"Hi guys" Micky called, letting go of Denise and racing forward to greet his friends. Denise walked over to Rachel, while Micky said hello to Davy and Peter.
"You must be Rachel, it's nice to meet you, Micky talks about you all the time" She said, the speech sounded rehearsed to Rachel but she ignored it.
"Yeah well I wouldn't listen to anything he says he's been known to lie," She said, and Denise just smiled slightly.
"I can hear you, Lockhart" Micky said.
"Oh yeah and what are you gonna do about it!" Rachel teased.
"Well first I'm gonna hug you, then I'm gonna tickle you to death" Micky told her.
"Okay, the hugging I can handle but you even try and tickle me then there'll be trouble" Rachel said, Micky laughed and pulled Rachel into a hug.
"I've missed you so much" He whispered into her ear.
"I've missed you too," She replied. They let go of each other.
"Well I suppose we should go inside, your son is here Rachel, he's an interesting young man isn't he" Denise said.
"Yeah he takes after his father" Rachel said with a chuckle.
"Oh yes, Ronald wasn't it?" Denise asked.
"Robert" Rachel corrected.
"Whatever, and he's dead now right?" Denise said. Peter had taken hold of Rachel's hand, which she saw as a blessing because otherwise she would've used it to punch Denise hard in the face.
"Yes, he passed away" She said through gritted teeth. Micky shot her an apologetic look but she didn't take much notice, she was too busy picturing Denise walking in to the wall and breaking her perfect nose. They went inside and were greeted by Natalie and James. Natalie gave Rachel a long hug.
"I'm so glad you're here," She whispered.
"I wish I was glad to be here" Rachel replied.
"Just ignore everything Denise says and you'll be fine" Natalie advised.
"You dislike her don't you" Rachel said.
"What was your first clue?" Natalie said and Rachel chuckled.
"Well don't worry, I'm in your club. I hate her already" She said.
"Anyone want a drink?" Micky asked.
"Yes I'd love a glass of white wine please, Mick" Rachel said as she walked back over to Peter.
"Do you think that's wise?" Peter asked her discreetly.
"Trust me Pete, I'm gonna need it" Rachel replied.
Dinner was served and everyone sat down at the table. Micky was at the head of the table. Rachel sat in between Peter and Davy on one side of the table and Natalie sat in between Denise and James on the other side.
"Ok well we really should eat, Micky's worked very hard on this all day" Denise told them. Rachel looked at Micky.
"You cooked?" She asked him, Micky opened his mouth to say something but Denise cut him off.
"Oh yeah, he's quite the whiz in the kitchen" She said, patting his hand and grinning at him.
"I can't believe it! You used to burn salad, when did you learn to cook?" Rachel said. Micky waited incase Denise was going to say something but she was too busy checking her reflection in her dessert spoon.
"Oh well, you know you pick these things up when your fiancée is a worse cook then you" He said.
"Wife Mick" Denise corrected and Micky looked at her.
"Right wife, sorry."
When they had finished the main course Micky disappeared in to the kitchen and after a couple of minutes Rachel wondered in, in search of him.
"Hi, need a hand?" She asked.
"No I'm okay thanks, I'll be out with the sweet in a second" He told her.
"Did you call Mel?" Rachel asked.
"Yeah I called Mel."
"And?"
"Everything's cool, we had a long chat, she apologised, I apologised. It was good to talk to her we're fine now."
"Good I'm glad" Rachel replied, she watched him for a moment then said, "What are you doing anyway?"
"Just putting the dishes in to soak for when I need to wash them later" Micky told her.
"You wash up too! Wow Denise has turned you into a proper little house wife hasn't she" Rachel teased.
"Hey! I'm a lot more domesticated then you give me credit for you know!" Micky said
"Yeah and I also know you're extremely lazy and wouldn't do this stuff unless you really had to" Rachel told him, Micky smiled
"You take great pleasure in taking the mickey outta me don't you?" He replied and Rachel grinned.
"No, not me!" She said pretending to be shocked "I would never do a thing like that."
"Yeah of course, you know I don't believe you right?"
"Micky what are you doing, your guests are waiting" Micky turned around to see Denise standing by the door, the grin disappeared from his face.
"Sorry Denise, it's my fault I distracted him" Rachel told her.
"Obviously" Denise replied. Rachel was starting to lose her temper with Denise, she had been nothing but rude since they arrived.
"Right, well I'll leave you to it then" Rachel said, trying her best not to shoot daggers at Denise as she walked past but failing miserably. Micky watched Rachel go then looked at his wife, unable to keep the daggers from his own eyes.
"What?" Denise asked, completely unaware she'd done anything wrong.
"Nothing, just get out to our guests and I'll bring out the sweet."
"Are you mad at me?"
"I really don't want to get into this right now, okay, like you said, our guests are waiting" Micky told her.
"Well you better hurry with the rest of the food then hadn't you" Denise replied then walked out of the room. Micky rubbed his temples, took a deep breath and picked up the food and took it into the dining room. When he arrived Denise was in conversation with Peter, Davy was talking with Natalie and James and Rachel was doing her best to be polite but Micky could tell it was proving difficult for her.
"Here you go guys, something simple, double chocolate fudge cake," Micky said setting the try on the table.
"Oh Micky!" Denise whined, "You know I'm on a diet!"
"Come on babe, one slice won't do you any harm, just this once" Micky told her
"Fine but just a small piece" She replied, almost disgusted Micky could even consider making her eat it. Micky sighed mentally.
"Okay, what about you Nats?" He asked.
"Slap on a big piece there, Dad, fudge cake is my weakness" Natalie said and Micky laughed.
"Aw, she's her father's daughter alright," Peter said looking at Natalie and both Natalie and Micky grinned.
"Rach?" Micky asked
"You bet! As big as you can make it, I'm never one to pass up on a bit of cake" Rachel said.
"It shows" Denise said under her breath, and Micky was the only one who heard her.
Micky served the cake. Peter continued his conversation with Denise. Davy and Rachel chatted with Natalie and James. Micky didn't say much, he sat back in his chair watching Denise carefully, and listening to everything she said, just in case.