still no reason to take it out on me

Abby saw her right away, standing by herself near the table with the charcuterie boards. “Is that Dr. King?” After their last fight, Abby had suddenly changed, becoming kind and curious about work again, trying to be a better version of herself. He noticed. Now, she even visited, bringing Tanner and Penny to see daddy at work, and she even met Mel, around a month after he came back. She was really making an effort, one Frank found grating, despite how genuinely she seemed to want to try again with him. But she hadn’t been kind about Mel before, while he was out of work. She didn’t like that he’d mention her, or Santos, or Whitaker, or Javadi, or anyone, really. She had an unwillingness to hear about that day at all. But she spat Mel’s name with a particular disdain she didn’t have for the others. Frank’s sure it’s because she could hear the way he said it, but that wasn’t something he could help. 

Frank nodded and caught his breath when he saw the cut of her dress. Her stomach wasn’t all that big just yet, but she was larger than she should be for sixteen weeks, because he’d put two in her—something he was proud of. 

“Yeah, that’s Mel,” he answered, and turned to find the bar at the other end of the room, spotting a few of their coworkers mingling amongst the other gala guests in the crowd. “I’ll get you a drink, your usual?” 

“Yeah, thanks.” She waved him off and walked in the other direction, towards Mel. 

While the bartender made her drink, he watched Abby go up to Mel and discover what they’d been keeping secret. Abby was smiling, holding a hand over her heart while she listened. He didn’t know what Mel told people, but he hoped she just told the truth if other people asked. He wished she was telling the truth right now.

Then, she touched her, and Frank thought he might black out. He had to drag Mel away, already so hard in his pants, unable to think about staying in that ballroom, or even the building, with his wife and their coworkers a second longer. He needed to get his hands on her. Abby was distracted with Dana then, the two of them laughing loudly over their drinks, so he snuck her outside of the Carnegie Music Hall and walked her around to the small loading dock, where the concrete sloped down and they’d be hidden in shadow. 

“Frank,” Mel moans above him now, tugging on his hair. 

He nuzzles into her crotch and inhales, sniffing deep. 

“Mel, baby, you liked me telling you not to wear anything under your dress tonight?”

She bites her lip and looks down at him. She nods her head. 

“Oh, fuck,” he says, immediately pulling her dress up again. He slides his hand up to the swell of her asscheek and smiles when there’s nothing, nothing at all. She’d been nervous about the cut of her underwear, the ones she’d had to start wearing because of the babies, and he’d told her to just go without. He hadn’t thought she’d do it. 

“I can’t believe you actually listened to me,” he says in awe, bunching her dress up more to see her bare cunt, shiny and sticky and all his.

“I like listening to you,” Mel whimpers, struggling to stay upright against the door he’s got her against. It’s not cold out for this time of year, at least not with their hands on each other like this. She’s got goosebumps, though, everywhere.

Frank flattens his tongue and licks her like an animal, so messy and eager. His girl likes listening to him, his perfect, beautiful girl. She loves him more than anyone ever has. She’ll run up to him in front of everyone, grab hold of him and smile, refuse to take her eyes off him. She’ll trust him, she’ll forgive him. She’ll kiss him after work one day, right before he goes home to his wife and kids. She’ll give him her number and answer every time, all the time. She’ll watch him, miss him, think about him, she’ll fucking need him, in ways Abby never has. She’ll let him fuck her, she’ll beg him to come inside. She’ll get wet when his wife touches her belly, full of her husband’s babies. 

She’ll let him eat her out against the side of a building late at night in November, while their coworkers are all inside, maybe putting two and two together now. 

“You’re going to stain your tux,” she warns, his spit and her slick coating his chin, dripping down onto his bowtie, that he felt fucking stupid with anyway. He doesn’t care if she soaks it.

“Come all over my tux, baby, do it,” he says, uncaring. He gives her a finger, because he knows she wants it, having learned so much about her in their time together already. “I’ll say I spilled my drink, just do it.” 

Mel whines, thrusting down onto his face, riding it while he fucks into her.

“No, no,” she whines. She’s nervous. She needs a little push. 

He glances up and sees the round of her belly. God. He presses his other hand to her there, where their babies are, and she shivers.

Pulling himself from her, he says, “Listen to daddy, okay? You’re carrying my babies, honey, you gotta listen to me.” He kisses at her again, again, again. “Your belly’s gonna get so big, every day, oh fuck, honey. It’s not fair that you get to walk around and people know I came in you, but I don’t get the same. Imagine Abby’s face, when she realizes I did this to you, that you’re mine and I’m yours, that we’re going to be a family. Give it to me, I want them all to know when we go back in there, Mel, please, sweetheart.”

The lawyer didn’t say a word to either of them when all was said and done. She packed up her bag and walked out, taking the papers with her. 

Frank presumed that they got filed somewhere after this, and then it was done. Divorced. He thought he would feel something; sad, regretful, anxious, but instead he was distracted. He kept looking down at his phone, waiting for a notification. 

“You on baby watch?” Abby asked, eyebrows raised. She looked unimpressed with him. Tired. 

Frank cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, “Yep. Could be any time, now.” 

He hadn’t wanted to come to the meeting in person at all, hated to leave Mel’s side for even a second. He was convinced as soon as he left the apartment, she’d go into labor. He could picture her now, sitting on the couch with her pile of blankets and pillows, AC on full-blast, in one of his oversized t-shirts with a tangerine popsicle, waiting for him to come home and take care of her. 

Since she’d gone on leave from work that week, she hadn’t wanted to do anything by herself. He even watched her in the bath, sitting on the floor by the tub and reading her Wikipedia articles from his phone: Dancing plague of 1518, 1904 Summer Olympics Marathon, Time Cube, and Melissa (female given name). 

“When did you know?” Abby asked with a dry swallow, looking at Frank with her clear, blue eyes. It was suddenly apparent that they were the only ones left in the room, the air thick, the walls closer than before. 

“Know what?” He can’t imagine what she’s asking. They’d gone over everything a million times in court. The infidelity, the baby, Mel coming home from work in tears after Abby had subpoenaed her. 

Abby’s eyes darted to the floor, then back up to his face again, “When did you know that it was going to be her?” 

The question made him stop. He considered lying for a long moment. Lying was second nature, to anyone except Mel. Maybe she was rubbing off on him, making him an honest man. 

He decided to tell the truth, “From the second I saw her… there was like… a spark. I can’t explain it.” He grimaced after he said it, “Sorry. I know that’s probably not what you want to hear.”  

Abby’s eyelashes stuttered, half a blink, a flash of something undefinable flickered over her face, and then it was gone and she was composed again, “I asked, didn’t I?” 

She slid her purse onto her shoulder and turned to walk out, “Good luck to you two. You’re going to need it.” 

Frank let out a long sigh and ran his hand through his hair as he watched her walk out of the room. 

With a jolt, his phone lit up with three new messages from Mel, all sent in rapid succession: