A/N. This was the first chapter fic I ever wrote, and in moving it over to I've realised how much my writing has developed since then. So please forgive my extremely short chapters and my terrible grammar, I can't be bothered fixing it or combining chapters. 😂 I promise i get better.
Rose scrunched her nose nervously as she wiped her sweaty hands down the side of her skirt. She wasn't usually this anxious about meeting someone new, but she'd heard so much about Mattie from Jean and Lucien and to be honest she felt a little intimidated. Jean always spoke of her with so much fondness and there was no denying that Lucien was exceptionally proud of her, it was hard not to compare herself with the young woman she'd never met. Lucien and Jean's 'adopted daughter' was the way Uncle Matthew described her, Mattie had left a few years ago to study nursing in London. And now she was coming back. Of course, Lucien and Jean wanted her in the wedding, they'd written to her asking her to be a bridesmaid. A position Rose was sharing with this unknown woman. She cleared her throat as she heard a car pull into the driveway.
Mattie couldn't stop grinning. Sitting in the taxi she fidgeted restlessly. She hadn't stopped smiling since she had received word of the engagement and now, she was on her way back to the place she had called home for so many years. As the trees flew by, memories crowded her mind. She always knew Lucien and Jean were electric together, having lived with them for so long their connection was obvious to her. She recalled some of the moments when she noticed their relationship change. Jeans birthday after the ridiculous farce of William Munro's to try and discredit Lucien as Police Surgeon. She remembered how, as they sang, Jean had leaned in to Lucien's embrace and their cheeks had touched. It was a much too intimate gesture for an employer and housekeeper. Then when she had caught them in the car after they had both mysteriously disappeared to Adelaide, that's when she knew they were meant to be together, although it had obviously taken them more time to work it out. No thanks to Derek Alderton and Mei Lin.
She patted her pants pocket which held the last letter she had received from them asking her to be a bridesmaid in their wedding. She thought this day would never come. She frowned slightly as she remembered Jeans words in the letter "You'll be co-bridesmaid with Rose, Matthew Lawsons niece. You remember her, don't you? The reporter." Truthfully, she had no idea who this Rose person was, apart from the times she had been mentioned in letters. She somehow felt jealous of this girl who had seemed to replace her in Jean and Lucien's lives. Jean had even implied in one of her letters that she and Charlie were more than friends, and although she had no romantic feelings for Charlie, she felt very protective of him, as if her were her brother. She sighed and tried to push those jealous thoughts to the back of her mind. Mattie hated meeting new people. She looked eagerly out of the window as the car pulled up to the house and Mattie wondered, not for the first time, how she would fit back in to life in this house, even for just the few weeks she was there for. So many things had changed since she left. Would everything be the same as it always was, or would the time they had spent apart make things awkward? She paid the taxi driver who got her bags out of the boot and walked them to the door with her. She hesitated. Should she knock? She never had before, but then again, she didn't live here anymore. She was saved from deciding by Lucien flinging the door open and crushing her in a bear hug, almost knocking her off her feet.
"Lucien!" she gasped as the air was knocked out of her.
"Mattie! Its so good to see you"
"Lucien, let her breathe!" Jean laughed as she pushed him out of the way so she could embrace Mattie.
Feeling slightly like an intruder Rose watched the reunion anxiously from down the hallway. She shifted her weight to the other foot as she saw how much love there was in the doorway. This pretty, petite brunette with the big smiles was so freely affectionate with Jean and Lucien and suddenly she felt like an outsider. She turned on her heel and headed back towards the kitchen, uncomfortable to be a spectator.