#elena (lenny) falconio

[hb-writes]

For five line fics

"Why are you all in my bed?"

With The Punisher please ❤️

"Why are you all in my bed?"

Lenny startled awake at the booming voice—her brother-in-law’s voice…Frank’s voice—so unexpected considering he wasn’t due home from his tour for nearly a week yet.

The room erupted into a sudden uproar with Lisa and Frankie both clamoring over blankets and pillows to reach their father’s outstretched arms and Maria tumbling out on the other side, padding across the carpet to kiss and hug her husband.

Lenny stayed in bed, watching the scene with a fond smile on her face, knowing her sister and the kids had been anxiously awaiting this very thing. Since learning Frank’s current tour had been extended, the kids had been having nightmares and spending the night in Maria and Frank’s bed had become a semi-regular routine—some nights it was just Lisa, some nights just Frankie, and sometimes just Maria and Lenny ended up whispering through the night, Maria gaining some relief from her little sister’s presence, her listening ear, but more often than not, they all ended up there by daybreak, a conglomerate of tied up limbs and blankets that comforted them all.

“What are you waiting for?” Frank asked, meeting the girl’s eye over his wife’s shoulder. “Get in here, kid.”

💠 FIVE LINE FRIDAYS 💠

send me an ask with the first sentence of a fanfic and I’ll write the next five-ish.

[hb-writes]

Life As We Know It (The Punisher AU)

Five Line Fanfics for Elena "Lenny" Falconio (Maria's sister):

The wonderful world of high school drama

Why are you all in my bed?

Come on, I’ll take a much-needed nap with you. Then we’ll both feel better

It's impossible to get rid of me

We're too young for this

I lost my phone

Is that blood?

Thank you, that means a lot to me

They were happy that their partner and their sibling got along so well together - but they could live without them constantly teaming up on them.

Communicating with a sister involves a lot of inside jokes and may seem like a secret language to outsiders.

You can call me a mom all you want, but I will get you better soon

I know you’re afraid, but you can’t hide in this closet forever

One shots:

Meet the Falconios (Maria, Frank, Lenny & Nonna)

Why Do You Care? (Billy & Lenny)

It’s fine. I’m fine (Billy & Lenny)

Ready or Not (Frank, Maria & Lenny)

My Boss or My...Billy? (Billy & Lenny)

[hb-writes]

Hi! Will you please write “You can call me a mom all you want, but I will get you better soon.” With The Punisher pretty please?

“You can call me a mom all you want, but I will get you better soon,” Maria said, turning towards her younger sister, the person who had caused Billy’s busted lip and now-bruising jaw, her fist somehow doing damage akin to that of a prize-winning fighter when the boys were just supposed to be teaching her a little self-defense. 

“Go get Billy some ice,” Maria chided while she fussed over her husband’s best friend. 

Lenny slowly pushed herself up from her chair, rolling her eyes at Frank as she huffed—Lenny’s immediate response had been glee rather than guilt…Billy had been goading her, teasing her, saying shit like “you call that a punch?”  and maybe glee wasn't the appropriate response, but Frank had seen the whole thing so he knew as well as Lenny that it had been an accident, that Billy had just turned away at the wrong time after inviting a fist to the face.

The way Lenny saw it, they were both at fault…and Billy more than her, maybe, but it was Lenny getting yelled at, moving a bit quicker towards the kitchen as Maria snapped at her again, sending a little glare her way while Billy got doted on.

“Maria, it’s alright, really,” Billy said as Maria poked at his face, searching for broken bones. “It’s not her fault. I was asking for it…and anyway, your husband’s done far worse.”

“Yeah, and you were asking for it then, too, pretty boy,” Frank smirked and he took the ice pack from Lenny, allowing her to hang back in the doorway, keeping a distance between the sisters as he tossed the ice pack to Billy. 

Frank turned back to Lenny and fit an arm around her shoulder. “Come on, you can go round with me while pretty boy’s out of commission.”

💠 FIVE LINE FRIDAYS 💠

[hb-writes]

For five line fics

Communicating with a sister involves a lot of inside jokes and may seem like a secret language to outsiders.

With The Punisher or Twilight please ❤️

Communicating with a sister involves a lot of inside jokes and may seem like a secret language to outsiders. Frank figured there was no maybe about it—the Falconio girls definitely spoke another language.

It didn’t always involve words, sometimes it was just glances shared between Maria and Lenny or quick whispers followed by loud laughter, which was then followed by innocent issuances of, “oh, nothing,” whenever Frank asked what they were laughing about. 

Even Lisa and little Frank seemed to have their own little way of communicating that was a mystery to the rest of them, some sort of understanding passing between the two kids even though the baby was too little to really have any words. Maybe it was just a sibling thing.

“It’s no different than with you and Billy,” Maria said when Frank pointed these things out, the two of them lounging on top of the covers before bed. “You boys have more stories and secrets and inside jokes than any of the rest of us.” 

Frank hummed, considering it as Maria placed a kiss to his cheek and then his lips, coming to the quick conclusion that his wife was right.

💠 FIVE LINE FRIDAYS 💠

[hb-writes]

For five line fics

“Is that blood?”

With The Punisher please ❤️

“Is that blood?”

Billy nodded once, looking down at his knuckles, flexing his fingers and observing the bruised skin while Lenny watched, her arms hugging an old sweatshirt of his around herself as she shivered though the apartment was far from cold.

“Is…is it yours?” she continued, her gaze traveling to the red specks dotting Billy’s shirt collar, her keen eyes raking over the skin of his neck and face as she searched for more. “Are you—?”

“I’m alright, kid,” Billy interrupted, unconsciously shaking his head as he silently berated himself for forgetting it was Thursday, for forgetting that he wouldn’t be arriving home to an empty apartment because Maria’s sister had made it a habit to stay at his place when she worked late at the library or if she had an early class the next day.

Lenny wasn’t a kid anymore—she liked to remind Billy and Frank and Maria and just about anyone who would listen that she hadn’t been one for awhile now, but Billy thought she had a distinctly child-like look about her as she studied him now, like she had just learned something new about the world, something new about him, and he could see the curiosity swimming around her brain, a million questions there in her tired eyes, the words dancing on her lips.

 “I need a shower and some sleep, but I’m fine…nothing for you to worry about, alright? Good night,” Billy said, pressing a kiss against Lenny’s hair as he passed, hoping his words and the gesture were enough to quell her questions, at least for tonight.

💠 FIVE LINE FRIDAYS 💠

send me an ask with the first sentence of a fanfic and I’ll write the next five-ish.

[hb-writes]

For five line fics

"I lost my phone."

With The Punisher please ❤️

"I lost my phone," Lenny said with a shrug as she stood in front of the open refrigerator searching for a snack before Sunday dinner. “It’s no big deal. People used to go without phones all the time.”

“City’s a different place these days,” Billy said, cutting in before Frank could respond. 

“Yeah, there’s a cop and a Starbucks on every corner now,” she snorted, finally turning to Frank and Bill with a pickle spear in hand. 

“If you think that makes you safe, I didn’t teach you well enough—you need to keep the phone on you.” 

Frank glanced at his wife, who was sitting at the table with the kids, making meatballs and staying suspiciously quiet—Maria was a free spirit, both Falconio girls were, and half the time his wife left her phone at home or sitting in the car so Frank knew she’d be no help in this argument.

“And if it’s lost like you said, we can find it. You left location services on?” Billy asked, typing quickly into his phone before holding it out for her. “Here—login to your account.”

Lenny swallowed hard on the large bite of pickle she’d taken, coughing a bit as it all went down, knowing she had no interest in logging in and letting her brother-in-law and his best friend see where she’d left her phone. 

“That’s alright…I uh…I think I actually know right where it is. I probably left it at a friend’s place…Yeah, that’s it. Definitely just left it at…Jamie’s. I’ll email just to be sure and I can just get it when I’m on campus tomorrow.” She offered them both a smile. “Thanks though.”

Frank and Billy watched as she scurried away without another word, pickle still in hand as she went to join her sister, niece, and nephew at the table, glancing back at them once though she diverted her eyes quickly.

“So whaddaya think, Frankie?” Billy asked. “You believe any of that?”

Frank took a sip of his beer, shaking his head at his sister-in-law's attempt to hide whatever it was she was trying to hide from them. “Not a chance.”

💠 FIVE LINE FRIDAYS 💠

send me an ask with the first sentence of a fanfic and I’ll write the next five-ish.

[hb-writes]

For five line fics

"The wonderful world of high school drama."

With The Punisher please ❤️

“…And that’s the wonderful world of high school drama.”

Maria shrugged as she concluded her explanation, meeting Frank’s simultaneous skepticism and dread with a casualness and sense of calm he couldn’t quite grasp. 

Frank remembered his own high school experience—or at least, he remembered a bit from when he actually decided to show up—and his sister-in-law’s behavior seemed to be something more, something that shouldn’t be excused by a couple of mean girls in the lunchroom.

The kid was on a rampage the way he saw it, a terror toward anyone and everyone she encountered—even today when they were out at the park with Lisa. And Frank didn’t understand how his wife was managing to be so patient with her, especially considering Maria was absorbing the brunt of Lenny’s wrath so far.

Maria sighed with a smile as she reached out to take her husband’s hand. Neither of them had asked to be raising a baby and teenager at the same time, but they were doing it, and Maria was grateful every day that her husband loved her little sister like family, like she was his.

“You’ve never been a teenage girl, Frank. It’ll pass,” she said, squeezing his hand. “And then it’ll cycle round again and again and—”

Frank ran his hand down his face. “Three more years of this?” 

“At least,” Maria snorted. “And before we know it, it’ll be Lisa’s turn.” 

Frank glanced to the spot across the lawn where his sister-in-law sat in the sun with a blanket of her own, headphones in place. He then glanced to where the baby was playing quietly beside them on the blanket. He shook his head as he turned back to his wife. “Yeah, well, thankfully, Lise and I already agreed she’s never growing up.”

💠 FIVE LINE FRIDAYS 💠

send me an ask with the first sentence of a fanfic and I’ll write the next five-ish.

[hb-writes]

For five line fics

"It's impossible to get rid of me."

With The Punisher please ❤️

"It's impossible to get rid of me, Frank."

Lenny offered her brother-in-law a cheeky grin as chased him through the backyard, ensuring he didn’t stay open for more than a few seconds and Maria would be forced to throw to little Frankie instead, if the boy could get away from his sister long enough to be considered open, anyway.

“Don’t I know it, kid. Been trying to get someone to take you off my hands for years,” Frank joked, still trying to move around his sister-in-law as Billy closed in on Maria—if she didn’t throw the ball or make a run for it herself soon, Billy would tackle her to the ground and there’d be a turn over. 

“Hey, I—” Lenny started with a mock offense, quickly letting out a scream when Frank lifted her over his shoulder and raised his free arm in the air, easily catching the ball Maria lobbed his way.

Frank carried the ball and the girl toward the end zone marked out by Lisa and Frankie’s bicycles while she yelled out for backup though her teammates and opponents alike were of little help—Billy, Maria, Lisa, and Frankie were all laughing at Lenny’s expense. 

“I get extra points for getting them both to the end zone, right?” Frank asked as he swung the girl down from his shoulder, dropping her on the grass beside the football.

💠 FIVE LINE FRIDAYS 💠

send me an ask with the first sentence of a fanfic and I’ll write the next five-ish.

[hb-writes]

For five line fics

"we're too young for this,"

With The Punisher please ❤️

“We’re too young for this, daddy. It’s too scary,” Lisa whispered, turning and hiding her face in her father’s side, joining her little brother who’d decided to hide his face against Frank’s other side a few seconds before as the horror movie continued playing in the background.

Frank rubbed Lisa's and Frank Jr.'s backs, meeting his best friend’s eye over the back of the couch as Billy nodded towards where Lenny sat between them, a smirk on his face as he whispered, “bet she’s next.” 

But Lenny was far too engrossed with the movie to notice the smirking and whispering as she absently snacked on her popcorn, staring wide-eyed at the tv and seemingly unaware of anything going on around her.

Frank shook his head and was about to reach out and nudge her to check in and make sure she was alright even though she was a teenager already—nearly an adult—who’d probably say she was fine even if she was scared out of her wits, but before Frank could reach her shoulder, she let out a blood curdling scream, tossing the bowl of popcorn in the air as she turned and hid her face against Billy's shoulder. 

“It’s alright, Lise. Guess it’s too scary for your Zia here, too,” Billy chuckled, his laughter lasting only a moment before a nearby throw pillow walloped his head.

💠 FIVE LINE FRIDAYS 💠

send me an ask with the first sentence of a fanfic and I’ll write the next five-ish.

[hb-writes]

Hey, if you’d be so kind, for Five line fics how about “Come on, I’ll take a much-needed nap with you. Then we’ll both feel better.” With The Punisher? ❤️

“Come on, I’ll take a much-needed nap with you. Then we’ll both feel better.”

The temptation to keep arguing against Maria’s directive that she get some rest was strong even if Lenny knew her older sister was right—she’d caught whatever bug the kids had last week and she was getting sick. Lenny wanted to argue that she was fine…she wasn’t a little kid anymore—not like Lisa and little Frankie—but some of the fight fizzled within her at Frank’s interjecting words and his gentle nudging. 

Frank hated the near-constant bickering that went on between his wife and his younger sister-in-law—it could be excessive and trying, and it always wore on his patience, but especially so when he just came home from a tour and he was adjusting back to life as a civilian.

“C’mon, kiddo,” Frank prompted as he fit an arm over her shoulder and steered her away from Maria, towards the couch and the big screen tv. 

A wave of protest rose in Lenny and she tried to dig in her heels, her socks sliding against the slick hardwood floors. “But Frank, I’m not—”

“Not sick. Not tired. Not a kid anymore,” he offered. “I know, I know. We’ll get comfortable and put on some reruns and your sister’ll be happy whether you sleep or not, alright? Just let her have this one…do it for me, alright?”

Lenny rolled her eyes, sighing as if it was hard work letting her sister win, but she quickly settled on the couch beside Frank, falling asleep by the second commercial break and staying that way until dinner.

💠 FIVE LINE FRIDAYS 💠

send me an ask with the first sentence of a fanfic and I’ll write the next five-ish.

[hb-writes]

Lenny Falconio's

favorite piece or pieces of clothing.

Lenny is almost always in denim or corduroy. Maria is always trying to style her in pretty sundresses, but it's just not Lenny's thing...with the exception of the matching dresses Lisa insisted the three of them wear for her 10th birthday party...Lenny still wears the yellow flowery thing often because she was so touched her niece wanted her to wear a matching dress too. Her other favorites include: her mets cap, Billy's old marine corps sweatshirt, perfectly worn-in denim overalls, cute pajama sets, and a green corduroy jacket that Billy says makes her look even more like the grouch.

🧠 A Headcanon A Day April 🧠

[hb-writes]

Elena "Lenny" Falconio Headcanon

Prompt: what are their vices? what's at least one negative trait they have? what indulgences do they have that are less than positive? what would people mention about them if asked to name a flaw?

Lenny has a generally grouchy disposition, definitely not a sunshine type of person, so when she gets excited about something, it really makes the people around her smile/ want to indulge whatever it is. She's also easily jealous and when you piss her off, the rage and cutting off during the fallout is a little bit scary. It takes a lot of effort and prodding from other people for her to even consider forgiveness.

And one time, when Billy's over at the house and the kids are watching Sesame Street, he makes a comment that Lenny's like Oscar the Grouch and it becomes A THING so any time he sees Oscar the Grouch merch, he ends up buying it for her. She acts annoyed by it, but one day, she actually gets a really tiny Oscar the Grouch tattoo and never tells anybody about it.

🧠 A Headcanon A Day April 🧠

[hb-writes]

For five line fics

“thank you, that means a lot to me”

With The Punisher please ❤️

Sorry if I’m requesting this too much! I’m just loving the stories you’ve created for them 😊

“Thank you, that means a lot to me.” 

Lenny closed her hands around the set of keys Billy held out to her—one for the building’s front door, another his apartment—and Billy waved her off like it was nothing, but it wasn’t nothing to Lenny. 

“But really, Billy, you don’t have to—”

Billy shook his head, stopping her before she could formulate a real argument. “I’m going back over there. What’s the point of it sitting empty if you could use it? Working on that thesis, you’ll have more late nights than ever.”

Lenny sighed, she couldn’t deny that he was right—some people had things easy senior year, but her schedule was packed and she was working on her thesis and she’d been dreading the end of her Thursday nights at Billy’s apartment, a convenience that shortened her round-trip commute by over an hour, but this felt somehow like too much, like taking advantage. 

“Alright, look. Think of it as you doing me a favor. If you have a key and are stopping by once in a while, I’ll rest easy knowing the plant will be well taken care of, right?” he said, nodding towards the planter on the windowsill, gifted to him shortly after Lenny started hanging out so often at his place, after deciding the place was too gray, too modern, too devoid of warmth and life. “Come on, Len, do a guy a favor and save him the trouble of finding a plant sitter.”

“Are you sure?” Lenny asked, looking away from him as she fumbled around in her bag for her key ring.

Billy scoffed, shaking his head. “Sure, I’m sure,” he said, reaching out and taking both his keys and hers from her hands, quickly slotting the keys to his apartment beside the keys to Frank and Maria’s house. “I’m very attached to Phil.”

“Phil?”

“Yeah, Phil,” Billy said with a shrug, nodding towards the windowsill. “That thing you got me's a philodendron, ain’t it?”

💠 FIVE LINE FRIDAYS 💠

[hb-writes]

Was looking through prompts and I think this could be a fun one with your Punisher fics!

They were happy that their partner and their sibling got along so well together - but they could live without them constantly teaming up on them.

Maria was happy that her partner and her sister got along so well together, but she could live without them constantly teaming up on her, constantly pranking her and scaring the shit out of her—especially when the baby was sleeping.

Maria clutched her chest as a cup fell to the floor, the third—or maybe fourth—in the past month, glass shards and water shattering and splattering across the linoleum as Lenny tried to stifle her laughter from her spot just behind Frank. 

It was Frank who had done the actual scaring, popping up out of nowhere, the man somehow nearly silent in his approach despite his size, but Maria knew it was likely Lenny’s idea in the first place, a game the two sisters had played as children growing up in their grandmother’s house. 

Maria wanted to be mad at them both—her glass set was nearly nonexistent at this point—but a second wave of fear caught her before the anger could take hold as she watched Lenny’s bare foot lift and hover above a jagged piece of glass.

Maria opened her mouth to issue a warning, but Frank’s arms wrapped around Lenny’s middle first, lifting both of the girl's feet in the air as he swung her around and set her down a few steps out of harm’s way.

Yes, Maria wanted to be mad and frustrated and annoyed—maybe even a little jealous—but more than anything, she was grateful for the sacred thing that was her sister and her husband being as close as they were, and the fact that her husband protected the girl and cared for the girl just as she did. 

And she was grateful that the idiots didn’t wake the baby, too, because then she really would’ve been annoyed.

💠 FIVE LINE FRIDAYS 💠

[hb-writes]

Meet the Falconios

Summary: Maria has been dating Frank in secret, but when the pregnancy test comes back positive, she decides it's finally time to introduce Frank to her sister and Nonna.

Characters: Frank Castle, Maria Falconio, Nonna Falconio (OC) & Lenny Falconio (OC)

Content Warnings: None

Life As We Know It (The Punisher) Masterlist

—

Standing on the tips of her toes and using the kitchen counter as leverage, Lenny Falconino could just about see where her sister was standing out in front of the house, greeting the new guy she’d been seeing. 

Frank something. Maria hadn’t really told her anything about him, had barely confirmed she was seeing someone even though she had been out late with the guy nearly every night for weeks. 

“He’s tall,” Lenny reported, pushing a bit further onto the tips of her toes as the guy leaned in to kiss Maria right on the lips. Right out in the open like that. Lenny’s sister was pretty tall, so it made sense that she’d date a taller guy. 

Lenny had always wondered, usually aloud, when she’d catch up to her sister height-wise, but her nonna had not so lightly suggested she let the dream go. Lenny was thirteen already and according to Nonna, while Maria had gotten their father’s height, Lenny took after their Poppi, meaning she was short and she was going to stay that way. “And he—”

“Ow! Nonna!” Lenny shouted as she felt the distinct sting of her grandmother’s wooden spoon. The wretched thing had mysteriously disappeared amongst the casserole dishes, pots, and pans by the time Lenny turned around to face her grandmother, but she’d know that sting anywhere. She’d certainly felt it more than enough times in her short life.

“Quit spying on your sister, Elena Gabriella.” 

Lenny slumped against the counter as her grandmother’s gaze slid over her. Her nonna was acting as if this evening wasn’t a big deal now that the guy was practically at their doorstep, but she’d spent all afternoon preparing—primping and cleaning and cooking and cooking some more. Lord, the cooking. Lenny was sick of it, having been stuck there in that kitchen for most of the day helping, not even permitted to taste any of it. 

And if that wasn’t bad enough, Lenny had to watch and listen out the window while the neighborhood kids played ball in the street. She hadn’t been allowed out, not even after the Rossi twins had come to the door and pleaded their case with Nonna. 

The teams were uneven. Lenny was the fastest base runner. The best at stealing. Fresh air is good for kids. 

Nonna hadn’t cared to hear any of it. Not today. Not when it was a special day for Maria, a special day for the Falconios… 

Lenny had stayed in the kitchen while the twins begged on her behalf, and Lenny had gotten a look from her grandmother when she stalked back to the kitchen. As if it had been Lenny’s fault that her friends came to the door, as if she had somehow, from her spot inside the prison that was her grandmother’s kitchen, recruited her friends to lobby on her behalf.

“You’ll only dirty your dress,” Nonna had said, as if Lenny couldn’t just go upstairs and change out of the stupid thing and change back before the boyfriend arrived. 

As if it actually mattered if she did get it dirty. 

As if she was meant to be perfect to meet her sister’s stupid boyfriend. 

As if anyone cared what she looked like, especially when Maria was around—beautiful, funny, charming Maria. Being thirteen was awkward enough, and Lenny was doing it in her sister’s shadow and it felt like everything about the way she was doing it was wrong.

She certainly felt wrong in the dress Nonna had insisted she wear, something that was in the collection of things Lenny usually only got forced into for church on Sunday mornings, not for family dinners at the house. 

It was after that pointed exchange that Maria dragged her sister away from their grandmother’s side, somehow knowing that the two of them were heading for a fight. Some instinct telling Maria that Lenny was just seconds away from complaining about the dress and the whole fuss their grandmother was making. Even if Lenny hadn’t yet developed the self awareness to know when it was best to just agree with their grandmother and let things be, Maria knew, could feel it in the air like the change in pressure before a big storm.

And even if Maria hadn’t known for certain, she needed something to do while she waited for Frank to arrive. Their grandmother was fussing in the kitchen even though there was nothing left to do, and Maria didn’t want to be down there with her, pacing and wringing her hands, but she needed something to distract herself so she didn’t go mad with nerves.

Much better for the girls to be up in the bedroom they shared, to allow their grandmother to do her anxious puttering in peace and to allow Lenny to get out whatever resentment she was feeling about the day out of their grandmother’s ear shot. 

Lenny wretched out of Maria’s grip once the door shut behind them, quickly settling on the edge of her twin-sized bed while Maria paced between the space between Lenny’s and her own. 

“She’s driving me crazy,” Lenny said, but Maria was only half listening as she paced. She needed something to do with her hands. Something to occupy herself. She glanced at the clock and then back to her sister.

“Can I do your hair?” Maria asked. 

Lenny rarely did anything more than run a brush through her long waves or tie it back in a ponytail. Maria never had the patience to let her own hair grow, but Lenny’s was long and beautiful, running all the way down her back. 

“Nothing fancy?” Lenny asked. She let her sister or grandmother braid it for her sometimes—before bed, mostly—to keep it from getting tangled and snagged while she slept, but she wasn’t one for sitting still for long periods of time. 

Maria nodded even though fancy things were Maria’s specialty. She was good with styling hair, but she knew that wasn’t what Lenny liked. It wasn’t what she wanted, and whenever she could, Maria tried to respect what her sister wanted. And she had just needed the distraction anyway. 

Lenny moved over to the vanity settled on her sister’s side of the room and Maria followed, her fingers gentle as she worked the scrunchie from Lenny’s hair and picked up the brush. 

Lenny’s eyes fell closed as Maria moved the brush over her scalp and down her long tresses. Maria was gentle as she worked, far gentler than their mother or grandmother had ever been, and the brushing soothed Lenny. Whatever agitation and resentment had been building after being cooped up all afternoon settled a bit. She opened her eyes to see Maria biting her lip in the mirror, lost entirely in the process of smoothing out Lenny’s tangles. 

 “You’re nervous he won’t like us?” Lenny guessed. She figured that was why her older sister never brought any guys around, never let Lenny even meet them or know about them. The brush stilled in Maria’s hand, her head tilted a bit as her eyes met Lenny’s in the mirror for a second before she started up the work of sectioning Lenny’s hair. She gently tilted Lenny’s head to the necessary angle, and only once she started the work of weaving the hair into braids did she answer.

“I’m more worried about what you’ll think of him,” Maria answered. “I want you to like him.” 

Lenny shifted, forgetting that her sister was braiding her hair, and tried to look at Maria. “What does it matter if I like him? I’m not the one dating him.”

Maria nudged Lenny back into position, pulling on her hair a bit tighter than she liked to, a bit of a smile on her lips. 

“You’re my sister,” she said, “Of course it matters that you like him.” 

“And it doesn’t matter if he likes me?” she asked. “Or Nonna?” 

Maria finished tying off the braid she was working on and met Lenny’s eye in the mirror. 

“The Falconio girls are a package deal,” she said before starting on the second braid. 

Maria wasn’t worried about Frank liking his sister. Or her Nonna. There was a certain charm to the household, despite its quirks. Despite Nonna and Lenny’s sometimes less than sunny dispositions. 

And Maria had told Frank so much about them, he practically knew them both already. She’d been telling Frank about Lenny and Nonna since they met, but she had barely spoken a word about him to them until last week. Until she found out she was pregnant. Until she found out that she needed to say something about the man she’d fallen head over heels in love with.

Lenny hadn’t had time to ask her sister to clarify that statement, or to return the sentiment because Maria heard a familiar car pull up out front, a sound that made her suddenly stand up straighter.

“He’s here,” Maria said, glancing toward the window with a smile before she turned back to Lenny. Maria quickly finished up with her sister’s hair, waiting for Lenny’s approval which came in the form of a quick smile and a nod, before speeding off down the stairs and out the front door.

——

Frank Castle had brought flowers, three bunches of them. One for each of the Falconio girls, each of them in shades of their favorite colors. He’d won Nonna over then, and she was already correcting Frank for calling her “ma’am” by the time they sat down to eat.

He cleaned his plate, twice, conversation flowing between him, Maria, and Nonna like he’d been part of the family for decades. Like he was the grandson Nonna had always wanted, but never had. 

Lenny hadn’t said much, but she was genuinely happy to have him there. Happy that he kept their grandmother distracted. Happy that she hadn’t even noticed Lenny had yet to touch the artichoke hearts her grandmother had put on her plate even though she hated them. Absolutely despised them. She’d said as much, only to get some sharp response in Italian, her first and middle name affixed sourly at the end of it. 

Her face had warmed for a bit as she met Frank’s eye across the table. And he’d proceeded to tell their grandmother how good everything was, thanking her again for inviting him, and leaving Lenny to sulk about her artichokes in relative peace. 

Lenny had been thinking about little else since, just trying to figure out how to get rid of the artichokes without making a scene, without getting caught. Nonna wasn’t usually so over the top about it. Lenny ate most of her vegetables. And she wasn’t a child anymore. She just didn’t like artichokes, but Lenny supposed Nonna was trying to make a good impression of sorts, and making sure someone eats their vegetables seems like a grandmotherly thing to do. 

Nonna didn’t know that she wasn’t the one who Maria thought needed to make a good impression. She didn’t know that Frank’s opinion was of little consequence and that Maria was only watching every interaction so closely to ensure that Lenny and Nonna were liking Frank. 

Even so, Lenny hadn’t had a dilemma like this in years. It had been ages since she last had to engineer a plan to get vegetables off her plate without chewing and swallowing them. When she was little, she had excused herself to the bathroom and stuffed as much as she could into her mouth before walking away from the table to spit everything in the toilet. It wasn’t the smartest or most inconspicuous of moves, and she had gotten away with it a few times before her grandmother started making her show off an empty mouth before she was allowed to leave the table, but it had worked for a time.

She hadn’t endured that particular humiliation in years, but Lenny wouldn’t put it past her grandmother to pick today to start that routine up again, so she quickly discarded it as an option, instead moving her food around her plate, taking small bites of the things she did like. 

Frank had Nonna talking more than Lenny had heard the woman talk in ages outside of a lecture, and her eyes didn’t stray from Frank as she spoke, answering the litany of questions he put to her, nodding and smiling in all the right places, seemingly enthralled by whatever the woman was saying. Lenny couldn’t say what it was all about. She hadn’t been listening, too caught up in her own thoughts. 

Lenny’s eyes darted to her sister who was also seemingly enthralled, and clearly caught up by watching Frank and the way he was doting on their grandmother. Pleased by the way he’d passed Nonna’s test, at least, so easily brought into the fold, offering Maria a sense of ease she’d been greatly missing the last week or so. 

Lenny glanced at her grandmother and Frank again. The pair of them were still preoccupied, almost like Lenny was invisible so she acted then, initiating a transfer of the food straight into a napkin settled on her lap. She ended the maneuver by taking a singular bite of something else on her plate, which she swallowed down with a groan, calling everyone’s attention to her. 

Nonna glanced at the portion of artichoke first, or at least to the place on Lenny’s plate where the artichoke had once been, a faint smile on the woman’s face. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” 

“Delicious, Nonna,” Lenny said, forcing a smile. “Just like Frank said.” 

Nonna’s eyes shifted then to the empty plates around the table, and she began shifting in her seat, readying herself to rise.

“Come, Elena. You’ll help me with the dishes,” Nonna said, but Frank stood up quickly, lifting Nonna’s plate into his hand before the woman could gather it herself. 

“Let me take care of these, ma’am. It’s the least I can do after such a delicious meal. You go ahead and take a walk before it gets dark.”

Lenny nearly snorted before she remembered herself and the serving of artichoke concealed in her pocket. It was suddenly so clear that Maria had prepped Frank for this dinner, telling him enough to ensure he would charm their grandmother and survive the evening. 

She had informed him that Nonna took to her after dinner walk as strictly as she did to church. She had told him that the woman always took the stroll between dinner and dessert, and that she preferred to walk before the day’s light settled behind the buildings across the street. 

Even so, their grandmother was poised to decline Frank’s offer. Lenny braced herself to be ordered into the kitchen to help her grandmother once again, calculating in her head whether or not she could make it to the trash can to dispose of the infamous artichoke before Nonna arrived in the kitchen, but the calculations were seemingly unnecessary as Maria spoke up before the old woman could put up a proper fuss. 

“Let him help, Nonna,” she said as she stood. “You and I can take our walk. Lenny can help Frank with the dishes.” 

It was usually something Lenny would have been annoyed about, being voluntold by her sister like that, but in this instance, she was grateful to Maria for suggesting it. If Lenny stayed behind with Frank, she could get rid of the artichoke in the pocket of her dress with their grandmother none the wiser. 

“Yeah, Nonna. You and Maria go, and we’ll have dessert when you come back,” Lenny promised as Maria guided the woman out. 

Lenny waited until they were through the front door before she stood quickly, stacking plates and silverware, taking the whole pile with her to the kitchen. Her feet didn’t move quickly enough though because Frank was beside her with the glasses and napkins in hand, setting them all down on the counter beside the sink. 

“Wash or dry?” he asked. Already standing in front of the trash can, he began scraping the dishes off into the garbage, already seemingly at home in Nonna’s kitchen, something Lenny often failed to feel even though she’d spent most of her life there. 

“Wash,” Lenny answered, moving to the sink and starting on the glasses while Frank scraped the plates.  

“You want me to throw that artichoke out for you or you keeping them for later?” 

Lenny stilled at the sink, her hands submerged in the hot, soapy water as she turned toward Frank, a smirk on his face when she met his gaze. 

“You saw that?”

Frank snorted. “I practically invented that trick, kid.” 

Lenny normally would have bristled at being called a kid. It usually felt like an insult, but there was a certain warmth about Frank. Lenny got a certain feeling that Frank understood her and the way of things better than most people did. 

For a moment, she idly wondered if he was just showing off, just trying to get her on his good side, but as she passed over the soggy napkin full of artichoke, she found she didn’t really care what Frank’s motives were. As long as the guy kept his mouth shut, he was alright by Lenny. 

“They taste terrible,” Lenny mumbled as Frank dropped the bundle into the trash. “I don’t know why you said it was so good. Now she’ll want to make it every time you come over.” 

“It was good,” he answered, picking up a towel and starting to dry. “I didn’t like that sort of stuff when I was your age either, but tastes change.” 

Lenny gagged. “Yeah, well, I’ll never like it.” 

Frank snorted, a knowing smile growing on his face as he kept drying, the only sound between them the clinking of silverware. 

“So your sister said you like baseball,” he said. “You’re a Mets fan?” 

“Duh,” Lenny answered, as if there were no other option as a New Yorker. To Lenny, it felt like the truth. There were the Yankees, of course, but Lenny had been born and raised in Queens, and her dad had loved the Mets, so some part of her was convinced it was genetic. She hadn’t had a choice in the matter.

“Yeah, my buddy’s a big fan, too,” Frank offered as he took the last dish and Lenny stepped to the cupboard to pull out four dessert plates. “We should all go to a game sometime.” 

Lenny scoffed. “Maria won’t want to go. She doesn’t care about baseball.” 

“Yeah, maybe not,” Frank said as he successfully located the silverware drawer and extracted a few forks, “but she cares a whole lot about you…

“Enough to convince Nonna to go on a walk so you can throw out your artichokes, at least,” Frank added with a wink before he scooped up the plates and forks and headed for the dining room.

Life As We Know It (The Punisher) Masterlist