Sandra closed her tired eyes as she thought back to this time last year, when Robert Strickland turned up at her home throwing caution to the wind to tell her he loved her. That was the beginning, two weeks later he moved into her house, exactly one month after Valentine's Day, they married. It was the definition of a whirlwind romance and she wouldn't have changed anything about the last year.
Other huge changes had happened, Jack and her mother had started dating! They were moving slower than her and Robert had, however they were still 'disgustingly mushy' as Rufus Strickland had described his father and step mother. Step mother. Another change, becoming a stepmother. Rufus and Hermione had taken to her relationship with their father very well. Sandra made him happy in a way they had never seen their father be before, and she let them have sweets before dinner.
She opened her eyes again to look at one of their wedding pictures, it was her favourite, her and Robert stood together, with her mother, Jack, Hermione her best friend Alice on her side and Roberts mother, father, Rufus, and his best man Andrew on his. The grey skies not dulling the joy of their day.
Her musing was broken by a cooing from the beautiful bundle in her arms, her daughter was waking up. She looked down at little Anneli, they wanted a different name having seen so many victims, with so many different names they wanted something that didn't remind them of a tragedy. Hermione suggested Anneli after looking up obscure names one day at school, her step mother along with her father loved the name, it was beautiful, unique and not weird! They were completely sold after finding it meant 'favor grace' in Finnish. Anneli was born exactly nine months after they were married.
Sandra put the baby in her sling so she had use of her arms, but Anneli was cuddled close to her mothers chest which was one of her favourite places ever.
She made her way to the kitchen to put on some hot chocolate which was now a family favourite, there were few things in the kitchen she was actually good at, but hot chocolate she made deliciously. It was her fathers recipe, whenever she made it she thought of him, the happy memories she had rather than what she had found out since his death. She remembered all the times he would get the chocolatey goodness all over his face just to make her laugh. Robert did that with their kids, she had never confessed to him her father did it. It was her little secret, especially now Anneli was here she'd be laughing at Robert doing that soon, she felt that her father was up in heaven smiling down at his son in law for making the next generation laugh in the same way he had. Anneli went into the Moses basket they kept downstairs while Sandra prepared the hot chocolate, the little girl grunted slightly in her sleep as she moved but didn't wake up.
"We're home!" Robert shouted, waking Anneli, as the kids took their shoes off, threw their bags down and ran to the kitchen to greet their stepmother *get hot chocolate* with Robert tidying up after them before joining the family in the kitchen. Hermione cuddling her little sister to get her back to sleep, while Rufus was helping Sandra put the hot chocolate into mugs adding lots of whipped cream and sprinkles on all of them.
"Can Anneli have hot chocolate yet?" The young boy asked
"Not yet, sweetheart she's too little. She's growing so fast, she'll be as big as you one day and then you can share your hot chocolate with her." Sandra replied, she loved Rufus and Hermione, she called them her stepchildren but loved them like they weren't step.
"Hi love." Robert said kissing his wife on the cheek.
"What's for dinner?" Hermione asked as she lay Anneli back in her Moses basket, the baby now asleep.
"We're ordering an Indian, so grab the menu and pick what you want." Sandra replied. The kids ran off to the living room to pick what to watch on tv, they had stayed at school until Robert finished work, they each had clubs to go to one of them being homework club so their evenings were free.
Robert held his wife close, remembering the year before.
"Best year of my life." He whispered into her hair a tear falling down his cheek. He had never been this happy in his life.
"Mine too, last year in my office I hate that I was upset at seeing it was you." She confessed, it had been on her mind a lot the last few days. She'd look at their daughter and think how she nearly missed out on what was the best year of her life.
"I know."
"You noticed?" She couldn't believe he noticed.
"Your face fell the second you saw me." To an untrained person his voice was normal, to her she knew.
"And you came here still?"
"I loved you." He replied
"Loved?" Was this the end?
"Yeah, I loved you then..."
"You don't love me anymore." She stepped away from him as she replied, her breathing heavy, she could feel the panic attack coming.
"I loved you then, I love you now." He stepped towards her, their chests pressed together, her breathing became normal again as they held onto each other.
"Don't interrupt me." He began.
"Yes, sir." She replied playfully.
"That game is for later, when the kids are asleep. Now, then I loved you. I went to your office to ask you out, I already had your present at home. And in your office after seeing your face fall, I went home, and I kept looking at your present. I nearly threw it in the fireplace, but then, all I could think was that you never said no because I never got it together enough to ask you. So I thought I'd take you your gift, you'd hear that I love you, I'd ask you on a date, get rejected, go home, get blind drunk, then the next day I'd go to your office and just say let's forget about it, that I respect you and your choice, then we'd move on. And then you kissed me, and now I've never been happier. And I'm sorry I nearly gave up."
"I'm sorry my face fell. It wasn't actually your presence, I'd let the boys go home early and I didn't want you to turn up and see that they'd all gone early." She laughed.
"I'd be offended, but if I wasn't so focused on asking you out then I probably would have been pissed they'd all gone home." He laughed before kissing her.
"Are we ordering dinner or are you two being gross." Rufus asked from the doorway.
"I'll order now, you can set the table and then we'll continue being gross." Robert cheekily replied to his son.
"Can we eat in the living room?" Hermione asked
"Why?" Robert asked, tentatively
"Well, it is Valentine's Day, we could watch a film?"
"As long as eating in the living room doesn't become a regular occurrence. We all have to agree on a film though."
"Titanic!" Hermione suggested.
"Harry Potter" Rufus replied
"SHUT UP! You wanker."
"Hermione." Robert warned.
"How about Sense and Sensibility?" Hermione suggested
"YES!" Rufus eagerly agreed, making everyone else in the room stare at him. Anneli even stirred!
"Why so eager, Roo?" Sandra asked, only she was allowed to call him Roo.
"We're reading it in English." He replied
"Which version?" Robert asked knowing they had two on dvd
"The 1995 one with Alan Rickman." Sandra replied, that was her favourite film ever.
"I think this Valentine's Day is better than last year." Sandra confessed, the yummy food finished. Rufus was sat next to Hermione on the floor with his notebook in hand, while Robert and Sandra shared one of the sofas, Anneli lying in just a nappy on Roberts bare chest as he lay down with his head in Sandra's lap.