"So..."

It was Phil's turn to speak. He leaned forward in his chair, arms resting on his thighs, his cup held between his knees.

"The three of you will be living here? We'll have to come and visit over Christmas, bring something for Grace."

He smiled as he spoke, and for the first time Connie realised that he was genuinely trying...for his daughters sake. She shifted in her seat, she had no idea whether Grace would be with her for Christmas, and even less of an idea of how to tell them that.

"Yes. Well..."

She cleared her throat, raising a hand to just touch her fingertips against her lips. She felt them tremble. She swallowed.

"We're not entirely sure where Grace will be for Christmas. She might be with her father..."

"Oh, where does he live?"

Alice asked, distracted as she tugged at a lose thread of her jumper that she hadn't noticed before.

"New York. Grace spends most of her time with her father in New York."

Connie answered, her voice was quiet and strained and she shifted again in her seat. She crossed her legs, and almost immediately wished she hadn't. She caught Rita's eye across the room, dark and wide and there was a tension about her mouth that made her look older than she was.

"She doesn't live here with you?"

Alice asked, missing a beat. Her expression had changed to one Connie found unreadable. She tried to smile but a twitch of her lips was all she managed.

"No, not at the moment."

Connie glanced down to where she clasped her hands in her lap.

"It's complicated..."

Rita said suddenly, anxious to fill the widening silence, anxious to make things better, to stop things from nose diving so quickly.

Phil looked to his wife, leaning back again in his chair. He looked, in that moment, liked an aged version of his daughter. At first his eyes were cast to the floor and then he seemed suddenly to realise that he had something to say. He lifted his head. His face had the same structure as Rita's, high cheekbones and perfectly symmetrical. He had the same deep brown eyes and straight nose, and around his eyes were laughter lines in just the right amount. She supposed that he was often happy, but at that moment he was deadly serious.

"Well, whatever arrangement you have with Mr Beauchamp is your business, but..."

"Oh he's not..."

Connie faltered, realising she had cut him off without meaning to.

"Grace's father is not Mr Beauchamp."

She murmured, registering his confusion before she glanced away again. She couldn't help but catch Ali's eye as she shifted her gaze, an amused look laced behind his eyes, a smile hidden behind the purse of his lips...

"Grace's father, Sam, Sam Strachen, he and I, we were...never really together, we were just..."

"A one night stand?"

Ali asked, cutting in. She looked up, one eyebrow raised.

"Yes."

She said quietly.

"So you gave Grace another man's name...?"

Phil asked, speaking just slow enough so that Connie realised how ridiculous she was beginning to appear.

"Yes...well, my name."

"And yet you weren't the one looking after her?"

"Why did you keep his name?"

Both Alice and Phil spoke at once, but their gazes remained on Connie and Connie alone. Rita tensed visibly and Ali placed a hand upon her shoulder, a small offering of support in the silence.

"Well, I was..."

Rita cleared her throat, causing Connie to pause.

"Grace is just spending some time with her father, to see how things work out. Connie has so much responsibility at work...she's-"

"I'm sorry Rita, but it sounds as though Connie has responsibilities at home that should be put before work!"

Phil paused, looking pointedly at Connie.

"Too busy for your own daughter?!"

He asked incredulously.

Both Connie and Rita fell silent.

"I always thought you wanted to have children, Rita?"

Alice asked, turning to her daughter, the thought clearly having just dawned on her that perhaps she had been expecting something that would never happen...Rita's eyes widened, her lips forming a perfect 'O'.

"Well! There are, there are ways..."

Rita looked at Connie.

"We haven't really discussed..."

"Well don't you think you should?! I'm sorry Rita but don't you think you should at least be thinking of the future?"

Alice's voice was rising, she was sitting forward in her seat, her hands placed rigidly upon her knees.

All at once Ali moved. There was the creak of the arm chair and he stood up, his presence seeming to fill the room, to shift the energy...

"Connie!"

He looked directly at her.

"Did I hear you were making us lunch today? Can I help you with anything in the kitchen?"

His words took her off guard, and for a moment she paused, glancing about the room, unsure as to what she should do.

"I think we could all do with something to eat after such a long drive..."

He added, more firmly this time.

Connie stood slowly, arms limp at her sides, defeated. As she stood she felt the tension creep within the muscles of her back – stiff and solid, and she had to force herself to stand to her full height.

He gave a tilt of his head and with that she followed him into the kitchen, reaching out as she passed by Rita, just touching the other woman's hand as she moved by, squeezing gently and feeling her squeeze back...

Once in the kitchen she allowed herself to exhale. She was glad to have been interrupted, to have been taken away to the safety of the kitchen, where the air was cooler.

She splayed her hands on the kitchen table, with its vase of scarlet roses and empty glasses glittering in the soft light.

"Dear God this is doing wonders for my self esteem..."

She whispered as she leant against the table, dipping her head, closing her eyes. She heard the squeak of Ali's shoes as he stopped just behind her.

"If its any consolation, I like you much more than I thought I was going to."

He whispered, and she raised her head again, just enough so that she could look back at him with raised eyebrows.

"Not like that! I'm not hitting on you, don't be so suspicious. I'm just saying that you're human. We all do stupid things, half of which don't make sense...that's why we don't analyse them like you've just had to...because then we'd realise that we're all fucking lunatics."

She smiled at his words despite herself, but just as she was about to reply, the doorbell sounded from the hall...

-.-

Apologies for the delay, I seem to have caught some odd flu-like virus from my son. Hooray!

I hope this update is OK! Reviews welcomed as always. Can anyone guess who is at the door? :) xxx