I heard the door open downstairs and I walked down. Jamia gave Frank a hug and I smiled, giving her one too.

"How have you been doing?" I asked.

"Pretty good," she said. "Been trying to write a lot more. Got some poems and song verses, you wanna read 'em, Frankie?"

Jamia clutched a little black journal to her chest hopefully.

"Of course," frank agreed. "I would love to read them, Mia."

She stepped in and smiled.

"Where's Bandit?" She asked.

"Oh, she's already been put to bed," I said. "Sound asleep."

"She's like a little angel," Frank said.

I gave him a kiss on the cheek, smiling happily.

"Gerard here went over the top," Frank said, wrapping an arm around my waist. "He made spinach enchiladas with some guacamole and rice on the side and even made vegan chocolate cake for dessert."

"Nothing meat?" Jamia asked.

"I'm vegetarian, remember," Frank said.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot," she mumbled. "Um, I brought some flowers."

She held them out nervously and I took them.

"Thank you, these are very pretty," I said.

I set them on the counter as she sat on the couch.

"Well now, the enchiladas should be done," I said. "Frankie, would you mind grabbing them out of the oven for me?"

Frank nodded, going to the oven.

"Would you like a pop?" I asked. "We've got Pepsi."

"That sounds good," Jamia said.

She sat at the table while I poured a can of Pepsi into a glass for her. Frank served us food while I poured the two of us wine.

"How has school been?" I asked.

Jamia purses her lips as she looked down.

"Well, um, i-i haven't really been going," she admitted. "I kind of dropped out."

"What?" Frank gasped. "Why would you do that?"

"Because it's dumb and pointless," she said. "I'm gonna be a writer anyways, I don't really need big degrees for that."

"A high school one would be nice, at least," Frank stated. "Jamia, you can't just drop out of high school, you're sixteen. Your parents really gave permission?"

"They don't give a shit about me," she said with a small shrug. "They signed all the papers. They don't care."

I frowned, taking a small bite of my food.

"I don't think that was the brightest idea," Frank said.

"You're the one who told me to follow my dreams," Jamia said.

"I never told you to drop out of high school," he said. "This is your future, Mia, you can't just waste it like that."

I raised my eyebrows, looking at Frank curiously. There was such a fatherly tone to his voice.

"I didn't come here to get lectured," Jamia said. "I thought you were chill, Frank."

Frank didn't say anything, just ate quietly. I was pretty curious too.

"So, How is your writing going then?" I asked, trying to change the topic of conversation.

"It's going good, my poem is going to be printed in a newspaper," she said proudly, looking to Frank in what almost seemed like a hope of approval from him.

"That's great, Mia," he said but his tone stayed the same, quiet and maybe even a little bit bitter.

I put my hand on his knee, giving a soft, comforting squeeze.

"That's great, Jamia, I'm sure your sister is proud of you," I said.

"She is, she told me to send her a copy of it once it releases," she said. "I can get you one too, Frank."

Frank forced a small smile as he nodded.

"How is your brother?" I asked.

"Well, he's still shoving legos up his nose so pretty much the same as always," Jamia said with a small shrug. "He just turned, like, nine or something. I can never remember his age. We don't really celebrate birthdays in our house."

"Well, tell him that I said happy birthday," I said. "How is, you know, your boyfriend?"

"Not my boyfriend anymore, still won't talk to me at all," she said. "But, like, 'bitch, you're the one that got me pregnant.' It's just annoying that he ghosted me. And turns out you find out who your true friends are when you get pregnant. All of them ditched me, too."

"Well, You've always got a shoulder to cry on here," I said.

Jamia smiled and took a bite.

"Oh, wow," she muttered. "I was unsure at first because I'm not a big spinach fan but this is really good."

"Oh, thank you," I said. "A small part of me always wanted to be a chef. I thought that would be really fun. But I like my life now, I like my job and my boyfriend and my daughter."

"Boyfriend?" Jamia asked.

"Oh, um," I stumbled, looking over at Frank. "I thought he told you. We hit a rough patch and kind of impulsively got divorced but we got back together. We're gonna have a nicer wedding this time, no courthouse."

"We are?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, just not for a while," I said. "Not until Bandit is bigger."

"I'm sorry to hear you two were split," Jamia said.

I shrugged, squeezing Frank's knee again. He shook my hand away and I scowled softly. Bandit's cries began sounding over the baby monitor and Frank stood up quickly, shaking the table. He went upstairs without a word and I sighed.

"I-Is everything alright?" Jamia asked.

"You know what, I will be right back," I said.

I went upstairs and found Frank reaching into the crib, a hand resting on Bandit's stomach.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, she just wanted a comforting touch, she's starting to doze off again already," Frank said.

"I meant with you, silly," I said. "What's wrong?"

"No, nothing," he dismissed. "I-I don't know. It's just...Jamia is sixteen."

"Yeah, and?" I asked.

"Nothing," he mumbled. "We probably shouldn't keep her waiting down there too long, she probably feels awkward."

He went to walk passed me when I grabbed his hand to stop him.

"Just tell me that you're okay," I said.

Frank smiled softly and gave me a soft kiss. He walked down and I sighed, looking at Bandit sleeping peacefully. I followed and the table conversations returned to normal, Frank even started to perk up a bit.

"How did you get here?" I asked as I served dessert. "Are you gonna need a ride home? I'll be happy to give you a lift."

"Oh, no, I drove here," Jamia said. "My mom let me borrow her car."

Frank sipped his wine, leaning back in his chair.

"Have you written any new music?" Jamia asked frank.

He shrugged. "I've been trying to write something for Bandit. A cute little song about her."

Jamia smiled, taking a bite.

"This is actually really good, considering it's vegan," Jamia said.

"Yeah, it's a little weird changing my diet for frank but I really don't mind, all the food is still really good if it's prepared properly," I said.

"This is so good it's making me want to go vegan," she joked.

Frank smiled, reaching over to hold my hand. He gave it a gentle squeeze, making my heart race the way he always seemed to make it. God, why does he have such a strong hold over me?

"I think you look nice, Frank," Jamia said.

"Doesn't he? I finally convinced him to shower," I said. "And I picked out this cute sweater for him."

I looked over his dark blue sweater, it was soft and loose and looked perfect on him.

"Finally all fancy shmancy," Frank said. "Just wait until our date next week, I'm gonna go all out."

"A date?" Jamia asked curiously. "Where are you going?"

"I was hoping we could go out to a fancy restaurant then maybe a romantic walk in the park," I said.

"We can do anything you want, Baby," Frank said and I grinned.

"I think that sounds like a really good time," Jamia said. "I wish someone would take me out like that."

"One day you'll find someone," I promised.

Frank nodded, looking down at his dessert.

"Well, I hope that you two have a lot of fun," she said. "Honestly, you two met like it was a fairytale or something, everything is just so perfect."

I held Frank's hand, looking over at him. Maybe it was like a fairytale. It was a kind of messy fairytale but a fairytale nonetheless. I had him and there's nothing more that I could ever want.

"More wine, babe?" Frank asked.

"Thank you," I said as he poured me another glass.

"Ooh, can I have some?" Jamia asked.

"You are sixteen, you can stick with Pepsi," Frank stated.

"You told me stories of how you would steal your mom's liquor and get drunk at fifteen," Jamia complained.

"Well, you're a better person than me," he said.

"I'm a teen mom, not that much better," she mumbled.

"Well, not really a mom, just a teen pregnancy," I said.

"Yeah, just that," she agreed. "It's getting late, maybe I should get going."

"I'll walk you to the car," Frank offered.

I gave her a hug before the two stepped outside. I went to go clean up the dishes when I heard something strange outside. When I pulled back the curtains, I found Jamia and Frank arguing by her car. Jamia crossed her arms and that only seemed to upset Frank more.

I was about to go out and intervene when Frank stopped and took a few deep breaths, his chest rising and falling. He placed a hand on her arm and said something softly before pulling her into a hug. He held her for a minute before kissing her forehead and letting her get into the car and drive away.

"What was all that?" I asked when he walked in.

"What?" Frank asked, taking off his shoes.

"World War Three with some nuclear words," I stated.

"Oh, it's nothing," Frank dismissed. "You want help cleaning up or do you want to do it alone to get your rocks off?"

"Oh fuck off, dick," I said. "Help me wash the dishes."

Frank smiled, going to the kitchen but I still just kept thinking about their argument.