The days that followed the impulsive kiss she gave Thomas she tried her best to cut him out of her life many times, but she could never quite bring herself to end their friendship. Eventually, she decided that she needed some advice so she went to visit her parents, it would give them a chance to see Maxine anyways.
For the first hour or so of the visit, they caught up. One of the first things she found out was that Ruth and Clifford were teens now, in fact, Clifford was about to become a young adult who had already been considered for the police force. In exchange, Florence told her parents all about Maxine's milestones, but eventually, they ran out of the small talk and silence filled the house besides Maxine's babbling. Her mother made an excuse to take Maxine outside and Florence was left alone with her step-father, although it was getting easier to ignore the step part altogether, although she wasn't entirely ready to do so just yet.
"Abraham, I need some advice," Florence said.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50144850191_d0f54ecc36_c.jpg"Edward isn't causing you any trouble, is he? If needed I could send a task force to follow him and get him for something. I know many people on the force who would love any excuse to lock him and his gang firmly behind lock and key. " her father said.
Florence shook her head. "No, I haven't seen Edward since he fired me. This is about my neighbor, Thomas Frasier."
"Is Mr. Frasier causing trouble for you and Maxine?" he asked.
"Not at all in fact he's been helping me out a lot with issues around the house for free. The issue is with me, I kissed him and the last thing I need to do is get involved with another man. Is there an easy way to cut a friend out of your life?"
Florence's step-father suddenly needed to dust off his pants and straighten his suit jacket. " If he wants to help you, I say let him, as for the other part of that, I think that's a question you should ask your mother."
As if right on cue her mother returned to the kitchen and passed Maxine to Abraham. He happily took her and left the room in a hurry.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50144308328_77973833aa_c.jpg"How odd." her mother said, "he almost looked uncomfortable. Do you have an explanation for that Florence?" her mother asked
It was obvious to Florence that it was a rhetorical question, so she didn't bother dancing around the subject. "I need advice and Abraham didn't have any to give me."
"What advice do you need?" her mother asked.
Unlike with her step-father, she'd mentioned Thomas to her mother more than a few times since their relationship started to recover, so she cut right to her issue. "I kissed Thomas, and now I need to know how to cut him out of my life."
"Why do you want him out of your life, I thought the two of you were friends?"
"We are and that's the problem," Florence said. "It just seems like I can't keep it that way, so he for his sake and mine, I shouldn't keep him in my life."
"That's a little extreme, don't you think? Besides do you really just want to stay friends or are you simply afraid to lose your heart again?" Florence didn't have a response, and so she remained silent. Her mother seemed to realize this and continued. "Just go home and think about it. I'll tell Abraham that you had a headache and needed to go home."
***For the next couple says Florence avoided Thomas and focused all her attention on Maxine. All the while her mother's advice lingered in the back of her mind.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50144308258_e974060a3d_c.jpghttps://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50145088767_8b0153c4f8_c.jpgMaxine grew a lot during those few days, but she also realized her mother was right, she missed Thomas horribly. Eventually, she shoved her fears to the side, walked next door, and invited him over for dinner later that evening.
"We need to talk about what happened a few days ago when I kissed you," she told him.
He agreed and promised to be over as soon as he got off of work. Preparing for his visit proved to be a monumental task though as that same day Maxine got a few more teeth and was fussy the entire day. Florence barely managed to tidy up her house and prepare a salad to serve Thomas.
When he knocked on the door, Florence's hair was still a mess and she wore the same outfit she wore the day before.
"You look like you've had a rough day, is there anything I can do to help?" he asked, in the background, Maxine was crying.
"Probably not. Maxine is teething and has been in pain all day. Unless you can help that I don't think there's anything you can do. "
"I have a spare bottle of bootleg juice back home, perhaps that would help."
" I'm really not sure that would..."
Thomas cut her off with a laugh. "I'm just kidding, but perhaps it would help us get through the evening."
At that Florence smiled and oddly enough Maxine's crying stopped and she toddled toward the door. She turned her wide, purple eyes towards Thomas. Apparently, the strange man her mother was talking too was interesting enough that she forgot about her pain. Thomas leaned down to pick her up but briefly glanced over to Florence as if to ask if he could. She nodded.
Maxine cried at first, but then Thomas bounced her up and down just a little and she stopped. She was once more interested in her mother's visitor enough that she forgot her aching gums. He tickled her and she actually giggled. From that moment until Thomas put her to bed she was completely content. It warmed Florence's heart to see her feeling so much better, even if it was only for an hour or so.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50144308193_1004a469b3_c.jpgOnce she was asleep though turned their attention back to the purpose of Thomas's visit. Florence walked into the kitchen and placed two plates of salad on the table. Thomas sat in front of one of the plates and Florence sat across from him.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50144308153_6e2c21e2b3_c.jpgFor a moment only the clinks of forks were heard before Florence broke the silence. "Mr. Frasier, where do you see our relationship going?"
"I'm comfortable with wherever you see our relationship going," Thomas said.
"I appreciate that but I really need to know where you would it to go,"
"If you really want to know, Miss Nolan, I think you're the Bee's knees. You're beautiful and smart and I want you in my life more than anything. However, I can also understand why, that despite what happened a few days ago, you aren't wanting to rush into a new relationship. Where do you see this relationship going?"
Florence felt her cheeks getting red again, but this time it didn't bother her. "Thank you for those wonderful compliments," she said. "I also want to see where this relationship goes, but for Maxine's sake I want to take things slow."
"As you wish," he said just as he finished his salad. "Would it be too much to ask you to watch the stars with me again?"
Florence finished her salad as well and sat her fork aside. "Not at all. The view from my backyard by the ocean is pretty great if you don't mind the smell of fish."
"If I was sitting next to you I wouldn't even notice. Although, I recommend grabbing out coats."
After that, the two of them stepped outside, found a comfortable place in the sand, and looked up toward the stars.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50145088667_65ce7b6454_c.jpgThe winter night was brisk, but after Florence moved a little closer to Thomas she didn't even notice. Their hands interlocked and she realized she couldn't imagine her life without him, even if she couldn't admit it allowed it allowed at the time.
Author's Note: Would you readers prefer I move this to another website like WordPress or something? It's a little extra effort, but I would do that if you all preferred to read this that way. Also if I moved this story, should I cut the 1890s part? I know it's part of The Decades Challenge, but at the start of this challenge, I didn't intend to record it as a story and as a result, the 1890s part is quite boring and rushed. Please leave all your thoughts and feelings in the thread. Thank you. 
