Torn

The mother-in-law

Anaya was sat on the floor playing with the cuddly meerkats that Seb had bought her during a trip to the zoo yesterday. The little girl was oblivious to the tension between her parents and Seb was grateful to Nevaeh for that. Yesterday Anaya had had a whale of a time, running from enclosure to enclosure, sitting on her dad's shoulders when she wasn't quite tall enough to see in and laughing hysterically when he'd lifted her up enough for her poke her finger up the nose of a bronze statue of a gorilla. Anaya had made her parents smile and laugh while walking together, something that hadn't happened for a long time. They'd taken silly photos of each other on their phones and Seb had taken loads of his daughter and one or two of Neev while she hadn't been looking. They'd sat in a restaurant eating burgers, eaten ice creams and even candy floss, basically he'd eaten everything that he shouldn't during a Formula One season but to him it didn't matter. All that mattered was spending time with his daughter, seeing her happy and enjoying herself and seeing Nevaeh with a smile on her face too. It had given him a precious insight in to what life could be like as a family of three and it made him want it even more. He wondered if Neev had seen that too, if the day had gone at least a small way to showing her that he'd changed. Yesterday had been like the previous night had never happened and it had left Seb with a strange sense of unease at the end of the day, like they were both trying hard not acknowledge it.

Now it was Saturday, Nevaeh had other things on her mind as well as her first night here, like the imminent arrival of Seb's parents - Anaya's grandparents. Heike wasn't even here yet and already Neev could see the disapproving face of her ex mother-in-law. She was already prepared for the catty remarks in German that she wouldn't be able to understand, the death glares and the inevitable questions. Her stomach churned and fiddled with her fingers in her lap, she felt like she was sat waiting to be seen by a head teacher at school, waiting to be punished and she was back to keeping to Seb firmly at arms length.

While she made the effort to smile and talk to him whenever Anaya was included, she'd barely spoken to him the rest of the time. But for Seb, he too had other things on his mind besides Thursday night and his parent's visit. He was seriously considering making this season his last with Ferrari. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't got too many people he could talk to about it. He couldn't mention it to his parents because he knew they'd disapprove of him leaving a team like Ferrari just because he wanted to get back with his ex. In fact they'd be dead against him getting back with Nevaeh full stop. He couldn't talk to Britta because he didn't want her worrying about his future in F1 and her job and he couldn't talk to anyone in Ferrari for obvious reasons. That only left Antti, his PT and he couldn't talk to him while Neev was here. Still deep in thought he shifted his gaze from his daughter to his ex, she looked like she'd rather be anywhere but here and her body language screamed nerves. "I won't let them say anything nasty to you." He spoke up, wanting to try and reassure her.

Her eyes flickered up from where her hands were wringing the skirt of her blue and terracotta, floral printed boho dress. "You can try." She muttered back dryly; although Heike was quite a warm and friendly person once you got to know her, she also had a quick temper and a sharp tongue and even Seb wouldn't be able to stop her if she really wanted to make her feelings known.

"You're Anaya's mother, you've given my mother a grandchild, she'll be ok with you." He said, feeling unconvinced by his own words as he settled down on the floor close to their daughter.

"We both know that given the circumstances, that's not going to be strictly true. I've denied you and your family years of Anaya growing up and while that's my fault, we both know your mother will hate me for it." She replied, her tone turning bitter towards the end.

He was about to argue back, to try and defend his mother when there was knocking at the door just before it opened. He shut his mouth and exchanged a quick, apprehensive look with Nevaeh while Anaya looked expectantly towards the door before getting up and darting over to her mum in a sudden fit of shyness. Getting up from the floor, he jogged to the hall but met his mother just outside of the lounge door. He made sure to greet her warmly, kissing her cheek and then taking her cardigan to hang it up in the hall. "Mother....." He tugged on her wrist to halt her before she entered the lounge. "....I know it's difficult but please, speak English. Anaya doesn't know German yet."