They haven't heard a single word back from Morgana for a couple days now so they felt as if they could relax. That was until the post came, dropping off a letter addressed to Mr Molony and McNair causing their worry to flare again. Annie had read the address confused about Molony was until she remembered it was Hal's assumed name. She opened it, curiosity about it's content getting the better of her, to find out it was for parenting classes. Along with a letter informing them they would be attending parenting classing was a letter from Morgana telling them that they should attend. Suggesting rather strongly that it would help their case.
So come Sunday, for better or for worse, they were standing outside Barry's Community Centre. Annie was thankful for the break, as Tom, Hal and Eve went off for the first of their lesson. She decided to use this time to recharge and popped off for some alone time.
Tom was pushing the walker with Hal taking deep breaths to calm his nerves and in an attempt to stop his fingers from twitching.
"You'll do fine Hal. No worries mate. If it gets a bit much, pop to the loo. I'll cover for you." Tom says in a hushed voice trying to reassure him. Hal gives him a tight lipped smile, wishing he had the same confidence in himself that Tom always had in him. They reached the front reception where a large woman was sat behind the desk, gave them a smile as they approached.
"Excuse me, err, where is parentin' class?" Tom asked looking around the large building.
The woman's smile lowered a bit but she replied politely "Room 6. Straight ahead, 3rd door on your right."
"Thanks!" Tom called as he hurried off with Hal stalking after him.
They reached the room which thankfully, for Hal was actually on the right and he felt slightly better over it. They entered the room with one last nervous look at each other; to find out they were the last ones there.
It was filled with 10 people broken down into two pairs of individuals. Some of them appeared to be very young and look as if they should be in an actual class instead of a parenting one. The others looked as if they wandered in off the streets accidentally while intoxicated peering around the room looking a little confused.
Hal had to resort to breathing through his mouth because at least one smelt like exactly that. He instinctively moved to stand closer to Tom, feeling a bit overwhelmed, only to find Tom has done the same.
Tom and Hal glowered at the staring occupants of the room, even the little ones who varied in ages stared, as if they perhaps could tell that Hal and Tom were different although not in the same way the adults thought. Eve broke the tension that had gathered in the room as she started crying looking for her lunch.
Tom moved first, scooping her up in his arms while Hal went through the routine of getting and checking the milk before handing it over. Tom began to feed Eve his attention focused solely on her as she drank from the bottle happily. The room was still silent apart the sweet gurgles of Eve until a very happy middle age woman walked in the room. Hal hated her instantly.
"Right moms, dads and little ones pull up a chair in a circle. Come on now. My name is Rachel and this is Parenting Class." The now-dubbed Rachel declared to the group looking at them all expectantly. Hal went and fetched them both a chair from the stacks in the corner. The rest of the group avoided him, thankfully, as he would have loathed to have to make any sort of 'small talk'. He managed to get back to Tom without killing anyone. Although Hal wondered if killing them would be actually doing a service to humanity as he surveyed the room. But his efforts would prove futile; they had obviously already bred and he can't imagine Tom would be pleased either.
Tom was almost finished feeding Eve when he returned. He nodded in acknowledgement to Hal and they both sat down. Everyone else was on the other side of the room apart from the cheery teacher who pulled up a chair to their left.
"Right! Now we can start! Like I said my name is Rachel. Rigth, let's start with some ice-breakers shall we? We will go anti-clockwise around the room." she instructs the group.
The first of the older couples introduced themselves "My name is Robert and tis is me girlfriend Sam and the 3 year old is little Andy."
The next was a young pair of teenagers. "Our names is Marge and Steve and this little one is Princess Beyonce." Hal shuddered internally.
The next couple, named Russell and Jo, was the pair who smelled as if they bathed in vodka and who had their 4 year old kid, Ben, tied to the chair with a leash of sorts.
There was another young pair, who Hal barely paid attention to, as they introduced themselves as Simon and Louise. They had a little kid with a less than sane name of Edward Jacob, a name that Hal hoped was really not a product of the current craze about a teenage romance with a glittery vampire.
The final couple before them was the oldest there. They were at least middle aged. "We are Susan and Marcus Willingham and this is our grandchild, Max Willingham." The man announced looking through his glasses at the bunch, his face with almost disappointed look upon it.
It was their turn, Hal looked about nervously before standing up and introduced them. His well-spoken English accent contrasting to the previous ones in the room.
"My name is Hal Molony and my partner is Tom McNair. This is our adopted daughter is Eve Sands." He finishes and sat down fingers drumming nervously against his knees.
"Right, now that is all done. We can start with the basics."