(Frankie Morales x F!Reader)
You're big. Perhaps too big. You're seven months pregnant. Everything hurts at this point. You feel miserable and try to hide it from everyone. Pregnancy with Cara was so easy, but this time seems different entirely. You can barely see your toes past your protruding belly. Cara has been a handful lately, more so than normal. It's driving you nuts that she will not behave.
Frankie still has to work and often times, Will or Benny will drop by to try and help the process. However, both of them can only play Barbie and Polly Pocket for so many hours. You sigh heavily at the thought of this afternoon coming to a close. Benny needs to leave soon. He's stayed way past his time even to where he cancelled his gym session to help you. Frankie will be home at any moment.
"Okay, she's OUT." Benny says, walking down the hallway and into the living room. "Thank god." You say, leaning your head back on the couch. Benny flops down next to you. "If only I could get more than five minutes of sitting down time." You say. "What else needs to be done?" He asks. It seems that even Benny has reached his saturation point. The only positive to this is that it could be this way for him some day. "Fish is going to be home and I haven't cooked dinner." You pout.
There hasn't been a day in your marriage/relationship that you DIDN'T have dinner made when Frankie got home. You had always done that for him. Eating out was rare, even now that your budget would be squeezed with two children. "What were you going to make?" Benny inquires. "I don't know..." you say. He gets up from the couch, heading to the kitchen. "Oh Benny, leave it be. I'll just send Frankie to get takeout." You say. Benny ignores the comment. He's stubborn, like usual.
Before long, the house is wafting with a yummy aroma. Frankie walks through the front door and Cara greets him. She proceeds to tell him all about her day, leaving out the unsatisfactory bits (which equates to about half the day). Frankie speaks sweetly to her as he wanders into the kitchen to find Benny. "Damn, I don't remember marrying you." He teases. Benny's wearing your apron, partially as a joke. "You're late, as usual." He says, playing up the character. Frankie puts Cara down. "Well, I'm sorry, darling." He says.
Just then, you shuffle from down the hall. Frankie's smile fades as he catches the tiredness that's tainting your skin and mood. He moves towards you. "How was work?" You ask under heavy lids. "It was okay." He says. He's more focused on you. "How was your day?" He asks, already knowing the answer. "Exhausting. I've worked Benny to death practically. We'll be lucky if he ever wants to come back." You say. Frankie sighs. "I'm sorry. I'm not here enough. I should take off—" You stop him. "No. We need the money. It's only 8 more weeks." You say.
"Honey, you need help. I can see where you're struggling...let me do this." He urges. "Frankie..." "Come on. You can take a mental break. Go out for a bit. I'll watch Cara. You can go to your mom's for the weekend." He suggests." "Frank, that's hardly fair. There's so much to do here—" he places his finger to your lips. "Stop." He says, dropping his hand to land on your shoulder. You can feel the tears welling in your eyes. "I can handle it." He says. His eyes are filled with concern and just the desire to take all of this away from you. You take a deep breath, rolling your lips together. You wipe the tears away. "Okay. Okay. I'll call my mom tomorrow." You say.
The days fly by and before you know it, your mom is knocking on the door. Frankie follows you to the door, holding Cara in one arm & your overnight bag in another. You open the door to your mother who is smiling brightly. "Oh honey! You look..." she pauses. Frankie is standing behind you, motioning for her to not say a word. "Terrible? I know." You say. "Oh! I didn't mean it, sweetheart." She says, tugging you into a hug. Once again, your belly is in the way. You sigh heavily. The doorway seems cramped and you feel like you're being pushed out without so much as a goodbye. As you slip around your mother, the entryway seems less smothering.
Frankie pulls your mother into the apartment where they share a small conversation about your emotional state. He tells her it's just a little much for you right now and you could use a break. Your mother agrees, she kisses Cara goodbye and takes your bag from Frankie. She heads down the stairs first as you squeeze back in to kiss your husband and daughter goodbye. "Be good for your father." You say to Cara. She promises to do so. A promise you're certain will be broken in the first fifteen minutes of you leaving. "Remember to relax while you're gone." Fish says as he leans forward and kisses you.
Without a word more, you head down the steps towards the car that's parked curbside. Before you know it, your mother and you are driving away down the road from your house. You want to crawfish and change your mind. You'd rather be home with Fish and Cara. The conversation between you and your mother seems lackluster to a point. You're tired, can't she understand that? The drive to your childhood home is an hour away. You arrive at the house just in time for dinner. "I'll start dinner." Your mother says. "Actually, if it's alright with you, I think I'll just go sleep for a bit." You say. Your mother seems a little dismayed at this. "Are you sure?" She asks. "Yeah, I feel exhausted and I'm more or less tired of being pregnant." You say. It's not meant to be insulting or ungrateful.
Your mother leaves you alone and fixes dinner anyways. She'll keep the leftovers warm for you. You head to the guest room, or your old room, and fall asleep in bed. It's around 8:00 pm when you wake up. You're hungry and thirsty. Fish has called several times, but they've all gone to voicemail. The house is dark and that means your mother is in bed already. You go out to the kitchen and find some leftovers on the stove. You don't bother heating them up as you're hungry now. You listen to the voicemails that Frankie has left and then you call him back. He answers.
"Hey." He says. "Hey, is everything okay?" You ask. "Well, everything was great for the first hour. Then it turns out I am a terrible father." He says. You scoff. "You're not a terrible father. You two just don't spend a lot of time together." You say. "I feel awful about it now. She screamed and cried for you just before bedtime." "She'll get past that after I'm gone for a couple days." "I hope so. Are you enjoying your time away?" Frankie asks. "I was enjoying napping for more than 30 minutes before Cara waking up and asking for one of everything." You say. The conversation continues on as you eat dinner and Frankie tells you he's tired and ready for bed. You agree and both of you hang up.
Saturday is much better. You and your mother go out for breakfast in the morning and then do a little bit of shopping before lunch. You spend all day talking to Frankie on the phone about Cara. He takes her to a racing track where Pope, Benny and Will are all meeting up. If there's one thing Cara loves, it's spending time with her uncles. You're happy to hear that she's having a better time now. When the day is over, you feel tired, but in a good way. After dinner, you sit outside and Facetime with Frankie as he lets Cara tell you all about her day. She weaves a wild tale of cotton candy and hot dogs, with burning tire treads and crashing cars. "...and also Uncle Benny started cussing and Uncle Pope got REALLY mad at him!" She said through the speaker on the phone. You begin to laugh.
Eventually, Cara leaves you and Frankie to a conversation on your own as she goes off to get ready for bed. "Today was good then?" You ask. "Much better than yesterday evening. I feel a bit more confident about my daddy duties." He said. You drop your hand, brushing it over your belly. "You better be. I can't handle two of these by myself." You say. "Well, when he gets here...I'll help you waaayyy more than before." You laugh softly. "Have I told you today how much I love you?" Frankie asks. You ponder on it for a moment, teasing him. "No, I don't think so." You tease. "Well, I love you so much." "Yeah?" "Of course, I can't think of a better woman to be the mother of my children." "Oh please...you're just trying to squeeze in brownie points before the baby comes." You say. His deep chuckle resounds through the phone speaker. "Would you blame me if I was?" He says.
Sunday is a good day as well, but you're beginning to miss sleeping with Frankie and listening to Cara babble nonsense every second of the day. You and your mother go for pedicures and have lunch together before it's time for you to head home. Before you go, she asks how you're feeling. "I'm feeling much better that I got the chance to unplug." "You know that's not really how parenting works right?" Your mother asks. You wrinkle your brow. This is partly why you don't want to spend time with your mother anymore. She doesn't believe in taking a day to herself. She thinks you just work/parent/maintain until you die and that's your life. "I'm not going to argue the matter with you. Next time I want a day to myself, I'll just pay to go somewhere." You say. The rest of the drive home is silent.
When you get home, your mother doesn't offer to get your things out of the car, she simply stays in the driver's seat. You grab your bag, mutter a goodbye and then head up to the front door. You brush off the negative energy before slipping your key into the lock and opening the door. The house is quiet. It's evident that Cara and Frankie are not at home, maybe they're out with the guys again. There are some dirty dishes and some of the house is in disarray. You take the opportunity to clean up the house. It's certainly not a big deal now that you've been gone for a while.
Just as you're starting the laundry, you hear the front door come unlocked. Cara and Frankie walk in just talking away. Cara runs over to where the toys are and begins to get them all out again. You come around the corner. "Excuse me." You say loudly. Both of their heads snap in your direction, looking mighty guilty. "I just put all those toys away, so if you're going to get them out, you'll clean it or I'll throw all the toys away." Cara begins to stutter reasons why she should be allowed to have to toys out and Frankie is a little in disbelief. "If you wanna make a mess, go to your room." Cara blinks a little sadly, looking towards Frankie as if asking him to do something. He shrugs. "You heard your mother." He says. Cara slumps to her room like a kicked puppy.
Frankie approaches you with his hands raised. "I'm unarmed." He says, softly. "As for you...how long had those dishes been sitting there?" You ask. "Only from breakfast, I would've washed them, but I didn't know what time you'd be home. I figured I could score some points if you walked in while I was doing them." He grins. You smile sweetly. "What was that?" He asks, jutting his thumb in Cara's direction. "We've gotta be firmer with her. Think of if we have two like her. It would be nuts." You say. "Alright, I agree." He says, wrapping his arms around you. "How was your mom's place?" He asks. "It was pretty boring, but I don't wanna talk about that right now." You say. He raises a brow. "What do you wanna talk about?" He asks. You wrap your arms around his neck, tugging him into the bedroom. "I don't wanna talk." You say.
~~~
Two months later, Frankie is bouncing Cara on his knee as they're sitting in the waiting room. Benny comes rushing up the stairs, completely out of breath. "Whoa, slow down." Frankie says. "I got here as fast as I could; did she have the baby yet?" He asks. "He was born about 10 minutes ago." "Damnit!" Benny says. "It's okay, we can all take turns holding him once they're finished cleaning him up." Frankie says.
About an hour goes by and the nurse comes out to inform Frankie he's allowed to come see you. Will takes Cara, so the two of you can have a moment alone. Frankie goes into the hospital room to see you sitting up in the bed with the breastfeeding coach sitting alongside your bed. "I think I got it." You say softly. The woman leaves your side and Frankie comes and takes her place. "How are you?" He asks. "I'm good." You say. His fingers extend forward to brush along the infants forehead. His eyelashes flutter softly as he continues to nudge his face deeper against the soft flesh of your breast. "Where's Cara?" You ask. "She's out there with Will and Pope. Benny's downstairs in the cafeteria, attempting to drown his sorrows in red Jell-O." "I think it's actually cherry flavored..." You say. "Well, whatever. He's a bit upset that he missed the birthing." Frankie says. "God, he's so weird." You say.