Vivian was just coming down the stairs that morning when the doorbell rang. "That had better not be Frankie," Vivian muttered, as she walked over to the door and opened it. She was surprised to see a deliveryman holding flowers standing on the other side of the door. "Well, obviously, there's no way these could be for me!" Vivian declared.
"These belong to the residents across the street," the deliveryman said, as he pointed to the Stone home. "No one was home, so I left a note by the door saying their package is with you. Would you mind?"
Vivian's eyes traveled from the Stone family home back to the flowers. "Not at all," Vivian replied, signing his clipboard and then taking the flowers. "These are heavy," she admitted.
"There may be a vase attached to the bottom," the deliveryman replied. "Of course, I don't know for sure."
Vivian nodded. "I'll be sure the Stones get these," she assured him, as she shut the door and headed off into the living room, smelling them as she did so.
"I wonder if these are for Bettina or Frankie," Vivian wondered, as she noticed a card attached addressed to Frankie. "Kevin sent her these," Vivian figured. "It wouldn't hurt to see his letter, though."
Vivian needlessly looked around the room to make sure no one was standing there, and then detached the card, and opened it. "Dear Frankie, you have no idea how happy you have made me throughout our years together, and I know that as we raise our baby together, the love we have for one another will only grow and prosper. I am so happy. Love always," Vivian read aloud, and then dropped her jaw when she noticed Kevin was not the sender. "Love always, Ryan."
Vivian gulped as she set the flowers down on the table, putting the card between one of the roses. "Kevin isn't the father," Vivian whispered as anger filled her body. "I told her not to lie to me, and she betrayed me!" Vivian shouted, as the doorbell rang, she went over to answer it, and more anger filled her body when she saw Frankie standing there.
"I believe there's a package for me in your care," Frankie told her.
"YOU, SLUT!" Vivian screamed at the top of her lungs, as she slapped Frankie across the face.
Frankie screamed as she felt her throbbing cheek. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she asked her. "Lalie was here, that trash!"
"No, Lalie wasn't here," Vivian angrily told her. "And the only trash is standing before me!"
"Since when I did turn into a mirror?!" Frankie demanded to know.
"You think you're so smart!" Vivian shouted, as she marched into the living room, followed by Frankie. "These flowers came for you."
'My surprise,' Frankie smiled to herself as she grabbed the flowers. "Kevin shouldn't have."
Vivian shook her head. "They're not from Kevin," Vivian informed her. "They're from RYAN! The father of your baby!"
Frankie's jaw dropped. "You read the card?" Frankie demanded to know. "That's an invasion of-"
"Don't you dare say I invaded your privacy," Vivian warned her, as she walked up to her. "You were with Ryan the whole time you were going through with our plan? Why didn't you tell me you were involved?! I asked you, I asked you!"
"Maybe because I was looking forward to your end of the deal, which you backed out on!" Frankie accused her. "I held up to my end!"
"I called off the plan at the restaurant and was willing to live up to my end," Vivian reminded her. "You went against my wishes and created this situation on your own!" Vivian screamed. "Do you realize how hurt Kevin is going to be when he finds out he's not the father?" she asked her.
"He might be disappointed for a day or two," Frankie mused. "It doesn't matter because I won't let him find out! I don't care what Lalie says!"
"It doesn't matter if Lalie gets to him first," Vivian began, as she walked over to the coffee table with the phone on it. "I'm telling him right now," Vivian began.
"And risk having him find out that you were the one who made me see him in the first place?" Frankie calmly asked. "Come on, Vivian, I thought you planned things out better than that."
"I'd rather him know what I have done than to let him keep believing he's the father of that baby," Vivian replied, as she picked up the phone.
Desperately, Frankie approached Vivian from behind and whacked her over the head with the bouquet of flowers. Vivian fell to the floor, hitting her head on the coffee table in the process.
Frankie picked up the phone and set it back down on the coffee table. She looked down at an unconscious Vivian with a gash on her forehead, and then quickly left the house with the flowers, in tow.
As Frankie was walking quickly across the street, she planned to go straight to Ryan's store in the mall to try and talk to him before Lalie had the chance to. She figured Vivian would be out for quite a while.
Just then, Bettina pulled into the driveway, interrupting her from driving away. "Frankie!" Bettina shouted. "Come in the house right now, I need to talk with you right away!"
'Oh, God,' Frankie said to herself in a panic, as she hoped that Lalie wouldn't reach anyone before she, herself, had the chance to.
Lalie had not told either, Kevin or Ryan about her shocking discovery yet. After she left Ryan's apartment, Lalie went to the park to clear her head and mull over what she had just found out.
The cool breeze coming off the lake seemed to calm Lalie, as she strolled on the sandy ground that circled the lake. Her head filled with the memories of what just happened.
Lalie thought back to what had just happened with Frankie earlier, and then Frankie's threat about Heather. It seemed to have bothered her more than she had let on in front of Frankie.
'I'm sure she can't, but what if Frankie really could have something happen to Heather?' Lalie asked her, as she continued to stroll around the lake. 'I wouldn't forgive myself for that,' Lalie continued as she sat down on one of the wooden benches. 'But Kevin and Ryan do have a right to know,' Lalie assured herself. 'I know what I have to do,' Lalie confidently told herself. 'I'll have the person who started this whole mess tell Kevin and Ryan the truth,' she declared, as she stood up and headed back to her car.
"Look, Frankie," Bettina began, as she sat down on the plush sofa. "You haven't told me yet, and I really need to know who the father of this baby is."
"It's someone you don't know," Frankie replied in an honest tone. "I really have something I need to be doing now."
"Obviously I don't know him," Bettina repeated. "Don't go anywhere yet, Francesca, we still have a lot that we need to talk about."
Frankie bit her lip.
"Vivian!" Lalie shouted, as she rang the doorbell again and, additionally, banged on the door. "Answer this door, now!" she demanded, as she still waited.
Finally, Lalie tried the door and it was unlocked. Opening the door slowly, Lalie made her way inside the house and found Vivian lying on the floor.
"Vivian!" Lalie shrieked, as she ran over to her and knelt down beside her. "What happened to you?" Lalie wondered, as she noticed the gash on her forehead.
Lalie noticed Vivian's eyes starting to open, as she continued to kneel down beside her. "Vivian?"
Vivian's eyesight was blurry at first but when it began to focus, Lalie came into her view. "Lalie?" Vivian asked, sounding out of it.
"What happened?" Lalie wanted to know. "We need to put something on that cut."
Vivian weakly stood up, and walked over to the mirror and noticed the bloody gash. "It was Frankie," Vivian told her, as she turned around. "Kevin isn't the father of her baby. Someone named Ryan is."
"He's my cousin!" Lalie exclaimed. "What do you mean, Frankie did this to you?"
"It's a long story but I was about to phone Kevin with the truth when she must have came up from behind and hit me over the head with something," Vivian explained.
"Looks like that cut came from the edge of that coffee table," Lalie assumed. "Look, where's Frankie now?"
"Gee, I don't know," Vivian began sarcastically. "She made her escape while I was unconscious!"
Lalie angrily sighed as she looked out the window and saw Frankie darting out of her house and getting into her car. "I have to go, Vivian! Don't tell Kevin anything yet... there's something I have to do!" Lalie shouted.
"What?" Vivian asked, but before she could get a reply Lalie was out the door. "Ouch!" she exclaimed as a sharp pain tore through her head. "Let me put something on this."
Chapter 24
Non-Nsync Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email Tracia