Hey. It's been a bit since I posted a chapter and I've been planning this for a while. Millie was kind of based on my grandmother.

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Chapter 16

A week after he, Clara, and Isabel had gotten back from Paris, Basil was still unsure what to do. He recalled his daughter's suggestion but was still unsure about it. A few days ago, he had gotten a call from his mother, informing him that her birthday was that weekend and that he could bring guests if he wanted. Basil wasn't sure what to do. So, he had called Clara. The two of them discussed it with Isabel and they decided that the doctor would indeed take them to visit his 'family members' in Scotland. That, of course, led to Basil helping the two ladies carry some bags into his 2008 Honda Jazz, which he had named Sexy. "Do you really need all this stuff?" the doctor asked.

"Well, we'll be in Scotland for three days." Clara replied. "Izzy and I both need a few changes of clothes as well as our laptops. She is working on some sort of project and I'm working on a new book. We also need chargers and a few charge cables, in case one of the cables stops working. Charge cables for a Nintendo Switch as well. Also, I have to bring Izzy's dairy pills."

"Ah." Basil nodded. He also carried his lactase enzyme pills with him for his own lactose intolerance. His mother insisted on putting sour cream in damn near everything.

The drive was not horribly eventful, though Isabel would periodically sing along to songs that came on the radio. It felt like forever, but finally they arrived and parked near Basil's mother's house. The middle-aged doctor headed over to the door and rang his mother's doorbell. A few seconds later, it was answered by a woman with a slight resemblance to Basil. She smiled happily and said, "Basil, you made it!"

Basil accepted an awkward- at least to him- hug from his mother, followed by a kiss on the cheek. She gestured to her visitors and said, "Well, come on in!"

Clara, Isabel, and Basil carried their bags in and soon were greeted by a man about Basil's mother's age. "Hello, Basil." he said warmly. He then looked at the two female visitors and asked, "Who are these lovely ladies?"

Basil's mother approached them again and said, "The guest room is ready for these two girls. You can have your old room, Basil. Now, aren't you going to introduce us?"

Basil set his bag down and said, "This is my..." He paused to look at Clara. "friend, Clara Pink, and her" Basil almost said 'our'. "daughter, Isabel Pink." He gestured towards the two elderly people and said, "Clara, Isabel, this is my mother, Millie Brown and her husband, Robert Brown."

"Welcome to the Brown home, Clara and Isabel." Millie said warmly.

"It's nice to be here." Isabel returned the smile. She then picked her own bags back up and asked, "Can you show me and Mum where the guest room is?"

Once the three ladies left, Robert turned to Basil. "So," Robert said, "your friend, Clara. She left a good impression."

"Yeah." Basil nodded. "She tends to be like that."

"Is she a good cook?" Robert asked.

"I think so." Basil replied. "She makes good curry."

"Ah." Robert said. "Maybe she can help your ma with the cooking tomorrow."

Basil shrugged and said, "You'd have to ask Clara."

"All right." Robert said. "I'll have Millie ask her tomorrow."

Basil nodded before heading up to his old room. It hadn't changed much since he was last here, nearly 40 years ago. There were new sheets, though, and things had clearly been dusted. This was probably because he had told his mother ahead of time that he'd be coming up. He knew that his mother could be a bit... complicated sometimes. He hoped that Clara wouldn't have to deal with any of those complications.

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Clara stepped into the guest room and noted how clean it was. She heard Millie address her. "So, Clara..."

"Yes?" Clara replied.

"You're Basil's friend, right?" Millie asked.

Clara tried not to think about her somewhat newfound attraction to the doctor. "Yeah." she replied. "For a few months now."

Millie smiled and said, "I'm glad. Basil doesn't have many friends, aside from that girl he went to medical school with."

"I don't understand." Clara said.

Millie chuckled and said, "He's a bit too much like his father."

"What was his father like?" Clara asked, curious.

Millie waved a hand dismissively and replied, "It doesn't matter much now."

Clara wanted to ask more, but she could see that Millie didn't want to discuss it. The elderly woman then turned to the young writer and said, "Well, it's late. We should all turn in for the night."

Clara nodded and watched as Millie left. A few minutes later, Basil walked into the room. Clara walked up to him and asked, "Why didn't you tell me that your parents were still alive? You said that they were dead."

"My father is dead." Basil clarified, "Me and my mother's relationship is, well, complicated."

"I see." Clara said.

"Don't worry." Basil said quickly. "I'm pretty sure that she likes you."

"I hope so." Clara replied. "I don't want to deal with your mum if she's cross."

"You shouldn't." Basil said. "Though if Mother starts to question Isabel's paternity, I should probably be the one to explain it to her."

"All right." Clara responded. "If it comes to that, I hope that it won't go bad."

"Right." Basil said. "By the way, the reason that I came here was that my charger isn't working. Can I borrow one of your cables."

"Sure." Clara replied. She opened one of her bags and got out a charge cable before handing it over to Basil. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Basil said.

"All right." Clara said. "See you in the morning."

"Okay." Basil said. "Good night."

Without thinking, he gave her a quick peck on the lips before heading out the door. It was only when he was out the door that he and Clara had realized what had happened. The petite author could feel her cheeks heating up. Basil glanced back, his face turning a bit red. He quickly looked away from her before hurrying over to his room. Clara heard a snicker coming from behind her. She looked at Izzy, who was sitting on the bad. "Well," the twelve-year-old nonchalantly said, "that just happened."

"Right." Clara said faintly before, in a sterner voice, she said, "get your pyjamas on, young lady. It's time for bed."

"Five more minutes?" Izzy groaned. "I'm almost at the boss level."

"You can fight it on the way back home." Clara replied. "Right now, it's time to go to bed."

Clara closed the door and got her own pyjamas out. She and her daughter turned away from each other, their backs facing each other as they undressed and put their bedclothes on. Something told Clara that it would be an interesting morning tomorrow.

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There was a loud ringing noise, jolting Basil awake. He flailed, getting tangled in his bedsheets before falling out of bed. He managed to free himself from the sheet before rubbing his back. Falling out of bed left it sorer every year when this happened to him in this room. He looked at the alarm clock to see that it was 6 AM. Grumbling under his breath, he stood up and began to head towards his door. Just before opening it, he realized that he was wearing nothing but a T-shirt and his question mark boxers. He quicky put on a pair of soft, plaid pyjama bottoms and a pair of socks with guitars printed on them. Once he opened the door, he could smell the mouth-watering scent of breakfast being cooked. He then headed down to the kitchen. He saw that his mother was in a dressing gown and slippers, along with Clara who was wearing some kitten-print pyjamas. "Be careful not to burn it." Millie indicated the fry pan, from which a delicious smell was emerging.

"Millie, I know how to do this." Clara sighed.

It was then that his mother seemed to notice him. She shook a spatula at him and said, "Basil, get out of the kitchen. You know that you're not allowed in here!"

"Mother, I'm fifty-six years old!" Basil groaned. "I'm not a child anymore!"

"Basil..." Millie said warningly. "Go sit at the table and wait for your breakfast."

"Fine." Basil sighed, turning to leave the kitchen.

He heard Clara ask, "Why isn't he allowed into the kitchen?"

"He gets very dramatic about me using cheese in his breakfast." Millie replied.

"Well, he's lactose intolerant and so is Izzy." Clara said.

"No, he's not." Millie said. "He's a grown man. He'll have outgrown it by now. Besides, feeding him and that girl a bit of dairy will make it easier for them to digest it in time."

"Millie-" Clara tried to correct the woman.

"Clara, I've been a mother for fifty-six years. I know that I'm talking about." Millie said sharply.

Basil stepped out of the kitchen and let out a groan. He'd had this conversation with his mother countless times before and she was still convinced that she was right and he was just being dramatic. He was an emergency doctor and he still knew that lactose intolerance didn't work that way. He headed over to find the table to sit down. Isabel was already there. She was wearing pyjama bottoms with tacos printed on them and a T-shirt with the Imperial Dragon Seal from the Elder Scrolls games on it. He recognised it because, well, Isabel had shown the symbol to him before. Basil turned to his half-awake daughter and said, "Good morning, Isabel."

Isabel let out an extended grunt that was almost exclusively used by cranky teenagers. Basil rolled his eyes, remembering back when John was that way. The twelve-year-old's head began to drop and Basil called out, "Isabel. Wake up."

Isabel started and raised her head. She let out that extended grunt again. Basil said, "You'd best stay awake, Isabel. It's almost time for breakfast."

About a minute later, Robert arrived and sat down at the table. A few minutes after that, Clara and Millie came in and served everyone's breakfast. Isabel, Basil, and Clara were quiet as they began to eat their breakfast. "Isabel, Clara, Basil," Robert said sharply, "aren't you forgetting something?"

"Right." Clara said. "Basil, could you pass the salt?"

"We need to say grace first." Millie said. "Basil, I brought you up better than that. Isabel, why don't you start?"

Isabel froze and said, "Uhhhh..."

Robert smiled at his wife and said, "Millie, maybe we shouldn't put her on the spot like that. Clara, how about you?"

"We... don't say grace." Clara admitted. "Neither I nor Izzy are morning people, so we don't really talk much at breakfast, either."

Robert and Millie looked at the author with an expression of shock. The elderly man then cleared his throat and said, "Well, it's time that you learned how. Everybody, take hands."

Millie reached for Isabel's hand, but the twelve-year-old didn't take it. "Isabel," Millie said firmly but gently, "take my hand. It's time to say grace."

Isabel frowned and said, "I don't want to."

"Isabel," Robert said sternly, "it's only proper."

"I don't believe in that kind of stuff." Isabel said. "You're not going to make me do it."

Clara's eyes darted to her daughter, her lips tight. Robert's frown deepened as he said, "Young lady, surely your mother taught you to not talk back to your elders!"

Millie watched Isabel's expression and finally, a look of surprise dawned on her face. She looked at Basil and said, "Basil, I know that the girl's father had no way to be in her life, but you should have taught her to respect her elders."

"How did you know?" Basil asked, feeling somewhat alarmed.

"Isabel's facial expressions are just like your father's." Millie said. "I know that you have been cross after Harold's death after he changed his surname, but at least you should have taught your niece how to behave!"

"Melissa." Basil said angrily. "For the hundredth time, my sister's name is Melissa!"

"And I'm not his niece!" Isabel added.

"We don't have a daughter and of course she's Harold's daughter." Millie scoffed. "She can't be your daughter."

Basil looked over at Clara, unsure. She met his eyes before turning to Robert. "Actually, Izzy is Basil's daughter."

Millie and Robert once again had expressions of shock. They then turned to Clara. "You seduced Basil?" Robert said incredulously before turning to anger. "He's a good man. How could you do that to him?"

"Robert, she wasn't married to-" Basil tried to say, before he was interrupted again.

"Adultery is a sin!" Millie snapped. "Begone, harlot! Child or not, you will leave my house and never contact my son again!"

"Mother!" Basil hissed.

"I was never married to Missy!" Clara said angrily. "My husband's name was Danny Pink!"

"That doesn't change the fact that it's adultery!" Robert said.

"Robert, I never slept with Clara!" Basil said, growing angrier by the second.

"How could she have conceived your child, then?" Millie scoffed. "It's not as if she could be impregnated from a distance!"

"We didn't meet until recently." Clara explained. "I used donated sperm."

"That's still adultery!" Robert said.

"How is it adultery?" Basil asked.

The expression on Millie and Robert's face clearly showed but they didn't know, but they recovered. "This whore and her bastard shouldn't be in our house!" Millie screeched.

"DON'T CALL HER THAT!" Basil bellowed. He then stood up. "Clara, Isabel, pack your things. We're leaving."

"She has to leave!" Millie exclaimed. "You don't!"

"Oh, yes I am." Basil said angrily.

"It's my birthday!" Millie protested.

"Well, Clara is my friend and Isabel is my daughter." Basil replied. "And we're leaving."

Basil, Isabel, and Clara then left the table. Within minutes, they were dressed and had their things packed up. They left the house and got into Sexy and Basil then drove off. For a few minutes, there was silence. Through the rear-view mirror, the doctor could see his daughter lowering her head and hiding her face under the hood of her hoodie. The sound of sniffles could be heard, a clear sign of the girl trying not to break into tears. Her voice muffled by the fabric, Isabel asked, "Is this my fault?"

Basil shook his head and said, "This wasn't your fault, Isabel. It would have come out eventually."

Clara was still very upset. "I can't believe she acted that way." the author said.

"Neither can I." Basil replied. "I probably should have expected it, though. She still insists on calling Missy Harold, using the wrong pronouns, and saying that she's dead."

"We don't have to go back, do we?" Isabel asked timidly.

"No." Basil shook his head. "I think that this is it. They've had more than enough chances. I won't be talking to either of them again. Full stop."

The first two hours after the ride were mostly silent, other than the first twenty minutes being punctuated by Isabel's sniffles. After that, there was the sound of the twelve-year-old's game on her Switch. Eventually, there was the sound of even breathing. Basil glanced to his side to see Clara asleep. The expression on her face was so peaceful. Once again, he was reminded of how beautiful she was. He couldn't help but think of the brief kiss the night before and it made him feel warm. He wasn't sure if that would be addressed later or not. He'd cross that bridge when he came to it. For now, he would just enjoy the company of Clara and their daughter.