Chapter 47 - Life

Lucy stretched one way and then the other. It had been a long day, and as she walked inside her home and listened to the sound of her family chattering around the dinner table, she couldn’t help but smile to herself. How far she had come; they had all come.

“Hey you, I didn’t think you’d be home this early,” Nicole said from behind her. She placed a kiss on her cheek and continued on her way from the kitchen to the dining table. The smell that wafted up from the lasagna she was carrying had Lucy trotting after her instantly.

“Got done early. Mostly just waiting on the architects getting back with the new design. I’ve done the patch-up job for now.”

Lucy took a seat at the table next to Storm. “Alright, you all had a good day?” she asked the kids, looking at each one around the table in turn. One by one they nodded. A chorus of “yep,” “yes,” and “yeah” erupted.

“We gonna play out later,” Summer announced, stuffing garlic bread into their mouth.

“Right, well not too late. It’s getting dark earlier now, and colder,” Nicole answered as she served up portions of lasagna. When it was Lucy’s turn, she carefully plated the food and asked, “So, did you get back to Gavin?”

Lucy nodded as she chewed quickly on the garlic bread she had shoved into her own mouth. “Hm-hm.” She swallowed quickly and wiped her face on the back of her hand. “I did. We came to an arrangement.” She grinned, picking up her fork. “I am starving, and this smells, and looks, delicious.”

“Mom’s a good cook,” Rain said before pushing her fork into her dinner and eating it, a ring of tomato sauce already around her mouth.

“Thank you, Rain,” beamed a proud Nicole as she took her own seat at the table. “I’m glad that you like it.”

“I love it. It’s my favorite dinner. Can we have it every night?”

Lucy laughed. “You’d soon get bored of it then.”

Rain shook her head, blonde hair flipping around her face. “Nope, nah uh, I love it.” And to prove the point, she pushed another forkful into her mouth and chewed.

“I was thinking, later, that we could take Pippa up on her offer,” Nicole said to Lucy as the kids began to talk amongst themselves.

Lucy slowly looked around the table, before her eyes landed back on her wife and were held there. “You know, you are beautiful,” she said before Nicole could utter another word. She watched as the blush crept up her neck and filled her cheeks.

“With you, I always feel beautiful.” Nicole smiled. “So, I was thinking, we should ask Pippa to babysit and maybe we could go out and celebrate?”

“Celebrate what?” Storm asked. The kid had an unnerving knack of looking completely uninterested, or occupied, and still being able to eavesdrop on a conversation.

“Grown-up stuff,” Lucy answered before Nicole felt the need to blurt it all out. Turning back to Nicole, she said, “I think that’s a great idea.”

“Great, I’ll call after dinner and see if she is free.”