London, England

December 21 1991

They'd had a good day and he hated that it couldn't always be like this. His daddy had been friendly and his mama had been receptive to that friendliness. Shopping, looking at the lights, and exploring the festive events in town had been fun and he wished they had longer to spend together, but they didn't.

"You'll like the restaurant. John Ross knows where to go, don't you?"

"Yes mama."

Standing where they'd agreed to meet earlier, in what had to be the most boring area of the department store, women's cosmetics, his mama had his full attention because there certainly wasn't anything interesting to look at there.

"We can't tempt you to stay?"

Making no secret of his desire to spend more time with her, his daddy asked a futile question.

Smiling, his mama looked at her watch again and apologised. "I would like to but it's almost six o'clock."

She and Don often had events to attend together, dinner parties, drinks, screenings, wrap parties, all sorts of things called for a celebration in Don's social life and the holidays were no different. Tonight it was a Christmas party, one she couldn't miss, even if she was having fun with him and his daddy.

"You don't have to be there until eight, really nine."

Trying again to sway her, his daddy elicited a smirk from his mama.

"Exactly."

"Daddy, mama's always taken a long time to get ready."

Explaining, he finally understood what was going on between his parents when his daddy complimented her again and this time she blushed.

"That she has son, but it's all worth it in the end."

Seemingly flattered, there was far more nonverbal communication between the two than there was verbal. His parents weren't married anymore, they weren't together, and there had been plenty of times where they'd voiced their frustrations with each other, but now, now they were flirting.

"We'll see you out."

With a hand on her lower back, his daddy ushered her out of the building onto Oxford Street, leaving her side only briefly to flag down a taxi.

Saying goodbye to his mama, he watched interestedly as his daddy did the same. There was no kiss on the lips, but she allowed a kiss on the cheek, one that seemed to linger for longer than necessary.

Watching as the taxi drove away down the busy street, he wasn't surprised by what his daddy had to say following their afternoon.

"I hope that Lockwood fellow appreciates what he has."

It was obvious, his daddy still cared and in fact, he was envious, he wanted what Don now had.

"I think he does, more than you did."

"Now son…"

"Daddy, just think about it."

Not afraid anymore, he set his daddy straight about his past behaviour. He'd had his chance, they'd been married twice, and now divorced twice, it wasn't as if she'd never given him the opportunity to do right by her, to appreciate her.

"You don't know what you have until it's gone."

"I don't think that's a lesson Don needs to learn."

"Boy, what is it you're trying to say?"

"If you're here for mama, you've got a challenge on your hands."

He lived with his mama and Don and had seen enough of their relationship to know that they weren't anywhere near a divorce, so if his daddy was to have a chance then he'd need to do more than just expect to charm her, he needed to show her why he was a better option for her than Don was.

"Do you think I'm just here for your mama?"

Realising his daddy had misinterpreted what he was saying and thought he was upset by the obvious, he shook his head and clarified his point. "No, I know you're here for me, but I've seen the way you look at her."

"You're right", agreeing, he was quiet for a second and then asked, almost bashfully, "so, you really think it's that close between the Englishman and me?"

Considering it, he had to answer honestly, he'd been asked for his honest opinion.

"The happiest I've ever seen mama is with you, but the most upset I've ever seen her is also with you. With Don, there's none of that. She's even-tempered and I think she values that."

"Do you think she loves him?"

Thinking again, he found the question more difficult to answer. His mama said she loved Don and they were definitely affectionate, and she'd said she'd loved his daddy, and his daddy had reciprocated, but having never loved anyone the way adults did he couldn't definitively say what was love and what wasn't.

"Can you love more than one person?"

Curious, he needed more information to answer the initial question.

"Romantically?"

"Yeah."

"I hate to say it because I know where you're going with this but yes, I think you can."

Assuming the most obvious answer was correct, that what his mama said was the truth, he concluded, "then yes, I think mama loves Don."

"Oh."

Visibly dejected, his daddy didn't really have anyone but himself to blame for the situation he was in.

"She might have still been yours to love and the one she gives her love to if you hadn't treated her so poorly."

"John Ross."

Gruff, his tone wasn't as much of a warning as he probably thought it was.

"No. You can't treat people you love like you did. You should have learned. Mama left, Cally left, I left. Who else needs to go before you ask yourself why everyone is leaving?"

He'd been hurt before, he'd seen his mama hurt before and he didn't want either of them to feel that way again. He wanted a complete family but not at the expense of any of their happiness.

Appearing to hear and actually listen to what he was saying his daddy was quiet for a few moments, although the crowds of people streaming past them on the sidewalk were far from silent.

"When did you become so mature?"

"When you started comparing me to James."

Answering the question honestly, seeing how it made his daddy's face fall it didn't take him long to realise how much his comment had hurt his feelings. It was the truth, but it wasn't nice to hear.

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you."

Accepting the apology, he was careful not to tell him it was ok, because it wasn't. He'd been hurt by what had happened with James and his daddy deserved to be reminded of that.

"Why don't we discuss this over dinner?"

"I'd like that."

"Lead the way."

It was going to take a long time for things to feel normal and fine again, but he was prepared to try, and being treated like an equal in things like their plans was a good start.