Madeline called. Well, he went.
Things got spicy alright.
They could hardly sit down, let alone order anything before things turned ugly.
They carried on their ugliness in the toilets.
They had a big argument and ended up despising each other.
He felt it was time to leave cause things couldn't get any worse. His son called him out to but Francis didn't go as he was afraid he'd ruin that relationship too.

He needed to get his mind off of all this. So he tried. With Gardenia's help. Afterwards they sat down and had a long chat. Gardenia tried to help him fix his relationship with Madeline. And out of desperation and confusion, Francis asked Gardenia to marry him.
No!
 No wedding bells for Gardenia will be ringing just yet!
Francis was very embarrased and heartbroken about the rejection.
They talked some more and Gardenia cooled off their romantic relationship by asking for them to be just friends. And with that Francis moved out, in with his ex wife and son.
Francis had barely moved out when:
Oh Mark, no!
Gardenia just in the mood to date.
She wasn't living her best life at all! She didn't know what to do now. But wanted to give the best ife for her son. So...
Todd's father Jerry moved in gladly. He didn't have a wife and his daughter, Stephany, was a grown up already. Gardenia and Jerry didn't have any romance going but he was there to support the family anyway.
And just in time too. The bills came again - 880 simoleons for first week of autumn in Strangerville.

Jerry's aspiration was angling ace which he changed to outdoor enthusiast and got a job as a gardener instead. So... Gardenia sounds like a nice match for him. He was domestic, a bro insider and a materialistic collector.
As he moved in the nanny Gardenia had hired showed interest in him straight away. Okay nanny, calm yourself! Oh, Jerry was an adult already, close to becoming an elder.

He had a makeover. Todd liked him being around from get go.

Gardenia liked him too. He was a good guy. Never would have expected from that one night, that Simda hook up call. But Gardenia was too messed up from everything that had goone down with Francis so she was in no rush to start dating just yet.

His daughter Stephany called. All good news!

Gardenia received fanmail again! Gourmet fruitcake. And it hadn't even gone off yet! Yay!