Christian had had a good night. Well... it had been a better night. He'd stayed asleep for longer before any nightmares had taken hold, but inevitably they had and he'd woken in the early morning light. He'd done his best not to wake Syed but it had happened anyway and Syed had made him talk about it, hoping that by getting it all out there that they'd be able to deal with it.
That night, Christian had likened his nightmare to a scene out of Psycho. He blamed his subconscious for the images after watching the news that evening and seeing a piece on the rise in knife crime in the country and, somehow, he had knives on the brain after that.
When Syed got up in the morning, he was already running late. He needed to go down to the Gym and check everything was okay. They'd 'deputised' while Christian was signed off and with the restaurant now simply a burned-out shell it meant that Syed had stepped in to help run the gym instead. It was handy that when Alec had been believed dead and the two businesses had been given to them, they'd changed the documentation so that both had equal shares in both ventures. So although Sylvia had been overseeing the admin at the gym, and Paul had taken on some extra responsibilities with the trainers and equipment, it meant Syed could still go in and act managerially... if only to sign the pay checks.
They'd showered together that morning. As nice as it sounded, there hadn't been anything untoward involved. Syed had been worried of a repeat incident like what had happened in the bathtub before so had insisted on helping Christian out. Everything had been above board... well, for the most part. They'd kissed, certainly, and enjoyed being in there together, but since they hadn't actually had sex since before the fire they were both beginning to feel some unnecessary pressure regarding when they would again.
Christian was sorting their laundry in the other room while Syed took care of breakfast. As they both got organised there was a knock on the door. Being that no one had buzzed, Syed assumed it was someone they knew well enough to get that far, which would mean Jane or Ian, as they had the landlord keys. He looked down at himself, wearing only a towel, and figured he didn't care about answering the door like this with his hair still wet. If it was Jane then so be it, and if it was Ian, well, his squirming would be reasonably amusing.
He opened the door with a smile and then immediately frowned at the sight of an older woman standing there, shorter than him, with shoulder length dark blonde hair.
Ignoring his stunned silence, she spoke first. "You must be Syed, then." She looked him over and nodded. "I approve."
Barging into the flat, pushing passed a shell-shocked Syed, she put her handbag on the table as if she knew the flat well. "Can I help you?" he finally asked, confused.
She turned to him with a smile on her face and sighed. "Maybe you should just hug your soon-to-be mother-in-law." She held her arms out and realisation dawned on Syed as to who this person in his living room was, although he still didn't feel comfortable hugging this woman.
"Linda!"
"We've talked on the phone enough," she said.
"I've seen pictures too, I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting... shouldn't you be in Florida? We didn't know you were coming over."
"Jane called last week after everything that happened and I just had to come over and see my son. Where is he?"
"He's in the other room at the moment. Christian!" he called out.
Christian came through, wearing his jeans but no shirt, "Yeah, what is it?... Mum!" He smiled the genuine kind of smile that Syed hadn't seen on him for a while as he gathered his mum into a hug.
"I'm just going to go get some clothes on..." Syed moved past them.
"No need to bother on my account." She appraised him as he walked past, making him blush as he escaped into the other room. "Those pictures you sent over don't do that man justice," she commented low to Christian. "You've lucked out with him."
"I know I have. But what are you doing here?" They both took a seat at the table and Linda reached out a hand to her son's.
"You know why. I needed to come see you were okay. Your sister has been keeping me up to date on everything. Would it have killed you to pick up the phone and ring me yourself?"
"I'm sorry, I just... I guess I've been a bit wrapped up in myself to think about other things." Linda squeezed his hand reassuringly.
"I just about had a heart attack when Jane told me everything. The things you get involved in, I swear I'll be headed to an early grave..."
"It's not like I go looking for trouble, mum."
"Yes, but you seem to attract it enough."
"Not always!"
"How you landed a boy as lovely as Syed, there, I'll never know. I hope he's been good to you through all this."
"He's been my rock," Christian assured her.
"Turn around, then. Let's have a look at this skin graft, make sure the doctors did a good job with my boy."
"Of course they did, mum." Christian rolled his eyes as his mum stood and came round to get a better look.
"Does it hurt?" She asked sympathetically, once she had seen it.
"I don't really feel it at all. I think it has something to do with nerve endings being different with the new skin. I never followed the explanation much at the time; I relied on Sy to take all the information in. He knows what he's doing to help it take... or whatever. So where are you staying while you're here?"
"I got in last night, I'm with Jane at the moment, seems they have some extra room with the twins being with their Gran."
"When are you going back?"
"To Florida? I don't know yet... if it works out I'll just stay here until your wedding. Your father might not be able to join us though, had a few problems with his heart again; he can't fly at the moment and insurance is through the roof."
"Any old excuse."
"Not this time, love. He really isn't able to come at the moment. I take it you've set a date?"
"Not yet," Syed answered as he made his way back through and into the kitchen. "Would you like some tea?"
"Yes that would be lovely, dear." She looked up to Syed, now in jeans and a t-shirt, and then back to Christian. "What's keeping you then? I was never a fan of long engagements. If you're going to get married then get on and do it."
"It takes planning, mum... not just the wedding but a reception, and we don't even know how we want to do it all yet anyway."
"Then sit down and discuss it!"
"We will," Christian insisted. "In fact, we were just talking about it last night."
"Talking about talking about it? Oh for heaven's sake just get on with it properly. If you don't, I'll just go ahead and do it for you. I want to see you married and settled before I'm gone... in more ways than one."
"Well, if ever we were given incentive to sort ourselves out..." Christian began, and got a whack on his arm from his mother for his cheek.
