First I would like to begin with an apology. I received a complaint about the fact that when I update, they often appear with random lines/words/paragraphs in bold and some not. I'd like to apologise for it because I have absolutely no idea how to stop it! When I'm writing, it doesn't show up..it looks absolutely fine in my ! Though I've realised it happens with the sections that I copy and paste from one file to another (I have two word documents open at once, one with the story I'm writing, one with bits to add in that I've already written)... I will keep trying things to stop it, but if I don't succeed, please don't let it put you off reading!
Annnd on with the story...
-.-
"I don't think I've ever eaten popcorn for breakfast before..."
Connie said, raising her last piece of popcorn between her thumb and forefinger before placing it into her mouth.
"Grace's choice!"
Rita rested a hand briefly on Grace's shoulder as she moved about the dining table, collecting bowls as she went.
Connie smiled across at her daughter as Rita stacked the bowls up next to the sink and began to run the tap. Grace shifted in her seat and smiled back at her mother. She looked happy, and excited, she sat on her hands and wriggled about on her seat as though she were sitting on top of a secret that wouldn't keep still.
Connie slipped a hand across the table to her, her fingers running against the smooth wood until her hand reached half way. She recognised this excitable Grace from when she was younger, how she would wriggle about uncontrollably on Christmas mornings, or before opening her presents on her birthdays...
"Thank you sweetheart."
She said quietly, and Grace's smile expanded into a grin and the little girl gave a quick glance to Rita who was rinsing the bowls, the backs of her hands glittering with bubbles, her arms moving back and forth quickly as she washed them up.
"Can we give her her cards now?"
She asked, unable to hold the words back any longer.
Connie saw the rise of Rita's cheek from where her head was bowed over the sink. She raised her hands and shook them free of excess water before reaching for the tea towel that hung over the rail at the front of the oven, drying her hands before answering.
"Go on then."
She smiled, a wide smile that crept across her lips, the most exquisite smile, veiled by memory, tinged by dreams.
Grace clattered from her seat immediately, her dark hair fluttering at her back as she bounded from the room, her bare feet slapping against the tiled floor of the hallway, disappearing into the sitting room.
Rita flicked on the kettle and set the coffee machine to begin grinding again before turning and positioning herself behind the chair where Connie sat. She slipped her hands across the other woman's shoulders, rubbing them gently, running her thumbs up and down the soft warm skin of Connie's neck making her sigh and lean back into the touch.
"Making yourself at home?"
Connie murmured, tilting back her head so that she could look up at Rita, watching the flicker of apprehension pass behind her eyes and feeling the pause of her hands on her shoulders.
She smiled and reached up to place a hand over Rita's.
"It makes me happy."
She added, and a fluttered smile of relief curled the corners of the other woman's lips.
"You make me happy."
She added, her voice low, but Rita had no time to respond as Grace's footsteps sounded again in the hallway, and as she stepped back from Connie, letting her hands fall back to her sides Grace appeared, her cheeks flushed and her eyes bright.
She did a half-skip, artfully manoeuvring around the corner of the kitchen table before coming to an abrupt stop in front of her mother, her hands behind her back.
"Close your eyes and open your hands."
She said, her eyes flashing.
"Oh-kay..."
Connie murmured warily and closed her eyes as she held out both hands together. She heard the rustle of paper against paper and then felt the feather light touch of something cool and smooth against her palms.
"Open them!"
Grace clapped her hands together and Connie opened her eyes, blinking to adjust to the light again and lowering her hands to her lap. Two cards were folded into make-shift envelopes and a little round package wrapped in white paper decorated with tiny pink flowers drawn in felt tip and tied up with one of Grace's pink hair ribbons.
She made to pick up the first card with Grace's hand writing on the front but Grace's hands were on her all of a sudden and she pushed the little package into her hands.
"This one first!"
She announced, folding her mothers fingers about the paper before dancing about on tip toes, watching without blinking as Connie loosened the ribbon and unfolded the beautifully decorated paper.
She paused as she glanced inside, tiny glass beads, all different shades of grey, were threaded onto a thin piece of elastic. She ran her fingertips against them before raising it from the paper, surprised to find it fell into two bits, a bracelet, which she held, and a longer necklace made from the same beads, only one pale pink bead in each.
"Grace...!"
She glanced from the beads to her daughter, suddenly far more emotional than she had imagined she would be. She could feel the prick of tears at the corners of her eyes and she had to clear her throat twice in order to say any more.
"They're beautiful!"
"I made them!"
Grace said quickly, her pride evident on her face.
Connie rolled up the sleeve of her jumper and gently arranged the bracelet on her wrist, twisting it so that the pink bead showed at the front.
"I did it all in grey because you like grey, but I put a pink one in them both because they're from me."
Grace explained, watching as her mother touched the tips of her fingers against the pink bead surrounded by the glittering grey of the others.
Connie smiled though she blinked against tears and quickly lowered her gaze to the necklace, bringing it up to slip gently over her hair so that it hung about her throat, the pink bead resting in the dip of her collar bone.
"Thank you."
She whispered, her voice barely sounding and Grace looked up at her in alarm.
"Why are you crying?"
She asked, her eyes growing wide. She had meant for the gifts to make her mother happy, but instead she had made her cry.
Rita reached out for her and placed a hand softly against the top of her head, ruffling her hair as she leant down closer to the little girl.
"Your mum's just a bit overwhelmed."
She said softly, casting a glance over at Connie, her eyes glittering with a smile that seemed never to fade.
"She's happy though, aren't you, dear?"
She asked, and Connie couldn't help but laugh at Rita's tongue-in-cheek use of the word 'dear'. She gave a slight nod of her head and reached out again to Grace who took her hand.
"Yes."
She said.
"I couldn't be happier."
-.-
Hello everyone, I will update again this evening. Hope you enjoyed this last update – please let me know what you think, as usual :)
C: Don't worry, though this story has a long way to go as yet, I will finish it :)
LittleBooLost: Your review made me smile! I'm glad reading this makes YOU smile! Your mum would be surprised...!
Lollyblanc: Thank you so much!
Danielle888: Grace will find out at the end of Connie's birthday...you'll have to wait and see how she reacts! :)
xxx