Linda hadn't told her husband that she had offered Stephanie the opportunity to come over for dinner because she didn't want to disappoint him if she didn't come but only time would tell.

Arriving home from work a little earlier than normal she began preparing Stephanie's favourite dinner in the hope that she would arrive to eat it.

All day Stephanie had texted her boyfriend, the dinner this evening had not been mentioned at all by either of them but it didn't mean that it wasn't on her mind. Arriving home from work she threw her bag on the floor and went on an immediate search to find her boyfriend. Walking into the lounge she saw him sat on the couch looking relaxed and she smiled walking over to him and situating herself in his lap.

Laughing as she sat in his lap he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek, "it is good to see you too."

Resting her head on his shoulder she sighed happily, "this is where I have wanted to be all day long but I had work to do."

Kissing the top of her head he sighed wishing she could have been here all day too, "I know baby but work comes first. Did you make a decision about your Mom's offer?"

Grumbling she couldn't even go five minutes without thinking about it or now him mentioning it. Rubbing his chest gently she didn't really know what to say, "I have thought a lot about it and as much as I don't want to face him and I want to stay here in your arms all night I know I need to just get it all off my chest."

"So you're going to go to your parent's for dinner?"

Nodding her head despite knowing what the next words out of his mouth would be, "yes I am."

The selfish part of him hated having to say these words but he knew he needed to otherwise she wouldn't move, "then I guess you had better get ready to leave."

Pouting she lifted her head to look at him, "you want rid of me?"

Laughing he nodded his head, "oh absolutely, the sooner I get rid of you the better. Of course I don't want to get rid of you but sadly I think it is necessary if you're going to tell your Dad how he made you feel. I promise that I will still be wide awake when you get home, unless it's like 1am and then I can't make any promises, and we can do whatever you want and I will even stay up all night if it would make you happy."

Giggling softly she had the best boyfriend, "I love you. I'm going to change a minute."

"Can I watch?"

Laughing she hit his chest softly, "shut up. I will be back in a minute."

Smiling as he watched her walk away he threw over his shoulder, "I love you too."

He didn't really want to watch her change or anything like that but he did want to try and keep her mind relaxed so she didn't over-think the meeting with her Dad.

Walking upstairs she quickly changed into some jeans and a comfy shirt, she didn't feel the need to dress up for dinner at her parent's, if she even stayed that long. Brushing her hair she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she could see how heavily the entire situation was weighing on her because she had bags under her eyes and she just didn't look herself and she hated it. Resisting the urge to throw the hairbrush through the mirror she placed it down and got up heading downstairs again.

Walking into the kitchen she got herself a drink of water and checked the time realising that she actually needed to leave now so reluctantly she walked back into the lounge and slid her arms around her boyfriend's neck from behind the couch, "so I guess I should leave. You promise you'll still be here when I come back?"

Putting his hands on her arms he tilted his head back to look at her, "I promise I will be here and wide awake waiting for you. Good luck and I love you."

Pressing a soft kiss to his lips she stood back up straight, "I love you too and I'll see you whenever."

Grabbing her bag and her keys she left to go to her parent's house leaving her boyfriend alone to make his own dinner and to entertain himself.

Vince arrived home from work confused by why his wife had left before him. Heading straight for the office he expected to find her in there but when he didn't he dumped his briefcase on the desk before he turned around to head for the lounge and when she wasn't there he went for the kitchen.

Arriving in the kitchen doorway he observed his wife cooking dinner and it just confused him as he saw some of the ingredients she was using, "what's going on?"

Jumping at the sound of her husband's voice she hadn't heard him enter, "Vince, I didn't hear you come home."

Waving his hand dismissively that was not what he wanted to talk about, "doesn't matter. I asked you what is going on?"

"I am cooking dinner? Unless you don't want to eat and then I could just throw it all out."

Glaring at his wife he didn't like it when she acted smart, "Linda I am not in the mood for you bullshitting around with me, what is going on?"

Putting her knife down she turned around to face her husband, "if you must know I invited Stephanie for dinner so the two of you can try and clear the air. Before you get your hopes up I have no idea if she is going to come and even if she does after speaking to her last night I highly doubt that things will get better between you but if she tells you how she feels then at least you will know and maybe she won't take her anger out on everybody else."

"No, she'll just have taken it all out on me."

This is one of those times Linda hated that her husband and their daughter were so alike, "but maybe that will be the first step to healing the rift between the two of you. Try not to argue with her too much, I don't want to lose her for good."

Rolling his eyes at his wife he turned around and began walking off, "I'm going to get changed."

Linda only hoped that when he changed he also managed to get himself a sweeter mood because if Stephanie did arrive and she was faced with that then things could get even worse between the two of them.

What Vince hadn't told his wife was that he was petrified that things would never get better between him and Stephanie, that he had damaged their relationship for good and he had essentially lost his daughter.

As soon as Vince had left Linda had turned her attention back to the food, there wasn't much left to do and dinner wasn't be far off being cooked and she was beginning to think that Stephanie wasn't going to come, even if she didn't at least she had tried to fix things between the two of them.

Everything was cooked, she was just giving it a few more minutes before she gave up hope and dished up dinner. Linda was finally giving up and was about to dish up when the doorbell rang and she immediately raced for the door, if this was some door-to-door salesman she wouldn't be held responsible for her actions. Taking a deep breath with her hand on the handle she was almost afraid to open the door incase it wasn't who she wanted it to be but inevitably she knew it had to be done and she slowly pulled the door open.