Chapter Text
Reep. Reep. Reep.
Francine yawns loudly. She tiredly feels around her nightstand.
Reep. Reep. Reep.
“Okay, I’m awake now!” Francine sits up and smacks the alarm clock. She groans quietly and stops at the sound of shuffling next to her. She turns her head.
Stan’s still sleeping beside her. He had turned over; now his body faces Francine. He was probably disturbed by the alarm. Stan lays still, asleep again.
Francine blinks when she acknowledges him. She promptly stands up onto her feet and walks over to their bathroom. She grabs her toothbrush and turns on the sink.
Ssssssss.
Francine wets her toothbrush and sqeezes on toothpaste. She looks at herself in the mirror as she brushes her teeth. She looks like she just woke up. Francine rubs her eyes. When she finishes brushing her teeth, she leans down and spits into the sink. She stands up again and notices Stan behind her in the mirror.
Stan reaches in front of Francine to turn off the sink’s hissing. “Good morning,” he says. She must have woke him up when she turned the water on.
Francine puts her toothbrush back. “Morning.” She brushes her hair.
Stan brushes his teeth, foam from the toothpaste leaking from his mouth and splattering in the sink.
Francine places her hairbrush down and turns to go back into the bedroom. She feels an arm slink around her waist and a wet kiss on her cheek.
Francine frowns. “Ew! Stan.”
“You look extra beautiful today,” he says.
Francine thanks him, wipes her cheek with her nightgown, and tosses it into a hamper. She puts her usual dress on and goes downstairs.
Francine fries eggs for breakfast. She smiles when Steve comes in the kitchen.
Steve sits at the table. “Hey, Mom.”
“Good morning. How’d you sleep last night?” Francine puts a plate in front of him.
Steve shrugs as Francine pours him a glass of water. “I slept fine, but I had a dream about school. Having to actually go to school in half an hour is gonna be like going to school twice in one day.”
Francine sets the rest of the table and sits across from Steve. She takes her first bite of egg.
“Hello, Steve,” Stan says. “Are ready for school?” Stan straightens his tie.
Steve stands up. “Yeah, just give me one second.”
Stan bends down and kisses Francine. She keeps her eyes open and watches him do so impassively. Stan grimaces. "Yeesh. What's wrong with you? I'm getting the heebie-jeebies just by looking at you."
Francine furrows her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"
Stan shakes his head and says, “Nevermind. Love you, Honey. I’m off to work!”
Francine takes a sip of her water. “Uh-huh. Bye, Steve! I’ll pick you up from school later.”
“Don’t,” Steve puts on his bag, “I’m staying afterschool today. Dad's already going to pick me up.”
Francine closes her mouth. She stands up. “Okay, I’ll see you later, then.” Now she doesn’t have anything she needs to do today.
Francine cleans up Steve’s dirty plate and leaves Hayley and Roger’s food for when they come down. She vacuums the living room and the couch. She scrubs the toilets and bleaches the bathtub. She cleans Klaus’s fishbowl and gives him a bath. She wipes the windows and machine-washes the curtains.
Francine sits down on the armchair on the living room, holding the remote control. “I guess there’s nothing left I could do…” Francine turns on the television. Just before she bores herself to death, Francine’s phone rings. Francine perks up and looks at the caller ID.
It’s Linda!
Francine smiles, hopeful that she can make plans with Linda now that she’s free today. Francine answers. “Hey, Linda.”
“Francine!” Linda greets her. “I want to do something fun, and I have some errands to run. Do you want to tag along?”
Francine laughs. Linda beat her to it. “Of course!”
“Great,” Linda says, sounding relieved.
Francine asks, “Can you pick me up? Stan’s at work with the car.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.”
Francine smiles to herself. "That works out great, then."
Linda says, "I'm going to the mall to do some clothes-shopping. Afterwards, I'm just dropping something off at the post-office."
"Ooh! I so need to go to the mall." Francine looks around for her purse. "I haven't been in forever."
"I go all the time," Linda says. "I should probably start bringing you! I know we haven't really hung out in a few weeks... we should start again!"
Francine gets an idea. "We could go on Sundays, after I go to church."
"Yeah, totally! Let's do Mall Sundays from now on. I can drive you."
Francine finds her purse in the kitchen and grabs it. "Hey, are you coming to pick me up right now?"
Linda hums in agreement. "Sure. I'm getting in the car now."
"Okay, I'll hang up then. See you in a minute!" Francine grins and stands on her front porch.
Linda pulls into the driveway.
Francine walks to the passenger door, a prance in her step as her heels click on the concrete. She sits down in the passenger seat and grins. "Hey, Linda."
"Francine." Linda smiles sweetly and glances away. She clears her throat and makes eye contact again. "How've you been?"
Francine shrugs as Linda pulls out of the driveway. She watches as Linda turns her body and clutches the shoulder of Francine's chair, her grip strong while flexing her fit arms. Francine's gaze catches her slender build while Linda's looking behind them, her neck soft and her collarbone a gentle slope. Francine also glances at Linda's C-cup breasts, round and what would presumably be squishy under Francine's grasp. Francine looks down to Linda's abdomen, smooth and firm.
What?
Francine's face flushes and she turns away before Linda can catch her.
Linda turns back to face forward, taking the car out of reverse and driving away from the house. Linda sighs contently and looks at Francine. "How've you been?" She asks for a second time.
"Oh, haha! Sorry, I must've gotten distracted." Francine makes deliberate eye contact with Linda. "I've been doing pretty well. Hayley got back with Jeff again."
"That's good to hear," Linda says. "I think."
"What about you?" Francine asks.
"I've been, um." Linda focuses on the road and then turns back to Francine. "I'm going to be honest... I divorced Bob."
Francine's jaw drops. "Oh, no! Linda!" Francine puts a supportive arm on her shoulder. "You divorced him?"
Linda chuckles uncomfortably. "Yeah."
Francine frowns. "Did he do something?"
"No!" Linda slowly stops at a red light and puts her hands up. "Don't worry about him, it was me."
Francine's face contorts into something similar to confusion. She calmy asks, "Linda, did you do something?"
"Um..." Linda shakes her head. "Nah, I just wasn't attracted to him."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
Linda shrugs. "We're still living together right now. I think he's going to move back to Cleveland, though."
Francine nods. "I see. But you're still staying here, right?" Francine asks worriedly, turning to Linda.
Linda smiles. "Of course! I have to stay here for our Mall Sundays, remember?"
Francine puts her hands in her lap and lets her shoulders fall in relief. "That's good news."
Linda purses her lips. "So... how are you and Stan doing?"
Francine thinks about it. "We're fine."
Linda nods. "Do anything fun lately?"
"We went out the other night," Francine says bluntly. "I think I enjoyed it, but thinking back I don't think I really care about whatever we did anymore. It must be in the past, I guess. Gotta focus on the future! You know?"
"Yep." Linda flicks on a turn signal.
Francine scoffs. "I mean, really thinking back on it, I always planned our stuff. Me and Stan's. I'd set up the dinner dates, I would make the plans. He just kinda goes with it."
Linda laughs. "That's men for you." She parks the car.
Francine looks out of her window. They're at the mall already. Francine looks away, and she almost flinches when she finds Linda looking at her.
"Are you sure you're good?" Linda asks. She rests one of her hands on Francine's forearm. "You usually get so excited when Stan's mentioned."
Francine raises her eyebrows and shrugs nonchalantly. "I feel fine."
Linda accepts her answer without further questions.
Francine glances at Linda's boobs again once she looks away and hops out of the car.