𝔹𝕖 𝕤𝕠 𝕍𝕖𝕣𝕪 ℂ𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕕 𝕆𝕟𝕖 | 𝔽𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕜 ℂ𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕩 𝕆ℂ

Warming Up

Maggie's chest was heaving up and down as she got done with her rant, both of them staring each other down silently. "You're right." Frank finally spoke after about a minute. "None of this is normal, but this is the most normal I've had in a long while.." He looked down. "All I'm askin' you is to let me have it while I can."

Maggie blinked at him in surprise at his sudden change in tune, and quickly guilt over took her as she realized how cold she was being. "Alright." She relented as her eyes studied him. "Breakfast is basically ready if you wanna go sit down.. Just don't sit on the chair to the left, that's my Grandpa's chair." She muttered before twirling around and opening her door. Grandpa glanced to her quickly before looking back at his tv.

"So.. is everything alright?" He asked casually as Maggie nodded while walking towards the breakfast in the kitchen.

"Yep, everything's alright Papa. I'm gonna make you and Frank a plate."

"I can make my own plate, but thanks." Frank quickly walked up beside her, grabbing some bacon then sliding eggs on his plate.

"Do you want toast?" Maggie asked him as she turned her head a little to glance at him. Frank shook his head.

"No, no, you've done enough. I'm already gettin' a free home cooked meal, I couldn't ask for anymore." Maggie shrugged at that before opening up a cabinet and pulling out some slices of bread, completely ignoring his refusal.

"It takes like two seconds to throw some bread in a toaster, it's not like I'm hand kneeding the dough myself or something. No need to be so humble." She spoke dismissively, not even looking at him as he stared at her, not knowing what to say. "If you wanna do something, you can put a pot of coffee on." Maggie pointed to the coffee maker to the right and Frank turned to look at it before silently nodding.

Unbeknownst to them, Grandpa watched them with a small knowing smile on his face as they interacted in the kitchen.

Soon they were all sitting at the table, quietly eating breakfast when Grandpa spoke. "So Frank, what do you do for work?" He asked as Frank swallowed what was in his mouth before wiping his face with a napkin before answering.

"I uh, was a former marine and navy seal. I worked special ops but was infantry before that." Grandpa nodded with a hum, buttering his toast.

"I was army. Fought in 'nam." He pointed his butter knife at Frank for a moment before swishing it around as he spoke. "Took a toll on me, but I think acclimating back to society was even harder. You ever feel that way?" He asked as Frank stared at him for a moment, his face set in stone. Maggie subtly watched him, noticing the way his jaw set tightly and wondered what must have happened to him.

"More than you know." He muttered, his voice low and gravelly. Grandpa seemed to sense his upset and quickly shook his head as he put down his knife flustered, smoothing his mustache as he did.

"Sorry about that, I'm just an old geezer rambling on. I hope I didn't offend you." Franks eyes were down cast as he looked at his food.

"You didn't upset me, George. I guess I'm still acclimating to life outside of a war zone, if you know what I mean?"

"More than you think." Grandpa murmured wistfully, his eyes cloudy as if he was remembering memories. "Thankfully, I have Maggie here to help me. I couldn't be luckier with a granddaughter like her." Grandpa reached over to grab her cheek and squished it as Maggie chuckled quietly. Frank gave a crooked smile as he watched the interaction.

"Really it's the other way around. If it weren't for my grandpa, I don't know where I'd be in life. He practically raised me." Maggie smile at her Grandfather and he gave her a warm smile back as she picked at her eggs with her fork before glancing over a bit to see Frank staring at her again. Those damn eyes, so unnerving. She thought to herself, averting her own back to her plate.