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Mel finds him in the kitchen, at 3 a.m. He’s hunched over the table, wearing nothing but his old threadbare Dartmouth sweats, tapping his bare foot against the floor like he always does when he’s stressed.
There’s a paper in front of him filled with scribbles that have been crossed over again and again. Mel squints at them, trying to make out what they say. Frank has a doctor’s handwriting, as Dana calls it, which means it’s not exactly eligible.
“Hey.” She kisses him on the forehead and he wraps his arms around her hips, pulling her close, nosing at the swell of her stomach. “Can’t sleep?”
Mel runs her hand through his very messy hair, a reminder of their activities before bed. The memory makes her blush, even though the result of similar activities is currently kicking up a storm in her belly.
Frank leans into her touch and hums. “Nope. Turns out putting into words what an amazing woman you are is more difficult than I thought.” He picks up the paper, grimacing. “I got, like, a C minus in English senior year. Writing was never my strong suit.”
Mel smiles and shakes her head, gently freeing herself from his grip. Her feet are already killing her so she sits down heavily in the chair across from him.
“It’s just a groom's speech, Frank. You just have to thank everyone for coming to the wedding. You don’t have to mention me at all.”
He gapes. “Not mention— You’re going to be my wife! And I want to tell everyone in that room exactly why they should be super fucking jealous of me.”
Mel laughs. “Well, maybe you can tell me what you want to write down? Sometimes it’s easier to say it out loud. Pretend it’s our wedding day. What would you say?”
“Okay,” Frank nods enthusiastically. “Uh— I would say that you are the best woman to ever walk the planet. The smartest, most beautiful, sexiest, funniest, most interesting person ever. I’d say that I can’t believe how lucky I am that you came into my life. That I want to spend the rest of every waking moment with you.”
Mel looks away from him. It’s overwhelming. “Frank …”
He gets out of his chair and on his knees in front of her, pushing her oversized t-shirt up, kissing her stomach. She shivers and threads her hand through his hair again, pulling lightly.
“And I’d say that our child is going to have the best mommy ever. That she’s the luckiest baby in the world.”
Frank presses another kiss to Mel’s taut skin and looks up at her, eyes serious. “I love you. I can’t wait to marry you.”
Mel takes his face in her hand, caressing his stubbled jaw, smiling softly.
“I love you.” She puts her hand over his where it’s resting on her belly. “We love you. Forever.”
“Forever,” he echoes.
Their baby girl kicks against their joined hands, seemingly in perfect agreement. Forever.