Author's notes: First of all, thanks to all of you for the amazing reviews, they were really appreciated and they represent the best encouragement for a writer (well, a sort of writer…). This was supposed to be the final chapter but I realized that the story is still incomplete so I'll go with a further one.
And thanks to Osage for helping with this chapter: you are the most incredible beta I could ever dream to work with!
It was just a dinner. Nothing more. Just a dinner. The kids, herself… and Will. Alicia kept repeating to herself that everything would be fine and it was just a dinner. After giving the pasta a quick check, she inspected the table, flattening a wrinkle from the cloth atop it. She wanted everything to be perfect. She kept on checking every single detail, trying not to think about it. But she was scared. It was the first "official" dinner and she was not quite sure how it would end. Both Grace and Zach seemed to have accepted her new relationship but Alicia knew that it wasn't that easy.
It's one thing to accept that your mother has decided to move on with her life, but it's a totally different story when you're expected to interact with somebody who is taking your father's place in her life.
She was afraid of their impressions, afraid they might not like him or get along. She was going to turn their lives upside down once again by letting someone new into their lives. And once he was in, it would be very hard to step back if something were to go wrong. This thought was scaring her even more, she started to wonder if she was doing the right thing, so many things were worrying her when Zach snapped her from her thoughts.
"Mom, the bell rang… want me to get it?" Zach asked placing two glasses on the table.
Alicia looked at her son, suddenly brought back to reality. "No, I got it, thanks." She gave one last look at the table and went to open the door, as the bell rang again.
It was just a dinner. Nothing more. Just a dinner. Alicia, himself…and the kids. Will kept repeating to himself that everything would be fine, that it was just a dinner, as the elevator was riding up to her apartment floor. He wanted everything to be perfect. He kept on repeating in his mind all the possible topics for discussion. He was scared. It was the first "official" dinner and he wanted to impress them. In a good way. He knew it wasn't easy for them, seeing their mother move on with someone who wasn't their father, someone they really didn't know. Alicia's words about Zach and Grace were still echoing in his mind, they had been through a lot over the last years and thinking about the possible negative consequences of his relationship with Alicia suddenly made him feel selfish and uncomfortable. What if something was to go wrong between them? What if they had the illusion of a new family and see it break down again? So many things were worrying him, when the ding of the elevator snapped him from his thoughts. He stepped out, heading to the front door of Alicia's apartment and stood there for a moment. "It's just a dinner" he repeated to himself one last time before ringing the doorbell. Now there was officially no turning back.
Alicia opened the door. Will was standing there, a nervous smile, a bottle of good wine in one hand and a package in the other.
"Hey," she said. She was nervous and could easily see that Will felt the same way.
"Hey," he replied. He leaned forward to kiss her then suddenly stepped back after seeing Zach peeping out from the kitchen. "I brought some wine, then I thought the kids might not appreciate it, so I brought a cheesecake too."
Alicia laughed. "Cheesecake is good, come in." She stepped aside to let him in. "Zach, Grace, can you come here?" she called out while taking the wine and cake from Will's hands and place them on the cupboard.
Zach was the first to approach, he made a slight wave at him from the kitchen door then got closer. "Hi", he said lightly. Alicia could sense their uneasiness. She remembered their first meeting at the firm and could easily understand why, despite having already met more than once, having Will over for dinner was probably awkward for both.
"Hi Zach, nice to see you again," Will replied.
Grace was staring from the room. It was the first time she met him, all she knew about him was that he went to school with her mother. She took a couple of steps towards the living room, still looking at him.
Alicia gave her a reassuring smile. "Grace, this is Will. Will, this is Grace."
"Hi." Grace got a little closer.
"Hi Grace, nice to meet you," Will said. He sounded so genuine and for a moment the dinner didn't sound so scary anymore.
Grace smiled. Alicia couldn't help but think that the most difficult part was still to come, as she took the coat from Will before they all headed in the kitchen.
The silence was a clear reflection of the tension in the room. All the good topics Will had in his mind didn't seem appropriate, he didn't know anything about them and had no idea what to discuss. All the attempts from Alicia's side to start a decent conversation were falling through the air. School, electronics, she was trying everything but the interaction was close to zero. This dinner was a total failure.
"So you went to school with mom?" Zach's question came out of nowhere.
Will looked at him and smiled. That question brought back a lot of memories, including their first dinner two years ago, when they had pizza and beer in Alicia's office remembering old times. "Yes, back in Georgetown." He looked at Alicia and smiled at her.
"How was she?" Zach asked, the pasta on his plate forgotten as he looked to them with amused attention.
Alicia gave Zack a serious look. "Ok, we are not going there, are we?"
Zach laughed. "Why not? You got some deep dark secret?"
Will looked down and tried not to laugh. "Oh, yes she has so many you wouldn't believe," Will said, smiling as he looked at Zach.
"Really?" He could practically see Zach picturing his mom being all cool, drinking and partying every night. Will couldn't help but laugh at Alicia's worried expression.
"No, not really… I'm sorry," He said with a smile, "but she was amazing, one the best students and one of the most gorgeous girls in school."
Grace was smiling, she still looked slightly uncomfortable, but seemed interested in hearing the stories of her mom's youth.
"Nahhh, he's lying, I was neither the best or the most gorgeous," Alicia said.
"You were the most gorgeous and I know you were because I saw your pictures in the college yearbook." This was the first complete sentence coming from Grace in the whole evening.
"You still have it?" Will was both shocked and curious. Alicia raised an eyebrow, then gave him a horrified look.
"No no no, don't even think about it!" Alicia warned, but Grace was already up and leaving for the guest room. "Grace, don't!"
Will was laughing. "Oh, come on! It's fun!" He couldn't believe that her kids were teaming up with him, it was priceless. He caught another one of Alicia's worried looks as the dinner started to turn against her.
Grace was back a couple of minutes later, yearbook in hand. She placed it right in front of Will, who stared for a moment at the cover before starting to flip through the class pages.
"Oh my God, it's like being brought back of 20 years in time." There were so many faces, some of them were familiar, some others he couldn't remember. Then his gaze stopped on the picture of a girl with long dark hair. She was smiling lightly and dressed in a simple white shirt. She looked so good, even in something so simple. And he still couldn't believe that now, years later, that girl was sitting right in front of him. And she was finally his. "And here you are..."
"That picture is awful," Alicia said, trying unsuccessfully to grab the yearbook from Will's hands. Will gave her an amused look, seeing how embarrassed she looked.
"No, it's beautiful, you were beautiful." He looked at her for a moment. "I mean… you still are…" They smiled at each other for a moment.
Zach pointed at a picture of the same girl busy in a tennis match. "Did you play tennis at school?"
Alicia smiled at her son, "Yes I did!"
"And she was a very good player!" Will added, remembering all the trophies lined up on the bookshelf of her dorm back at school.
"Genes don't lie, Zach is a great player too." Alicia pointed out with a proud look.
"Really?" Will looked at him.
"Yes, I won the school competition last year, and I'm a huge Federer fan. Dad brought me to the US Open few years ago, I got his ball signed." Zach said, with more than a hint of pride.
"Wow, that's cool, can I see it?" Will asked.
"Sure!" Zach replied, already heading for his room.
Will and Alicia exchanged a surprised and satisfied look before Will got up and followed Zach in his room.
Sports. How could she have missed that? What other than sports could two guys bond over? She could hear them talking about Chicago Cubs and Will's pitcher years in Zach's room and smiled in happiness. They were getting along so well that she couldn't believe it.
Grace was still looking at the yearbook. She pointed at a picture of a guy playing baseball. "Is that Will?"
She smiled at the memory of those times. "Yes, that's him."
She loved to sneak into his matches uninvited. He was a great pitcher and he loved to impress her whenever she was around. Alicia gave a look at her daughter. "You're being quiet." She bit her lips, not knowing if it was a good or bad sign.
Grace paused than looked at her mother. "He's not bad… I think I like him."
Alicia studied her daughter, she knew that it was hard for her but that Grace loved her enough to accept this change. "I know it's not easy for you… and I know it will take a while for all of us to adjust to this new situation. You are strong, stronger than I was when my parents divorced. And I love you. Don't ever forget that, ok?"
"I love you too, mom." Alicia hugged her, then stood up and started clearing away, leaving Grace still absorbed in the yearbook.
Alicia realized that Will and Zach's conversation was becoming longer than expected, as she heard them discussing the latest Coldplay's CD… She smiled, concluding that the dinner wasn't a total disaster after all.