Disclaimer: No infringement is intended by this story. The characters of "The Nanny" are property of Fran Drescher, Peter Marc Jacobson, High School Sweethearts, Sony Pictures and all the others involved in the making of a fantastic show which will always be a treasured memory. Thank you all for a having created a show which embodies everything desirable in life: Friendship, family, humor and love.

This is my way of thanking all the people who enriched my life with all their incredibly wonderful stories about the Sheffields. Even though I'm quite busy, I felt like I had to give something in return for all those wonderful hours of reading. I hope you enjoy my story as much as I enjoyed reading yours. Don't sue me for my incapability of freeing myself from being influenced by all your wonderful stories. Comments and conversation are welcome: gmrde@yahoo.de

Miss Fine and Mr. Sheffield

by

Gabrielle
(gmrde@yahoo.de)

"Miss Fine, are you coming?"

Fran heard Maxwell's voice calling her from downstairs. His voice. How she loved this adorable accent and his voice wasn't the only thing she had come to love about Maxwell Sheffield during the last four years.

'Four years - a long time for a woman who isn't really 29 anymore' she thought and sighed. She smiled weakly at her reflection in the mirror and she liked what she saw there. She really had outdone herself this time. Her hair was artistically piled up and some dark tendrils came down each side of her face. She had put on only a little make-up - just enough to underline her beautiful features. Her long, black strapless gown accentuated her slim figure and her female curves and she liked the soft sound the fabric gave when she moved. Well, she wasn't 29 anymore but she definitely was gorgeous and surely could make any man's head turn if she wanted to.

But for the past few weeks she hadn't even been trying to date any men for she knew that wouldn't have been fair to them since the only man for her was waiting downstairs, calling for her to come down. She knew she was totally in love with him but at the same time she knew that this love only caused her heartache, pain and sorrow, for Mr Sheffield wasn't going to commit, even though he seemed a lot more attentive to her lately and his face lit up when she entered his office to talk about the children, her family or simply chat about her day. She even realized him watching her with that strange look when he thought she wouldn't notice. He seemed to watch her every movement, observing every little gesture and she could feel his eyes travelling up and down her body with that dreamy and longing look. Sometimes she thought he was about to tell her something, to finally make his move, but when she would look into his eyes he would shy away and excuse himself to take care of some business, like two days ago, when she had checked on Gracie who had been sick.

While Fran was reading her one of her favourite bedtime stories, Gracie saw Maxwell standing at the threshold watching both of them. Gracie asked him to join them and stay until she would fall asleep. Max gave her one of those warm, boyish smiles which made him even more adorable and sat on the vacant edge of her bed stroking his daughter's hair while Fran was finishing the story. After Gracie had fallen asleep they both stood up, leaned over reaching for the blanket to tuck her in properly. When their hands touched both felt that strangely familiar bolt of electricity running through their fingers continuing on their bodies, making them even more aware of their proximity. Their eyes locked and for a tiny moment Fran could see his desire, his longing and even his love for her clearly written in his eyes. But then they immediately clouded again with a sudden veil of sadness and fear and he broke eye contact, cleared his throat and told Fran he was going to work on some contracts. Bidding her a good night he left the room leaving a once again confused and disappointed Fran behind.

She was quite sure about how Maxwell felt about her, but she needed him to tell her - and not take it back. She closed her eyes as the memory of the pain this particular incident had caused her came up once again. She knew that she shouldn't have teased him about 'the thing' again and again but she wanted him to know how much he had hurt her by taking back his confession. She had considered telling him herself for a couple of times but she feared that according to his reaction to his own confession on that plane from Paris, her admitting her love for him might even drive him further away. He was the one to make a decision, since Fran had already made hers - even if it meant to stay alone for the rest of her life. But she surely needed her off-and-on relationship with Mr Sheffield to end - one way or the other. 'Funny' Fran thought as she realized that this decision provided her with a certain calmness as if she was a long distance runner who had come to the end of a very long race he thought would never be over.

Once again she sighed as another call from the hallway brought her back to reality. 'OK girl, party time' she uttered to her reflection. Well, she wouldn't let anything or anyone spoil this night, especially not herself. After all it was her night, her fourth anniversary with the Sheffields and she wanted anybody to enjoy it and be happy.

"Coming", she called.

Once again Maxwell realized that waiting for Miss Fine had paid off. She looked absolutely ravishing. While slowly descending the stairs to the hallway Fran flashed the impatiently waiting group down on the landing a radiant smile which brightened the room. How he had come to love this smile. It made a perfect person even more perfect. Maxwell was well aware that her smile wasn't the only thing he loved about Fran Fine. He watched his children and Niles smiling back at his nanny and found himself beaming happily at her. He felt a wave of warmth and happiness flow through his body as he watched his happy family - a happy family only because of her.

He remembered the day when she first came through the door, changing his children's life, his life from the very first day on, bringing back laughter, life and even love to this house. He loved the way she made his children and him smile again, he loved her sense of humor, her warmth, her honesty and he even loved how she always managed to get herself as quickly into trouble as nobody else he knew, thus making him lose his temper. She simply made him and his family feel alive again and it was a good feeling, which he thought would never return to his house after they had been deprived of their beloved wife, friend and mother. 'Sarah' - Maxwell smiled at the memory of her - 'yes, Sarah would have loved her, too', he said to himself.

He liked the idea of his late wife approving of his relationship with Miss Fine, even though they were not really having one - well at least not officially. Everyone in the house knew they had something between them that went far beyond friendship. He knew how she felt about him and he was sure she knew how he felt about her. He remembered the day before yesterday, when they had the moment in Gracie's room. He was so close again to tell her how he felt about her, that he loved her and wanted to be with her, but like any other time he tried, his old anxieties and fears of losing someone he loved gained the upper hand and he backed out the last second. He knew he was confusing her and even himself by his strange behaviour. He knew that sooner or later he would have to do something about it or he would run the risk of losing her anyway, as Niles had pointed out to him earlier. She deserved better than that. She deserved to be happy. Even if it meant to let her go.

Maxwell closed his eyes for a second to get rid of his thoughts. Tonight everything should be perfect for it was Miss Fine's night and he would at least not spoil her anniversary. He was taken back to reality by Niles's voice.

"Wow! I'm knocked for six, Miss Fine."

"Why thank you Niles", Fran said as she smiled fondly at her best friend.

"You look stunning tonight, Miss Fine", Maxwell said admiringly.

"Well, you're not such a bad sight yourself, mister", Fran said as she admired him in his dark Armani suit which accentuated his well-shaped body, especially his fine behind and his broad shoulders. He looked incredibly sexy. But she wouldn't allow herself to continue that train of thought for she knew it would only lead her into another disappointing dead-end. She decided to get the best out of this evening.

"Shall we go", she asked, "I'm famished. I could eat anything that doesn't move."

Knowing the Fine family, they exchanged terrified looks and quickly rushed to the door to get inside the waiting limo.

During the ride to the restaurant they were all having a great time. They had a lot of fun as the children were vividly talking about the past four years with Fran, laughing about specific memories their life as a family had brought to them.

"Do you remember when you ate Imogene, Fran?" Grace said.

"Well I actually didn't eat her, she died during improper medical treatment" Fran stated, looking cheekily at Maxwell who was smiling warmly at the memory. He had been very concerned about Grace those days and thanks to Miss Fine she had developed into a healthy young girl. His thoughts drifted back to that particular moment at Dr Vern's office when Grace had mentioned that she didn't need Imogene any more for she had Fran. This was the first time he had felt this overwhelming wave of affection and fondness for his nanny flowing through him, a sensation that should have a deep impact on his life in the years to come.

At first he hadn't minded feeling so fondly towards her. Everyone seemed to like Miss Fine at once. The children had been taken with her immediately and Niles and Miss Fine had quickly become close friends. Her warmth and liveliness had been exactly what everyone in the house had needed. But when he had realised that his feelings towards her had been about to go beyond friendship, things had been getting more complicated. On the one hand he had felt guilty because of his late wife, like he was cheating on her by being attracted to another woman and on the other hand she was his employee. He was the boss, she was his nanny - well, his children's nanny. But he couldn't help falling more and more for her, even though he had tried to deny his feelings and concealed them by shouting at her and being rude to her whenever she made only minor mistakes. He would always end up apologizing for his misbehaviour and he admired her for her gracious generosity of forgiving him again and again, which made loving her even easier. In spite of that, Maxwell knew that it was only a question of time when one of his outbursts or rejections would hurt her so deeply, even Miss Fine wouldn't be able to take it any more.

But then again she had been giving him a hard time as well, one moment sitting on the perch of his desk flirting vehemently with him and driving him crazy in one of her adorable, sexy outfits and the next she was running off with some damn handsome guy on a date, which he didn't like a bit.

When she had been out with Brock Storm that particular night, it had been the first time he had felt that twitch of jealousy making him lose his temper so many times afterwards, even though he knew he didn't have the right to behave like that towards her. He wasn't her husband, they weren't even involved. And so he had to watch her spending her time with other men, wearing those much too short outfits, kissing them instead of him. Oh God, she could kiss!

He would always remember that kiss they had shared when he had accused her of not really having won the kissing contest for Billy Ray Cyrus' album cover as well as the one 'healing' her shopping addiction, the one on the plane from Paris or the one which had sealed their 'friendship' after they had had that serious conversation on the steps in front of their house.

That had been the first time they had really talked about their 'relationship' at all and it had been the first time he had ever told anyone about his fears and anxieties of losing someone beloved. She had seemed so understanding and despite the fact that she had been teasing him for taking back the 'thing' for quite some time she really had seemed to have understood his motives a while later.

Her behaviour during the past few weeks and months had changed a lot in general. She still was their Miss Fine but a new calmness and seriousness seemed to be around her, she seemed to have grown a lot. Maxwell liked this side of her as well as realizing that she hadn't been dating for quite some time. Instead she spent most of her evenings at home with the children and, even more important, with him. From time to time she went clubbing or dancing with Val but she always would come home quite early and alone, about which Maxwell felt very relieved.

Once again he was brought back to reality when Miss Fine laughed wholeheartedly about one of the children's remarks and all the others joined in. He smiled at the scenario in front of him. After a few minutes the limo slowed down and the driver opened the door for them. He gallantly offered his elbow to Miss Fine and they went into the restaurant. He wanted this night to be perfect for her, so he had picked a very elegant and stylish, yet cosy restaurant serving a large variety of seafood for he knew how much she loved it.

Dinner went along perfectly well and they all had a wonderful time enjoying the fantastic food, themselves and each other. They were talking and laughing a lot and when a young man came over to ask Maggie to dance, Maxwell said "That's a marvellous idea. Miss Fine, would you like to take a little spin?"

Unfortunately the band weren't playing a real slow song, so he had no excuse to hold her as close as he wanted to, but it felt good to hold her anyway.

Dancing with him reminded Fran of her Camp Kindervelt reunion almost three years ago when Mr Sheffield had jumped in to save her from embarrassment in front of her old rival Judy Silverman pretending to be her date and even more than just her date. Fran knew it had been during that dance when she had fallen for him.

He had looked so handsome and had come to her rescue like a noble shining knight to save poor Cinderella. His arms around her had felt so good, so right. She had never met a man of such style and gentlemanly behaviour before. When she was with him she always felt like a real lady despite of her stand and the fact that he lost his temper with her so many times. She smiled at the memory of that particular night and wondered whether he was thinking the same. He returned her smile fondly and looked into her eyes. Then he spun her and dipped her the way he had at the reunion giving her a boyish smile and she knew he had indeed been thinking the same. When he brought her up again he chuckled and said "Thank God your dress survived it this time!"

"Well, this one wasn't on sale" Fran returned.

They both chuckled and ended their dance in silence smiling at each other.

Afterwards Fran shared dances with Niles and Brighton while Maxwell danced with his daughters. They were really having a great time that night and everyone else in the room couldn't help but admire the happiness around this group of people.

When they were sitting at their table again, Maxwell exchanged a knowing look with Niles who excused himself from their table, heading outside. When he returned, he was carrying a neatly wrapped rectangular present and put it in front of Maxwell, who thanked him and stood from his chair while Niles returned to his place to his left.

Maxwell took his glass and spoke, directing his words at Miss Fine.

"Well, Miss Fine, nobody could have imagined how important you would become to our family when you stepped into our lives four years ago. From that moment on you managed to turn our house into a much more chaotic but yet warmer, livelier and happier place than it had been for a long time. We know that we most probably can't ever repay you for that, but we thought that - since you've got a weak spot for gifts from the heart - our present might perhaps show you how deeply we appreciate you being part of our family." He raised his glass and added "To Miss Fran Fine, the woman without whom our lives would be deprived of joy and happiness." Then he bent down and gently kissed her on the cheek.

"To Fran" the others joined in and clinked their glasses.

Fran couldn't help the tears from falling when everyone hugged her, kissed her and congratulated her on her anniversary. Oh God, how she loved everyone of them. How could she ever manage to do without them? She also realized that the Sheffields and Niles weren't the only ones to gain a great deal from their being a family. She had been learning a lot in those four years as well. Being with them had done her good, too. She had realized this for the first time when her ex-fiancée Danny had wanted to marry her and she had refused him, for it had suddenly occurred to her that she had grown out of him and her old life in Flushing. Until that moment her only aim in life had been to get married to a man who could support a family. But her time with the Sheffields, especially with Maxwell had taught her that there was more in life than that.

"Thank you, guys" was all she could answer with a voice hoarse from emotion.

"Open your present Fran" Gracie urged almost jumping up and down.

"Yeah, Fran, open it" Brighton and Maggie agreed.

Fran put on a happy face "OK, let's have a look."

At first she tried to remove the paper carefully not wanting to destroy it but the others urged her to open it more quickly, so she simply ripped the remaining paper off and looked at her present. It was a claret leather scrapbook and the inscription on its cover read "Our life with Fran". She opened it to find various items and photographs glued into the book. She remembered some of the photographs most of which she hadn't seen before, let alone known that they ever had been taken. One showed her and Niles it the kitchen having a cake eating contest in which they weren't allowed to use their hands so in the picture both had either chocolate or whipped cream around their mouths. She remembered that rainy afternoon clearly and had to laugh out wholeheartedly at the memory. According to angle of the camera Gracie had taken it.

"I almost won" Niles chimed in "if only your mother wouldn't have snatched the cakes away from under our noses."

"You're dreaming, honey. There's no way you could have beaten a Fine in an eating competition, but with some practise you could try to challenge me again, even though you would be size 18 by then for you'd need a lot of training."

"I bet your mother has beaten you quite often then."

Fran slapped him playfully on the arm and went on to look at the pictures and small items in the scrapbook. Most of the pictures showed her and the kids or her and Niles in some silly occupations such as fencing with broomsticks or doing some Sonny and Cher impersonations. Some showed all of them, obviously taken on some of their various holiday trips and anybody who didn't know better would have sworn they really were a family for they all looked deliriously happy.

They were having a blast and sometimes got somewhat sentimental at some pictures while Fran was going through the pages and they relived the moments they had shared during those four years. From time to time someone would explain the meaning of some of the small items like for instance some lipstick lip-prints in various colours. "They should remind you of how you helped me to get a prolonging for my science project and how to become a good student" Brighton explained.

"Yeah, and this one should remind you of how you jumped in for me a s a volunteer nurse, so I could go to that concert" Maggie added and pointed to a razor blade attached to the album by some Sellotape. Fran exchanged a quick look with Maxwell, who blushed at the memory and cleared his throat nervously.

The next pages revealed a number of funny and sweet photographs, one showing Fran and Gracie sound asleep in the big armchair in the living room another, one a very young Brighton and Fran entwined in a game of 'Twister', Fran obviously cheating by putting her hand on Brighton's head. "What? His hair is kinda yellow, isn't it?" she said defensively. She found some tickets for 'Yentl' to which she had dragged the whole family three times, a recipe for chocolate fudge cream cake - her favourite one - and an excerpt from Thornton Wilder's 'Our Town'.

"It should remind you of the marvellous job you did with the costuming for our charity night" Maxwell stated shyly.

Fran remembered that night as a treasured memory. She had felt quite overwhelmed when Mr Sheffield had trusted her with such an important thing influencing his reputation on Broadway. He had been so sweet when she had told him how much this chance meant to her.

When she saw a shot of him and her cuddled up on the couch sleeping on her first night as a 'Anonymous shopper' she was reminded of the fact that he had always been there for her, even with her minor and sometimes silly problems but with the more serious ones, too.

On the last pages Fran recognized amongst other things the poem Gracie had written for her when she had been about to leave them for Danny. But even only after six months after her arrival she had realized she had already become far too attached to them to leave them so easily. They wouldn't have had to add the poem for Fran knew it by heart anyway. "Nasal things, eh?" she winked at Gracie, who beamed at her.

Amongst other various pictures on these last pages she spotted one of Mr Sheffield and herself during the dance at her reunion and her heart skipped a beat. "I didn't know there was a picture of that" she managed to say and from the surprised look on his face she could tell, Mr Sheffield hadn't known either.

"Well, at first we wanted to put the application form for 'A night with Erik Estrada' in the book, but we couldn't get it, so Val gave us this picture to remind you of the night you finally beat Judy Silverman" Maggie explained.

They went on to look at the remaining pictures. The very last one showed all of them, even Miss Babcock, in front of the Christmas tree at Fran's first Christmas with the Sheffields. They all were smiling and waving at the camera. They had put some tinsel and some pine twigs around the picture and beneath it and the inscription read 'Happy anniversary, Fran! Love," followed by their signatures - even C.C. had put her name down. This was the moment Fran lost control and let the tears run freely. "Thanks." she said barely audible "I can't tell you how much this means to me."

"I guess this means you like it" Brighton inquired.

She nodded " I love it, thank you so much."

They all exchanged hugs and kisses once more when Fran said "I guess I gotta go to the restroom now to turn myself into a presentable person again."

When she had disappeared the others high-fived each other because their present had touched Fran the way it had. When she returned a couple of minutes later she looked as beautiful as ever and they continued their vivid chatting and laughing. Fran couldn't remember having felt happier before.

Since it was a Tuesday, Niles was supposed to escort the children home at 9:30.

"Oh daddy, can't we stay a little longer, please?" Gracie looked at her father with her best little- girl-softens-father-look. Even though she seemed tired already, she didn't want their fantastic time to end. Maxwell and Fran looked at one another questioningly and when Maxwell nodded a barely visible 'yes' to Fran, she said "I think your father wouldn't mind you staying a little longer, but this is really an exception, Sweetie!"

After another round of dancing and some more dessert Gracie was about to slide down from her chair due to tiredness when Maxwell stated "All right, I think it's time for you and your brother and sister to go home now, young lady."

"But daddy, we're not tired" she returned, her eyes almost closed.

"I'll take care of that, Sir" Niles volunteered and lifted Gracie from her chair. "I'll send the limosine back after we've arrived, Sir." Then he smiled at Fran "Happy anniversary again."

Fran bent over to kiss her friend softly on the cheek "Thank you.for anything."

The others kissed Fran and their father goodnight and Fran thanked them once more for their beautiful present.

"Oh, B wait! Could you please take this home for me?" she inquired when she handed him the album.

"Sure Fran" he said as he took it from her and went to follow Niles and his siblings outside.

"This really was a wonderful present, Mr Sheffield, thank you" Fran said still overwhelmed by the affection they had just shown to her.

"You sure deserved it, Miss Fine" Max simply answered a she held out her chair to her.

When they were seated, Maxwell asked "would you care for a glass of champagne, Miss Fine?"

"Well, you know I'm not very good with alcohol and I already had a glass of wine earlier." But she agreed when he looked at her pleadingly and said "Well, it's not as if you celebrated an anniversary like this every day and I think this calls for a toast."

A few minutes later the waiter arrived with a bottle of Dom Perignon and Max poured two glasses, one for Fran, the other for himself.

"To the last four years" Max said as their glasses clinked together. He couldn't help but get lost in her beautiful deep brown eyes and Fran felt the same, staring into his green ones. Once again she felt as if he was about to say something else but when he didn't, Fran was the one bringing them back to reality by asking

"Where in the world did you get all the pictures and the stuff from? I didn't even know most of it existed at all!"

"Well, actually the children came up with the idea with the scrapbook and when we were doing some 'research', going through the old trunks in the attic, we found most of the keepsakes and even some undeveloped films. We decided to have them developed to see whether we could use them for the album. Your mother, Val and Niles have been helpful, too. And so everyone quickly was busy checking his or her belongings to find something that could go into it" Maxwell explained to her, happy that she liked the gift.

They went on chatting about the scrapbook, the children and found themselves talking vividly about this and that enjoying their time together, which seemed to fly.

Due to the late hour and the fact that merely couples were remaining in the room, the band had changed to some more romantic tunes a while ago and Maxwell stood up, held out his hand to Fran and simply asked "Miss Fine?"

She took his hand and let him lead her to the dance floor, where he brought her close in the old-fashioned way of dancing, leaving a certain distance of decency between them, even though their bodies slightly touched, which alerted his senses. They were slowly swaying to the music when Max softly inquired

"So I take it you liked your evening?"

"Are you kidding?" Fran answered "This was most probably the best night I've ever had. I spent the evening with the people I love the most in the world, I got the best gift in the history of gift-giving, I enjoyed fantastic food, fine wine and right now I'm dancing slowly with a gorgeous millionaire. What else could a girl ask for?"

Maxwell smiled at her and then, to her surprise, bent down to kiss her softly on the lips "Thank you, Miss Fine."

"What was that for?" she inquired "well, not that I'm complaining" she added.

He smiled and then looked seriously into her eyes.

"For so many reasons, Miss Fine. For bringing back life, laughter and happiness to our family. For bringing up my children so beautifully, for teaching us some of your 'Queens-logic', for having become a part of our family as well as for having us made part of your crazy family and most of all. for being you."

Once again Fran was close to tears but she managed to hold them back, her eyes shining, though making them even more beautiful.

"I guess that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Thanks, Mr Sheffield."

"You're welcome, Miss Fine" Max said and finally found the courage to gather her closer to him, to which she responded by moving in willingly, resting her head on his shoulder. She inhaled his intoxicating scent and she had to hold on to him a little tighter, for due to his closeness and the alcohol she got a little weak in the knees. He supported her by bringing his other hand, which had been holding hers, around her waist, too, causing her thus to put her arm around his neck and snuggle up even closer to him.

'This feels so good' he thought. 'Oh God, how I love you, Fran.' He could feel his heartbeat racing at a hundred miles and hour and he could feel hers as well. He could feel her warm skin through the silky fabric of her dress under his fingers and through his shirt. He nestled his cheek against her temple and he breathed in her scent, this wonderful mixture of her perfume and the freshness of her full, soft hair he had come to love so much. He wanted to do so much more than just hold her. He wanted to let his hands tenderly wander over her skin, kiss every spot on her body and show her how much he cared for her.

Lost in their thoughts about the other one they hadn't realized that the band had stopped playing. They were still swaying to some tune only existing in both their heads when Fran muttered "I guess the music stopped."

"I know" he answered, obviously not wanting to stop, but a voice over the microphone was to be heard, which brought them back to the restaurant "Ladies and gentleman, we're going to take a break for about 20 minutes, thank you" the singer announced in her fine voice. "Sir? Madam?" she discreetly cleared her throat which made them startle a little. They drew apart and Max thanked her with a smile. When he lead her back to the table, Fran slipped her arm through his and let her head rest against his shoulder.

"Wow, this Don Corleone stuff really has something about it" she remarked.

Maxwell chuckled as he once more reminded her "That's 'Dom Perignon', Miss Fine."

"Mmmmm.that sounds familiar. But anyway, if I'm going to have more of it you'll have to carry me home, mister. And my boss would be quite mad at us if he found out I overslept because of staying out too long on a weekday with some handsome guy getting drunk."

"So we'd better not have any more of it. We don't want you to get unconscious or even fired on your anniversary, do we? I hear your boss can be quite overreacting sometimes" Maxwell expanded their game.

"Boy, don't I know." Fran said rolling her eyes in her usual manner.

They both chuckled.

"Well, Miss Fine" Maxwell looked at his watch and then rubbed his hand in his usual manner "there's almost an hour of your day left. So what would you like to do?"

"Oh, I don't know" she said winking at him, quite well knowing what she really wanted to do. Maxwell blushed a little at her remark but Fran saved him from embarrassment by laughing and then saying "what about a little ride around the city, the streets should be all clear at this time and I really should make good use of the limo before it turns into a pumpkin at midnight."

Maxwell paid the bill and then offered her his elbow "So, shall we, Milady?" But, encouraged by the effect of the champagne, instead of taking the offered elbow, Fran slipped her hand into his, entwining their fingers "What are we waiting for?"

Their ride through New York at night was wonderful. Its skyline had always been something fascinating for Fran. Sometimes when she couldn't sleep at night she would simply look out the window and wonder about one of the many lights. About the people living there, about their lives and the reason why they would have their lights switched on this time of the night. This city never seemed to sleep.

As Fran shared her thoughts with Maxwell he said "I know what you mean." Then he began to talk about his experience with the 'Big Apple'.

"I remember when I first came here, I had mixed emotions. On the one hand I was fascinated by this city, its liveliness, its beauty and its charm. But on the other hand I was scared because I wasn't used to anything like this." He paused for a while and then calmly said "After Sarah had died, I had a very hard time. Especially at night, not only because of missing her, but because of the fact that at night, when everyone and everything seemed to have calmed down, my loneliness became more apparent for I couldn't find any work at night to get my mind off the pain. So one night I went out for a walk through the streets and it comforted me in a way, since the lights somehow made me feel." he was searching for the right words ".well, somehow not entirely alone. Like when you leave a nightlight on in a nursery." He trailed off.

Fran was amazed at that confession. He usually never talked about Sarah and his feelings concerning his loss. In their four years together she only had had the opportunity to share his sorrows twice before.

She remembered the night when they had been watching the old family videos after Gracie and she had come out as runner-ups to the mother-daughter pageant in their club. That was the first time she had got an inkling about the intensity of his pain and she had wanted to do something to ease it. But she hadn't known what, so she had decided to simply be there for him and the kids as a friend. That had been before she felt the way she was feeling about him now. The second time had been when they had had their talk after he had taken back 'the thing'. She treasured these rare moments with him, when his defences came down and he allowed her to read his soul without any reservations.

She wanted to say something, but at the way he looked down at their entwined fingers, she thought better of it and simply squeezed his hand a little smiling at him. He returned her affectionate gesture and said in a low voice looking at their hands again.

"You know, you remind me a lot of it."

Fran didn't answer but tenderly caressed his hand with her thumb, daring to rest her head against his shoulder.

The were riding along in silence when the driver discreetly cleared his throat and asked via intercom "Sir, would you like to go anywhere in particular or merely continue with the tour, because if you wanted to do so, I would have to head for a filling-station."

"No, thank you. Please take us home. And take a day off. You've had a very long day." Max replied.

"Thank you, sir."

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