Frank had left his apartment with notes stuck in a book tucked under his arm. Marko tugged on the leash; he was either leading the way, sniffing his curiosity out, or stopping Frank from moving forward because he had found a rather interesting area to check out. It made the journey to Akiva’s that much longer, but it wasn’t a terrible day out. He stopped for a pastry, allowing the pup to peruse the park along the way.

It allowed him some self reflection. It had been a busy and tumultuous month, full of change and the same ol' thing. Frank had a decent little cushion that he planned to use to get out of busy London. It was feeling too claustrophobic, too busy. If he wanted a fun night out, it would only be a floo away. And now that he was completely on his own in the business, no longer strictly under Fiona, he could work more from home than the office. He just wanted a quiet place to relax and live a quieter life.

He transferred the leash to his hand holding an extra pastry and the book while he ran his suddenly free hand over his clean shaven face. That should make Akiva happy for all of two hours, until it started to grow back in. A sudden tug on the leash nearly had him dropping the book, and he quickly juggled items between both hands before encouraging Marko along with him instead of trying to check out the squirrels.

Unlike the greeting that Akiva had given him back in February, Frank knocked loudly on the door before unlocking it and stepping just inside. Marko panted as he tried to will Frank forward, straining at the end of his leash. “Marko.” The dog whined as he begrudgingly stopped, waiting impatiently for Frank. Once the door was locked, he set the book down near the front and made his way into the living room. “Akiva!”

Frank smiled and held up the pastry bag. “Good morning, sunshine.”

Pasover was finished, Akiva had just about enough energy to give Frank her afternoon.  He was looking at homes and Akiva had promised to help when the holiday was suitably over.  She had promised Frank, and it’d be nice to get away – and maybe eat something that wasn’t unleavened.  She hardly had time to take care of her own needs before Gabriel was up and very ready to begin his day.

She felt a little messy, hair pulled up and in a tunic, but the morning routine was going as well as it could.  She was putting Gabriel into his clothes and getting him fed... then there was the additional piece of making sure Gordon and Lady were taken care of… Sometimes she felt like she was running around like a chicken with her head cut off, so when she heard Frank knocking on the door, Akiva couldn’t feel less prepared for it.

She didn’t even have her shoes on! And the diaper bag was only partially packed… she should have asked her mother to babysit for the morning.  Of course, that thought only just crossed her mind.  Gabriel burbled with curiosity and Akiva resituated him on her hip to go downstairs – hearing Lady already downstairs freaking out, “Coming!” she called out, thankful for the recognition charms on the door and having given Frank the way in, she sighed in relief when she saw him.

It just felt good to see him again – and he had a treat! Oh, Akiva could have died.  “Good morning,” she smiled, probably still looking a little more like a mess than she’d want to before walking right up to him to place a kiss on his cheek and deposit Gabriel in his arms to trade for the pastry.  "I like this," she motioned to his clean face - he had to know how she felt about that awful thing he called a mustache. 

Otherwise, she was happy to let him hold her son as she dug her hand inside the bag and was so pleased with what she found she could have cried.  “Thank you!” she chirped before taking a bite.  “I just have to finish packing Gabe’s bag and put my shoes on, is that okay?”

The higher pitched barking gave away Lady. Not that Frank thought the cat was going to come greeting him, especially with the hyper dalmatian trying to sniff the whiff out of the poor little cocker spaniel. Why hadn’t he left the dog at home? Oh, right, because then Marko would’ve made his pillow into his newest chew toy. Not that he hadn’t been trying when Frank wasn’t paying attention. All the toys in the world weren’t as interesting as where Frank liked to lay his head at night, clearly.

Frank found a way to untangle himself from the excited pups before looking up to his somewhat frazzled friend. His smile came easily. The jumble of actions all made sense, and he accepted her kiss with a small one back, accepting the sudden weight with a grunt, and nearly dropping the leash in the process. “Uh-” Frank’s smile faltered as he juggled the young baby, glancing up to Akiva briefly before frowning and rolling his eyes. “It’ll be back in a few hours.”

Facial hair aside... Hugging the child to him, he loosened his hold on the leash before his smile came back. “You’re welcome.” He shrugged and moved to sit down, tugging Marko along as he turned his attention back to Gabe, making a silly face. “Of course, take your time. You look nice, Kiv.”

Once she’d gone off to do what she said she was going to do (which, Frank couldn’t remember exactly, because he had his focus elsewhere), Frank took the time to talk to Gabe, asking him how his morning was, if he liked being forced to match in his clothing, and whether he was in a good mood today. Marko tugged at the leash, attempting to follow Lady around. Why didn’t he just leave the dog? Sighing, he made a face and gave the baby a kiss on the forehead. Gabe’s grubby hands grabbed on to Frank’s jacket, arms shaking around as he tried to bring something to his mouth.

How weird that such a little thing would grow up and be a functioning human; go to Hogwarts, make mistakes, learn some things, make a difference in their own life (and maybe others). Become an adult... and hopefully live a nice life until they made their own little human to start the process all over again.

Akiva couldn’t help but laugh at Frank’s declaration that she looked nice and could have as much time as she needed.  “I’ll be quick, I promise!” she took a bite of the pastry in her hand and dashed back up the stairs, leaving the animals, her son, and Frank in her wake. 

Gabriel just needed a couple more things in his bag, and she shoved in some nappies and an extra blanket – along with his jingling keys that he always enjoyed playing with, just in case he was getting restless.  It was so strange, months ago he’d been unable to even squirm effectively – now he was holding things and burbling.  He was growing so quickly. She couldn’t even imagine what it was going to feel like when he started talking or walking and anything else. 

She tried to push it to the back of her mind as she threw the bag over her shoulder and rushed to her own room where her boots were sitting at the edge of the bed.  After pulling them on and readjusting everything (as was necessary when sitting and bending and generally making a mess of one’s self), Akiva looked in the mirror one last time before she left her room.  She couldn’t even be bothered with fixing herself.  She didn’t want to keep Frank waiting, after all.

Bounding down the stairs with bag and coat, Akiva smiled when she saw them.  “Oh! Gabriel, no!” her smile faltered as she rushed forward to quickly pull the string out of Gabriel’s hand before he could actually get it to his mouth.  Additionally, it allowed her to actually put the diaper bag down and shrug on her coat in order to be 100% ready.  “Thanks for being patient,” she smiled and reached to take her son back so Frank wouldn’t have to carry the curly headed boy. 

“I’m so excited to see what you’ve narrowed it down to,” Akiva grinned at Frank, “let’s get to it – lead the way!” She adjusted Gabriel to be most comfortable and motioned to the door. 

Frank was watching Gabriel work on the string of his jacket, finding it rather comical how he couldn’t figure out how to get it right to his mouth. The learning curve for simple things such as eating or... just coordinating hand-to-mouth was fascinating. He blinked with Akiva’s exclamation. “It’s clean...” Overall, Frank was a clean guy. And if he hadn’t stopped Gabe from doing it, that must’ve meant he didn’t mind.

Still, Akiva had her ways. Shrugging before handing off the infant to Akiva, Frank gave her a small smile. “I have all the time in the world.” Today, at least. Work was caught up and the apartment clean, so it wasn’t as if he had to rush home to anything. A laugh escaped before he grabbed his notes, tucking them into the diaper bag before lifting it up to his shoulder, his free hand holding the leash. “Floo or apparate?” But he knew the answer before it slipped out of her mouth.

And so with baby in one adult’s arms and the dog in the other, they stepped into the fireplace and called out the first location. The realtor was waiting patiently as Frank dusted himself, the dog, and then Akiva’s hair off. The realtor smiled and extended a hand in greeting to each. “Mrs. Pratt, I assume?” Blinking at that, Frank made a face and laughed, shaking his head and tugging Marko towards the backyard where he let the pup go.

“Why don’t I take the little tyke while you look over the floor plan, dear.” Frank smirked and took Gabe from Akiva, motioning her and shooing her away with a hand towards the confused realtor. “It might be a little cramped, but you know... with me, the starving writer, and you, the mediwitch trying to make ends meet for our little family, it’s all we can afford right now. Hopefully little Abigail will have room, when she's born.”

He left the two women in the kitchen as he chuckled his way to the living room, focusing his attention on to Gabriel. He overheard the realtor take in a deep breath and whisper very softly to Akiva, “Oh, you poor dear. Well, I mean, congratulations as well! This is one of the better options that we have today-”

He would wait for Akiva to get her feel for the place before they moved on. 


Floo was definitely the better option, and Frank seemed to get it as soon as she gave him a stern look.  He had to know she hated apparating and even more so with Gabriel, who would be positively inconsolable after.  When her ears popped, she hated it – she couldn’t imagine how he would react to it. 

So, the floo was the better option and Akiva joined Frank by the fireplace to go to their first destination, since he was the one who knew where they were headed.  Floo really wasn’t her favorite way to travel either, she thought as they stepped out of the fireplace and she saw soot on Gabriel’s hair and all over the diaper bag… she could only imagine the dog was probably going to shake it off – oh look, there it was before Frank shooed him to the yard and the realtor woman looked at her and assumed they were married!

Looking down at her hand, she realized, of course, that she was still wearing her ring- that wasn’t a good comeback and she didn’t want to be rude, of course…. But… she also didn’t know what to say, even more so when Frnak started to play along.  Cutting him a look, Akiva put on a smile – this poor woman had made such an assumption and now she couldn’t possibly get out of it.  Frank’s back story was also ridiculous, which didn’t help. 

Taking a deep breath, Akiva would deal with Frank later.  “Thank you,” she tried not to sound as tight as she thought her voice might, and rested her hand on the diaper bag.  “We haven’t been telling anyone – he’s got a big mouth,” she commented, slightly louder than necessary, hoping Frank would hear her, and then glanced around the living room, quite pleased to start with the warm colors.  “I’d love to see the rest of the house,” she added, trying to ignore the way the breathy woman looked at her with pity before she ushered her to the hall closets to show just how much storage space there really was in the tiny place and then to the most important room in the house: the kitchen. 

When she and Dreogan had picked their home, it’d been the one space she really wanted control over and she’d gotten exactly what she wanted – here, the kitchen was simple, very tiny, not at all what she’d look for, but she tried not to be disappointed: she wasn’t Akiva, right now after all, she was a struggling mediwitch.  “Lovely,” she’d commented, running her hand over the countertop, which was, at the very least an actually lovely slab. 

”Would you care to see the bedrooms, dear?” the realtor asked in what her father would only describe as a telephone voice and Akiva did not appreciate the little smile the woman gave her.  So presumptuous!  “Perhaps we should grab Frank for that?” Akiva prompted before the woman nodded and walked ahead of her to get Frank before the whole debaucle continued. 

Frank ignored the look Akiva shot his way. It only served to remind him of the sage old saying: if looks could kill. If he ignored her, then, he wouldn’t have to worry about bodily harm or death. It seemed perfectly logical. For a brief moment, he wondered how much Laney would have embellished the story. Pushing the thought aside, he focused on the little things, like the support structure of the house, and how worn the wood floors were.

He couldn’t help the smirk that slipped over his lips as he heard part of Akiva’s response. Big ears too, certain parts of the month.

The realtor merely smiled and nodded, promising in a soft voice to not betray their confidence. If she stole a look towards where Frank was with a small, disapproving frown, it was gone with Akiva’s desire to see the rest of the house. She grinned and spread her hands, ready to sell this cottage to the young mother, if at all possible.

“And of course, plenty of room for a small kitchen nook, if one was so inclined to add it in...” No matter if that meant some remodeling and stress on the foundation. The colors were dark and shadows filled the corners of the room. “The current owner thought to leave the updating of the kitchen to the next owner.”

Speaking of updated areas, she wondered if Akiva would appreciate the detail the previous owner had put into renovating the master bedroom. “Oh, yes, of course.” Perhaps the couple would prefer to be together while considering the house as a whole.

Frank looked up from the corner he had found himself in, blinking as the two women made their reappearance. He hoisted Gabe around to his hip and grinned, eyebrows raising. “Did you like it?” It didn’t take long before he realized that he was going to have to look at the rest with her. Pursing his lips to the side, Frank merely shrugged and stepped towards them, smiling. “Of course, the bedrooms. There are only two, but I think you’ll see how I can make the second one work just fine.”

For two little children, or for a guest room and office. The latter for real life, the first for their sham. Regardless, Frank stepped forward and went along for the rest of the tour, seeing everything he had already seen before. This was the bottom of his like list, but it was important to let Akiva see it first. Things got awkward in the master bedroom, and Frank merely coughed into his hand when the realtor tried to pitch a positive to the room.

He leaned over and nudged Akiva, whispering softly. “Look how well the support beams hold up the ceiling.” Winking, he stood back up and bounced the suddenly fussy little boy to try and calm him down. “Perhaps we should look at the backyard and then head to the next location? Little man here isn’t very patient.”

Once they were outside in the back garden, Frank offered Akiva her son and hooked Marko to his leash. “I’m not a fan of the kitchen, but the rest of the house is lovely. The next place... I need your opinion on this little built in shed they have. The master bedroom is not very large, but I don’t need a lot of space there.” He gave her a wink and grinned like a little boy. “Or we don’t.”

Gabriel was much less fazed by the whole thing as they were.  He was just wide eyed with a little bit of drool hanging off of his lip as the two women reappeared in the room.  Akiva frowned, wondering if Frank even noticed.  Probably not, she judged quickly and reached into the diaper bag for a cloth to wipe the little boy’s mouth.  Joining Frank’s side, she was at least thankful for the little lie at the moment.  The woman didn’t even bat an eye as Akiva flanked him and wiped Gabriel’s mouth with a grunt of disdain coming from the object of cleaning. 

Of course he would be displeased.  Kissing his nose after she pulled away the cloth, Akiva turned her attention back to the realtor and sighed.  She was happy to look at these places with him, but this woman was crazy, and only made crazier with the prospect of selling a starter home to a young family.  She  wondered if she should have given Frank the name of the lovely person who had helped her and Dree find their home. 

It made her a little sad, at the moment, to think of, and she shook her head to rid herself of the thought.  She wasn’t supposed to focus on her: she was here to help Frank! She liked the rooms, but the whole thing was underwhelming, not to mention Akiva felt her cheeks burning hot when they got to the master bedroom that they had zero intention of sharing.  Oh dear.  The poor woman was doing her best though, and Gabriel was starting to fuss. 

That would happen.  But they were moving and she didn’t want to dig through the bag for his pacifier when they weren’t standing still… stairs always proved difficult when moving on stairs.  “I think I’d like to see the next one,” she agreed with Frank, despite his ridiculousness, the kitchen was far too small – even for him – and she wasn’t going to comment too strongly, but lovely wasn’t really the word she wanted to use. 

“Gabriel’s ready too,” she added, taking the squirming child from Frank and popping the paci she’d grabbed out when they reached the yard into his mouth.  He settled slightly, the little mustache on the paci decorating his face.  Uncle Adon certainly had a sense of humor about baby gifts.  But, it was the only one Gabriel had really taken to so that was that.  “Though,” she added with a sticky sweet smile that was obviously forced, “I’m sure he’s far less concerned with how much space we do or don’t need.” 

She wondered what Frank intended with the built in shed, but didn’t ask yet.  She’d wait until they got there.  “Honestly,” she tried to laugh lightly – though it came out more forced than anything, “It’s a wonder I even let him start looking by himself.”  The realtor looked visibly uncomfortable, which matched Akiva’s mood exactly and she readjusted her son on her hip.  “Shall we?” she motioned back to the house to floo, and the woman nodded, leading the way. 

While she was walking in front of them, Akiva made sure she had Gabriel securely in one arm before she reached out and whacked Frank on the side of the arm with an open palm. 

For Frank, it wasn’t about how well his house was for company or how airy and fresh it felt. It was about functionality and location. If it had all the little things he required, such as two bedrooms, a decent kitchen, and an affordable and agreeable price range... then he wasn’t too worried about things that might cause Akiva fright. The biggest upside about the first cottage they looked at was the price. It was by far the cheapest, probably in part due to the fact that it had a lot of work to be done and it was in desperate need of updating.

Having something to keep him busy outside of work and taking care of Marko would keep him from drinking himself to sleep or spending too much time in bars and nightclubs. If his hands were busy, it usually meant his brain was turned off. Plus it would give him a reason to learn about home renovations. There were plenty of books out there on the subject.

How Akiva could not mind a fake mustache on her infant but complain about a real one on Frank was beyond him. “Well, he’s a baby still.” The smile was obviously not normal, but he responded to it with one that mirrored hers. The realtor continued to discuss some selling points of the property, including the vast acreage for solitary living, or a perfect space for children to grow up and run around in.

In actuality, Frank didn’t care about space for kids. After he’d come to term with his curse, he had also accepted that his life was going to be his own burden. Still, if his sisters had children, he wanted them to be able to come over and have a place for them to run around. Gabriel too.

“If you weren’t working two jobs and always away from home, I wouldn’t have had to look by myself.” He was enjoying this too much. The realtor worked within a group; the one that Frank had actually started searching with and spoke about his situation, to a degree, had been unable to accompany them today. This fill-in looked as if she couldn’t handle their spun tale.

The slap on his arm made him jump and a surprised shout escaped him. Laughing, he rubbed at his arm after transferring the leash to the injured arm. Eyes twinkled playfully before holding the door open for her, allowing Akiva to slip by before closing it behind him.

They took turns flooing to the next location, stumbling out into the light living room. Blinking as he set the diaper bag down, Frank dusted himself and the dog off before leading the pup to the back garden and letting him go to chase some animal in the grass.

The realtor was already explaining the importance of tall ceilings in relation to the smaller cottage. Frank made faces at Gabriel before resting a hand on Akiva’s shoulder, squeezing it gently. “I’ll take him if you’d like.” Same deal as the previous place; he wanted her opinion!

Akiva was glad to leave the first cottage.  It wasn’t a bad place, but it… was a little depressing, and she didn’t want Frank living somewhere that felt so gloomy on the inside.  It was a little cramped, needed a lot of fixing in a lot of different places.  She loved him, but she wasn’t sure he was the sort made to fix up a home.  He probably could manage, and he was certainly starting to look like that kind of guy: constant beard and mustache, but that wasn’t the point.

When they arrived at the second cottage, it already looked far better than the first.  “It’s just such a pity that ever since you lost your job, I’ve had to pick up the slack,” Akiva commented in the continued sticky sweet tone with a grin. 

The realtor, poor woman, just cleared her throat and started to floo.  Akiva followed accordingly and held onto her son even tighter as they went through. 

Upon arrival, Akiva immediately liked it better.  It was brighter, and the living room had a lovely fireplace.  Perhaps not entirely child-safe, but Frank didn’t necessarily need to worry about that, at least not yet. 

She didn’t know how he felt about the possibility of children for himself, but if she was coming over with Gabriel she wanted to make sure he would be okay, particularly when he was getting ready to crawl and walk.  “This one is beautiful,” Akiva commented to the realtor, looking at everything the woman pointed out (even if some of it was not that exciting) – she didn’t even notice Frank had disappeared somewhere. 

The realtor, apparently perked up by the reaction, continued to titter, telling her about the renovations that had been done and the extra room upstairs that had been added with a wizard space permit to allow for the second bedroom – which also resulted in the high ceilings that apparently really opened up the space.  She shifted Gabriel in her arms and huffed, he was getting bigger and heavier by the day, so when Frank offered to take him again, Akiva was not going to hesitate, “Thank you, Dear,” she deposited the paci-sucking baby into Frank’s arms and rolled her shoulders.

“Is the outdoor space as big here?” she looked at the two of them, “considering the dog and the kids.”  Oh that sounded so weird.  But, once she started to play along, it was at least a little bit fun…

When Akiva started to play along, it took Frank a moment to catch up. His mouth stood ajar for a brief moment. “Uh...” He lost his job? Frank had to stop himself from laughing, biting down on his lower lip. Finally he swallowed the laugh down. “You’ve been very helpful...” He couldn’t look at the realtor; if he did, he’d lose it. Glancing up at the ceiling, he tried to stifle the laugh that was threatening to bubble out of him again, shaking his head before he walked away from Akiva.

Perhaps the woman thought it was because he was ashamed. Who knew. All he knew was that if he didn’t let it out, it was going to strangle him. Luckily they took their turns in the floo. He laughed before stepping into the fireplace.

The smirk still on his face once they made it to the next place was obviously due to the wonderful surroundings they were in. This place was on the high end of his budget. Might have even been a little out of it, to be honest. He had the down payment for the most part... he’d just have to make sure he had a few extra jobs lined up that would be more likely to pay out than not.

If he chose this place, that was. There was one more place to see after this, after all. His face screwed up when she called him Dear, but accepted Gabriel and gave her a big grin. “You’re welcome, Pookie.” Frank made a face at the little boy before holding him close, glancing to Akiva and then the realtor, who seemed to light up at the possibility of showing off more. “It’s a little smaller than the last location, but still has a lot to offer.”

She moved to the door, leading out onto the back porch, the overhang shadowing the area. “It gets wonderful light in the morning.” Frank nudged Akiva ahead with his foot on her calf.

Oh that was a terrible pet name if Akiva had ever heard one.  She couldn’t even hide the cringe that she needed to for the already mortified realtor.  People like Frank needed to come with a warning: they were not to be trusted.  Thankfully, she was in on the joke.

The slightly frazzled other woman was not, and that was her burden, she supposed.  Glad to have her arms free (Gabriel could get exceedingly heavy), Akiva pursed her lips at the suggestion the space was smaller, but realized that Frank didn’t really need that much space for himself.  Their fake family, however would suffer as a result. 

The back porch was nice though, and Akiva corssed her arms under her chest, appraising the outside space.  “I like the porch,” she finally announced, winning a genuine smile from the woman who was trying so very hard to please them and make a sale.  Thankfully, Akiva was fairly sure that Frank was sold on buying one of the cottages, so playing with her a little wouldn’t be a total waste of her time.  That would have been terrible. 

”The neighborhood is quiet as well,” she chimed, ”you’ll barely hear a peep – except, of course, for the little ones laughing.  Lots of neighborhood children!  Akiva wasn’t sure how Frank would like that.  It wasn’t as though he wasn’t the wholesome, family neighborhood type, but… Akiva had walked into his flat on an occasion that had seared itself onto her memory in a very… invasive sort of way that made it suspect if he’d want little neighbors in any mass amount.

“I’m sure that will be good for Gabriel,” the little boy turned his head at his name, and Akiva smiled – the woman looking at her and she blinked.  “Oh, and the little one,” she said apologetically and the woman softened a little.  Of course, it was a little too much for Akiva – there was a sort of pang for a second, that came as a shock and she shook her head.  “But, I’d like to see the rest of the cottage: it looks fantastic.”

It is!,” she practically sang out, ”The bedrooms have a wonderful view and so much light!”

Frank beamed as he bounced Gabriel, glancing briefly to Akiva before back to the little boy. “Your mum likes the porch.” It was true: Akiva was Gabe’s mum. But from the realtor’s standpoint, perhaps Frank looked like the doting father who made time for children. In all honesty... Frank was just happy to have something to occupy himself. Marko barked as he chased after the shadow of a bird, already long gone on its journey away from the pup.

Frank narrowed his eyes and smirked, squinting as he eyed the back garden. There was potential for the porch, that was for sure. Considering the space... it would be a convenient dining room for family parties while the weather was decent. Or maybe just a good reading nook for the spring through fall seasons. A small wood stove would make it more manageable in the winter as well, with the nice little over hang from the roof.

“I believe Jeff mentioned that many were Hogwarts aged?” If it was mostly quiet except for the holidays, then Frank could handle that. Plus the neighborhood would probably be on guard, if they had to be informed of a direwolf in their vicinity. The realtor merely paused as she gaped at Frank before nodding, recovering quickly with a smile. “Yes, and there is land between homes, of course. Plenty of privacy...” She seemed to glance briefly at Akiva in sympathy; hopefully this man wasn’t abusive.

Frank sighed and glanced to Gabriel. “Oh, good. A place where your mum can argue with the people in her head without the neighbors talking. Snuggle-muffin, that’s good news!” He grinned as his gaze turned to Akiva. The poor realtor looked positively mortified, taking a little longer to morph back into a pleasant saleswoman.

He followed behind as the realtor moved them through each room. They ended up in a small loft area. “Not that this is ideal, per say, but you could use this as another bedroom.” That was one downside to the home; there was technically only one bedroom. Frank could do a little something to the area to make it more guest friendly, not that he was completely concerned about it. At least in his actual life. In the fake life, of course, that could spell trouble. “But there is always the shed out back. The current owner has the basics of it remodeled.”

As if you could put infants in a shed and call it a day... Frank switched arms with Gabriel before moving back to the living room. Marko sat happily at the back door, waiting to come in. “Are you ready to see the last place, poodily-do?” He gave Akiva his best attempt at an innocent expression.

Akiva hadn’t caught the realtor’s apologetic look, but she did catch Frank’s dig about her (hopefully) imagined mother.  Her own mother was a very nice woman, and Akiva just had to take the chance to… get something back.  “I was a little worried about your ….bare… sleepwalking,” she patted him on the arm, “you know, since the arrest in the last neighborhood.  And in front of the All Girl’s School…” she shook her head.   

Two could definitely play at this game, but the woman’s reaction seemed on par with her face for Frank’s assertion about her ‘crazy’ mother.  Akiva was rather sure that naked sleepwalking near an all girl’s school was the clear winner, but apparently it was all just a blanket level of awful at this point.

Maybe she should have dropped it earlier in the evening.  Too bad. 

Shrugging, she acted like it didn’t bother her at all and followed up to the loft that she actually liked quite a bit.  The… suggestion made, however, did not please the false wife.  “Mmmm… perhaps,” she granted tersely.  Her mama-bear instincts weren’t immune to even the suggestion of putting a child in a shed.  “It could be a good place to put you though,” she returned, “You know, when you’re in one of your… moods.”

The uncertainty of the last statement wasn’t lost on the woman who looked like her eyes might pop out of her head and that was good enough for her.  Kiv grabbed the leash from Frank and smiled at him.  “I’ll get the dog,” she informed him, “Since you’ve got him.”  She inclined her head toward Gabriel who clapped his hands together and then leaned forward, tugging on Frank’s ear (as though she could have asked for anything better at that moment). 

She was just ready to see the last place and weigh in.  She definitely liked this one better than the first, but she hoped the third would really win her over.  Her fictional family depended on it, after all. 

He almost lost his composure there. He almost let out a laugh. Instead, Frank glanced away and stuck his tongue in his cheek, fighting for a straight face. “That’s why we’re so grateful to look at homes so far from children.” This poor realtor didn’t know what she had gotten herself into. The mishmash of tales they were both adding to their fake life was enough to give him a headache. Just imagining anyone actually having that sort of life... it made his look amazing in comparison.

Frank smirked at Akiva’s words. That had been an idea floating around his head; the shed could use a little updating, but... it had potential. All the homes he’d picked out had potential, actually. It was just depending on how much work he wanted to put into them in the long run, or how much he wanted to strap himself to a place. A mortgage seemed to be one of those... final domestication straws. Did it count if he was a bachelor, though?

“Sure.” Frank had only a moment of silence before the little boy grabbed his ear, causing a grit teeth hiss of pain; there were fine hairs in the grubby fists of Akiva’s spawn. Frank worked Gabriel’s hands out of his hair and felt the pain ebbing away. He smiled a little at the realtor while rubbing his ear. “Hopefully she likes one of these homes. I’ve been trying to get her to settle down, get her away from the night life of the city. I hate that she dances. You know... like... dances for money.”

The realtor looked stressed beyond belief, her lips a thin line as she shook her head. There was nothing more to add to it, really; this was the worst couple she’d ever helped try to settle down. She really wanted to sell one of them so she wouldn’t have to keep helping them find something.

Once Akiva was back, he waited patiently for the floo, allowing the ladies to go first before stepping in. The next place, the floo opened up into a bedroom; it was cozy and light. This was the two story home that fit Frank’s budget because it was near industry. The backyard was small, but it had plenty of rooms for their fictional growing family. As the realtor explained, “There are four bedrooms, three upstairs and one downstairs. One and a half bath, a full kitchen with breakfast nook, and a workable living room.”

Frank bounced Gabriel and smiled at Akiva. “Go ahead, get a feel for the place.”