You Take My Breath Away - Brian May

21. 'Take Care of Those You Call Your Own...'

"DAD!"

Frank was awake when Lettie and Chip arrived at the hosptial, baked goods and tea from Tina and Priya tucked under their arms. It was all they could do not to tackle him in hugs. 

"Hey, kids!"

"You gave us quite the scare there, Dad," said Chip.

"How are you feeling?" Lettie asked him.

"Oh, great!"

"You were complaining earlier," Valerie reminded him.  She looked very tired.

"You told me not to worry the kids."

"Glad to see you're in good spirits, Dad." Lettie sat at his bedside, Chip bringing a couple more chairs over for them.  "Pastry? Tina and Priya brought them," she held out the box and offered.

"Oh, thank you, don't mind if I do-" Frank reached in but Valerie smacked his hand. 

"No treats, Frank. Not until the doctor says so."

"But Val!"

"No 'buts', Frank Evanos. Wait until the doctor comes back."

Frank sat back against the pillows and grumbled. 

"More for us until then," said Chip, tucking into the treats.

"Oi!"

The doctor came in a little while later, saying that Frank was recovering well so far - and even gave the okay for him to have a baked good. 

"When will I be able to go back to work, Doc?" Frank asked.

Valerie scoffed.  "Not right away, Frank. You're not even allowed to go home yet!"

"Your wife is right, Mr. Evans," the doctor said.  "Not right away."

"And not under my watch!"

"Val!"

Valerie turned to their children. "See what I mean about the complaining?"

"You should head home, Mum," Lettie suggested when the doctor left.  "Have a nap. Chip and I will stay with him."

Valerie seemed torn but eventually agreed - she had probably been up most of the night. She gave Frank a kiss and told him not to cause too much trouble for the kids, then she headed home.   Lettie and Chip spent most of the day with their Dad. 

"I was really scared," Chip whispered when Frank was asleep.

Lettie nodded.  "We all were."

Chip sniffled, and she saw him trying to hold back tears. "Oh, Chip.  Here, come here." She wrapped him up in a hug, which he fully returned.  

"I was so scared we were going to lose him, Let."

"Me too, Mate.  Me too."

The shop was closed for a few days following Frank's heart attack, understandably, as the family spent most of the time with him at the hospital. They took the rest of the week and weekend off and then started fresh on Monday, Valerie, Chip, and Lettie. Lettie had to give up her shift at the stall for a little while in order to be at the shop, since they were short one staff member at the moment. Freddie and Roger understood, of course. 

"You're Dad's so stubborn," Valerie muttered as the three of them stocked shelves before opening up for their first day back.  "So strict on having it be a 'fully family business'. Gets that from his parents. I mean, I understand, but we could really use some extra help, even when there's the four of us working."

"What if we bend the rules slightly, and hire another English-Greek? We know we're  not the only ones," Chip suggested.  "I mean they're not family, but at least they're Greek, yeah?"

"You take it up with your Dad." Valerie sighed and got to her feet. "All right then, folks. I think we're ready to open."

Their loyal customers were right on time - some of them were even lined up outside the door before opening. They all asked how Frank was doing, and said that if the family needed anything, just to let them know. 

"Look at that, we're surrounded by such good neighbours and friends," remarked Valerie during a short break between customers. 

Lettie was sweeping the shop floor when another familiar face walked in.  "Oh, Brian." A wide smile spread across her tired face.  "So good to see you."

"You as well.  Heard you were open again, so I wanted to drop by and check in."

"Thank you, I'm glad you did."

"Me too.  And I wanted to drop these off. Some leftovers we had. We made extra for you and your family."

"Oh, thank you so much, Brian, that's so sweet. I'll just go pop these in the fridge in the break room, be right back, Love." The 'Love' part just kind of slipped out, but she had turned and gone into the back room, blushing furiously, before either could remark on it.  

When she returned, he smiled.  "How's it going?"

"Oh, well,  busy.  It's busy even with the four of us working, let alone three.  And Chip swiped the classical Greek music record for one of his Black Sabbath records, during our busiest time this morning - Mum wasn't too pleased."

Brian chuckled.  "The music does add a nice touch."

"Oh, Brian Love! So nice to see you," said Valerie, coming into the front of the shop. 

"Hello, Valerie. How are you doing?"

"Oh, we're making it through, thank you." She smiled between her daughter and Brian, giving Lettie a knowing smile on her way by. 

Brian visited often after that.  Tina and Priya stopped into the shop every day it was open, and Freddie, Roger, and Tim came by as well.  

A few days later, Mary stopped in.  

"Mary!"

"Hello Darling.  You're always coming by Biba to see me, so I thought I'd come by your shop and see you." The blonde smiled. 

"Well I'm glad you did."

"Me too." The two friends hugged.

"I've been getting lots of visitors actually, Brian was in earlier-"

"Ah, your boyfriend."

"Shut up." Lettie rolled her eyes.  "You sound like Tina."

Mary laughed.  

"Your boyfriend also came by, with Roger."

"Sweethearts."

"Yes."

"Well, I also came by to let you know that  there's been another job opening at Biba."  Lettie felt her jaw drop. "Now I know you're going through a lot at the moment, so no pressure at all.  But I wanted to fulfill my promise of letting you know if and when there was an opening."

  "Oh, Mary, thank you, so much. I really appreciate it." She sighed.  "I've just been so busy with work here in the wake of Dad's heart attack I just don't think I can take on another job at the moment. I mean I've barely had any shifts at the stall since - Fred and Roger have been so understanding."

Mary nodded in understanding.  "Not the best timing for another job opportunity to open up, I understand." 

"No. But thank you, really, I appreciate you keeping me posted."

"Of course." 

Lettie felt her heart sink a little, but knew she was doing the right thing.

 (Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed  as always! :))