Shelagh knocked on the door and stepped back so that she had her two boys next to her.
"Oh my dear Shelagh!" Julienne said with teary eyes as she swung the door open, Shelagh smiled lovingly and stepped into her arms accepting her warm hug.
Shelagh gently pulled out of the hug and turned round to face the boys, she held her hand out gesturing for them to step closer.
"Mum, dad. Meet Patrick and his son Timothy" Shelagh said with a somewhat proud tone.
"It's lovely to meet you" Patrick held his hand out. Peter shook Patrick's hand, whilst giving him a warning look.
"It's about time we met you, Shelagh has mentioned you many times" Julienne said as she pulled him into a welcoming hug, "Now come in out of the cold and make yourselves welcome. Timothy why don't you watch some TV while I talk to your dad and Shelagh? It's in the first room on the left" Timothy nodded and handed his dad his bag before walking off.
"I had planned on letting you stay in Shelagh's old room, but with the three of you that may be rather tight" Julienne admitted with a half smile. Shelagh looked up at Patrick and cleared her throat - she had forgotten that part.
"Oh uh, that won't be necessary mum. We'll stay at a hotel" Shelagh suggested, Patrick nodded at her response.
"Perfect! Now why don't you show Patrick around whilst your mother and I get dinner ready?" Peter asked, glad that his daughter couldn't do anything untoward in his house. Shelagh nodded and signaled for Patrick to follow her upstairs.
She led him to her childhood room and shut the door behind them before walking over to her bed. Shelagh sighed as she collapsed on her bed.
"I am so sorry I have dragged you into this" Shelagh muttered.
"Don't be" Patrick said with a reassuring smile.
Looking around her room Patrick chuckled softly to himself, Shelagh sat up in her bed and leant against the head board and watched him with a raised brow.
"What are you laughing at?" She asked as she saw his eyes dart around the room.
"Nothing really. It's just your room is exactly how I pictured it" He shrugged as he walked towards her bed and sat down besides her.
"Patrick I was twenty two when I last lived in here, that was only eight years ago I haven't exactly changed that much since" Shelagh pointed out.
"Now come on, go watch TV with Tim. I'll book us a hotel room then come join you" She added as she nudged Patrick off the bed.
"Yes darling" Patrick joked making Shelagh roll her eyes. Chuckling to himself Patrick left her room and shut the bedroom door behind him and made his way downstairs.
"Watching anything good Tim?" He asked as he entered the living room and saw Timothy sitting in the arm chair closest to the Tele.
"I'm watching a documentary on the history of medicine" Timothy stated proudly. Patrick smiled, Timothy really did take after him.
Patrick sat on the sofa opposite from Tim and pulled his phone out to scroll through social media.
As he did so Shelagh had snuck into the room to join them.
Sitting down beside Patrick she reached for the blanket on the foot stool and draped it over their legs.
Patrick looked up from his phone and and smiled as he saw she had let her hair down from the ponytail it had been in all day.
"Did you get a room?" Patrick asked quietly so that he wouldn't distract Tim from the TV.
"I've booked us a double room at the city centre hotel" Shelagh answered before nodding towards Tim and whispering, "what's he watching?"
"The history of medicine" Patrick smirked making Shelagh giggle.
"Sometimes I forget how similar you two are" Shelagh confessed.
Later that evening they were all sat around the dinner table chatting having just eaten a roast.
"So Patrick, what made you decide to ask Shelagh out?" Peter asked as he topped up the wine glasses. Patrick fumbled for a moment before looking to Shelagh.
"I don't know if I can pin point it exactly sir but I suppose it was during the summer fate. Tim and I were due to run the three legged race but I got called to an emergency half hour before, I tried my hardest to get back in time but I couldn't" Patrick paused to give Tim a smile, to this day he felt bad for not being there.
"As I ran to the field where the race was taking place I could hear the nurses shouting for Tim and someone else, it wasn't until I got closer that I realised it was Shelagh. That's when I realised how lucky I was to have her, not only was she kind and caring to me, she also cared for and loved Timothy" Patrick said softly before clearing his throat.
Patrick had never told anyone about that day, the day he fell head over heels in love with her. He felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. For months he had wished to tell her of how he felt, and he was glad he had said it today, even if she didn't know the real truth to it.
"I must say Shelagh, you three really are prefect together" Julienne said with a loving smile.
"I'd be lost without them" Shelagh confessed as she looked at her two boys.
"Would any of you like desert?" Julienne asked as she started to stack the empty dinner plates.
"No thank you mum, why don't I help you wash up then we'll make a move?" Shelagh offered as she noticed the time.
"Don't be silly, you're our guest this week. Go to the hotel and get some rest, we'll see you tomorrow".