Selene paused outside the old fashioned tea room and took a deep breath, willing herself to go inside and not wimp out like she so desperately wanted to do. She peeked through the window, half hoping that they wouldn't have turned up and that she could run away. She could call EOS and have the elevator there in like fifteen minutes and be back in her husband's arms in another ten, that sounded like the most excellent plan to her. Too bad that she could quite clearly see her mother and brother seated at a table waiting for her. Crap balls.
It wasn't that she didn't want to see them, although it was going to be all kinds of awkward after what Scott was calling the Al Mungo Incident, but also because she was going to have to tell them all about Nathaniel, and that was the part she was dreading the most.
"Come on, Sel, you're a Tempest that married a Tracy, you shouldn't be backing down from anything, let alone your own family," she muttered under her breath. "Deep breath, push the door open and go in."
For once she listened to herself without overthinking it any more and talking herself out of it, she shoved open the door and went in.
Celia was berating Adam about something, possibly his beard, which had little hanging crystals wound into it with what looked to be copper wire, his hair which had grown even longer and wilder or the fact that he was once again wearing the poncho that looked like he had simply cut a hole in the middle of a rug and stuck his head through. Actually, knowing him, that really wasn't that far out of the realms of possibility.
Celia looked as she always did, her hair in its customary bob cut, reaching just to her shoulders, coloured a dark auburn, the highlights carefully maintained by the same hairdresser she had always used. Same long nose that both Selene and Adam shared, the same high cheekbones too. But her eyes were a warm brown rather than the blue that showed their Tempest heritage. Her clothes were that casual mum look, linen trousers and either a nice blouse or a vest top of some description. While you could never say that Celia Tempest looked glamorous, she was well put together, her clothing choices and colours usually complemented each other and she never left the house without some light makeup on and her earrings in. Celia prided herself on the fact that she looked normal, like someone that you would glance at in passing and notice absolutely nothing about her and she very much liked it that way.
"There you are, you're late," Celia said in greeting as Selene dropped down into one of the vacant chairs. "I poured you a cup already but it's probably cold by now."
Selene took a polite sip of the tea, managing to not make a face. Her mother always forgot that she didn't like tea and that, on the rare occasions that she could stomach it, she only liked the merest hint of milk and one sugar, not the gallon of moo juice her mother added and no sugar. She set the cup down and pushed it aside as nicely as she could.
"I'm really hot today and not really in the mood for tea, I think I'll just order an orange juice."
"But you asked to meet for afternoon tea," Celia said, sounding utterly scandalised. "You can't drink juice."
"It's not a law that I have to drink tea to attend tea," Selene argued.
"It's in the name."
"Can we all just chill?" Adam asked, clearly already fed up with playing piggy in the middle between his family.
"Sorry, Ads, it wasn't my intention to turn up and start trouble," Selene assured him.
"There wouldn't be any trouble if you'd just drink your tea," Celia sniffed, "but you're a married woman now and I'm sure you're capable of making your own decisions."
"I'd like to think so," Selene muttered under her breath.
"If you aren't going to drink the tea then at least have some of the pastries," Celia said, pushing the elaborate stand closer to her daughter. Selene reached for a tiny cake, transferring it carefully onto her small plate, knowing that if she dared even so much as look at it wrong it would topple and splatter buttercream all over the white table cloth, her mother would never let her hear the end of it. Not that she really wanted it, she didn't feel like eating anything at all.
"This is a lovely little place," Celia sighed happily, pouring herself a fresh cup from the pot on the table and topping up Adam and Selene's without asking.
"Yes, it is, Penelope recommended it," Selene agreed, happy to be talking about anything other than the reason she had called them there. "I knew you'd like it and I wanted to do something a little special to make up for the fact that I've missed our last two Wednesday catch ups, I'm sorry, we've had a lot going on."
"I just thought you were still annoyed with me because I dared to have a life away from you children," Celia sniffed, clearly still a little put out with Selene's interrupting of her date night with Parker.
"No, no, it wasn't anything like that," Selene promised, waving the thought away.
"Then what was it?" Adam asked, clearly not fooled by her act. For a laid back hippy it always surprised her how he could be so very observant and aware when the mood took him. "Is everything alright, Sis?"
Selene glanced up from the cake she had been mashing with her iddy biddy fork. "Sure, why wouldn't it be?"
"Because you never invite me to these little lunches, and Jake said - "
"It's John," she reminded him.
"John said in his text that you had something to tell us both," Adam finished.
Selene sighed, knowing she couldn't get away with it much longer.
"It's about Nathaniel…"
-x-
"Your John punched Nathaniel?" Celia gasped, still holding her teacup but not making any attempt to drink from it.
Of the course of half an hour Selene had told Celia and Adam all about the past few weeks, about John going on a hunt for Nathaniel, finally locating him with the help of Penelope, John and Scott visiting his place of work on reconnaissance and the resulting argument.
Celia had tried to interrupt a number of times but Adam seemed to have stepped into the role that their father had occupied, holding up his hand to silence her any time she looked like she was about to take over or flare up in her usual overly dramatic way.
Selene appreciated that more than she could say, it was hard enough to talk about without feeling like she was having to battle her mother every step of the way just to get her words out.
"Yep," Selene nodded. "Nathaniel apparently said some very nasty things about me and John lost his temper, Nathaniel pushed him too far it seems."
"Good for him," Adam said, surprising Selene immensely. "I'd have done the same thing if I'd been there. There wasn't much I could do the first time that animal hurt you but if he comes near you again I'll be right there with John to teach him a lesson he won't forget in a hurry."
"You're a pacifist," Selene reminded him.
"Some people don't deserve our mercy," Adam shrugged. "Some people only understand one language and that's the same one they themselves speak. He's one of those people."
"Too right," Celia sniffed. "And if your Daddy was here he'd say the same."
"Really, it's fine, I don't need everyone jumping in to defend me-" Selene started but for once Adam interrupted her.
"That man didn't deserve you or even one ounce of the time, attention and love you gave him," Adam stated. "I may have been young but I saw the way you changed. I watched your spirit, your inner light dim the more time you spent with him. But I knew it was a journey you had to do on your own."
"Your John is a good man," Celia added. "With a good soul, he's a calming influence to your fiery nature, but in the best way. He doesn't squash you, he tempers you, there's a difference."
"I know, and I know that neither he nor Scott did anything with the intention of making things worse or causing any trouble, but unfortunately it's Nathaniel and trouble follows him like a bad smell. I'm just...I'm just scared, you know?"
Celia nodded, putting down her cup to reach across the table to cover her daughter's hand with her own.
"I'm just so scared that someone I love will get hurt because of me-"
"No, it's not because of you, John or Scott," Celia insisted. "That man, he makes his own choices, if anything happens it'll be because he chose to do it, he chose to be the bad guy in the situation, and that's no one's fault but his."
"Don't worry, Sis," Adam smiled, leaning back in his chair, "these things have a way of working themselves out exactly as they are supposed to. You can't mess with fate. Nathaniel, with his behaviour, still helped shape you into the person you were meant to be and now, if he is back in your life, in our lives, then it's to provide another lesson or obstacle for you to overcome. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger."
"I wish I could believe that," Selene sighed, sipping her orange juice. "I certainly don't feel like it's making me stronger, I feel like a complete and utter wimp. I look at my boys and everything they do, how brave and amazing they are, and I wonder just how I'm going to cope with any of this. Just the thought of him being close to me again was enough to send me into a panicked spiral. I had to take myself out of the situation to calm down and think clearly. I don't know how any of this could be for the greater good."
"You gotta have faith, Sis, faith in fate and faith in your family, all of us. Trust that John and his brothers can handle anything that might come their way, you know they won't let you down."
"This isn't about me not trusting them," Selene explained, trying to push the point home, trying to make him understand. "I'm serious, he could be dangerous. You both need to be on full alert, like we were when I first came back home, like all of the time. I need you to look after Mum and yourself. We're well aware that he knows you both, he knows the house, where you both live and if he can't get to me or the boys, you'll be his next target."
"He didn't scare us then and he won't scare us now," Celia snorted dismissively. "We're Tempests, we don't back down, just like your Tracy boys never do. He's messing with two very stubborn, and very big, families."
" He might not be able to physically get to the family, but there is more than one way to take out people like us. We live our lives in the spotlight, I've felt the burn of negative publicity, as have all the boys before. It could be disastrous if he decided to start some nasty rumours which, even if they don't have a speck of truth to them, can undo years of good work. I don't want the Tracy name sullied because of me."
"Chill, Sis, we got this."
"I can't chill, not yet. I don't know what he's planning and not knowing is horrible. Will you let Brains and John rewire the house, update all the security and be able to keep in better contact, please, for me?"
Adam looked at Celia, who made a little face that clearly said 'whatever, it's no skin off my nose', and shrugged his answer. "Sure, whatever makes you feel better, man."
"Thank you," Selene huffed, letting out the breath she had been holding. "That will go a long way towards putting my mind at ease a bit."
"Is that all you wanted to talk about?" Adam asked.
"Well, yeah, I guess so."
"Then I'm off, I've got people to see and places to go," he said, pushing his chair back from the table. " I'll catch you on the flip side."
"Be careful out there, and make sure you keep your phone on you so John can track you if he needs to," Selene warned him.
"No way," Adam shook his head. "I don't want the man tracking me, I'm a free agent, I answer to no one."
"It's not 'the man' it's John, my husband," she reminded him.
Celia, seeing that her daughter was serious, a rarity for her, smacked him lightly on the leg. "Do as you're told, can't you see your sister is worried?"
"Fine," he grumbled, "if it'll make you happy."
"It will, thank you," Selene said, getting up to give him a tight hug goodbye. "OK, now you may go."
"Good chat," Adam said, snatching up a cake and saluting with it as he made his way through the tables to the door. "Next time let's do it somewhere a bit more us, yeah? I'm pretty sure the fancy in the air is giving me hives."
Selene couldn't help but giggle as the door swung shut behind him. She had to agree, the place was rather upmarket and she didn't feel entirely comfortable there herself, although she knew her mother would love it, which was all that had mattered really.
Selene glanced up at her mother, who was methodically stirring her tea, staring deeply into it, like she herself was the family witch and by looking into the depths she would be able to see the future.
Selene felt bad that they hadn't spoken for so long, since her father had passed on she hadn't missed a weekly call or meet up, and in between they would text frequently, even EOS would spend an evening or two chatting to Celia, all in an effort to ease some of the loneliness the woman must be feeling. Selene had worried about her mother more in the thirteen months since Rufus had passed away than she ever had before. Being so far away made it harder because, even though Adam had moved back home when he had left the retreat he'd been working at for a few years, he still had a life of his own. He was very much a free spirit, needing to wander, to take off on his own for days or even a week at a time on his own. Selene knew that she couldn't leave it all up to him, their mother wasn't just his responsibility, so they had pulled together as much as they could, but still she worried that it wasn't enough.
That was why she had been so shocked, not to mention scared, when her mother had failed to answer her call the night of her date with Parker. It wasn't that Selene didn't want her to go out and enjoy herself, it wasn't that she didn't like Parker, she was just worried, because it felt a bit too soon for her. She didn't want her mum to rush into anything just because she was lonely and wanted some company that wasn't her children or the couple friends they had had before. Selene knew what it was like to be the single person in a group of couples, sure her's had been a break up and her mother was a widow, but she could imagine that the treatment would be very much the same. And it sucked.
She was ashamed to admit, even to herself, that she didn't really know what her mother had been feeling or why she had done as she had. Celia hadn't told her anything and Selene hadn't asked. It wasn't that she didn't want to ask or didn't want to know, she'd just needed time to calm down after the shock of it and then the Nathaniel thing had happened and it had never seemed like the right time. Well, no time like the present she supposed.
"So," she started, clearing her throat, "you and Parker, huh? Wanna tell me how that happened?"
"There's nothing to tell," Celia said. "Al is just an old friend, we reconnected at your wedding and he asked me to the ballet. That nice girl of Scott's sent tickets to Al and her ladyship, but her ladyship was away so Al asked if I would like to accompany him instead. It was all very innocent, I can assure you."
"Seriously?" Selene gasped, "you knew Parker before this?"
"Yes."
"Oh, this I have to hear," Selene grinned, swiping a small, triangular sandwich off the platter for sustenance.
"It's not that exciting, I'm sure," Celia said, but she had a little twinkle in her eye, the one she always got when she was about to pass on a good quality tidbit of gossip. "There was a large group of us that all hung around together at school. We were all different in some way, some of us less well off than others, some came from broken homes or were raised by grandparents, some had been bullied quite badly by other students, but we all respected and looked out for each other."
"That sounds nice," Selene said, biting into her sandwich.
"It was. Although, obviously , like any gang of people, there were those that were a little more popular than others. We all gravitated into our little niche within it and the two that turned out to be the natural leaders were your father and Al."
"Daddy knew Parker too?" This was surprising, it would have been nice to have seen how her father would have reacted to seeing his old friend again after so many years at her wedding. The thought sent a little spike of pain through her heart, it was yet another reminder that there was so much of her life that her Dad was missing out on.
"Oh yes, they grew up together, your father lived just down the street from Al's grandparents house and so they saw a lot of each other."
"Daddy never got involved with any of Parker's...shadier pastimes, did he?" Selene asked, the idea of her father doing anything criminal was almost laughable.
"Oh, heavens no. Your father was the classic good boy with a bad boy best friend. Rufus never agreed with the way that Al and his family did things and he was always trying to encourage him to leave the life, we all did."
"And I know he didn't," Selene sighed, "Penny has told me a little about his 'alleged' skills."
"No, he didn't. It was all he'd ever known, you see. His father and his grandfather were both in the business and they got him working with them as soon as they could, just as his grandfather had with his father. He was small, you see, and slender enough to get into places they couldn't , he was a valuable asset."
"That's awful," Selene gasped. "He was so young, he should have been watching cartoons and drinking milkshakes not-" she leaned closer to her mother to whisper, "breaking into people's houses."
"It wasn't just houses," Celia said, "it was businesses, hotels, cars, safes, anything that held something of value that they wanted or had been employed to steal. Anything was fair game, nothing was off limits."
Celia shook her head and sipped her tea again, making a face at the temperature. Selene beckoned to the server and requested a fresh pot along with a pot of coffee for herself.
"Al's father went to prison, caught on a job that thankfully Al had not been involved with, he stayed there until he died fifteen years later, a number of other crimes having been added to his sentence. His mother had left his father when he was three years old and I don't believe Al ever saw her again, so when his father was jailed he moved in with his grandparents full time. His grandfather was getting quite frail by then, so Al joined forces with a local gang as their locksmith in order to support the household."
Celia paused when the requested pot of tea was placed on the table, along with fresh cups, their old ones taken away. They busied themselves with pouring and doctoring their drinks before she continued her story.
"We had left school by then, although honestly in the last few years Al had been missing more and more of it. He was never a stupid man, he's actually very clever, but he called it street smarts rather than academic knowledge. Your father went on to do an apprenticeship with a landscaping firm where he discovered just how much he loved gardening."
Selene nodded, she had gotten her love of plants from her father, a lot of the ones on her rooftop garden had been grown and nurtured by her father and passed on to her over the years. Her father had been a lot more accepting of her religious beliefs than her mother had, and was always happy to source her the best quality herbs, plants, flowers and miniature trees for her needs.
"I got a job in a salon where we did all kinds of lovely treatments and hair cuts, it was so nice to talk to different people every day. As often happens, the friendship group drifted apart, except for me and Al."
"Were you one of the people that tried to help him?" Selene asked, dunking a perfectly made cookie into her coffee.
"Yes, not that it did much good. We had so many fallings out over it, so much so that I hated him at times," Celia sighed.
"Yet you still tried," Selene stated, knowing her mother and her need to help people. Her mother tended to adopt waifs and strays, she took people under her wing and she could easily imagine her doing the same for Parker.
"Yes, because I loved him."
Selene choked on her cookie and had to take a large gulp of coffee before she could stop coughing.
"You loved him?"
"Very much so and you never give up on the one you love, no matter how bad they can be. You know that well enough yourself," Celia speared Selene with a piercing look making sure she understood before she continued. "You remember I told you that I almost got married before your father?"
"Parker?" Selene spluttered, glad she had put down her coffee because it would have come out her nose.
Celia nodded, taking her time to sip her tea and nibble delicately on the corner of a shortbread, all the while ignoring the way her daughter goggled at her like she was seeing her for the first time.
Her mother's meaning had been clear, just as she had given Nathaniel chance after chance, so her mother had with Parker. She couldn't blame her for that, but she was beginning to gain a better understanding of her mother, more than she had ever thought she would.
"He had been caught again, but as he was no longer considered a youth offender he had to go to court. His solicitor fought for him, asking for his upbringing to be taken into account and he was given a suspended sentence. I supported him, I wanted to give him a reason to go straight. He promised me he would, he told me he was done with that life and that he wanted us to move away together, away from the area, away from the gang and away from temptation."
"When you told me you wanted to get married because you loved him and thought he might have to go away, I thought you meant he was in the army or something, not that he might be going to jail," Selene said quietly, unable to believe what her mum was telling her, it seemed so out of character for her. Celia was what Selene would affectionately call boring. She had always had very set views on things, she hadn't ever really approved of her childrens more outrageous hobbies and interests. She would have much preferred them to be what she perceived as normal, feeling they would have had a much easier time of growing up and life in general if they conformed a little more. Selene had never doubted that her mother loved her, but she had always known that she didn't understand her, but now she was getting an eye opening glimpse as to why.
"I did," Celia agreed. "I gave him an ultimatum, commit to me, commit to us and our future, to a house and children and a good life, or let me go. He had to go straight, stop putting his friends before everything else and put us first once and for all. He agreed. We found a place to live in a different town, away from the people he knew and we set a date. I wasn't anything fancy, I didn't need that, I had my best girlfriend and her boyfriend there as witnesses, we had barely any money as we were saving for the deposit of the house, so I wore a pretty summer dress that I bought online, there was a little damage to it but I managed to fix that, and I had a bunch of flowers that we picked up on the way to the registry office at the petrol station. The rings were cheap ones, silver, not even gold, but none of that mattered to me, because I was marrying the man I loved."
Selene nodded, she could understand that. She would have done exactly the same with John if it hadn't been for their families. Their wedding had been lovely and in the end, very them, but it was nothing like the extravagant one that her mother and Grandma Tracy had planned. All she and John had cared about was being together, the rest was simply window dressing.
"Why didn't you get married?" Selene asked gently, noticing the way that the hand in which her mother held her tea cup was shaking slightly. She hadn't wanted to upset her mum like this, but she also felt that, very much like herself and Nathaniel, talking about it might be hard but the benefits of sharing would far outweigh the bad of keeping it bundled up inside.
"He never turned up," Celia whispered, so low that Selene had to lean closer to hear her. "I waited for him for over an hour. I pleaded with the registrar to wait just a little bit longer, convinced that he was just running late, that he would be there."
"Why didn't he come?"
"He couldn't, he was sitting in a jail cell."
Selene saw a single tear roll down her mother's face, trembling on the end of her chin before Celia swiped it away angrily.
"I found out what had happened later, that he'd gone on a job and gotten caught. He told me recently that he knows he did wrong, but that he was so scared of failing me, that he had been talked into doing one last job. It was a big one but supposedly foolproof. A sure thing. He planned to take his earnings from it and use it to help fund our fresh start, instead it was the end of us." Celia shrugged her shoulders, like a bird ruffling its feathers, like she was physically pulling herself together. She sipped her tea, took a deep breath and then looked at her daughter.
"Parker was your first love and he let you down, he hurt you, just like mine did," Selene said, not a question, just the simple truth.
"Yes, he was, and you never forget your first love, you carry a part of them with you forever, good or bad."
Selene understood that. She was carrying a part of Nathaniel with her, no matter how much she tried to let it go. He haunted her, like a spectre in the corner of a room, like a monster that lived under your bed, ready to reach out a hand and grab your ankle as you ran past. And she hated it. She understood exactly how her mother had felt and how she was still feeling, knowing that she would still be struggling so much more with her own past if not for John. Thinking of John made her mind go in a different direction and without thinking she blurted it out.
"What about Daddy?"
"Your daddy was my best friend. He had always held a candle for me, but I never felt the same way about him. When Al was jailed and I was all alone, he knew I needed someone that would look after me-"
"Oh my gods," Selene yelped, dropping her head into her hands, "please, please don't tell me you were pregnant and I'm really Parker's daughter, I don't think my brain can cope with that!"
"Of course you aren't, don't be so ridiculous. I'm 58 years old, I had you when I was 28, I married your father when I was 23, you know that. So, unless I carried you for five years, which wouldn't surprise me with you, you wouldn't walk anywhere until you were two years old, you demanded to be carried, then you are very much your father's child."
"True," Selene admitted, "and fair. I made Virgil carry me to the kitchen the other day because I refused to move on my own."
"I'm not surprised in the slightest."
"Rude, you're my mother, you're supposed to be nice to me."
"Lying to your children never works out," Celia quipped, a small smile on her face. It was nice to see it, to hear the teasing tone in her mothers voice once again. Since her father's death her mother had grown colder, almost unapproachable and more inclined to lose her temper. She had never been great at holding her tongue and had always had a tendency to put her foot far into her mouth. Rufus had been the calming influence for her, much like John was to Selene and without him Celia had been lost.
"What happened next?" Selene asked, bringing them back to their conversation.
"Your father asked me, very seriously, what I actually wanted. I answered that I wanted a man I could rely on, one who wouldn't break my heart. Someone who loved me and would support me, laugh with me, cry with me and never let me down."
Well, she certainly got that, Selene thought to herself. She had always thought that her parents were a relatively healthy and happy couple, they had seemed to enjoy each other's company, they had laughed together, danced together, kissed and cuddled often whenever they had thought they were alone, in short they had seemed to still be very much in love. Had it all been an act?
"He promised me that he was that man and that, if I gave him a chance I'd never regret it. So I did, I took a leap of faith, I gave him a chance and he was right, I never did regret it."
"But you didn't love him? You didn't love Dad?"
"Of course I did. Your father was the most loving, gentle, kind and stable man I've ever known. Your John reminds me of him when he was younger. I married my best friend, and I would have been content with just that, but he really was the most wonderful man and pretty quickly I grew to love him as a wife should love her husband. We had you two kids and I got exactly what I was promised, a good man and a good husband. I was happy with your dad, I loved you dad, and losing him hurt more than I can put into words."
Selene found that she had been holding her breath, needing to hear that very answer, although she hadn't known how much until that moment. She slowly let the breath out. She didn't know why it had been so important to her that her parents had actually been in love, but it had. And she didn't want her mum to go the rest of her life without having that again.
"Parker is a good man, too," Selene said quietly fiddling with her teaspoon, not willing to risk looking up at her mum at that moment.
"I know he is, but I didn't need him then, I needed your father, and Al, well he needed to grow up."
"But do you need him now?"
Celia paused, obviously thinking about it. She nibbled a little more of her cake and sipped her tea, before she answered.
"Yes, I think I do. I may be getting on in years, but I'm not dead yet. I don't want to be alone for the rest of my life. I loved your father and he loved us, all he ever wanted to do, his entire life, was make us happy. Our happiness was all that he cared about and I'd like to think that that still applies. I think he'd like me to keep being happy as best I can."
"He would, you're right," Selene smiled, thinking fondly of her big, loveable bear of a father. She could practically smell his aftershave, could almost feel the way his arms would wrap around her from behind as he gave her a squeezy hug. She could so clearly recall the way he'd laugh so hard when she jumped, scared by his sudden appearance. He'd want her mum to do all she could to keep living life for the both of them. "Do you think Parker can make you happy?"
"I don't know," Celia answered honestly. "But that's life, full of the unknown. Let me ask you the same thing, when you met your John did you know he'd make you happy?"
Selene wanted to say yes, of course she had, because she now fully believed in love at first sight, in soul mates and destiny and all the other magical things that John had brought into her life. But her mum was talking to her like an adult, honest and open, sharing a part of herself in a way that she had never done before, she deserved to get the same back.
"No, but I hoped that he would," Selene finally answered.
"But it didn't stop you from wanting to try, did it?"
"No, it most certainly didn't."
"Al is my friend, a very dear friend, that I enjoy spending time with. He was my first love, he's now a changed man, but he wasn't my only love. And honestly, I don't know if I'll ever love him the same way again, or if at all. So, for now he's just a nice man, a friend that I have history with. Someone I know, that you know and someone that you and your boys trust. So I'm going to trust him too. I'm not making plans, I'm not looking towards any kind of future, I'm just going to enjoy the here and now with pleasant company. It is what it is, whatever it might turn into is unknown, so I'm just taking things as they come."
Selene nodded, totally understanding that. "OK, but if he hurts you Penelope will be needing a new chauffeur because I'll kill him myself."
"Noted."
"Thanks for telling me all of this, Mum. I'm glad you felt that you could share it with me."
"Well, you are my daughter," Celia answered, as if that said everything. Which in a way it did.
"I should probably get going soon," Selene said. She didn't want to go, not really, but she had a long drive back to the island and it would be the middle of the night by the time she got there. "Time zones suck."
"Yes, I suppose they do."
Selene got to her feet and Celia did the same. Usually all Celia allowed was a brief hug, lasting only a few seconds, and maybe a quick kiss on the cheek before she was pulling away, never one to be overly affectionate once her kids had gotten older, that had been Rufus's job. But this time, instead of allowing Selene to do the hugging she wrapped her arms tightly around her daughter, pulling her close to her chest in a way she hadn't done in years. Not since the day that Selene had turned up on their doorstep with her freshly dyed hair, a few shopping bags full of clothes and a busted lip.
"Look after yourself," Celia ordered.
"I will," Selene promised, "and make sure you do too. No running off anywhere with anyone but Parker and no leaving the house without your phone. John will be in touch soon about the modifications to your security system, don't chew his ear off and make him regret ever dialing your number."
"As if I would!" Celia gasped, feigning innocence as she sat back down. " I was telling Dawn just the other day how nice it would be to chat to that young man more often, although she is such a sweet girl and keeps me up to date on everything you get up to, so I shan't complain."
"I don't even know what to say to that and I'm very sure I should be worried," Selene laughed. "But I know better."
"As you should," Celia retorted. "Now you go on off home, I'm going to finish this pot before I head off myself."
"Bye, Mum," Selene said, swinging her giant bag up onto her shoulder. "Love you."
"Love you too," Celia smiled, watching as her daughter headed for the door.
-x-
As predicted it was very late, or early depending on how she looked at it, when Selene finally parked up her car and crept through the main house and up the stairs towards the sleeping quarters.
She was absolutely knackered after a long and rather emotional day, but she felt more at peace than she had done in a while. She hadn't realised how much the situation with Parker had been bothering her until she was facing it head on. It wasn't that she felt like he was replacing her father, she knew that no one could do that, but the fact that her mother hadn't told her had been hard to stomach, as had finding out the way she did. Although, she supposed, that was her just desserts for the way her parents had found out about John.
She was so tired, all she wanted to do was sleep, her eyes already drooping as she crept into the bedroom, not wanting to make any noise that might possibly wake other sleeping family members. She didn't bother to put the light on, knowing exactly where everything was in John's room, so it was a pleasant surprise to slip into bed after brushing her teeth to be greeted with the warm, welcoming body of her husband who had told her he'd be spending the night on Five.
She immediately snuggled closer, spooning against his back, her arms wrapped around his middle.
"How did it go?" he asked, his voice drowsy and sleep roughened.
"Better than I expected," she whispered, kissing his shoulder as she nuzzled her nose against his neck, settling with a contented sigh.
"That's good," he whispered back, sounding like he was already half asleep again.
"Yep," she sighed, running her hand down his arm to locate his hand, lacing their fingers as she so often did. She closed her eyes, breathing in his familiar, comforting scent, letting it lull her towards sleep. "In the morning I'll tell you all about how Parker might become my step dad and your new father-in-law."
"OK, you do that," he mumbled, taking almost a full minute before her words finally registered. "Hang on...Parker's what?"
He turned his head to look at his wife but the face that greeted him was already relaxed in sleep and he knew there was no chance she'd be waking up any time soon.
"Figures," he grumbled, laying back down and closing his eyes. He would definitely be having words with her come morning.