"Are you sure that you and Joe don't mind taking her for the week?" she heard Stephanie ask her, as she took the kettle off the stove. She smiled and turned to Stephanie, having poured the both of them a cup of warm chamomile tea. Setting the cups on the table, she pulled a chair out for herself and sat down.
"Steph, you know you don't need to ask that. Ever. Charlotte's always welcome; we love having her." Charlotte was her step-daughter, having married Joe two years ago. She and Stephanie had formed a very close bond with one another, even though there was a little animosity between the two of them, when their relationship had first started. Stephanie had blamed Remi, at first, for the demise of her marriage. However, after the divorce process was done and over, she discovered that no one was at fault. Things just were not the same as when her and Joe had first gotten married.
"Is Joe coming home today or tomorrow?" Stephanie asked her, before she took a sip of the tea. The two of them were looking out the window at Charlotte, who was playing outside in the snow. With a laugh, when the young girl tripped over her own footing and fell into the snow, she shook her head and turned to face Stephanie.
"He's supposed to come home today, but you know how that works out sometimes. His last job kept him gone for longer than this time, but 5 days is still a pretty long ass time," she explained, drinking some of her tea and hearing one of the doors from upstairs close. She knew who it was and was a little concerned about how he was feeling. As she looked at Stephanie, she saw the look of understanding on her face and gave her a small smile. Not even moments later, both of them watched as Linden Braven came into the kitchen/dining space, with a confused look on his face.
"Hey, dad," Stephanie welcomed, as she went over and gave him a hug. Remi had grown accustomed to hearing her call him 'dad', so it no longer bothered her. She had never called Linden that, but he knew that she loved him; it was always apparent in her actions and words. Finishing off her tea, Remi stood up and gave Linden's shoulder a slight squeeze as she passed by him, to go to the sink. As she washed the teacup, she could hear Linden mentioning that he wanted to put the Christmas lights up on the house, causing her to turn to the two.
"The lights are in the garage, but I think you should wait for Joe. He would want to help you put them up," she told him, not wanting him to do it by himself. She knew he was capable, but with his onset dementia, she didn't want anything bad to happen to him. The minute she finished that sentence, she could hear the familiar voice of the man she fell in love with. He was finally home.