants to cuddle," Gerard said, smiling at us.

"Bye Logan," I said, kneeling down by him so I could give the little guy a hug.

He grinned at me through his tiny teeth and replied, "Bye Fank."

For some reason, I hugged on to him for maybe a second longer than I should have. One, this little boy was adorable, and I do believe I have developed quite a soft spot for him. Second, he made me wish that I could maybe someday have a son of my own. I never wanted another kid until now, but Logan... he was special, and made me begin to think otherwise..

Logan let go and toddled off to his sister and Sophia.

"Dada swear!" he said to her, making me burst out in laughter as Gerard cringed.

"Alright let's go," Gerard said to Logan as he picked him up, and the two girls began to hug each other again.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Gerard," I said, noticing the stern face Logan was still giving his dad.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, 'Fank'," he giggled, calling me by the nick name Logan had given me.

"Oh yeah? Well, you just make sure you pay up for all your bad words," I said to him, making him cringe again as Ella nodded her head.

"Yeah daddy, you better pay up!"

Gerard huffed and flipped his hair dramatically. He smiled at me again, muttered a "see ya" and walked out the door with his kids.

Sophia came running to me and hugged my leg.

"Ready to go, munchkin?" I asked her, grabbing her hand. She nodded and smiled happily as we walked out to the car. I helped her in like I always did, and she began chatting away about all the fun things her and Ella did and talked about.

"Did you have a good day too, daddy?" she asked, looking up at me with those big green eyes of hers.

I looked down at her and smiled.

"You know what, honey? I had a fantastic day..."