Cohabitation 3: Shower Power   
 Cohabitation 3: Shower Power
 by Adia
 
 "Turns out Fraser was just dancin' with Turnbull to practice. I guess 
 they really got into it. You know those Mounties." Stan gave a wide-eyed 
 look to Frannie standing next to him, "Guess he was still tryin' to keep 
 it a surprise for the Ice Queen." 
 Frannie took another bite of her hot-dog, "So how'd The Ball go?" 
 "Don't know. Fraser got home real late last night, I was already 
 asleep." Stan shrugged and balled up his tin foil hot-dog wrapper. As 
 they passed a trash can he tossed the wrapper into it and got his keys 
 out. Just one more block and they'd be back to his apartment. 
 Frannie had come over earlier that morning and dropped off all her 
 luggage in the GTO then they'd gotten hot-dogs from a street vendor for 
 breakfast. Considering their behavior at the beginning of the week Welsh 
 had been all too eager to give them Friday off. He was the only one at 
 the station who had any idea of what was going on between them though he 
 never mentioned it out loud. Of course they covered with the story that 
 they had a funeral to go to in New York. A long lost Italian Aunt that 
 only Frannie and Ray (now Stan) were close to. Convenient. 
 They rode up together in the elevator and slipped into his apartment. 
 Fraser was gone, surprisingly. Then Stan remembered Fraser mentioning 
 something to him about going this morning and getting Dief from that 
 obedience school thing. Francesca plopped down on the sofa and crossed 
 her legs. Stan mumbled to himself. Something about thanking God for 
 creating mini-skirts, "I'm gonna go take a shower then we can hit the 
 road." 
 "Don't drowned yourself there bro." Frannie tossed a much-missed snippy 
 remark at him. 
 Kowalski pulled his shirt off over his head and closed the bathroom door 
 after remarking, "Yer a laugh riot, Vecchio." He had taken lately to 
 calling her by her last name for fun since their last names now 
 currently matched.
 Frannie set her feet up on the coffee table and listened as the water 
 started running in the other room. Wondering just what he might do if 
 she decided to join him. Shaking her head as if to shake the thought out 
 of her mind she noticed the little jar of turtle feed. She snatched it 
 up and sprinkled some out into her hand. Getting up and heading for the 
 turtle she passed by the bathroom. Coming from inside she could hear 
 Stan's voice. To her amazement he was singing. At first the words were 
 intangible, probably muffled by all the steam of the shower but the 
 longer she listened the more she heard. With her ear pressed firmly to 
 the door she heard Stan sing, "Tell me why, I love you like I do. Tell 
 me who, can start my heart as much as you..." 
 For a moment she lifted her ear from the door, "Where have I heard that 
 before?" Her question didn't last long before she placed her ear to the 
 door again and heard Stanley's upbeat voice.
 "Tell me all your secrets and I'll tell you most of mine..." Obviously 
 this singing in the shower was something he did often. Since he seemed 
 so comfortable with it.
 A few more words were muffled before she heard, "I don't have the 
 answers. I don't have a plan. All I have is you so darlin' help my 
 understand..." Francesca stood by the door cautiously. Enjoying every 
 second of it. It seemed so exhilarating at the moment. The thought that 
 she was getting a glimpse of Stan's personal life. What he was really 
 like. 
 She wasn't sure weather it was the air and the door muffling him or more 
 just Stan mumbling because he didn't know the rest of the words, "You 
 can whisper in my ear..."
 Finally when the chorus came Stanley chimed loudly, "Let's take 
 eachother's hand as we jump into the final frontier. Mad about you baby, 
 I'm mad about you, oh yeah, I'm mad about yooou!" Frannie couldn't help 
 the grin that spread across her face. She was about to laugh when she 
 heard the door knob turn. She jumped back away from the door afraid it 
 might be Stan but realized too late that the water was still running. 
 Soon enough she saw the front door open.
 A fluffy white wolf came running in, tearing through the apartment and 
 jumping up onto the cushiony couch. After pawing around for a split 
 second Deif settled in and rested his head on his paws. The big red 
 Mountie followed Deif.
 Frannie whirled around quickly and sprinkled the turtle food into the 
 turtles tank. Brushing her hands together and smiling nervously, "Hi 
 Frase." 
 "Good morning Francesca." Fraser gave her a faint nod and shut the door. 
 Seeming to be not interested in the least about why she was there. He 
 looked almost sad.
 "What's wrong Frase?" Frannie sat back down on the couch next to Deif. 
 Fraser bowed his head, "Nothing Francesca."
 She persisted, "No, there's something wrong. I know it. There has to 
 something wrong." 
 "It's of no importance." Fraser kept his knees locked. 
 Frannie eyed him curiously. What in the world could possibly have caused 
 Fraser's gloominess. He hasn't been this depressed since Vecchio left. 
 She motioned her hand to the chair sitting to the right of the couch, 
 "Have a seat Frase. You can talk to me about it." 
 Fraser sat down in the chair stiffly. He shook his head and scratched 
 the area just above his eyebrow. After a long pause he finally set his 
 Stetson on the coffee table and sighed. Knowing Francesca wasn't going 
 to let this go anytime soon, "I'm not feeling well." 
 "How'd it go last night?" Frannie tried to cover her concern by busying 
 herself with pushing back the cuticles on her long nails. 
 "Well. Last night went very well." He nodded and looked away.
 "Then what's got you so down." Francesca avoided eye contact. It seemed 
 easier for him to talk when she wasn't looking him in the eye. It seemed 
 to put him at ease, the less you push the more he lets you in. 
 There was a long silence. Finally his lips moved and his voice filled 
 with a rich sadness. A heaviness when he whispered, "I'm just... well... 
 I'm feeling very... lonely." Fraser had almost choked out the words.
 In an instant Frannie's eyes lifted off her distraction and straight to 
 him. Those big blue eyes filled with such sorrow made tears burn behind 
 her eyes. 
 Her eyes were on his when he said, "Things went well last night with the 
 Inspector. But it was afterwards when I came back here that I realized I 
 was alone. And I realized how much I miss having someone with me. 
 Standing beside me. Supporting me. I miss the way things used to be." 
 Suddenly Fraser broke eye contact and stared away into the distance. 
 Before Frannie could react he blurted, "I'm very sorry Francesca. I 
 shouldn't be going on like this. Please forgive me." 
 It was then that she felt her heart leap forward from her chest. She 
 knew things obviously weren't the same for Fraser as they once had been. 
 But she had no idea it was causing him so much pain. Such anguish. 
 Causing him to bury his feelings internally. Frannie herself had always 
 been such a verbal processor. Her whole family had been. It was 
 difficult for her to comprehend what strength it would take to keep such 
 feelings buried deep inside. His apology only made her more concerned. 
 The way he spoke, "I shouldn't be telling you this."
 "No, Fraser, you should. You have to tell someone. I know it's hard when 
 you don't have anyone to talk to." Though with her large family she 
 didn't know exactly how hard it was to have no one to converse with, but 
 she knew the feeling of having to keep a secret. It was hard not being 
 able to share with anyone the way she feels about Kowalski. It was a 
 good thing they had finally gotten together because if they hadn't 
 Frannie wasn't sure how much longer she could have kept her feelings to 
 herself and that would have been deathly destructive. Keeping a secret 
 this way, sharing it only with the one she loves, made it seem much more 
 fun. More exciting. Still, she continued her attempt to help Fraser, 
 "You know you can talk to me. I can understand how hard it's been for 
 you since he left." 
 Fraser leaned down setting his elbows on his knees the dropped his head 
 into his hands. Helplessly. It was starting to puzzle Frannie as to why 
 he didn't seem to want to know why she was there. So she decided to 
 offer up an excuse before he started asking. Plus, she felt terribly 
 sorry for him, "Um.. you know Frase, the reason I'm here is that Ray and 
 I are going to New York. We've got a funeral of an aunt or something 
 like that." She waved her hand dismissively and leaned forward to place 
 a hand on Fraser's knee, "You can join us if you'd like. Maybe it will 
 help you not feel so lonely."
 Fraser lifted his head up, "Oh, thank you Francesca, but I couldn't 
 possibly." 
 "Yes, you could. You're coming with us. Period. End of discussion." 
 Frannie made up her mind, moved up off the couch and headed back towards 
 the kitchen. 
 He let out a sigh, then looked up to her, "Francesca?" 
 "Mm-hmm?" She grabbed a jar of instant tea out of the tall cupboard. Her 
 shirt riding up as she stretched to reach the jar. The disadvantages of 
 being not so tall. 
 "Francesca?" He repeated, obviously he wanted her undivided attention. 
 Once she'd fetched the jar she turned to him and set the jar on the 
 counter, "Yes, Fraser?" 
 He smiled at her warmly, "Thank you kindly, Francesca."
 Those words brought a soft smile to her face and for a split second her 
 heart fluttered but it quickly passed, "You're very welcome." She 
 whispered and turned back to making tea. There had been a time when 
 Fraser doing something like that, or even paying attention to her for 
 that matter, would have made her practically faint. But there were 
 things that happened. Things she had learned to accept. That Fraser 
 could never be hers. Not the way she wanted him. Which was fine. It 
 didn't even matter one bit to her now. She knew she couldn't change 
 Fraser and she didn't want to. She was in love with Stan and that was 
 all she wanted. He was someone she didn't need to change. Someone she 
 didn't want to change. Someone she could love just the way he was. And 
 she did. Incomparably.
 Fraser sat back down and Deif whined, "What's wrong boy?" 
 Deif whined again and it dawned on Fraser, "Ah, yes. I'll go get that 
 right now." The man who ran the obedience school had suggested to Fraser 
 that he treat Deif more often because he was a very good wolf, very well 
 disciplined but that treating him with junk food wasn't a good idea. The 
 snacks Deif was used to stealing would one day catch up to him, as it 
 does with humans, so it would be better for Dief to be rewarded for his 
 good work by healthy snacks made specifically for dogs.
 Momentarily Francesca turned around and mumbled, "Huh?" Then turned back 
 to the stove. Thinking Fraser might have been saying something to her. 
 Her thoughts far away from where she was boiling water for tea. 
 Fraser remembered reading the label of the jar of dog treats. It 
 recommended keeping them in a cool dry place. He couldn't think of a 
 better place to keep them appropriately than in the bathroom medicine 
 cabinet. Fraser rose out of his chair to go retrieve them.
 Soon the water was steaming and Frannie was pouring it into three mugs. 
 Two with instant coffee and one with a packet of what she hoped was 
 Fraser's favorite "bark" tea. Then the moment she set the mugs on the 
 coffee table she heard it. 
 The loud high pitched scream. Two voices. Yelling wordlessly. Just two, 
 "Aaaaah!"'s coming for the bathroom. Then it dawned on her. She realized 
 that Fraser had left the room and entered the bathroom where Stanley was 
 showering. She moved her head so that her ear was pointed in the 
 direction of the bathroom, once the screaming finished she distinctly 
 noticed that the water was shut off. That left her knowing there was a 
 pretty good chance that Stanley had been just stepping out of the shower 
 as Fraser had entered the room. 
 She fought to suppress giggles that bubbled up inside. It was too funny 
 to resist. Laughter burst from her as she cautiously stepped closer to 
 the door. Without hesitation the door swung open wildly and Kowalski 
 burst through, stomped to his bedroom with a towel around his waist and 
 threw the door shut behind him. A tad bit pissed. 
 Soon enough Fraser slowly retreated from the bathroom holding the can of 
 dog snacks in his hand. His eyes were glued to the ground and his cheeks 
 were red, "I didn't see a thing." He slowly approached the door to 
 Stan's room and whispered through it, "I really didn't see anything, 
 Ray. I'm very sorry. I didn't know you were in there." 
 There was a long silence before Fraser moved back to the living room. 
 Frannie was now sitting on the couch next to Deif. Calmly trying to keep 
 a straight face, "Sorry Frase, I should have warned you." 
 They both sipped their drinks in silence and Fraser tossed a treat to 
 Deif who was happily resting on the soft cushions of the couch. Before 
 long Stanley emerge, fully clothed, from his room. Fraser kept his eyes 
 glued to the ground. Kowalski had dressed in a long sleeved blue 
 sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. His blond hair standing on end. Spiky 
 not just from the water but from the events of the last ten minutes. He 
 sat next to Frannie and folded one of his arms across his chest as he 
 drank a long sip of coffee. 
 Silence filled the room but Fraser quickly broke it, "I'm sorry Ray." 
 "'S okay." Stan nodded dismissively and held onto his coffee cup tightly 
 with both hands now. 
 Frannie grinned broadly. Almost having to bite her lips from remarking 
 about how envious she was of Fraser getting to see Kowalski nude and 
 all. Once again, Fraser was a lucky man according to Frannie. After many 
 moments had passed in silence Fraser stood up, "Thank you kindly for the 
 tea, Francesca. If it wouldn't be too much trouble would it be all right 
 if I went back to the Consulate momentarily to gather my things? This 
 trip to the umm..." he searched for the word, "Big Apple," he whispered 
 unsurely but then continued his sentence in complete self-confidence, 
 "sounds very exciting. I can't wait." With Frannie's quick nod Fraser 
 placed his Stetson on his head and left the apartment Dief following 
 close behind. He hadn't even noticed Francesca's hand on Stanley's knee 
 trying to calm him as Fraser gave word of his decision to join them for 
 the weekend. 
 After the door was shut Frannie slowly turned back to Stan, "You are so 
 cute..." she slathered on the compliments and flirts hoping to help 
 soften the blow. She softly lowered her lips and pressed them to his.
 Her attempt was in vain. Just after she broke away he gave her an 
 unhappy look, "Frannie?"
 Coyly she sang, "Whaaatie?"
 "Tell me what Fraser was saying was just one of his delusions. Tell me 
 you didn't invite him." Stanley set his coffee down and raised an 
 eyebrow.
 Francesca scooted around on the couch and leaned her back against his 
 chest. She turned her head to look out the window, "Beautiful day isn't 
 it?"
 "Frannie..." 
 She moved her neck to look up into his eyes then batted her eyelashes. 
 She could clearly see it wasn't working and it wasn't going to work. She 
 sighed heavily then sat back up to face him, "Fine. I invited him. Is it 
 really that horrible?"
 Stan looked at her blankly, "After how 'aquatinted' Fraser and I got 
 while I stepped out of the shower, I'd have to say yes Frannie. Yes, 
 this is going to be bad. Bad, bad, bad, nothing but bad."
 "Raaayyy." She whined out his name, "He's lonely! He needs friends right 
 now, okay? I couldn't stand to watch him like that. He's so sad. We 
 couldn't just leave him here all alone all weekend long, could we?" She 
 commanded it as more of a demanding statement rather than a question.
 Kowalski arched an eyebrow as a challenge. Slowly he gave in with an 
 exhausted sigh as though he had been in a sever battle of wills with 
 Frannie, which was not too far from the truth, "Okay. Fine, he can come 
 with us." 
 Frannie smiled brightly and threw her arms around Stanley knocking him 
 back on the couch, "Thank you!" She moved over slightly to lay on top of 
 him, completely covering him. She ran her hands beneath him and slid 
 them under his shirt. The cool clean skin on his back making her fingers 
 search along for more. Her eyes glittering, "I'll make it up to you," 
 she kissed the soft area just below his ear lightly, "I promise." 
 He wrapped his arms around Francesca as they lay there in the middle of 
 his empty apartment, just the two of them, and he closed his eyes. A 
 slow warm smile spread across Stanley's face, "I'm looking forward to it 
 already."
 
 The End
 (~MDK~)
 November 1998
 Disclaimer: Them there characters I be usin' in my here storay belong to 
 them folk there at Alliance and whateva uther compnies that own them 
 there characters and no copyright infringement was meant to Paul Riser
 (or anyone else who owns Mad About You) by using the theme song.