"Wow…this is massive!" exclaimed Laurence, stepping out of the Jeep and standing in front of the Chalet that was to be the Elliot household's home away from home for the next week, echoing the thoughts of Sam and his mother, although in Caroline's case she had been prepared for a larger than necessary chalet as Kate had sensibly remembered that most contrived to boost their bed count by having rooms with bunk beds – whilst this might have been fun for the boys when they were eight or nine, now they were all teenagers, forcing them into bunk beds would have guaranteed the start of a week of family rows.
"Mmm, plenty of space to avoid each other," agreed Caroline, standing by the bonnet, taking in the general view back down the valley that Kate had driven them up.
"This is awesome…" agreed Sam, scuffing the snow with his boot, the spring sunshine making it sparkle, "…thank you for letting me come Caroline."
"You're very welcome Sam," said Caroline, looking towards Kate who had now exited the driver's seat and was coming around to join them, sunglasses obscuring her eyes, "but it's Kate we all need to thank, this was her idea."
"Yeah, thanks Kate, this looks amazing!" declared Laurence before catching Kate completely by surprise and throwing his arms quickly around her in a rough but heartfelt hug, the spontaneity of which caused Caroline to be grateful that, like her girlfriend, she was wearing reflective sunglasses that meant no one could see the moisture collect in her eyes at her son's affection for the linguist.
"You're welcome…" began Kate, patting Laurence awkwardly on the back, his latest growth spurt saw him now almost as tall as her but not quite – she still had a couple of inches on him, "…can you and Sam start unloading the food please?"
"The food?" asked Sam as Laurence immediately let go of her and obediently headed towards the back of the Jeep to open up the tailgate.
"I need to leave again in 45 minutes to pick up William and Matt from the airport, so it's food to the kitchen, ski gear to the store then suitcases to the bedrooms. At that point, and only then, can you take jackets off and think about discovering what channels the TV gets," declared Kate in what was recognisable to all as her teacher's 'not to be argued with' voice.
"Incredible…" observed Caroline, watching as Sam stopped Laurence from opening the back of the Jeep up just in time as, the way the food shopping had been carefully put into the car, just throwing open the back door wasn't going to be the smartest thing as the bottles of local wine would almost certainly fall straight out.
"What is?" asked Kate, holding out the keys she'd collected from the resort reception so that Caroline could lead on up to the front door and do the honours.
"You – they're not arguing, just getting on with it," remarked Caroline, threading her arm through Kate's and walking up towards their temporary front door.
"Just lucky I guess," shrugged Kate, not wanting to try and over-analyse a straightforward moment of school-boy obedience: she was sure that, just as he'd petulantly defied her in the past, claiming 'you're not my mother', Laurence's moments of rebellion would come again.
"I'm the lucky one…" insisted Caroline, putting the key in the lock and opening the door, "…wow…"
If the outside was awesome, the inside was impressive. The large central living space contained a fireplace with the obligatory inviting rug in front of it that actually looked big enough for all six of them to sit on, should they get cold enough to want to hug its warmth; the armchairs and couches laid out across the room all looked comfortable and inviting, and, as you'd expect in a chalet that slept ten, there was enough 'spare' that there wouldn't be fights for the same armchair or couch, nor would someone be relegated to sitting on one of the chairs from the polished wooden dining table.
"Dibs on the couch by the fire…" murmured Kate, taking in the room.
"Only if you're sharing…" agreed Caroline, taking it all in.
"Only with you…" she teased, following Caroline's gaze, "…the kitchen's through there, then the ski store is behind that."
"I have no interest in the ski store, that can be your kingdom," declared Caroline, having not wavered from her opinion that she'd left it too late in life to start worrying about skiing, although she did go into the resort ski store when Kate had taken Sam and Laurence in to get measured for their equipment. That alone was enough to confirm to her that really, she didn't feel she was missing anything.
"Then I guess this must be your kingdom," decided Kate, opening the kitchen door to reveal another large room that had another large wooden table in it that they'd probably end up using for breakfast as well as a gleaming cooker, polished granite worktops and windows that gave a magnificent view back down the valley they'd just driven up.
"Only if you cook pancakes one morning," bargained Caroline, already moving around the room, opening cupboards and mentally cataloguing the kitchen equipment, already planning what she was going to cook. Whilst on paper it might not seem like a particularly exciting holiday for the headmistress, the luxury of being able to enjoy herself in a well-stocked kitchen without having to worry about washing up (that's what the boys, the dishwasher and, if necessary, the morning cleaning service were for) was, for Caroline, a treat in itself.
"I could be persuaded…" agreed Kate, before gladly accepting the kiss that Caroline initiated, a kiss that might have gone on for longer had it not been for the extremely noisy and rather untimely arrival of Laurence, carrying a large bag that appeared to contain three chickens.
"Where do I put stuff Mum?"
"Just dump everything on the table love," decided Caroline, looking at the chickens with interest.
"Three chickens?" she asked, looking at Kate in surprise – they'd hurriedly scribbled a pair of shopping lists that, together, would give them a reasonably well stocked kitchen but, based on the fact that Caroline was buying the 'dry goods' from the supermarket with Laurence whilst Kate and Sam tackled the butcher, baker, greengrocer and countless other fresh food stalls in the market, meant there was always going to be an element of surprise or random pot-luck in the shopping.
"Cheaper than buying one chicken and extra joints," explained Kate, deciding not to mention that the butcher's stall had been particularly good value, not least because the proprietor's mother, who had been serving them, had been completely smitten by Kate's 'son' and his careful French, a declaration that had caused Sam to blush and make Kate promise not to tell Laurence or Sam's sister, "…how much flour did you buy?"
"Enough to make you energetic skiers some cakes and biscuits… you did buy eggs?" asked Caroline, distracted now by working out where she could store everything and what would and wouldn't need to go in the fridge or freezer.
"2 dozen – should be in the bag with the cheese for fondue… how much oil did you buy?" asked Kate as she rescued a bag of apples from Laurence's latest shopping bag that was in danger of splitting and rolling across the floor.
"A fair sized bottle, why?"
"Because I thought we could do a fondue night, with the cheese and oil…chocolate cake?"
"You're as bad as Laurence," teased Caroline, turning back to the table where the accumulated heap of food was growing at an impressive rate as Sam and Laurence continued to bring in the bags of bread, fruit, meat, cheese and other treats one or other of them had decided to 'surprise' the others with.
"Who's as bad as me?"
"Kate, wondering if I'd make chocolate cake," explained Caroline, clearing a space on the table for Sam to put the box of wine he'd brought in on.
"You're making cake?"
"Not this second I'm not, but yes, at some point. What's your favourite flavour Sam?"
"Vanilla, with jam and cream icing! Gran makes the best!" He might be fourteen and trying to appear sophisticated and grown-up when in the ski store picking out ski equipment, but when there were no girls to impress and cake to be discussed, Sam was clearly still very much a kid.
"Then I shall have to make you one and you can let me know how I do," declared Caroline magnanimously, pleased to see all signs of his earlier nervousness gone as he'd become comfortable with her as Laurence's mother and Kate's girlfriend.
"Awesome! Will you make pancakes Kate? Mum bought syrup!" asked Laurence, his sweet tooth clearly in overdrive already.
"Did she now?" asked Kate, arching her eyebrow at Caroline in mock surprise, making Laurence laugh and Sam smile.
"Only a small bottle, and I can use it in sticky toffee pudding…" protested Caroline, entering into the teasing by looking slightly worried.
"With custard?" asked Sam quietly, Caroline clearly having hit upon a particular favourite of his.
"I think we can manage custard," agreed Caroline, enjoying the look of consternation on Laurence's face.
"But what about the pancakes?" he asked, clearly concerned that a sticky toffee pudding, as good as that was, might use up all of the syrup and mean no pancakes.
"What about them?" asked Kate, putting the bottles of wine onto the wine rack she'd found.
"Are you going to make them?"
"If your mother will let me anywhere near her kitchen…" teased Kate, reminding Laurence how protective Caroline was about the kitchen at home – even Celia knew better than to start cooking in it, and as for John…Laurence really didn't want to be reminded of that morning in a rush.
"…Kate's making pancakes," reassured Caroline, unable to keep up the pretence and teasing any longer, especially when Laurence appeared to be taking the teasing seriously.
"Cool…"
"Is there anything else food related in the car?" asked Kate, conscious that time was once again ticking on.
"Nope."
"In which case, time to bring the ski gear in…" declared Kate, glancing at her watch.
"…you're just scared of Mum when she's rearranging the kitchen," teased Laurence, moving out of Kate's reach when she moved to playfully shove him out of the kitchen, causing Caroline to laugh at their antics.
"Maybe…" laughed Kate, disappearing from the kitchen with the two boys – whilst she probably wouldn't incur Caroline's territorial wrath in the same way the teenagers might, she really wasn't about to chance it!
"That was wonderful Caroline, thank you," said Matt, looking slightly longingly at the serving dish, having just lost out on the last roast potato to a rather sneaky Laurence.
"It was only roast chicken, Matt, nothing fancy," dismissed Caroline, only to feel a rather pointed kick in the shin from what felt like Kate's sock-clad foot, "but thank you anyway – I'll get more adventurous as I get used to the kitchen," she added, pleased to see Kate's half-smile appear from behind her wine-glass.
"It was really tasty, and the potatoes were brilliant," added Sam, following Matt's gaze to the now empty dish.
"I'll cook more next time," promised Caroline, mentally reviewing exactly how much she'd cooked and realising that with four hungry teenagers, whose appetites were only going to increase as they skied and generally enjoyed the fresh, crisp Alpine air, either she and Kate were going on a diet or she needed to increase the quantities a bit, "but there is pudding."
"Pudding?" Suddenly Sam wasn't as worried about losing out on a fifth potato to his best friend.
"Well, something sweet – there are some biscuits," admitted Caroline, remembering the baking trays she'd shoved in just as she was taking the chicken out; by the time she'd finished getting ready to call everyone to the table to eat, the biscuits had been cooked.
"I'll help clear!" volunteered Laurence, realising a split second before anyone else that the first person into the kitchen would get the best opportunity to steal an extra biscuit.
"No, you don't need to…" called out Caroline, trying not to laugh as she watched all of them start to scramble to take something into the kitchen under the guise of being 'helpful', "I made plenty…" she added, mainly to herself.
"One way to get them to clear the table…" observed Kate wryly, standing up and heading around the table so she was standing beside Caroline, wine glass in hand.
"Mmm…why'd you kick me?"
"It wasn't a kick, more of a nudge," clarified Kate, slipping into the seat that had been occupied by Sam.
"Okay, why'd you nudge me?"
"Because you need to be better at accepting compliments…"
"I…" Caroline's words of protest died on her lips when Kate cut them off with a fleetingly quick kiss.
"Don't argue – I don't think Matt's family are cooks."
"I'm hardly…" began Caroline, instinctively wanting to shrug off the compliment.
"Ah…" Kate punctuated her point with a playful tap on Caroline's nose, "…just say 'thank you' next time?" she asked, not wanting to belabour the point."
"Yes Miss," replied Caroline sassily, earning her a pointed look from Kate, prompting her to be serious, "I promise, I'll try to just say 'thank you' if one of the boys says something nice about my cooking, even if it's only roast chicken and some chocolate biscuits."
"You're magnificent," said Kate warmly, pleased that, even if she didn't understand why it might be important to the boys for Caroline to just accept their friends' attempts at small talk (it was another of those things 'normal people' did which hadn't really been part of Caroline's childhood), Caroline was prepared to just accept the advice and try.
"You're…" Caroline was distracted by Kate's rather violent yawn, "…tired. You should go to bed."
"Not yet…" disagreed Kate, yawning again but rather less dramatically.
"But…"
"But nothing. I'll go to bed when you do." Kate didn't really feel comfortable explaining what her real reason for wanting to delay going to bed was.
"Okay…" Caroline wasn't really buying Kate's plan, but knew better than to debate it, especially when she suspected the boys would rejoin them in a moment, "…I was going to suggest we watch a DVD for a bit…then early bed anyway."
"DVD?" Kate didn't remember seeing any DVDs in the chalet, nor did she remember Caroline packing any.
"Mmm, asked the boys to each bring a couple so we had some to choose from," explained Caroline, standing up and pulling Kate up with her, "but I also grabbed a few," she continued, moving towards the couch they'd identified earlier as being the ideal one to make 'theirs'.
"Oh?" It hadn't occurred to Kate that some DVDs might be useful, although she had already noticed the chalet came with scrabble and monopoly sets so she was braced for a board game marathon at some point, probably at William's instigation.
"Blackadder?"
"Have they not seen it?" asked Kate, spotting the box set of all the series resting on the shelf next to the large flat screen TV.
"Laurence definitely hasn't, don't think William has either," said Caroline as she sank into the couch, pleased to discover it was a soft and comfortable as it looked.
"I feel old," sighed Kate, following Caroline's example and sinking into the couch, taking care not to spill her wine.
"Hey!"
"I meant the fact that William and Laurence don't know Blackadder," chastised Kate, deciding she really didn't care what the boys might think, she was curling up against Caroline.
"Comfy?" asked Caroline when Kate had finally stopped shuffling.
"Mmm, so, which Blackadder were you going to start with?" The straightforward question threw Caroline into a small panic.
"Not the first one?" she asked cautiously.
"Do they know much about the Middle Ages?" Kate rarely talked to the History Department but, from the little she'd picked up in the staff room, she didn't think it was on the school curriculum at the moment.
"Not as much as the First World War…" Kate could feel Caroline's body relaxing, indicating that the moment of panic was passing, "…why don't we start there?"
"Sounds like a plan."
"What's a plan?" asked William, Matt alongside him, holding a plate with some biscuits on it, Laurence and Sam clearly already a biscuit or two ahead of everyone else if the crumbs on their clothes were any indication. If anyone was surprised to see Kate and Caroline on the couch together, no one commented as they all found places to sit with only playful tussling for the same chair by Sam and Laurence, tussling that amused Matt and relieved Kate, who was sensing that Sam had finally overcome his nervousness and was back to being the version of Sam she saw at school.
"We thought we'd watch some Blackadder…have you seen it before?" asked Caroline, wondering who would answer.
"Yeah, I got the box set for my birthday – they're brilliant!" declared Matt, happy with the plan and, realising he was the nearest to the TV, he pushed himself to his feet, clearly prepared to sort out the DVD player and TV.
"Is this the Olympics guy?" asked Laurence, remembering the introduction to the 'Olympics guy' on Comic Relief that had mentioned Blackadder.
"Yeah, and the QI guy," added Sam, who'd seen a bit of an episode.
"Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie," said Matt, trying to work out how to make the remotes work, before deciding it might be helpful to add, "the guy from House."
"Okay…" Laurence wasn't entirely convinced, but seeing that Matt thought this cool, he was prepared to give it a try rather than object just because it was his Mum's idea of a good show to watch, "…what's it about?"
"It depends, which one did you want to watch Caroline?" asked Matt, holding up the box set.
"Why don't we start with the last?" suggested Caroline, prompting a grin from Matt, who clearly thought that was a good idea as Kate took up the explanation, knowing Laurence had no idea and guessing from Sam's blank expression he didn't entirely know what it was about.
"Each series is set in a different period of history – this one is in the First World War," she began.
"Trenches and stuff?"
"Right." She resisted the urge to try to expand or improve on Laurence's extremely succinct summation of 4 years of global history. "Blackadder in this series is a Captain, commanding a trench." She paused, wondering what else she could say that wouldn't either spoil it or take too long.
"I think you just need to try it Laurence," said Matt, just as he managed to get the technology to work, "you never know, you might enjoy it!"
