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wiypt-writes · 4 years ago

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Riding High

Ch13: Crazy Days, But You’ll Get Me Through

Chapter Summary: Frankie boi be loving Sundays…and Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesday and Thursdays and Fridays and Saturdays.

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. SMUT (NSFW,NO UNDER 18s)

Chapter Pairings: Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: And we’re launching into Part 2! Jumping forward a few Months to March 2018, and a lot has changed for Friss!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 12

March 2018

Sundays were fast becoming Frank's favourite day of the week. The one day out of seven where no one needed to be anywhere. There was no work, no school, no horse yard to sort. He was free to lay in bed until mid-morning, snuggled up to his girl until either his bladder or his stomach or Mary dictated that he needed to move.

Sundays simply consisted of lazy morning sex, snuggles, lazing by the pool or the hot-tub in the afternoon, maybe a trip to the beach and then Verity's famous roast dinner before crashing in front of the TV and heading back to bed ready for Monday, whereby the hectic week schedule would start again.

Yup, Frank loved Sundays.

But if he was honest, he kinda liked every other day of the week too. It hadn’t taken long for him and Fliss to fall into a natural and easy routine, and here they were some four and a bit months later. Friday was date night meaning they got a night alone to either go out or sit in the apartment with a take-out or enjoy a BBQ and a bottle of wine and a few beers, just the two of them. Saturdays and Sundays were spent at the Fliss’ place with Mary, and then Fliss stayed at their apartment on a Tuesday and a Wednesday. As Tuesday was the one day a week Frank worked late, Frank would nine times out of ten come home to find Mary doing her homework and Fliss in the kitchen making something for dinner.

If you were looking from the outside-in, it was all so domestic, so mundane, so fucking simple, but he f loved it.

What he also loved was seeing more of his girl as her hours spent at the yard had levelled out too, thanks to a drastic change in the direction her work had taken. After an undercover reporter had visited her yard in January and given an absolutely amazing review, Fliss had found herself inundated with new clients. There were people clamouring for lessons both at the Riding Centre and requesting her to travel to their stables to teach them on their own horses. She was also being asked to school and train peoples horses, back young horses, deal with problem ones and had been turning people down at first due to limited capacity. Seeing her stress about doing so, Bill and Frank had spent two weekends at the beginning of February building another four stables at the back of the private barn for her client's horses and she'd promoted Joanne to Yard Manager, meaning the other woman was now responsible for the day to day management of the stables, organising the staff rotas and scheduling lessons leaving Fliss to concentrate on everything else.

Seeing his girl flourish and her excitement at finally getting her business to where she wanted it to be was something Frank loved to see, and he enjoyed listening to her gush on and on about the horses and her clients, even though he had no idea half the time what she was going on about.

But Sundays…there was none of that to think about. No lunches to make, no Scouts Uniforms to sort, no horses to feed, absolutely fucking nothing to do.

Well, apart from one thing.

He stretched out slightly, and turned onto his side, his arms curling round Fliss as he pulled her closer to him, gently nuzzling into her hair. His eyes still closed, he heard Thor give a yawn from the basket at the foot of the bed, and then Mary's voice hit his ear as she was talking to Fred in the spare room, well, he supposed it was now her room now. She fell silent again and he knew she'd be watching something on the TV that they'd installed in there for her, or doing some maths puzzles on the laptop. It would keep her occupied for a good hour before she started to kick up a fuss about wanting breakfast. With a soft grin he gently pressed closer to Fliss, kissing up the back of her neck, his hand sliding down the outside of her thigh before he reached the back of her knee. She stirred a little, making a soft noise of contentment as his lips softly kissed beneath her ear and he saw her mouth curve into a smile.

“Morning, Handsome.” She whispered.

“Morning, Beautiful.” His voice was gruff from slip, lips still pressing kisses to her skin, his hand now caressing the inside of her bare thigh. She shifted slightly as he gently grasped at her knee, pulling it back towards him and hooking it over his hip, holding her open for him. His hand gently traced a line down and under the fabric of the shirt she was wearing and she sighed at the feeling of his rough hands being ever so soft as his fingertips danced across the skin below her naval before they dipped into her panties, fingers caressing her warmth. She let out a soft keen as she arched her back slightly, his mouth still nipping at the skin underneath her ear.

“You know,” he purred softly, his fingers continuing their soft, deliberate teasing, “you’re always so gorgeous in the mornings.” “What, complete with bed hair and…” Her words died in her mouth as she let out a squeak when he inserted to fingers into her with a quick flick of his wrist.

“Especially with bed hair.” He grinned, nipping at her ear lobe. He curled his fingers, as if he was beckoning to someone, stroking her spot whilst his palm pressed against her clit. Soon, her hips were moving gently in time with his actions, her soft moans swallowed as she turned her face to press into her pillows.

“Come on, baby.” He encouraged softly, before her lips parted and she gave a sigh of his name, her hand wrapping around his wrist as her eyes fluttered shut and he felt her tightening, squeezing against his fingers and he watched, enjoying the way she came undone with such an easy action. Withdrawing his hand, he shimmied softly, sliding his boxers over his hips before he slid her panties down, and he felt her raise her other leg to slide them down over her knees with her foot, an action he still found ridiculously sexy.

“Minx.” He mumbled, and she let out a soft chuckle as he took her leg and placed it back where it had been. With a slow, soft push forwards and upwards he slid into her, his head dropping forward onto her shoulder, nipping at her skin beneath her shirt as he took a moment to relish how she felt around him, always so tight and deep from this angle.

His pace was lazy from the off, hardly putting any action into his thrusts, merely rocking his hips upwards, his hand gently grasping at her hip to keep them joined. The arm that was resting under her neck moved and with his hand under her chin he tilted her head round so that he could capture her mouth in a lazy, sloppy kiss that was all tongues.

Fuck, he loved this woman.

His hand slid up her shirt to gently brush against her breast, fingers softly tweaking at her nipple and she groaned into his mouth, Frank’s lips smiling against hers as he repeated the action, a simple move he knew worked her up something ridiculous, and before long she was begging him not to stop, which, of course, he had no intentions of doing. He kept up that soft, languid pace until the end, when her head fell against him and her back arched again, a single cry of his name, “Frankie” escaped her mouth before she let out a low moan and he felt her tightening around him. Her leg shook slightly as her orgasm continued, her moans eventually dying out as, with a few more rolls of his hips he felt his own creeping up. He picked up the pace slightly and his hips stuttered, his rhythm faltered and he tumbled off the precipice he had been teetering on with a soft grunt and a groan of her name, before his head fell forward, resting against the back of her neck.

They were both silent for a while, breathing deeply as they drifted down from their high together, before he gently moved out of her, his arm round her waist pulling her close as she let out a contented sigh.

“Love you.” He said softly, kissing the back of her neck before she turned in his arm, snuggling into his chest.

“Love you more.”

“Uh-uh, not possible.” He said, easily slipping into the well-worn joke argument. They continued to insist each one of them loved the other more until Fliss childishly used the “infinity no come-backs” line and he chuckled, simply holding her close, basking in the feel of her pressed against him.

Yup, Frank fucking loved Sundays.

*****

After a breakfast of pancakes and bacon, eaten around the coffee table in the front room, Mary headed off with Bill and the dogs for a walk along the river and down the boardwalk. Frank picked his laptop up and headed outside with Fliss who stretched out on the outside sofa, nose buried in her latest book on her Kindle. What was such a normal thing for most people in life, had been a pretty big issue to her at first as, the first time she’d picked up a book she’d asked him if he minded if she read for a while, before admitting to him shyly that it was something John had never really liked her doing when she was with him, as he wanted her attention on him all the time. Frank had made a point, therefore, of telling her if she wanted to curl up beside him and use him as a footstool whilst she read for hours on end he didn’t give a shit. In fact, her reading had lead him to re-discover the habit too, but whilst Fliss favoured crime, fantasy or thriller fiction, he preferred to read things based on theories or Philosophy.

But not at that moment, he was still on the search for a new apartment. A search that so far hadn’t thrown anything up.

He sat at the table in the shade and opened up the usual search browsers and started looking at the available list of apartments, googling their location, tracking how far each one was from key places such as his work, Mary’s school, the yard… before letting out a heavy sigh. Fliss glanced up over her shades and frowned.

“What’s wrong?” “Looking for apartments.” He blew out a loud breath, sitting back. “Everything that’s in the areas that are suitable are like sixteen-hundred a month or more.” He scratched at his chin. “I mean, I could stretch to it but it won’t leave a lot spare once the bills and food and stuff are taken care of.”

Fliss watched him as he continued scanning through the pages before he gave another groan and shut the lap top a little heavily. Setting her kindle down, she stood up and made her way over, dropping her hands round his neck.

“Do you need a lot spare?”

“Not really, but it’s nice to have. I’ve been trying to set some aside you know for when Mary gets older and the grants stop but I’ve never really had much to do that with, not until starting this new job anyway.” “Look at you, getting all grown up and responsible.” She teased, pressing a kiss to his cheek and he laughed softly, rubbing her arms.

“You’re clearly a good influence.” He smiled before he bit his lip. “You know, I’m probably just gonna have to suck it up. I can always ask for extra hours I suppose.” “You have a couple of months yet.” Fliss soothed gently. “And, you know, if absolute worst comes to worst you can just move in here. There’s enough room for me back in the house if we need time apart.” Frank turned his head to look at her, a hurt expression on his face. “You think we’d need time apart?” Fliss shook her head “No, I’m just staying we’ve only been together a few months and it’s a bit soon to be thinking about that and...”

As she babbled on he couldn’t keep it up anymore and broke into a laugh.

“Oh,” she slapped his arm as she realised he was teasing and he pushed the chair back further and pulled her down onto his lap, “you’re such a dick.”

“It’s been said.” He nodded, his hand rubbing at her back as she laughed.

“Don’t worry about it.” She looked at him. “Something will come up. Is there nothing on the park where you are now?”

“Not that I know of.” He said, after a moment’s pause. “Roberta’s pretty in the know on all that and she said she’d keep her eyes open. Besides, I was kinda wanting to move off there.” “Why?” Fliss looked at him.

“It’s not exactly upmarket.”

“Neither are you.” She snorted.

“Thanks, Sweetheart.” He rolled his eyes.

“No, what I mean is that you’re happy and settled there. It might not high-brow living but believe me, that’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Snobby assed neighbours peeking through curtains, arguments over who’s parked their Mercedes in the way of someone else’s Porsche, no thanks.” She pulled a face. “Where you are is nice and relaxed, there’s never any trouble, it’s quiet on the main and Roberta’s nearby.”

“Yeah I know.” Frank nodded leaning up to give her a peck on the lips. “Like you say, something will come up.”

“Anyway, change of subject,” Fliss wrapped her arms round his neck. “It’s your birthday on Wednesday.” Frank groaned “Don’t remind me…” “Thirty-seven. Old bastard.”

He narrowed his eyes “I’m only three years older than you.”

“Three years and three months, thank you.” she said.

“And I suppose those three months make all the difference?”

She nodded and he laughed, shaking his head.

“What do you wanna do?” she asked.

“It’s a Wednesday.” He shrugged. “Honestly? I’m happy with bowling and a burger as per the usual routine, maybe me and you can go out on the Friday night?”

“Sounds good.”

“We can go to Ferg’s and I can reminisce about my Friday Fuckboy antics.” he teased “Take you back the apartment and do you on the couch.”

“You did other girls on that couch?” she looked at him frowning. He hesitated for a moment before he smirked.

“Not on that one, no.”

**** “Frank!”

He turned to look at Roberta as she was walking out of her house and over to him.

“Hey.” He smiled, “You ok?”

“Yeah, I wanted to give you this for tomorrow.” She smiled, handing him a small gift bag.

“Roberta, you didn’t have to get me anything. Thank you.” He smiled.

“It’s not much so don’t be getting excited.” She shrugged “But I do have something else that might be worth excitement.”

“What?”

“A 2 Bed Apartment, one block down.”

Frank looked at her. “You serious?”

She nodded “Heard Pat and Maria talking about it before…”

Frank had no idea who Pat and Maria were, but he didn’t bother to tell her that.

“According to them, number 2457 has been vacated. The landlord had a bit of trouble with the previous tenants, they’d trashed the place after he issued them an eviction notice for not paying the rent.”

Frank rolled his eyes. “Nice. How much was he letting it for?”

“Bout nine-hundred a month I think.” Roberta thought for a moment. Frank pondered, that was do-able…

“I popped in to see him before.” She continued and Frank smirked.

“Course you did.”

“Oh hush. I only went because apparently he was talking about doing the place up and selling, says he’s had enough of ass holes renting. But when I said I’d give you a reference he said he’d think about it and that if you go and see him he might be willing to do a deal.”

“A deal?” Frank frowned

“Yeah, as in let to you at a lower rate if you do the repairs.”

Frank considered this for a moment. He was pretty good with his hands when it came to stuff like that. Providing there wasn’t anything majorly wrong he should be able to fix the place up, and he was sure if he asked Bill would help.

“You got his number?” He looked at Roberta and she smiled, handing him a piece of paper.

“Give him a call in the morning.”

“I will, thanks Roberta.” He folded the paper and stuck it in his back pocket before he grinned and arched an eyebrow “You still ok to have Mary on Friday?” “I’m not even going to answer that.” She rolled her eyes as she turned and headed back towards her house.

Frank walked into his kitchen and was instantly hit with the smell of food and the noise of a familiar song playing from the Bluetooth speakers that sat on the window sill. He tossed his keys onto the table and moved behind Fliss, his hands falling to her hips as she smiled, drizzling dressing over the bowl of salad in front of her. He dropped a kiss to her neck and gently spun her round, causing her to giggle as he took her in a dancing hold and twirled her round the small space as Jason Mraz continued to sing I'm Yours.

"Get off you idiot." She laughed and he smiled, letting go as she pushed on his chest gently, her hands falling to his biceps as she took in his filthy T-shirt, biting her lip softly. There was something about seeing him full of grease and whatever other shit he’d been working with all day that made her a little bit hot under the collar.

"Good day?" He asked and she smiled.

"Not bad at all. Think I've picked up another client."

"Yeah?" He reached into the salad bowl and picked out a piece of cucumber.

"Yeah at the same yard I was teaching at today." She slapped at his hand "Gonna have to start turning people away again soon, my schedule is chocca"

He pressed a kiss to her cheek and wandered into the main room where Mary was sat scribbling on something which rest on the coffee table.

"T'ya doing Stack?" He asked, his hand dropping to her hair.

"Filling my Scout journal in for my first badge!" She smiled.

“Badge huh? What for?”

“Animal care, look." Frank peered over to see a picture of her and Monty stuck in the book, which she was writing underneath. "Fliss printed it for me.”

Frank smiled and headed into his room to grab a fresh towel from the laundry pile before he made his way into the bathroom to shower before dinner.

By the time he was done, Mary was already sat at the kitchen table, food on her plate. Frank quickly dried off, dressed and headed back, sitting down opposite her.

"So, I may have found an apartment." He helped himself to the salad to accompany the chicken and rice.

"Yeah?" Fliss looked at him "Where?"

"A few rows down from here. Roberta found it actually"

"So we don’t have to move far?" Mary's face lit up.

"Well I gotta see it first. Apparently it needs a bit of work, but Roberta thinks that if I do it, the landlord will rent at a discount." He shovelled a fork of food unto his mouth and made an appreciative noise as the Mexican flavour on the rice hit his taste buds. "S'good"

"You want me to ask Dad to take a look with you?" Fliss asked and Frank smiled.

"I'll do it." He nodded "Be good to have his opinion"

They ate the rest of their food before Mary took off again to finish her journal, Fliss kneeling besides her helping her get her words in order whilst Frank did the dishes. He then picked up the small pile of mail that was on the side, Fliss having collected it before, and shuffled through it. There was a utility bill that he gave a cursory glance to, his credit card statement, yeah that could wait, and then a larger envelope that made him stop dead. It felt like a birthday card, and he knew instantly from the writing who it was from. Sliding a finger underneath the top of the flap he pulled the card out and raised an eyebrow slightly at the signature before he picked up the note that had dropped onto the table.

Frank,

I expect that the face you’re pulling right now is the usual one you pull when you’re either confused or slightly annoyed, or maybe a combination of both, and I don’t blame you.

I wanted to let you know that Diane’s work is currently being debated across the academic world, she’s getting the recognition she rightly deserved, and I can’t claim all the credit for that, some of it has to go to you.

I know that nothing will ever make up for what I put you and Mary through but I wanted to at least try and make some form of amends. By the time you read this the remainder of your legal bill will have been cleared. It’s the least I could do.

I’d also really like to get to know Mary a little more, perhaps I could arrange to visit when you feel the time is right, on your terms obviously. My number is below, maybe when you’ve considered this you can give me a call.

Happy birthday.

Evelyn.

What-the-actual-fuck?

He re-read the note again, a slight frown on his face. He already knew full well all about who was debating Diane’s work because, whilst he had never told anyone, he’d been keeping a close eye on it across the internet. And as for his legal bill….well, he had been paying Greg off in instalments, a couple of hundred each month but even at his heavily discounted rate he had over three-hundred left to fund. So he wasn’t going to lie, that would be a major help. But he couldn’t help but feel this was nothing but a bribe, an attempted sweetener, which was typical of his mother, thinking she could throw money at something and make it all better.

“What you got there?”

He looked up to see Fliss paused in the doorway.

“Read it and see.” he handed her the note.

He reached into the fridge for two beers and flipped the lids off, watching Fliss’s facial reactions as she scanned the note. Her brows raised that high they almost disappeared into her hair line and she pursed her lips, the nerve in her jaw twitching the way it always did when she was trying not to show she was pissed.

She finished and looked at him, shaking her head “Does she think that paying your legal bill which, she fucking caused in the first place, makes everything ok?”

Frank shrugged, smiling softly at Fliss’ utter indignation on his behalf.

“I’d like to say she’s not that stupid but…” Frank handed her a beer as he passed him back the note.

“What you gonna do about Mary?”

“It’s up to her.” Frank shrugged, “I’ll talk to her about it tomorrow and see what she says. If she wants to see Evelyn then I’m not going to stop her.”

Fliss didn’t reply, but Frank could see her mind was ticking over. Eventually she nodded.

“It’s your decision love, can’t say I’d be as accommodating given the circumstances.” Frank chuckled. “That’s because you’re a stubborn ass.”

“Says you.” she shot back.

He simply smiled in response before he asked. “Can you try and reason with Mary about it being time for her to get ready for bed? I need to call Greg.”

"Sure." Fliss nodded. She kissed his cheek before she headed into the living room and Frank heard Mary groan in protest. With a soft smile he stepped outside and scanned through his phone until he reached Greg's number.

"Hey man." Greg's warm voice greeted him. "I take it you heard from your mother?"

"So you do know." Frank replied, calmly.

"She called me, paid me and instructed me not to tell you. Said she was going to do that herself"

"Yeah she told me, sent me a note in the first birthday card I've had off her in nine years."

"Huh." Greg huffed "that's...nice?"

Frank snorted. “She wants contact with Mary, but, like I said, that’s down to Stack.”

"Well you know I got your back man so, if you need me to do anything just holler."

"I know, thanks. Hey, what you doing Friday? Was thinking about grabbing a few beers seeing as I'll have completed another circuit around the sun."

"Man, we're out already. Sorry." Greg sighed "but soon yeah, why don't you, Mary and Fliss come over or something one Saturday? We'll cook out"

"Sounds great." Frank nodded.

"Alright well, have a great day tomorrow and don’t worry about your mother man, she's absolutely no rights here."

"I'm not.” Frank said honestly. “I’m more curious than worried"

"Curiosity killed the cat, Frank.” Greg said after a pause.

"Well as long as it ain't Fred..."

****** For the first time in, well, years, the next morning Frank had the excitement of opening a pile of presents for his birthday. The main one, which he was stunned by, was a beautiful new Holzkern leadwood and marble watch from Fliss, along with a few polo-shirts and a bottle of his preferred aftershave- Paco Rabane Invictus. He also got a new tool box from Mary, which contained various boxes and bags of sweets, and his present from Roberta was a gift token for the local electronic store and a four pack. Once the gifts were open, he was stuffed full of pancakes and packed off to work for the day. It passed pretty quickly, the guys in the workshop had decorated his particular bench with banners and balloons, and caused exactly the type of fuss that grumpy Frank would have hated. But because happy Frank was out to play that day, he took it well, and enjoyed several of the donuts along with a Starbucks coffee round that Alan had brought in, a tradition apparently when they had a birthday in the place.

He managed to finish on time and headed over to collect Mary from after school club. He walked into the school grounds and round to the playing fields at the back, where he paused for a moment and watched as they were engaged in some kind of ball game. When there was a natural break, he caught her attention and she bounded over, her cheeks flushed from the activity and he gave Bonnie a smile and a nod before they headed to the truck.

“Good day, Stack?”

“Yeah.” She nodded “We did some creative writing and art. It was fun.”

“Cool.” He said as they both climbed into their seats. “Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something.” “Okay…”

“Evelyn. She sent me a birthday card, and it had a letter inside. She wants to see you.” “I don’t have to go live with her do I?” Mary’s eyes widened and Frank shook his head.

“No, all that’s sorted. You’re not going anywhere. And you don’t have to see her either if you don’t want to. It’s your call.”

“What do you think I should do?”

“I can’t answer that, Mary.” He shook his head “Like I told you a while back about the whole God debate you drew me into. I have my opinions and thoughts, but why would I want to cloud yours with my own.”

Mary pondered for a moment before she nodded, accepting his answer “Okay, I get it.”

“So I want you to think about it and let me know what you decide.” He looked at her. “And whatever it is, that’s fine by me. “

She nodded to show she’d understood and with that Frank set off and, once he had turned onto the main road back to the apartment, he glanced back over at her.

“On a change of subject, I’m going to look at that other apartment on Friday.”

“The one near us?”

“Uh, huh.”

“Cool.” Mary nodded. “Hey, Frank? Is Fliss going to live with us?”

Frank took a deep breath. “She’ll be doing what she does now. I expect some time down the line we’ll live together but not just yet, why do you ask?” Mary shrugged “Just curious.” “Would her living with us be a problem?”

“No.” Mary scoffed. “She makes miles better food than you, she makes better hot chocolate than you, she can braid my hair and she always wakes me up nicely in the morning instead of just yanking my covers off me and telling me to hop to it.” Frank looked at his niece and smirked. “So what you’re saying is she’s better than me?”

“Not in all ways.” Mary shrugged “You give better hugs, even Fliss admits that. She says your hugs make her feel safe and happy and she’s right.” Frank smiled and turned his attention back to the road.

Once Fliss was home, it was then announced to Frank that they weren’t actually going bowling as he’d thought, instead they were having a picnic tea outside, with Roberta. And then Verity and Bill turned up handing him a card which contained a large sum of money. He pretested at their gift but they completely ignored him, simply telling him he was welcome and they spent a wonderful evening outside with a few beers and a huge sticky toffee apple cake which Verity had made.

It was no surprise that a few hours later at just gone eight when everyone had left, that he crashed on the sofa whilst Fliss was tidying the kitchen down and trying to get a still wired Mary to change for bed.

“He’s fallen asleep!” Mary pointed at Frank as they walked into the living room. “Talk about rubbish!”

Fliss pondered for a moment, and then a wicked idea formed in her head “We’ll have to wake him up then.” “How?”

Fliss grinned and explained to Mary who let out a naughty giggle as the two moved around grabbing what they needed to enact their plan.

“Ready?” Fliss whispered, once everything was in place.

Mary gave her a thumbs up and waved one of Fred’s cat toys over Frank’s face, dragging the feather on the edge of a string over his cheeks. Frank merely wrinkled his nose, but other than that made no movement. Fliss looked at Mary who narrowed her eyes, and then moved the cat toy again. This time, Frank raised his hand to bush whatever it was on his cheek away, and smeared the slice of birthday cake that Fliss had placed in his palm all over himself.

Mary and Fliss both burst out laughing, Mary collapsing onto the floor by the side of the sofa arm in hysterical giggles as Frank sat up, utterly in shock at what had just happened. It took him a second to understand, and wiped at his face, looking at the two of them. Fliss had tears pouring down her cheeks as he licked at his fingers before he narrowed his eyes at her.

“You’re dead.” And in a flash he darted off the sofa and the pair of them gave a shriek, running from the room. He caught Mary before she had even made it through the kitchen and he picked her up, her laughter and cries ignored, as he wiped his face all over her before he set her down and headed after Fliss.

She dodged around the side of the table outside Roberta’s, keeping it between them, and every time he moved she did the same in the opposite way. He raised his eyebrow at her, and she laughed even harder, before he sprung up and vaulted over the table, and she turned to run but he caught her, grabbing her round the waist as she laughed again.

“I suspect you think that was clever?” he nuzzled into her neck, wiping the mess off his cheek onto her skin.

“Not clever, but it was pretty funny.” she wiped his beard with her hand. “It was that or we stuck your hand in a bowl of water and watched you pee.”

“You know I’ll remember this…” he told her. “Watch your back.”

“Not sure if I’m worried or turned on.” she looked at him, a glint in her eyes. He smirked and pressed his lips to her softly before they headed back inside.

***** “He wasn’t lying when he said they’d done a number on the place.” Bill observed the thick, black gloss paint thrown all over the living room carpet of the apartment they were looking round, his eyes following it up one of the walls. Frank also spotted that the light fittings on the same wall had been smashed. He took it all in before Bill patted him on the shoulder and gestured to the kitchen area which was off to the side. Bill, like Frank, was more concerned with weighing up the damage as it currently stood, whereas Fliss was clearly much more interested in how the room could look if the damage wasn’t there. They left her to it and headed into the room and Bill once more shook his head and sighed as they saw all of the doors were missing or hanging off the kitchen cabinets and the washing machine door had been pulled off its hinges completely.

Next they moved into the bathroom where Frank looked at the shower which had been wrenched off the wall removing half the tiles with it, and the huge crack in the bathtub. In the bedrooms, thankfully, the worst that seemed to have been done was they’d again poured some kind of paint all over the carpets.

“It’s a mess.” Bill sighed gently. “But, nothing we can’t sort.”

Frank smiled, noticing he’d used the phrase we.

“I got contacts.” Bill continued. “One of the guys at the golf club, his son runs a bathroom and kitchen installation company. He’s always getting old doors and showers and bathtubs from jobs that are perfectly fine, just people want new ones.” he stopped, looking around. “And as for the painting and the tiling and the carpets, we can do that between us. Bet we could get it done in a fortnight.” “Thanks.” Frank looked at him. “You know I don’t just expect you to help, that’s not why I asked you to come.” “I know.” Bill waved him away. “But I’m happy to. Been a while since I did a fixer-upper, plus, it gets me away from V’s nagging.”

Frank chuckled before he grew serious again, needing to do the maths in his head about what this was going to cost. "So, what upfront outlay you reckon I’m looking at?" "Maximum a thousand" Bill nodded. "And that’s tops. But from what you told me, if the deals right, you could make that back on the first couple of months with your discount rent. I can front it for you if you need me to.”

“That’s really kind of you, but I’ve got savings.” Frank smiled, “Of course, it all depends what he’s prepared to go down to.”

“What’s a place like this go for when it’s in good nick?” Bill asked.

“On this park, well, anywhere between eight hundred and a thousand” Frank answered as they wandered into the living area where Fliss was stood talking the landlord, a small, wiry man called John Jameson.

“Well it obviously means an outlay upfront.” Frank heard her saying, and he exchanged a glance with Bill, the pair of them grinning at the fact she was already doing the haggling for him “So…”

“I was renting it out for nine-fifty…”

“Yeah and it’s gonna cost money and time to sort it out.”

Jameson nodded “Which is why I’m prepared to do a deal…”

“Six-hundred a month.” Frank cut in, trying his luck. “I take on responsibility for all the work but I want a long term lease.”

Jameson took a deep breath, “Trust me Mr Adler, the longer lease you sign the better.” the man looked at Frank, then to Fliss, then back again. “I’ll sign for 18 months at six-fifty. Then if you want to stay we can review the price after that. And I’d like to inspect the work when it’s done.”

“No problem.” Frank nodded

“Then you got yourself a deal.” Jameson stuck his hand out and shook Frank’s. “I’ll get the paper work sorted out and we can go from there.”

Fliss shot Frank a grin and he slid his arm round her shoulders, pressing a kiss to the side of her temple. He was absolutely overjoyed. The rent he’d just agreed was only a hundred and fifty more than he was paying Roberta at the moment, for a much bigger home, and it left him more than enough over every month to keep saving and on occasions spoiling his girls.

They all headed back outside, once more shaking hands as Bill made arrangements to come back and measure up, and then they bid Jameson goodbye and strode back down the path towards Frank’s apartment.

"You’re gonna need a bit more furniture." Fliss turned to him as they walked "But if you use what you have initially, we can add it as we go.” “We?” Frank looked at her and she flushed again at his teasing.

“Yeah, well, I just meant that like we can go to Ikea and like have huge arguments when we try to assemble the flat pack."

Bill rolled his eyes "Flat pack assembly is piss easy. We can do it over a few beers."

“As long as we doesn’t include mum.” Fliss said and Bill groaned.

“Not after last time.” He shook his head. “What happened last time?” Frank asked.

Fliss snorted a laugh and Bill held up his right hand, showing Frank a circular scar on the back of it, just above his wrist.

“Decided she’d screw me instead of a door hinge.” Bill raised an eyebrow “And yes, there’s a joke in there somewhere.” Frank laughed as Fliss rolled her eyes. “Now, you kids want a lift down to Ferg’s?”

Frank looked at Fliss who nodded. The pair of them were already changed and ready to go, Frank sporting a bright blue Hawaiian shirt with palm trees all over it for the occasion.

“That okay?” Frank asked.

“Course.” Bill said

“Ok, I’ll just nip into Roberta’s and check Mary’s okay then I’ll meet you at the car.”

***** Frank let go of Fliss' hand to hold the door open and she walked in to Ferg’s, the pair making their way to the bar. Fliss ordered them both a beer and she turned to talk to Frank when he felt a slap on his shoulder. Turning round, he gave a little start as he saw his friends all grinning at him.

"Surprise!" Greg smiled as Frank frowned for a moment. They had all told him they were busy. It didn’t take him long to realise what had been going on. He turned to Fliss who grinned at him.

"Happy Birthday!" She laughed as he bent down to give her a quick kiss.

He dropped an arm round her shoulder as the group began to chat animatedly, eagerly catching up as they hadn't been together since their Christmas night out. Shots were shared, beers were drunk and before long a pool tournament had struck up, Bonnie and Fliss teaming up together, whilst Frank took Greg as his team mate. As the rounds went by, the duos dropped out one by one until they reached the last four. And it was a tense final, losers down to buy a round for the entire group.

Fliss sank her last striped ball and looked up at Frank with a wink. "Top right."

She missed.

"Bollocks!" She yelled, hanging her head as Frank and Greg shared a high-five. Frank moved round to take his shot, Fliss tying everything she could to distract him, even running her hand up the inside of his thigh which made him jerk forward with a grunt.

The rest of the group laughed as he stood up with a sigh and gave her a stern look "Stop it."

She backed away, smirking a little and he took the shot, winning the game. With a groan Fliss turned to Bonnie who shook her head.

"We let you win because it's your birthday." Bonnie looked at him and Fliss nodded in agreement.

"Was my birthday on Wednesday.” He rolled his eyes. “And like fuck you let me win. She's the most competitive person I've ever met!" He pointed at Fliss.

Fliss shrugged, the rest of them laughing as the girls headed off to the bar. Bonnie handed Fliss her share of the money before she excused herself to go to the bathroom leaving Fliss to order the drinks.

As the bartender turned to get her order she felt someone slide into the space next to her as the other guy working behind the bar made his way over

"Have you been served or..." the man next to her asked and Fliss looked at him, smiling.

"Yeah thanks, go ahead."

He placed his order and then turned back to Fliss. “You here alone or..."

"Sorry, no I'm with someone." She smiled, nodding over to the group who were now making their way over to a spare table.

"Too bad." The guy winked, smiling at her as he blatantly looked her up and down.

And that was it. Such a simple, innocent, flirty action from the man, yet it threw Fliss right back, and she felt the panic beginning to rise in her chest. If he saw this guy talking to her, and her talking back...

Frank, who had been silently observing the douchebag with Fliss, spotted the look of panic as it spread across her face instantly. Excusing himself, he strode straight over to where she was stood. He placed himself in between the bloke and Fliss with a stern "get lost" tossed casually over his shoulder. The guy apologised and hastily made his retreat as Frank looked at his girl, his hands cupping her face gently.

"Lissy...hey.”

It took her a moment but her eyes focused again and she looked at him, her hands reaching up to clamp round his wrist. "Frankie...I..."

"Did he do something?"

"No...I...I just...I wasn't doing anything, please, don't be mad."

"Woah, woah." he said softly, his hands still cupping her face. "I'm not mad. Why would I be mad?"

But even as he said it he had a sudden recollection of the mornings after their first night together and her comment about why she’d gotten the scars he’d seen on her ass.

"Baby, look at me.” He instructed, softly "I would never be cross with you over something like that, and even if I was I wouldn't..."

He trailed off, shaking his head, unable to even voice the words and watched as her breathing evened out and then her eyes filled with tears.

"Frank I'm sorry, I didn't mean that you would, I know you wouldn't do that, I just…"

"Liss, stop apologising." he gently pulled her into a hug. Her hands wrapped around his back, fists grabbing at his shirt and he pressed a kiss to her head allowing her to pull back as she wiped her eyes.

"Is anyone watching?” She asked softly after a moment. Frank looked around and then turned back, shaking his head.

"No." He assured her as two buckets of beer were slid toward them.

"God I'm such an idiot."

"Stop." He looked at her again "You're not an idiot. Well, not all the time." She hit him on the chest softly and he chuckled before he sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear "Baby, please, don't ever be afraid to tell me what's happening or if you're scared or worried okay?"

"I'm not." She shook her head softly “I'm not scared of you, you know that right?"

"I know." He smiled before he dropped a kiss to her lips and picked up one of the buckets.

She grabbed the other and then he saw the cheeky smile cross her face again and he was glad to see Lissy had returned and Felicity was gone.

"You're still gonna do me on the couch when we get back, right?" She asked not looking at him.

"Oh yeah." he grinned.

**** Chapter 14

#riding high #frank adler #frank adler x ofc #frank adler x original female character #gifted #gifted fan fic

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dieaprikose · 4 years ago

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ESSEN AUF DEUTSCH | how to speak about #eating in German? [pt1]

Jetzt lerne ich über das Thema “Ernährung”/”Essen”. Während ich sowieso gerne darüber reden, finde ich es ein gutes und einfaches Thema. Aber wie bei jedem neuen Thema gibt es hier auch neue Fremdwörter. | Now I was studying about the topic eating, and as I generally love talking about foods, cuisine, it is not really that surprising that I don’t really find this topic too hard. But as it is like that with every new topic, there are planty of new words here as well.

In high school, I was studying German for 4 years, but I stopped it in University unfortunately. Not the best decision of my life, but I decided to continue: partly because I need to do a language exam for my MA degree, and partly because I love German. In high-school, I studied a bit about this topic, so I knew/remembered the basic words, but I had to improve my vocab here too. Let’s see:

german english hungarian

VERBS:

essen, h. gegessen to eat enni trinken, h. getrunken to drink inni kochen, h. gekocht to cook főzni backen, h. gebacken to bake sütni (tésztát, tortát) braten, h. gebraten to fry/roast (meat) sütni (húst) grillen, h. gegrillt, to grill, grillezni schmecken, h. geschmeckt to taste sth megízlelni valamit ernähren, h. ernährt, to feed, táplál frühstücken, h. gefrüstückt, to have breakfast, reggelizni fressen, h. gefressen, to eat, enni zunehmen, h. zugenommen, to gain weight, hízni abnehmen, h. abgenommen, to lose weight, fogyni mischen, h. gemischt, to mix, keveredik, keverni enthalten, h. enthalten, to contain, tartalmaz schneiden, h. geschnitten, to cut, szeletel, vág probieren, h. probiert, to try sth, megkóstolni bestellen, h. bestellt, to order, rendelni bedienen, h. bedient, to serve, kiszolgálni

NOUNS:

IN GENERAL:

s Essen, the food, étel e Ernährung,eating, étkezés r Hunger, hunger, éhség r Durst, thirst, szomj r Appetit, appetite, étvágy r Geschmack, tasting, ízlés e Lebensmittel,pl, food products, élelmiszer r Inhalt, -e, content/substance, élelmiszer s Verfallsdatum, expiration date, lejárati dátum e Mahlzeit,-en, meal, étkezés s Frühstück, breakfast, reggeli s Mittagessen, lunch, ebéd s Abendessen, dinner, vacsora e Vorspeise,-n, starter, előétel e Nachspeise,-n,dessert, desszert e Portion,-n, portion, adag e Scheibe, -n, slice, szelet s Stück, -e, piece, szelet, adag e Hälfte,-n, half of, fele vminek, fél r Rest,-e, rest, maradék

PLACES s Restaurant, -s, restaurant, étterem s Café, -s, cafe, kávézó e Kneipe,-n, pub, kocsma e Bar,-s, bar, bár s Lokal,-e, local pub, helyi kocsma s Gasthaus,-:er, inn, vendégház e Kantine,-n, cantine, kantin, üzemi étkezde

ADJECTIVES

hungrig, hungry, éhes satt, to be full, jóllakott roh, raw, nyers gar, ready,cooked, elkészült [also has other meanings like at all) bereit, ready, prepared, elkészült reif, reip, érett süß, sweet, édes bitter, bitter, keserű sauer, sour, savanyú frisch, frish, friss fett, fat, zsíros vegetarisch, vegetarian, vega übrig, remaining, megmaradt, a többi

And now we are ready with the basics. To be continued with some other vocabulary, such as foods, fruits, name of meats, vegetables, and some other, a bit more advanced words AND phrases!! Phrases are important, they make your speech more colorful, advanced, more fluent-like.

!!! PART 2 IS COMING !!!!

PLUS I am also coming with a quizlet set, I will share a link HERE, but it is not ready yet.

Bis bald,

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jingerhead · 3 years ago

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You get frighteningly closer to drawing fem neil more like me every day im SCARED

supplying you with more gay panic

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x-jean · 9 months ago

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I cant believe FFL's kudos/hits like

Wowowow

#i am not a writer. im an artist- i draw #i started this fic because i couldnt draw at the time #it was an idea that was living in my head that i used to think about to put myself to sleep #a friend conviced me the idea was great and that i should post it and well #here we are! 12 chapters and a few years later #i mean i absolutely plan on finishing this. life has just gotten in the way #im just so blown away by the response like??#people... enjoy my writing?? my thoughts and ideas???#absolutely insane #totally wonderful #but also insane #anyway. if you've read this far and you've read my fic #thank you so much!! you keep me wanting to write!!#and maybe i'll draw some scenes from FFL too #friss talks #friss writes #friss' life

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what-is-your-plan-today · 4 years ago

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Riding On Ch 6: It’s A Nice Day For A White Wedding

Summary: It’s Jake’s wedding day and poor Fliss appears to be the only sober one in the Circle Of Truth…and then that all important question is answered. Is Baby Adler Pink or Blue? (Place your bets, please!)

Warnings: Bad Language words. SMUT (NSFW NO UNDER 18s!!) Also some pretty heavy anti-Trump ranting so if this offends anyone, sorry (but also not sorry… I think the guy is as much of a buffoon as Boris fcking Johnson)

Pairing: Frank Adler x Fliss Gallagher

A/N: Just so you know, I couldn’t decide whether to give them a boy or a girl…so I literally wrote both down on a piece of paper and picked. Also, I have to thank @southerngrace here for her idea on just how to reveal the news to Mary and their Family. Chapter Song: It’s All About You by Mc Fly (this one has ALWAYS screamed Friss at me, I’m not afraid to say it!)

Riding On Masterlist // WIYPT Masterlist

And I would answer all your wishes, if you asked me to. But if you deny me one of your kisses, don’t know what I’d do. So hold me close and say three words like you used to do. Dancing on the kitchen tiles, yes you make my life worthwhile, so I told you with a smile, it’s all about you.

Bonnie and Fliss stood in the small room at the side, the crowd of people milling around between there and the outside patio area whilst the main room was set up for the party following the conclusion of the sit down reception.

"It was a nice meal." Bonnie smiled.

"Yeah, really thoughtful of them to have the non-alcoholic wine available" Fliss smiled. “Felt nice to taste something that made me feel like an adult again.”

She looked around and her gaze settled on Frank who was leaning against the bar, his red tie long discarded, collar of his dress shirt undone. He caught her eye, flashed her a smile and then turned back to Greg continuing their conversation.

"He hasn't taken his eyes off you all day." Bonnie smiled as Fliss turned back to her. "It's cute"

Fliss smiled "You know he got me flowers yesterday. When I got back from work he had already left to come up here and when I called him to ask what they occasion was he said he just felt like it." She paused "I get the feeling he is still trying to make up for Vegas but he doesn't need to. We're good."

Bonnie grinned. "Did he tell you what he actually said to the girl?"

"I don't think he remembers" Fliss shook her head.

"Si does. Apparently he said, and I quote 'why the fuck would I want a Big Mac when I got a prime fillet steak waiting for me at home?’ “

Fliss blinked, and then let out a huge snort of laughter which attracted the attention of a few people around them.

"How fucking rude"

"She deserved it by refusing to back off the first time. Ho." Bonnie shrugged.

"I don't mean that I mean him likening me to a piece of meat. Mind you, quite apt really..." she shrugged

"How so?"

"He is constantly fucking horny." Fliss dropped her voice "Not that I particularly mind but the last week or so he's been really, really bad. Take Thursday for example. I woke up to him poking me in the back so he got a blowjob before we got up, then he fucked me on the couch that evening when Mary had gone to bed and then when I woke up to go to the loo at 2 am we did it again."

Bonnie sniggered "Maybe you're giving off some kind of sex pheromone because you’re pregnant."

"I know you're joking but..." Fliss shrugged "He’s always had a high sex drive but since I started really showing he has gotten so much worse. I think he has some kind of breeding kink."

"Must be so hard being you..." Bonnie said sarcastically "Nice man that buys you flowers and can't keep his hands off you...”

"He is the one finding it hard not me" Fliss grinned and at that Bonnie tipped her head back laughing.

Frank heard his girl’s laughter from where he was stood and watched as she tipped her head back, attracting the attention of a few of the guests with her loud cackles. His eyes scanned down her frame and back up again, lingering slightly on the gentle curve of her bump just visible under her dress as it hung over her lower body. Her hair was pulled back into an elegant knot at the base of her neck, a few strands hanging loose around her face and her eyes were lidded with a light dusting of rose gold powder, making her brown irises pop even more. The necklace he had bought her a while back hung around her neck, settling just above her cleavage which looked fucking amazing in that dress.

The moment he had seen her earlier when she had arrived with Bonnie he’d felt the all too familiar stirring in his pants that he seemed to get every time he looked at her recently. His mouth had gone dry and he’d been totally ogling her, enough to cause Greg to slap him on his shoulder and tell him, jokingly, to stop being a pervert.

Frank hadn't replied. He’d waited long enough to allow himself to open up to someone so they could see the entire shit show he was. He was happy, more than happy in fact. So as for being a pervert where Fliss was concerned? Well, he had no intentions of stopping at all.

As he watched her now, aware he was once more staring at her, she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and her hand went to her silver daisy pendant, gently twirling the silver chain in her fingers before she let go, pressing her hand over the pendant in the curve just above her breasts and that was it, he was done.

He wanted her, now.

Necking the short that Greg had passed him he patted his friend on his shoulder and told him he would be back shortly before striding over the room towards the two women. As he made his way over, dodging round a few people, he saw Fliss reached out and snatch Bonnie’s beer, taking a mouthful, letting out a groan of satisfaction. Bonnie’s eyes flew to him as he approached and he put a finger over his lips, telling her to be quiet.

“Pretty sure you ain’t supposed to have that…” Bonnie chastised, her eyes flicking back to Fliss as she took the bottle back.

“One mouthful won’t hurt.” Fliss replied, her shoulders rising in a shrug. “I always take a swig of Frank’s before I hand it to him…just don’t tell him.”

“Too late.” he leaned down and said in her ear, causing her to shriek slightly and jump as his hands settled on her hips, beard tickling her cheek and neck.

“Fuck! Fran, what you trying to do, send me into early labour?” she tilted her head to look over her shoulder at him before she glared at Bonnie “You could have warned me.”

Bonnie shrugged and grinned as she walked off. Fliss wrinkled her nose and turned in Frank’s arms, looking up at him sheepishly

“That was naughty.” he teased and she grinned a little.

“It was one mouthful…”

“I’m only teasing.” he smiled, dropping his mouth to hers in a sweet kiss and she sighed. He tasted of scotch and the cheesecake that they’d had for desert. “I told you before, one glass or one bottle won’t hurt if you want one.” “No, I don’t.” she shrugged “Just wanted a little taste that’s all.”

“Yeah well, now I want a taste of something.” “What are you talking about?”

“I want you.” he said, his mouth by her ear and he felt her still slightly, her breath hitching and he grinned, planting a soft kiss to the crook of her shoulder. He knew the effect those words had on her, being wanted as opposed to needed, it was a subtle difference, but one he knew meant something to her, and him for that matter.

“What, now?” she looked at him as he pulled away, glancing around the room before he looked back down at her.

“Right now.” he nodded.

“You’re serious.”

“Deadly.” he looked at her, “What’s the Ladies bathroom like?”

“You wanna do me in the ladies?” she deadpanned as he tugged her hand and pulled her away from the crowded foyer towards the bathroom.

“Yup.” he said, checking around once more to see if anyone was watching, before he opened the door and nudged her back gently with his hand so she entered the room in front of him.

“Wow, romantic, Frank.” Fliss said sarcastically as she arched an eyebrow, turning to face him.

“I’m being spontaneous….” he said, backing into the cubicle and pulling her with him, reaching round to lock the stall door.

“There’s nothing spontaneous about you wanting to jump my bones” she looked up at him as her purse clattered to the floor, “You’re constantly after a bit at the moment.”

“Can you blame me Sweetheart?” he whined, looking down at her, his eye-line trained on her cleavage “You turn up…looking like that…been killing me sat next to you all afternoon. Frankie has needs.”

“My face is up here jackass!”

“I know.” he said, his gaze not moving “I was talking to Ben and Jerry.”

“Ben and Jerry.” Fliss scoffed “You named my boobs?”

“Only since they got bigger.” he grinned as his eyes moved back to hers

“Why Ben and Jerry?” she asked as his hands gripped at her hips.

“Because they’re delicious and soft like ice cream.”

Fliss snorted and he grinned at her, his eyes glazed slightly.

“You’re drunk” she stated.

“Nah ah, it’s hormones.” he said seriously.

“No.” Fliss laughed “I’m pretty sure you’re drunk. I saw you, Simon and Greg before, all necking from the hipflasks you each have in your pocket whilst they were taking the photos.” “Yeah, but.” Frank shook his head “I aint that drunk. Scouts honour.” “Like you were ever in the scouts.” she laughed, her hand brushing through his hair.

“Actually I was, you can ask the mothership.” he assured her “They kicked me out after 5 months thought. I made rude words out of a load of string that we were supposed to be using to mark out a flower bed at the old people’s home.”

Fliss let out a groan “Bean is gonna be a monster.”

“No they won’t” he shook his head “Gonna be sweet…” he placed a kiss to her lips. “…and gentle, just like their mamma bear.”

His hand moved to cup her cheek, fingers grazing her neck as he pressed his mouth to hers. The kiss quickly became heated and Frank pressed up against her, the door to the cubicle rattling slightly, neither of them paying it much attention. His other hand grabbed a fist full of her dress, and he was just hoisting the tulle layers up when the noise of voices hit their ear as the door to the bathroom opened. They both stopped dead, and Fliss bit her lip to stop herself from laughing as Frank grinned down at her, his finger flying to his lips as his shoulders shook with his silent sniggers. A few doors down the cubicle door opened and they waited for whoever it was to finish. Eventually the toilet flushed and the door unlocked, before the tap began to run.

“I’d hurry up you guys…” Bonnie spoke, amusement in her tone as Frank and Fliss looked at each other, “You’ve been gone 10 minutes already.” At that Fliss burst out giggling as Frank snorted and his face dropped to Fliss shoulder where he pressed a kiss to her skin, his lips sliding up to her neck, gently nipping beneath her ear, his hands fondling her breasts over her dress. She gave a low groan and he smirked against her skin.

“Still don’t wanna?” he teased and she shook her head.

“Fine, just…get on with it then you twat.” she mumbled into his ear and he looked at her, grinning.

“I love it when you swear in British baby.”

“I can talk dirty in British too…” she quipped.

Frank gave a groan, slanting his mouth on hers as he pulled her with him, her fingers undoing his belt and trousers, pushing them down with his boxers over his hips, before he sat down on the closed toilet, taking himself in his hand and pumping himself a few times until he was rock hard as she leaned down, kissing him.

“Turn round…” he said against her mouth and she did as she was told. His hands bunched her skirt up to her hips and she reached down to move it of the way as he grabbed her hips and pulled her down, shifting her underwear to one side. In a fluid moment she sank down onto him, both of them letting out soft moans as Frank’s arm circled her waist protectively around her bump as she tipped her head back against his shoulders, his hips moving upwards.

She ground down on him, rotating her hips and he let her set the pace, more than happy to simply sit there, holding her, trailing sloppy kisses over the exposed skin on her back. The hand that wasn’t round her waist moved up to the front of her dress, slipping inside the low plunge neck line to her bra-les breast, rolling her nipple softly causing her to shudder and push down on him further.

“Fuck, Lissy…” he groaned, his forehead pressing on her shoulder “Feel so good baby girl..”

Her response was a low pant of his name as her hips moved faster, snapping back and forth as she pushed down even further, seeking out the friction she desperately needed. Her head tilted and he caught her mouth in a sloppy kiss, swallowing another moan as she pushed down further, his hands pulling her onto his lap as he fucked up into her over and over.

It was dirty, quick and in his many times with women he wasn’t quite sure he’d fucked anyone in a bathroom before, certainly an alley way or two, a dark corner of parking lot too, but it didn’t matter either way as he was damned sure it wouldn’t have been as good as this, the woman who was carrying his baby, the woman he loved with all his heart bouncing on his lap as they both raced to their ends. As Fliss tightened down, her head rolling back, she parted her lips and let out a low keen as Frank’s hand gently moved upwards, his fingers caressing the font of her throat as he held her against him, turning her head towards his so he could catch her mouth in a filthy kiss as he pushed up for a final time and came with a grunt. They both sat still for a while before he gave a little hum as Fliss chuckled as his hands wrapped around her, resting on her bump.

“You’re a bad man.” she mumbled and he grinned, giving her a quick kiss.

“Yeah but I’m your bad man.”

With a snort Fliss stood up and Frank rearranged himself, standing up and pulling up his pants. With another soft kiss Fliss told him to go out ahead of her whilst he sorted herself out so as not to attract too much attention to where they had been, even though she was pretty sure Bonnie had already told their friends.

Telling her he would meet her at the bar, with a final peck to her lips Frank headed out of the cubicle. He quickly checked his appearance in the mirror and once he’d straightened his suit and smoothed his hair down slightly he pulled the door open to be met with a round of applause as Simon and Greg stood by the pillar outside the bathroom, both grinning as they clapped.

Frank grinned as simply took a bow before the three of them laughed and Greg slapped him on the back as the three of them headed to the bar.

***** “Welcome to the dance floor….” The DJ’s voice rang out over the room “The new Mr and Mrs Neill…”

Jake swept Lisa out onto the floor and Fliss smiled, watching a the woman’s dress billowed out behind her and he took her into a hold as the opening bars to Signed, Sealed Delivered by Stevie Wonder rang out. Jake began to twirl Lisa around, the pair of them laughing a various people took photos, recording. Frank dropped a kiss to the side of Fliss’ temple and she smiled as his fingers curled around her hip.

“They look so happy.” Fliss smiled.

“Yeah.” Frank nodded “Good job really, seeing as they just got married.”

Fliss smiled and then there were some giggles as Jake and Lisa’s young girls ran onto the dancefloor to join their parents, which gave the couple the signal to wave everyone else in to join them.

“Shall we?” Frank asked, turning to face Fliss and she grinned.

“Lead the way Sailor.”

They stepped out onto the dancefloor where Frank gently took her left hand in his right, his other hand curling round her back, fingers splaying at the bottom of her spint.

“Can’t pull you quite as close as I’d like.” he quipped glancing down and Fliss shook her head as she looked at him, a soft smile spread across his face “You’re beautiful.” “You’re not so bad yourself, handsome.” she smiled as he twirled her around the floor, his movements upbeat in time with the song. He was actually a pretty good dancer, which Fliss knew already from the various times they’d been out, but it never failed to make her smile the way he could move so gracefully for such a tall, broad shouldered man. When she had passed comment on it once he had grinned and informed he that it was ‘all in the hips’, hips that were now easily snaking side to side as he moved in time with the music, stepping back from her a little, his hands taking hers. Fliss laughed, simply dancing along with him and eventually the music changed into another upbeat song. The pair of them stayed were they were, dancing with their friends and enjoying themselves until after about 20 minutes or so Fliss declared she was out, and needed the bathroom again before she was going to sit down.

“To pee this time, right?” Bonnie called after her. Fliss didn’t even look back, simply raised her finger up over her shoulder as she left the dancefloor.

Once she had washed her hands she touched up her make-up, glancing at her cheeks which were quite flushed from the heat and the dancing, before she headed out. Frank was waiting for her by the door.

“People will talk, you hanging around outside the Ladies.” she grinned.

“Only one lady for me.” he winked back and she shook her head.

“Smooth.” “I try.” he grinned, kissing her cheek “Wanna get a drink?”

“Yeah.” she smiled, slipping her hand in his as he led her over to the bar.

Frank ordered himself a beer, deciding he needed to take a break from the hard-stuff and Fliss a water. As she took it from him with a thanks she glanced around watching everyone dancing and milling around, cocking her head to one side, a thoughtful look on her face.

“Penny for em.” Frank said and she turned to look at him smiling.

“Nothing of interest really.” she mused “Just thinking about all this. It’s been a nice day and a lovely ceremony and clearly what Lisa and Jake wanted but…” “Not what you want.” Frank smiled “Yeah, I know.” “But what about you?” she asked, looking at him. “I know we joke about how I’ve been there and done it but…” “Liss.” he cut her off, his hand curling round her hip. “Do you really think that all this showy shit is my style?”

“No, not really.”

“Exactly.” he smiled at her “I told you, I’d be happy to run away, me, you and Mary and do it with just the 3 of us there. But I’d probably get lynched by your mom and dad so…” He pulled her into his side closer, dropping a kiss to his head “It can be whatever we want it to be.”

We.

That word hit her hard, because her last wedding had been all about how her stupid bastard of a husband wanted to show the world how rich and special he was. There wasn’t a thing about that day she had chosen for herself, including her dress and her bridesmaids. She looked up at Frank, her eyes clouding slightly and he chuckled, shaking his head at her sudden emotion.

“Come on, let’s go sit down.” he smirked, nodding to a table at the side of the room where Simon was just taking a seat. Fliss nodded and allowed him to lead her over.

As is usually the case with weddings, people flit around all over the place. Fliss found herself dancing again with Bonnie, then talking to a few of Jake’s old school friends, then to some of Lisa’s friends, one of whom had her own horse so they got caught up in a lengthy chat about show-jumping and before long she realised she’d been away from Frank for well over an hour without realising. She finished up the conversation and headed back to where he was sat at a table, animatedly discussing something with a white haired gentleman, Bonnie watching him with a slightly amused expression.

"The guy is a fahking melt..." Fliss heard Frank groan as he leaned back in his chair, shaking his head.

"Who is he talking about?" Fliss asked as she sat down next to Bonnie.

"Trump" Bonnie replied, grinning.

"Oh this should be fun..." Fliss smirked, and Bonnie nodded.

"The guy he is talking to is apparently a big fan..." she turned to face Fliss, "But he's yet to give any kind of pro- Trump argument which Frank deems worthy of consideration. Oh, and Frank is getting more Boston with every sentence.”

“Yeah he does that.” Fliss she said, fondly turning her attention to Frank who shook his head and wrinkled his nose.

"You're being disrespectful." The man who Frank was talking to shook his head "He's our president."

Frank scoffed "Disrespectful? Not really, I just find it beyond comprehension that this country elected such a damaged, sociopathic narcissist."

"Say what you mean Frank." Bonnie nodded sagely and Fliss bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. Frank was in full flow, however, and fuelled by the amount of alcohol in his system he wasn't about to stop any time soon.

"John Oliver hit the nail on the head." he continued, necking the last of his beer. "Trump could be drowning in the damned ocean and he'd there, waving the lifeboats away screaming 'get out of here, I'm very buoyant, I'm the most buoyant. Everybody talks about my buoyancy... I'm a tremendous floater' ...fahkin jack-ass."

"Who got Frankie boy talking about Trump?" Simon asked, placing the tray of drinks down and handing them out. Fliss took her Sprite with a thanks as he slid a short tumbler of scotch over the white table cloth to Frank, before flopping down on the other side of Bonnie, dropping a kiss to her cheek. Bonnie nodded to the gentleman who was now saying something back, to which Frank let out a lout guffaw of laughter as Greg settled into a seat a few down from Fliss.

Simon grinned "Come on Jack!" he spoke and the man turned to face him "It's a wedding, no politics."

"I only stated I happened to agree with his policy of putting American's first..." the man held his hands up.

"And I only pointed out that his misguided beliefs that migrants are to blame for all of America's ills are exactly that, misguided." Frank shrugged, shooting a wink at Fliss as he reached for the glass of amber liquid in front of him. "People should look closer to home...at the people who run the damnedcountry, not everyone in it merely tryin'a make a living..."

"His policies made sense when I read them..." the man called Jack shrugged. “Well thought out, articulate…” At that Frank leaned back, shaking his head, an unbelieving smile on his face as he gave a groan “Articulate…come on…”

"You kniow..." Bonnie leaned forward "A random monkey hitting keys for an infinite amount of time will eventually come up with the works of Shakespeare" she swallowed the rest of her drink. "All Trump really needs to be considered one of the greatest Presidents of all times is an infinite amount of time and a monkey that can type."

At that Frank snorted into his glass and reached over the table, holding his hand up. Grinning Bonnie hi-fived him and Simon, Greg and Fliss exchanged a glance, before Fliss leaned forward.

"You know how they measure horses in hands." she said and Frank turned his attention to his girl, his eyes shining "well he must have the biggest horses on the planet." she said, making a claw like gesture with her right hand and Frank let out another loud bellow of laughter, his hand flying to his stomach.

"And why are his eye sockets always white?" Greg asked, looking into his glass like it held the answer before he glanced round at them all. "Like, you think someone would tell him to use the sunbed without the goggles every once in a while..."

At that Jack shook his head and stood up, walking away.

"Something we said?" Bonnie asked, innocently as Simon leaned back in his chair and spoke, his talent for impressions ringing out across the table as he imitated the President's voice perfectly "I'm going to build a wall, and it will be the greatest wall ever known to man, even better than China's...my time as President will go down in history as being part of America's dumbass years, the most dumbass years ever..."

As the 5 of them laughed, Jake plopped down at the table, pointing at Simon, then Frank then Greg.

"No politics at my wedding, bitches."

"We're not talking politics..." Frank hiccupped slightly "We were just roasting the cheeto skinned, toupee wearing prick."

"His dad should have definitely wiped him on a curtain." Greg nodded, causing everyone at the table to laugh once more.

"All that sperm and he got there the quickest." Simon sighed "Makes me wanna cry."

"You know what is gonna make you cry?" Jake looked at him "My foot up your ass. Come on guys, this is my fucking wedding. Let’s go do shots and rip up the dancefloor!"

"Oooh...shots..." Bonnie nodded, standing up.

"What happened to taking it easy in solidarity?" Fliss narrowed her eyes at her, patting her bump.

"I'm weak." Bonnie shrugged as Simon tugged her to the bar, Greg rising to follow them.

"Frank?" Jake asked

"I'll pass." he smiled

"I could get em to make you an apple juice shooter?" Jake offered as he patted Fliss' shoulder. She flipped him the bird as he walked off, chuckling to himself.

Frank pause for a moment, taking in his girl's slightly flushed cheeks before he stood up, grabbing his glass which contained what was left of his short, and rounded the table to sit next to her.

"C'mere..." he said, patting his knee. She stood up and settled on his lap, his arm curling round her waist, fingers brushing the side of her bump "You ok?"

"Yeah." she smiled "Which is more than you're gonna be in the morning."

"I'll live" he smirked, necking the rest of his liquor. "No one has ever died from a hangover Sweetheart."

"There's time." she smiled and he grinned up at her, placing his glass on the table.

"How's Bean?"

"Cooking." she grinned

"And Momma bear?"

"You asked me that a few seconds ago."

"And I'm asking again."

"In that case I'm still fine." she grinned leaning down to give him a peck. Frank smiled at her as she leaned back, his hand brushing her hip as he looked around the room.

"I wanna get married." he said, looking back to Fliss.

"We are."

"No, I mean like actually do it." he smiled "I wanna set a date."

"Don't you think we have enough to organise?" Fliss chuckled "Finding a house seeing as you're so adamant you want to move before Bean arrives..."

"They need a nursery." he pouted and Fliss smiled, running her hands through his hair.

"So you tell me." she replied "And then there's actually a small matter of me giving birth..."

"Piece of cake..."

"Oh really?" she looked at him "How about you squeeze a bowling bowl out of your vagina and then tell me it's easy..."

Frank laughed and grinned up at her "You'll be amazing...you always are." he placed a kiss to her bare shoulder. "But seriously...don't you wanna marry me?" he pouted.

"No, I just took this ring because it was shiny." Fliss rolled her eyes at him "Of course I do."

"Well...couldn't we just like pick a month...so...I have some kind of marker in the sand?"

Fliss looked at him as he turned his puppy dog eyes on her and she shook her head, giving a soft huff

"You're such a soft bastard when you're drunk."

He shrugged "I can't help it. You make me feel things."

"And I don't when you're sober?" she teased.

"Shut up." he looked at her and she grinned, running her hand through the whiskers on his face. His beard was now actually pretty impressive as he'd let it grow out properly, it was way beyond the untidy, short stubble it had been when she'd first met him. But then again he was also quite far removed from that fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, lost and damaged man he had been. He'd grown, a lot. And so had she. He knew it, she knew it...and the fact they had done it together made it all the more meaningful and special.

"September." Fliss smiled "Next year. Bean will be 1 by then and things will have settled. Think you can wait that long?"

Frank beamed at her "Yeah? You mean it?"

She nodded.

"Then September 2020 it is." his lips stayed curled up at the side as she dipped her head again and pressed her mouth to his. She pulled back, and found herself mimicking the infectious smile on his face. "I can't wait to make you Mrs Adler." he whispered.

"Who says I'm changing my name?" She teased and he frowned a moment before he shrugged.

"I just assumed..."he began to back track "I mean if you don't want..."

"Frankie..." Fliss cut him off, her hands cupping his face "I'm joking. I can't wait to have the same surname as you, Mary and our little one."

"God I fahkin love you..." he spluttered and she laughed, leaning back a little bit. At that point the opening bars to Hungry Like The Wolf hit their ears and Fliss heard Bonnie shriek her name.

"Miami BITCHES, HOLLERRRR!" Simon yelled as he leaned on the back of Frank's chair.

"Shall we?" Fliss asked, standing up. Frank grinned, took her hand and allowed her to pull him onto the dancefloor. As she began to dance and laugh with Bonnie his hand fell to her hips, pulling her back against him, just like he had done all those months ago in Miami, before everything had taken such a huge change in direction. A dramatic change, but a change he was loving day by day. As he felt her push back slightly against his groin he gave a low groan and bent over.

“Stop it or I’ll be dragging you off to the bathroom again.”

She tilted her head, looked at him all doe eyed and innocent and he shook his head, arching and eyebrow.

“Ok, ok, I’m sorry.” she spluttered and he rolled his eyes before she turned round to carry on dancing, this time behaving herself.

As it was getting later into the evening, after a few more 80s hits the music took a turn and dimmed into something softer, and Fliss cocked her head to the side as Frank reached out to her, pulling her to him.

“What is this?” she asked.

“It’s called God Gave Me You.” Frank said, his fingers curing around hers “By Blake Shelton. He’s a Country singer.”

“Ohh, the dude that’s with Gwen Stefani.” Fliss nodded.

“Yeah, I heard it for the first time in ages in the truck the other day.” Frank said “When we went to Tampa.”

“I thought it sounded familiar.”

He smiled, refraining from telling her he’d been playing it on a damned loop for days since because every time he heard it, it simply reminded him of her.

As he steered her around, he became lost in the lyrics, not really paying attention to anything but realising how much they stuck home, how they were true to what he felt about Fliss. How he had been a mess until she’d appeared and given him everything he didn’t even realise he needed and more. How she had fit so perfectly into his and Mary’s life. How she was now carrying his child. How he would always love her…

He felt her squeeze his hand and he looked down and she was grinning at him.

“You’re singing.”

“Am I?” he asked, giving a soft chuckle “Sorry, I didn’t realise…”

“Don’t worry about it, no one else heard. Besides you have a good voice, not like mine.”

“Well, I wasn’t gonna say anything but the other day when you were singing in the shower Mary thought Fred was stuck somewhere and crying to get out.” Fliss laughed and shook her head “Yeah it isn’t one of my talents. I’ll leave it to you.”

He smiled and gave her a soft kiss.

“You singing it to me or Bean?” Fliss asked, smiling at him as he twirled them round slightly.

“Without you there would be no Bean.” He shrugged simply and at his words he saw her eyes misting over.

“Frankie…” she muttered and he chuckled slightly, his hands cupping her face.

“Baby, what’s…”

“That’s so sweet and…” she spluttered shaking her head “Fucking hormones”

He laughed and pulled her closer, still swaying to the music and she let out a sight. Frank felt her sagging a little in his arms and then it struck him. It was almost midnight. She had been up since 8, they’d been out at this wedding one way or another for almost 12 hours now and she was 5 months pregnant.

“You tired honey?” he asked and she shook her head where it was pressed against his chest. “Liar.” he kissed her head softly.

“Ok maybe a little.” she looked up at him

“Wanna go?”

“It’s still early.” she looked at him. “I don’t mind if you want to stay, I can go and-“

“Absolutely not.” he shook his head “It’s half 11 now and I’ve drunk more than enough…Jake and Lisa won’t mind.”

“You sure?”

“Course. I’ll go get call us a cab.”

When he came back Fliss was at the table gathering her purse and his jacket. They made their rounds, said good bye to their friends and Frank led his girl out into the starry sky hand in hand.

*****

All things considered, on the Sunday morning Frank woke fairly clear headed, which Fliss pointed out shouldn’t have happened with how much he had drunk. They had a lazy morning before they headed home to pick Mary up, who was full of beans about how Steve had taken her out playing mini-golf the previous afternoon. They stayed for dinner at Bill and Verity’s before they made their way home along with the 4-legged fur babies and it wasn’t long before all 3 of them crashed out, the exertion of the weekend catching up on them all.

Monday and Tuesday seemed to drag by for Frank, and there was a reason. On Wednesday they finally got to find out what Bean was. Their scan was in the afternoon and Mary once again wanted to come, especially as she knew she would find out whether it was gonna be a girl or a boy that joined their little family in roughly 19 weeks or so time. Once more she was ignored and packed off to school with a frown on her face.

Frank was like a coiled spring all morning. The guys at work teased him relentlessly about how he was bounding around the place like Tigger on cocaine but he didn’t care. He was beyond excited to find out whether they were going to have a son or daughter. At exactly 12 he finished work and headed home. Fliss was already waiting for him having changed and showered and chatting excitedly they hopped in his truck and headed to the hospital. They were early so went to grab a drink at the coffee shop- Fliss having been told to drink plenty of water as it would help with the scan, and then when they had 15 minutes to their appointment they headed up.

“Miss Gallagher, Mr Adler.” Dr Kent smiled at them as they walked in “Nice to see you again.”

They both greeted her and Fliss settled on the bed, getting herself comfortable as Frank slid into the chair by her side. After answering the questions the Doctor asked her about how she was feeling, whether she was worried about anything, all the time Frank trying to pay attention but his mind was on one thing and one thing only. Seeing his baby again.

And when that time finally came, his heart skipped a beat. On the 3D scan there was so much more detail to take in this time. He could make out the little nose, the ears, eyelashes…fucking eyelashes. A tiny hand curled by its face which twitched as their baby move slightly.

“It says here that you want to know what it is…” Doctor said, looking at them both “Is that still the case.”

“Yeah…” Frank said, at the same time Fliss spluttered.

“No, I mean yes… “

Frank frowned “Liss? I thought…” “Could you write it down for us?” Fliss cut him off, smiling at the doctor.

“Ahh you doing a gender reveal?” The woman nodded, and Frank’s frown grew deeper. They hadn’t discussed that.” Not a problem…”

The doctor looked at the screen and Frank glanced at Fliss questioningly but she softly shook her head at him and squeezed his hand, telling him silently to trust her. The Doctor smiled, and headed off to write the results down and a soon as she had left the room, Frank turned to Fliss

“What are you doing?”

“I just had a thought…” Fliss took a deep breath “that if we do it this way, you know get it written down to open later, then Mary can be there with us when we find out.”

And once again, just like that, her fucking thoughtfulness knocked him sideways. He blinked and shook his head, smiling as he brought his eyes back up to meet hers “You’re fucking amazing you know that?” Of course the only thing wrong with her plan was that they now had to wait another 3 hours for Mary to come home.

Frank collected her from the bus stop and as usual was greeted by the grumblings that she was perfectly capable of walking home across the little park on her own, to which he shot back his usual I don’t care response. She walked into the apartment with her usual swagger, tossing her bag over the back of the sofa before she wandered into the kitchen where Fliss was stood chopping up salad for dinner

“So.” she said, dramatically “You gonna tell me then or what?”

Frank looked at Fliss who smiled before he spoke “Actually, you’re gonna tell us.”

“What?” she looked at him

“You’re gonna tell us what it is.” he repeated.

“Like how?” she rolled her eyes “I wasn’t even there.”

“We got the Doctor to write it down.” Fliss explained, “And seal it in an envelope.” Mary’s eyes widened “You mean…you guys don’t know?” Frank shook his head “Fliss thought it would be nice for all 3 of us to find out together.”

She looked at him, then to Fliss, her blue eyes filling with tears a she ran to Frank, her arms circling his waist.

“Hey…” he chuckled, crouching down and looking her in the face, his hand brushing her hair back slightly as she sniffed and gave a watery laugh “We good?”

She nodded and smiled “Where is it? The envelope I mean.”

“On the coffee table.” he said, kissing her forehead.

“Can we do it now?”

“I hope so.” Frank said, looking up at Fliss “Been waiting all damned afternoon.”

“Oh hush.” Fliss replied as he stood up, Mary in his arms.

“You know you’re getting kinda big now Stack.” he grunted a little as he shifted her onto his hip.

“You’re still bigger.” she said as he dropped her down onto the floor in the living room. She looked at the envelope and when Fliss nodded at her she picked it up.

“You know…” she mused, looking at Frank “If I open this that technically means that I was the first person to know. Well, other than the doctor…but they don’t count.” Frank looked at Fliss as his arm slid round her waist. “Yeah..” he turned back to Mary “Pretty cool, huh?” She grinned at him and took a deep breath “Ok…here goes….”

Frank felt his heart suddenly become quicker in his chest as he watched Mary pull open the envelope and look at the small slip of paper inside. She read the words, looked at them both, her eyes shining.

“Wow…” she breathed out.

“You’re killing us Stack!” Frank spluttered “What the hell is it?”

“It’s a boy!”

There was a pause and Frank blinked. “What?” he breathed out and looked at Mary “Are you sure?”

“I can read, Frank?” she narrowed her eyes at him, handing him the piece of paper. With a shaking hand he took ait and looked down at the words the doctor had written on them. As he read them, “Congratulations, it’s a Boy!” they suddenly registered in his brain and he looked at Fliss who had tears in her eyes. His own eyes misted over and a huge grin spread across his face.

“Lissy, it’s a boy!”

She gave a laugh as his arms wrapped around her and he kissed the side of her head.

“Happy Sailor?” she asked.

“I can’t…wow!” he chuckled, sniffing slightly, unable to form any other words. He moved one of his arms and signalled for Mary to join them and she rushed forwards, her arms wrapping around his waist as he dropped his hand to her back, gently rubbing between her shoulder blades.

A boy. A little boy.

Although he truly would have been happy either way, as long as their baby was healthy, he’d secretly always hoped the colour would be blue. They had Mary already, and from a selfish point of view had wanted a boy to even the numbers out. Not to mention the fact he was already envisaging matching baseball caps, sneakers, sailing days, basketball, football…

He looked at Fliss who gave him a smile and his face split into an even wider grin and he leaned over to give her a kiss before his hand dropped to the side of her bump, gently skating the place where his son was growing.

***** Frank wanted to shout their news from the roof tops. But Fliss forbid him from telling anyone until they told the family first. As Evelyn would be here for the weekend they decided to have a BBQ on the Saturday evening, and share their news then. And Mary and Fliss came up with the perfect way to do it.

Evelyn arrived in town on the Friday afternoon and due to her new found ‘friendship’ (if you could call it that) with Fliss’ parents since that fateful thanksgiving in Boston, she was staying with them. Her first comment upon seeing them all was how much Fliss had bloomed since her last visit a few months ago. Fliss had grinned and commented that she felt like a hippo to which Evelyn had snorted and told her to stop being ridiculous. The 4 of them went for dinner that evening to the Italian in town that Mary liked and on the Saturday Bill dropped her at the stables to see Mary ride. Mary had now moved on from the cross poles to a foot high straight upright jump, and she was easily taking it all in her stride. Frank had long since given up trying to talk her out of it. She enjoyed it, and it was hard to deny she was pretty good at it too. Saturday afternoon they all went back to the apartment where Evelyn, Fliss and Mary whipped up some cupcake batter…something which floored Frank. He couldn’t remember his mother baking, ever. Once the cakes were cooked however, Evelyn was unceremoniously barred from the kitchen whilst Fliss and Mary put the final touches to their Gender Reveal plans. At one point Mary burst out of the kitchen telling Evelyn to look away, and as Frank looked up from where he and his mother had been glancing at a few realtor pages and properties in the local area, he could instantly see why. She had blue food colouring all over her face and hands.

Later that night Verity, Steve, Bill and Roberta joined them and after a few drinks Mary handed out the cupcakes.

“Now, you have to eat them at the same time.” she instructed “Because the colour in the middle will tell you if the baby is gonna be a boy or a girl.”

“Did you make these?” Steve looked at Fliss. She nodded.

“And no, there’s nothing special in them…” she told him and he smirked “Other than the buttercream.”

As everyone eagerly began to dig into their cakes, desperate to find out, Mary skipped over to where Frank and Fliss were stood at the side of the kitchen steps, standing in front Frank as his arm dropped looping around her chest, pulling her back towards him a little. “A boy?” Verity shrieked, the first to find her splodge of blue cream in the middle of her cake as she looked over at them all.

“Yeah!” Fliss smiled, Frank’s other arm tossed casually round her shoulder.

“God help ya’ll, a mini Frank!” Roberta quipped and he shot her a glare before the rest of the crowd of people erupted into cheers and laughter. There were a lot of hugs shared and then Mary stepped over to Bill and Steve, holding her hand out.

“Pay up, losers.”

“Yeah…Dad can you sub me?” Steve asked, “I left my wallet at home” “Course you did.” Bill grumbled as he reached into his pocket. Retrieving a twenty from his wallet he handed it to Mary.

“Erm…what are you doing?” Frank asked, having watched the exchanged.

“Last week when you were at the wedding we were talking about it and I bet them it was a boy.” Mary shrugged “I had a hunch” “And now she has twenty bucks.” Bill grumbled as Fliss gave a loud laugh.

“No she doesn’t.” Frank put his hands on his hips “Give it back.”

“No way.” she pouted “I earned that.” “You’re 9.” Frank shot back “You know it’s illegal for 9 year olds to gamble, Mary.”

“What you gonna do Frank?” Fliss asked as Mary folded the money and sticking it in her pocket “Call the feds?”

Bill and Steve both sniggered as Frank looked at Fliss before he shook his head and turned back to Mary.

“How exactly were you gonna pay if you lost?” he folded his arms. “I was planning on winning it back by betting on the name.” she shrugged.

“Double or quits.” Steve nodded in agreement.

“Stop encouraging her.” Frank pointed at him.

“Relax…” Frank heard Evelyn chuckle a little and he turned to face her, where she was sat at the outside table with Verity and Roberta “You’re in dad mode already.” “I’ve been in dad mode for the last 8 and a half years.” he shot back before he felt his eyes widen slightly.

“I know…” his mother gave him a soft smile. “Believe me.”

Fliss hand tightened around his for a second and he looked down at her, giving her a quick peck.

“I’m gonna get another beer.” he said, suddenly needing the head space. “You want anything?” “No.” Fliss smiled at him as he walked off.

Truth was he’d shocked himself a little. That was the first time he’d ever referred to his role with Mary as being a dad out loud to anyone but her or Fliss. Truth be told, he was a little worried about how she was going to react once Bean was born and how they were going to try to keep her feeling as included as they could, especially when he started talking and referring to him and Fliss as Mom and Dad, when Mary didn’t. He ran a hand over his face, opening the fridge. It was an unorthodox situation, but…well, he knew full well there were worse circumstances Mary could be in.

“She wouldn’t mind you know.” a voice jerked him from his thoughts and Frank spun to face his mother

“Who?” he frowned. “Diane.” she reached past him for the bottle of wine in the fridge “Fliss told me that’s why you get so pissy about people referring to you as Mary’s father.” “I’m not pissy about it, I’m just not her father.”

“You are in every other way bar legally being labelled as so, Frank.” Evelyn poured herself a drink “And moreover, Diane’s memory isn’t going to suddenly fade away if you were.”

“What are you-“

She levelled him with a look and simply handed him the bottle back before she picked up her glass and headed off leaving him pondering her words. With a shake of his head, deciding that was a discussion for another day, he grabbed another bottle of beer and headed back outside.

“Hey Frank!” Roberta’s shout stopped him in his tracks as stood at the top of the steps and looked over at her. “You gonna cook anything on this BBQ or what? Been waiting so damned long my clothes are goin outta fashion.” “That’s assuming they were in fashion in the first place!” Mary grinned, skipping past Frank as he walked onto the lawn, tossing a ball for Fred as he scooted off after it, Thor following.

At that Steve snorted. Roberta looked at him

“Oh hark on the British boy in board shorts.”

Steve’s response was a cheeky wink “I have been reliably informed you like men in board shorts Roberta. Do I not meet your standards?” he gave a little twirl, his arms held out to his side, a grin on his face. “I’ve seen worse.” she mused, causing Steve and Bill to tip their heads back in almost identical roars of laugher. “You ever fancy yourself a sugar momma you know where to come lookin’ honey.”

“You know, if we’re discussing questionable clothing choices…” Fliss looked up, her eyes locking onto Frank’s before she glanced at Mary “I have something to say about someone’s shirts.”

Mary let out a lout hoot of laughter as did Roberta and Frank looked at Fliss as she grinned.

With a shake of his head and a soft snort of laughter as he looked around at his family, he headed to the BBQ.

#riding on #frank adler #frank adler x ofc #gifted #gifted fan fic

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gerebenicsnora · 5 years ago

Text

FILMNAPLÓ

Vice

Míg Adam McKay ,,infótripp” stílusa a Big Shortban remekül működött, Dick Cheney valós tanmeséje kicsit összeesik alatta, de az eszméletlen színészi alakítások miatt (érdemes megnézni videointerjúkat az igazi Cheney-vel, még jobban értékeli az ember Christian Bale munkáját) és a dinamikus, pontos ritmusú vágás miatt mégiscsak érdemes megnézni a Vice-ot, és belegondolni abba, milyen szinten szomorú, hogy a mai helyzet fényében a Bush, valójában Cheney adminisztráció igazából egy jónak titulálható elnökség volt.

Dosztojevkij Hasonmása nagy hatással volt rám, így engem meg lehet venni egy doppelganger sztorival, különösen akkor, ha a kedvenc szkeccssorozatom (Key and Peele) egyik fele az író-rendező. A Tűnj el! után lehetett tudni, hogy Jordan Peele második filmje nem üthet ugyanakkorát, ez be is igazolódott, de az Us tovább erősíti a pozícióját napjaink legfantáziadúsabb műfaji filmesei közt. Elég csak kiemelni belőle azt a jelenetet, mikor Elisabeth”Szolgálólány” Mossal az NWA rapbanda Fuck The Police című számára történnek horrorisztikus dolgok.

Fájdalom és Dicsőség (Dolor y Gloria)

Pedro Almodóvar életösszegző merengése lírai visszatekintés egy művész életének fontosabb állomásaira, egyben portré a sikeres filmrendezőről, akit a súlyos egészségügyi problémák miatt megcsap az időmúlás beismerésének szele. Antonio Banderas még sosem volt ilyen jó, ez legalább annyira érződik az ő filmjének, mint Almodóvarénak.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Stílusos, humoros, az utolsó kellékig korhű, teljeskörű tabló ez az 1969-es Los Angelesről és az akkori amerikai filmiparról, melyben Brad Pitt alapvetően önmagát alakítva ér el a pályája csúcsára. Kár, hogy a végére érve nem szól többről, mint a filmek és a régi Hollywood szeretetéről.

A film zenei válogatása működőképes segítség azoknak, akik nehezen kelnek reggel, nem mintha én ilyen lennék, mások mondták.

VOX LUX

Míg Brady Corbet első filmjétől teljesen a falhoz kenődtem (ez a Childhood of a Leader volt) a második filmje közel sem hagyott ekkora nyomokat bennem. Natalie Portman játssza (tőle szokatlan módon esetenként kissé túltolva a hisztit) az iskolai lövöldözés túlélőt, aki próbálva a lehető legtöbbet kihozni a traumájából popsztár lesz.

Élősködők

Makulátlanul kivitelezett, feszes tempójú társadalmi thriller, melyről első nézésre én meg nem mondtam volna, hogy ennyi Oscart fog nyerni, de utólag átnézve a mezőnyből tényleg ez volt a legjobb film a jelöltek közül. A távol-keleti filmekre már évek óta érdemes odafigyelni, ez pedig egy határozott figyelmeztetés azok számára, akik még nem ébredtek rá erre a tényre.

Booksmart

A Spinédzserekhez és a Superbadhez felérő, de bizonyos kritikákkal ellentétben azoktól nem egy-az egyben koppintó generációs kamaszfilm, ami gyengébb társaival ellentétben tényleg nagyon szórakoztató, nem puffogtat közhelyeket és süt róla minden egyes stábtag lelkesedése.

Late Night

Szellemes, aranyos vígjáték egy olyan világról, amiben egy főműsoridős esti Talk Showt egy nő vezethet (alapvetően akár egy sci fi-nek is be lehetne sorolni) Dame Emma Thompson pedig minden egyes alkalommal egy élmény, ha megjelenik.

Joker

A leghírhedtebb képregénygonosz összeházasodik a ‘70-es évek művészfilmjeinek kezeletlen elmebetegével , és Joaquin Phoenix a gyerekük. A jelenleg a földön élő egyik legtehetségesebb színész a közepes forgatókönyv ellenére is hazaviszi a csontos vállain ezt a filmet, a nevetéseit egy darabig biztosan nem feledjük el, akárcsak a méltán Oscart nyert hideglelős filmzenét.

The Laundromat

Némileg színdarabszerű, de mindenképpen nagyon szórakoztató felnőttmese szövevény a Panama-ügyekről, remek színészi alakításokkal. Steven Soderbergh pár éve azt állította, nyugdíjba vonul, az ilyen filmek miatt szerencse, hogy mégsem tartotta be az ígéretét.

The Lighthouse

Személyes kedvenc filmem tavalyról (ezzel biztosan nem vagyok egyedül) Robbert Eggers a második nagyjátékfilmjével valódi horrormesterművet alkotott, amihez a fantasztikus fekete-fehér operatőri munka és a két főszereplő színész is nagyban hozzájárul. Soha többé nem tudok úgy nézni a sirályokra ezután a film után, mint előtte.

Motherless Brooklyn

Edward Norton ha minden igaz, 15 éven át munkálkodott azon, hogy Jonathan Lethem regényének adaptációja lehessen második író/rendezői próbálkozása, amiből összehozott végül egy olyan lassan hömpölygő krimit, amiből egyedül az ő színészi teljesítménye kiemelkedő. Illetve a filmzene még említésre méltó.

The Farewell

A tavalyi termésből a másik kedvencem ez a szívmelengető, egyben elgondolkodtató gyöngyszem, amiből manapság már nem sok készül. A nagymamát játszó színésznő minden létező díjat nyert volna egy szebb világban.

Hustlers

Jennifer Lopez jó színésznő? Ezt nekem eddig miért nem mondta senki???? Így magamnak kellett felfedeznem a tényt, hogy Jenny From The Block egy igazi, erős jelenlét a vásznon, , és tényleg hús-vér figurát formál Ramonából, a sztriptíztáncosnőből, akinek a 2008-as gazdasági világválság idején kreatívabb módszerekhez kell folyamodnia fényűző életmódja fenntartásáért. A kolléganője (Constance Wu) egyenrangú partnere a történetben, amely a remek forgatókönyvnek köszönhetően megtalálja a girlpowert ott, ahol első látásra nem biztos, hogy lett volna.

Midsommar

Az utóbbi évek legjobb szakítós filmje, ami baromi jól álcázza folk horrornak magát. Műfajteremtő alkotás, aminek a különböző stílusjegyeit biztos vagyok benne, hogy fel fogom még fedezni a jövőben más rendezők filmjeiben is.

The Irishman

Martin Scorsese nemcsak a formára, de a tartalomra is úgy tűnik, kompromisszumot kötött a Netflixszel, mivel ez a több, mint négy óra minisorozatra is simán lebontható lenne, ha Scorseseben nem élne még egy kicsit Marty, az asztmás bronxi kisfiú, aki csak lopta az időt addig amíg az apukája vagy a nagypapája nem adott neki zsebpénzt mozijegyre. Bár az Ír illeszkedik a rendező korábbi bűneposzaihoz, mint a Nagymenők vagy Casino, de meg sem közelíti azokat a maga”nyugdíjas” tempójában. És bár a digitális fiatalítás szerintem tök feleslegesnek bizonyul a filmben, Joe Pescit mindig öröm viszontlátni, bárhogyan is.

The Report

Míg a Vice Dick Cheney hatalmi manipulációjáról és az iraki háborúban betöltött szerepéről szólt, készült közben egy film arról is, hogy az amerikai törvényhozás hogyan próbálta eltussolni mindezt azzal, hogy a CIA iraki háborús kínzásokról szóló többezer oldalas jelentését hosszú évekig nem engedték napvilágra kerülni, sőt a jelentést író pár fős földalatti kutatócsoportra akarták kenni az egészet. Adam Driver mellett Annette Bening képviselőnője a legemlékezetesebb karakter a filmben.

A Rainy Day in New York

Woody Allen elérte a mélypontot. Egy darabig úgy volt, hogy ez a film, akárcsak Allen memoárja, a jogi viták és a fogadott lánya által őt ért vádak miatt nem fog tudni megjelenni. Jobb lett volna úgy. Ez a film kb értékelhetetlen. Az pedig csak ront a helyzeten, hogy a 85 éves rendező filmjének két főszereplője a forgatás idején 19 éves Elle Fanning és 23 éves Selena Gomez.

Marriage Story

Noah Baumbach filmejit még akkor is élmény nézni, ha többször majdnem ugyanazt a történetet meséli el. A tintahal és a bálnában csodásan dolgozta fel a szülei válását, most pedig a sajátját próbálja feldolgozni (Jennifer Jason Leigh színésznőtől) egy nem különben fájdalmas de egyben szívmelengető filmben. Scarlett Johansson és Adam Driver pedig különböző eszköztárakkal, de ugyanolyan elhivatottsággal formálják meg a két főhőst, teljes hitelességgel, miközben a válóperes ügyvédjeikkel ugyanolyan jó párosokat alkotnak, mint házaspárosként.

JUDY

Renée Zellweger a lelkét is kiénekli és csücsöríti a második Oscarjáért. A színész-énekeslegenda Judy Garland utolsó éveinek Wikipédia leírása filmre forgatva.

Kisasszonyok

Amíg a pasija (Noah Baumbach) csinált egy filmet az előző nőjétől való válásáról, Greta Gerwig (terhesen) leforgatta Louisa May Alcott klasszikus regényének új filmváltozatát, amit korántsem csak egy újabb adaptációnak kell tekintenünk. Greta Gerwignek sikerül az, ami csak néhány nagyon tehetséges filmkészítőnek jön össze: teljesen a sajátjává teszi Alcott regényének történetét és szereplőit, meglátva bennük a friss, napjainkban is érvényes vonásokat, miközben semmiben sem sérti meg az eredeti alapanyagot. A színésznői pedig ugyanezzel a frissességgel és játékossággal dolgoznak, külön említésre méltó Florence Pugh, akinek köszönhetően Amy March többé nem az a March nővér, akit mindenki utál, hanem ugyanolyan összetett női karakter, mint a testvérei.

Uncut Gems

A Safdie testvérek szép csendben a Coen tesókhoz hasonló márkanévvé növik ki magukat, amit ez a legutóbbi filmjük bizonyít a legjobban. Az előzőtől, a Good Timetól is megemelkedett a vérnyomásom, de a szerencsétlen gyémántkereskedő több, mint rosszul alakuló napjától hiperventilláltam, ami leginkább Adam Sandler libabőröztetően irritáló játékának(ezt nagyon pozitívan értem most) és az őt szorosan követő kameramozgásnak köszönhető.

Macskák

Talán a legnagyobb filmtörténeti LOL, amit eddig életemben láttam.

The Ballad of Richard Jewell

Clint Eastwood még az 1996-os atlantai Olimpia Parkban történt robbantás során a bombát megtaláló biztonsági őrben is megtalálta a hollywoodi protagonistát, még akkor is ha a tanulság, amit leszűr a történetéből annyi, hogy fehér férfinak is nehezebb lenni a világban ha túlsúlyos és introvertált hozzá az ember.

The Jesus Rolls

Mikor az érettségi évben felfedeztem magamnak azt a mérhetetlen kúlságot és zsenialitást amit a Nagy Lebowski jelentett, az első gondolatom a végén az volt, hogy a bowlingozo Jézus megérdemelne egy saját filmet. Türelmes voltam és megkaptam a jutalmamat, John Turturro ugyanis nem bízta a véletlenre és író /rendezőként is kezébe vette a tekegolyót és az irányítást. A végeredmény egy hullámzó színvonalú film amely hangulatokban és dialógusokban erősebb, mint történetvezetésben, de ettől még szerethető.

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kembungsusu · 3 years ago

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{Get 1 litre of Milk (full fat).

{Prepare 1/4 cup of honey or (sugar) to taste.

{Get 1/4 tsp of rose water.

{Take 1 of good pinch of saffron.

{Prepare 2 tbsp of almonds dry roast (thinly sliced).

{Prepare 2 tbsp of pistachio dry rost (thinly sliced).

{Make ready 2 bottles of or glass.

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dendre · 6 years ago

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Hanglemez 2019/02

Default Genders: Main Pop Girl 2019 9.0 (future pop) Ot to Not To: It Loved To Happened 9.0 (mark hollis of experimental r&b) Y La Bamba: Mujeres 8.5 (latin alt, indiefolk) Piroshka: Brickbat 8.5 (indierock) Roses Gabor: Fantasy & Facts 8.5 (elektro r&b) Feels: Post Earth 8.5 (lofi-posztpunk) Fling: Fling Or Die 8.5 (indiepsychpop)

Golden Daze: Simpatico 8.0 (neopsychdreamjanglepop) The Delines: The Imperial 8.0 (altcountry-soul) Cherusii & Maria Minerva: ST 8.0 (hypnogogic outsider pophouse) Sleaford Mods: Eton Alive 8.0 (spokenword posztpunk) Powder: Powder In Space 8.0 (dj mix, house) Time Grove: More Than One Thing 8.0 (electrosouljazz) Nate Wooley: Columbia Icefield 8.0 (jazzambient) Celestial Trax: Serpent Power 8.0 (ambient) AJ Lambert: Careful You 8.0 (elegantpop-feldolgozáslemez Sinatra-unokától) Leyla McCalla: The Capitalist Blues 8.0 (cajun, folkswing) Swindle: No More Normal 8.0 (purple sound, uk hiphop) Pom Poko: Birthday 8.0 (dancepunk) Du Blonde: Lung Bread For Daddy 8.0 (indierock) Wadada Leo Smith: Rosa Parks 8.0 (jazz) Theon Cross: Fyah 8.0 (jazz) Mikron: Severance 8.0 (ambient techno) Sunwatchers: Illegal Moves 8.0 (jazzpsychrock) Pierce Pettis: Father’s Son 8.0 (folk) Vtgnike: Steals 8.0 (ambient juke) Our Native Daughters: Songs Of Our Native Daughters 8.0 (banjofolk) Jozef Van Wissem / Jim Jarmush: An Attempt To Draw 7.5 (avantfolk instru) Tourist: Everyday 7.5 (deep house) Nakhane: You Will Not Die 7.5 (artpop&b) Greensky Bluegrass: All For Money 7.5 (progressive bluegrass) Seed Ensemble: Driftglass 7.5 (souljazz) Gum Takes Tooth: Arrow 7.5 (expreirock) Frances Cone: Late Riser 7.5 (indieartpop) Diat: Positive Disintegration 7.5 (posztpunk) The Long Ryders: Psychedelic Country Soul 7.5 (paisley under, powerpop) Yugen Blakrok: Anima Mysterium 7.5 (hiphop) Julia Jacklin: Crushing 7.5 (indiefolk) Angelo De Augustine: Tomb 7.5 (indiefolk) Madolin Orange: Tides Of A Teardrop 7.5 (folk, altcountry) Yola: Walk Through Fire 7.5 (soulpopcountryblues) Twin Talk: Weaver 7.5 (sleepjazz) Calva Louise: Rhinoceros 7.5 (indierock) Lor Choc: Love Is Love 7.5 (rap&b) Bjarki: Happy Earthday 7.5 (izlandi idm-ambient techno) Brìghde Chaimbeul: The Reeling 7.5 (skót dudazene, folk)

International Teachers Of Pop: S/T 7.0 (disco-szintipop) Buke And Gase: Scholars 7.0 (indietronica, artpop) Betty Who: Betty 7.0 (softy, synthy, 80s-y dancepop) Vandoliers: Forever 7.0 (cowpunk) Finlay Shakespeare: Domastic Economy 7.0 (electro) Copeland: Blushing 7.0 (dreampop) Mykele Deville: Maintain 7.0 (hiphop) Jio: TFW 7.0 (alt-elektro r&b) XamVolo: All The Sweetness... 7.0 (alt&b) Markers: Heaven In The Dark Earth 7.0 (droneposztfolk) The Cool Greenhouse: Crap Cardboard Pet EP 7.0 (bedroom posztpunk) Spellling: Mazy Fly 7.0 (experi electropop) Harlem: Oh Boy 7.0 (garage pop) The Entrepreneurs: Noise And Romance 7.0 (noisepop) Hugh Marsh: Violinvocations 7.0 (hegedűs glitchambient) Julia Kent: Temporal 7.0 (vonós posztminimalambient) Fran And Flora: Unfurl 7.0 (hegedűcselló modern classical) The Unthanks: Emily Bronte 7.0 (kamarafolk) Adia Victoria: Silences 7.0 (artrock) Robert Ellis: Texas Piano Man 7.0 (piano pop) Telekinesis: Effluxion 7.0 (indiepop) James Yorkston: The Route 7.0 (indiefolk) Chaka Khan: Hello Happiness 7.0 (dancesoulpop) Charlotte Adigéry: Zandoli EP 7.0 (altdancepop) Surachai: Come, Deathless 7.0 (noise) Shook Twins: Some Good Lives 7.0 (decens folkpoprock) Liz Brasher: Painted Image 7.0 (popsoul) Mike Krol: Power Chords 7.0 (power garage) Bass Clef: 111 7.0 (outsider dubhouse-idm) Teeth Of The Sea: Wraith 7.0 (neopsych-elektroposztrock) Desperate Journalist: In Search Of The Miraculous 7.0 (posztpunk-indierock) Tender: Fear Of Falling Asleep 6.5 (dreamy electropop) Lee Gamble: In A Paravental Scale EP 6.5 (idm) Subjective: Act One 6.5 (deephouse and bass) Thelma: The Only Thing 6.5 (artpop) Susanna & Brotherhood...: Garden Of Earthly Delights 6.5 (avantfolk-artpop) And The Kids: When This Is Over 6.5 (indierock) Yann Tiersen: All 6.5 (ambient pop) Machinefabriek: With Voices 6.5 (konkrét elektronika) Deer Tick: Mayonnaise 6.5 (folkrock, americanablues) Julian Lynch: Rat’s Spit 6.5 (indie-dreamfolk) Ry X: Unfurl 6.5 (folktronica) Kehlani: While We Wait 6.5 (neosoul-r&b) Efdemin: New Atlantis 6.5 (minimal/ambient/abstract techno) Tiny Ruins: Olympic Girls 6.5 (folkpop) Black Taffy: Elder Mantis 6.5 (absztrakt hiphop) Drenge: Strange Creatures 6.5 (garázsposztpunk)

Homeshake: Helium 6.0 (hypnagogic synthfunk) Nate Young: Dilemmas Of Identity 6.0 (post-industrial) Lorelle Meets The Obsolete: De Facto 6.0 (mexikói neopszichkrautrock) Le Butcherettes: bi/MENTAL 6.0 (artrock) Say Anything: Oliver Appropiate 6.0 (acousticemo) Cub Sport: Cub Sport 6.0 (elektropop&b) Rosie Carney: Bare 6.0 (indiefolk) Cucina Povera: Zoom 6.0 (a capella minimal synth) Deep Cut: Different Planet 6.0 (shoegaze-psych) TMBOY: Steam 6.0 (elektropop) Go Dark: Neon Young 5.5 (hipszeterelektropop) Thyla: What’s On Your Mind EP 5.5 (indierock) Tim Presley: I Have Toe Feed 5.5 (psychpop) Elena Setién: Another Kind Of Revolution 5.5 (szofiszti artpoppy) Hayes Carll: What It Is 5.5 (altcountry, americana) Dreezy: Big Dreez 5.5 (trap-hiphopr&b) Boogie: Everything’s For Sale 5.5 (westcoasthiphop) Fredo: Third Avenue 5.0 (uk rap) Perfect Son: Cast 5.0 (szintis artpop)

+++++ Brown Sugar: I’m In Love With A Dreadlock (Birth Of Lovers Rock 1977-1980) 9.5 (gyönyörű, úttörő lovers rock-életmű összegzése, 2018-as, decemberi lemez) Don The Tiger: Matanzas 8.5 (2018-as évvégi lemez, poszt afrocuban) VA: The Social Power Of Music 8.0 (négylemezes Smitshonian Folkways-válogatás, komoly protest song-history) Damon Zucconi: Untitled Substance 8.0 (b-more deconstructed, 2007-es, elfeledett LP újrakiadása) Stano: Content To Write 8.0 (1983-as ír posztpunk újrakiadása) D. Rothon: Nightscapes 8.0 (2018-as évvégi, smoothpopjazzmoodmusic) Moma Ready: Ocean Walker II 8.0 (2018-as évvégi, liquid funk, breaks) Hedvig Mollestad Trio: Smells Funny 7.5 (2018-as évvégi, heavypsych-jazz) BlueWhale: Process 8.0 (2018-as évvégi, atonal rock) Rattle: Sequence 8.0 (2018-as évvégi, dobzene)

(Ezeken kívül még sok lemezbe belehallgattam, és maximum 10 percet töltöttem velük, mert annyira nem nekem szóltak vagy szimplán borzasztóak voltak, ezeket nem sorolom. És igen, ez amolyan laza sorrend.)

Eszméletlenül sok olyan zene van ma (kösz soundcloud/bandcamp), amit az alkotója valamilyen (leginkább életkori) oknál fogva nem tudott megvalósítani akkor, amikor az újszerű, releváns, aktuális, izgalmas lehetett volna. Ezek között persze akad több olyan, ami legalább érdekes, ügyesen nyúl a témához, jól hallgatható, de ha már hallottad azt, amiket másolnak, akkor nyilván nem tudnak revelációt kiváltani (vagy csak nagyon kivételes esetben). És akkor ugye hallani is minek, ha nem másnak, hogy szóljon valami elmegy háttérzene. Rengeteg lemez esik ebbe a kategóriába, a szabad újrafelhasználás, a miért ne korát éljük.

Ugyanakkor ha nem ösztönöz a remény, hogy potenciálisan jó zenéről maradhatok le, akkor nincs is értelme új megjelenéseket hallgatni. Vagy a régiek közül keresgélni.

Ami még általánosságban jellemző, az a kislemez (albumtrekk)-nagylemez örök szkanderének aktuális kiélesedése. Még a legtöbb 6.5 alatti lemezről is tudnék egy jó számot kiemelni, és végülis nem ez a lényeg? Jó számokat hallgatni. Pont ez van, Spotify-kor definíció szerint: jó számokat kiválasztani, abból jó playlisteket hallgatni. De ha én baszom el ezzel az időt, akkor csak ezzel foglalkozom (és jó eséllyel úgy sem fogom két-három alkalomnál többször hallani), ha más, nem hiszek neki, nem hiszem el, hogy ne hagyott volna le valami jót és a végén becsavarodunk az értelmetlen, újzenét megszállottan (ennél, amit itt csinálok, sokkal megszállottabban) kereső spirálba. Plusz, ha tudtál egy jó számot, akkor hallani akarom, hogy tudsz-e többet is? Ha nem, az sajnálatos. Ha igen, akkor meg csinálj belőlük egy jó lemezt, ami képes egy egységes hangulatot, világot nyújtani, amibe szívesen elmerülök.

Ebben a hónapban két lemeznek is az a címe, hogy Unfurl. Sok februári LP volt már az első részben is, így ez a második most alighanem rövidebb. Kevesebb a kiemelkedő album, ennélfogva. Most is kettő tetszett nagyon, az egyik a legtipikusabb future pop, mindent bele Default Genders friss albuma, ő a reményteljes, de ki nem igazán teljesedő Elite Gymnastics egyik fele volt (ez a chillwave idején feltűnt zenekar mindent mashupolt: dreampopot, jungle-t, house-t, k-popot stb.), ez a második szólólemeze és a zenekarral elkezdett munka eddigi betetőzése. Perfekt jövőpop, ami természetesen nem jelent mást, mint, hogy 2019-ben ilyennek is kellene lennie a jó popzenének, miközben alig ilyen. A másik nagyon tetszetős lemez egy Ot to Not To nevű előadó harmadik albuma, róla nem hallottam korábban. A zenéjére nem én találtam ki a Talk Talk-os Mark Hollis-párhuzamot, ami tökéletesen illik: mark hollis of experimental r&b. Valami nagyon szellős, szétszerelt-újrarakott folk r&b ez, nagyon távoli kapaszkodónak lehet használni Kindness-t, aki nagyon kicsit hasonlóan szerelte az 80s softpopos r&b-t néhány éve. Ebből a kínmondatból is látszik, milyen nehéz körbeírni a zenét, inkább hallani kell. Jó még a Y La Bamba eklektikus indiefolkpopja, nagyon kicsit US Girls, ha ez segít, aztán a Lush-os milányunk, Miki Berényi új zenekara, a Piroshka egy több mint korrekt albummal debütált, persze vele elfogódott vagyok, ezt itt be is jelentem, de mindenesetre ez sokkal jobb, mint a három évvel ezelőtti Lush-visszatérő EP, és úgy általában is. Kellett neki három hallgatás, hogy a korrektnél többnek halljam, itt tartok most vele. Roses Gabor szerintem nem a mi lányunk, ha jól veszem ki, grenadai szülők gyereke (Gábor ZsaZsa ihlethette a nevét?) erős elektro r&b-t tol, a Feels nekemvalóan megkapó lofi-posztpunkot, a Fling pedig szórakoztató indiepsychedéliát, utóbbi három lemezt lehet, hogy kicsit túlértékelem. Majdnem ennyire jó még a Golden Daze télies, ártalmatlan dreampopja (picit Real Estate-es jangle is), amibe nagyon jó belebújni. Akárcsak a The Delines soulos altcountryjába. A Sleaford Mods ismét szórakoztató, zeneileg talán minden korábbinál, izé, zeneibb. Cherusii & Maria Minerva kiadványa félig posztumusz anyag, Cherusii fiatalon hunyt el, barátnője, Minerva gondozta, fejezte be közös felvételeiket, nyilván nagyon sajnálatos, hogy előbbi nem tudott kibontakozni, utóbbi viszont hosszabb hallgatást tört meg ezzel a jó lemezzel. Mi van még? Nyilván mindig keverednek a friss megjelenések közé pár hetes, hónapos kiadványok is, ennyit csak ilyen tempóban lehet feldolgozni. Nem nekem, a nemzetközi sajtónak, amiből mondjuk a Popmatters úgy tud minden nap pár lemezt bemutatni, hogy nem ismétli a Pitchfork-féle fősodor kínálatát és mégis érdekes. De amúgy nagyon sok mindent kell olvasni, hogy összeálljon egy ilyen kép, ilyen lemezsor.

Ezek tetszettek a legjobban februárban. A második kupacban (és harmadik elején) még olyanok vannak, amiket szerintem abszolút érdemes meghallgatni annak, aki bírja az adott stílust, a harmadik-negyedik adagban viszont már azok szerepelnek, amikhez rajongónak kell lenni és úgy sem kizárt a csalódás.

#2019 review #2019 in review #2019 lp #2019 pop #2019 music #lp #album

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