Milkshake Hearts

Chapter 137: How Did the Cats Get Out?

"Hi, Joanne, so nice to see you!" Shayne greets her, first, with brightness in his tone.

"Hey Mum, come in," Courtney echoes the greeting, praying her mother can't hear the shaking in her voice as they step aside so she can step through the doorway.

"Hello, hello, it's great to see both of you too," she answers, eyes glancing around, "how are you feeling about the house, it's been what, six months?"

"Yeah, just over six months since we moved here," Shayne confirms, "we're really happy with it, we've settled in nicely. Spare room is just through here-"

Courtney has no idea what to do with herself, standing in the doorway as her mother moves into the spare room to set her bag down. They all move back out of the room, and she stumbles slightly as she moves back into the hallway, listening in silence as she and Shayne small talk about the house.

"Would you like a tour?" she speaks up, after a moment, the thought abruptly coming to her that they're still standing in the entrance and she doesn't know if it's just her but she feels awkward as hell.

"Oh, of course!" her mother answers, "your old apartment had such lovely wood tones, Courtney, I'm guessing this one is a bit more modern but-"

"Still got a lot of the furniture from our old place but yeah, that apartment building was like fifty years old and this place is less than ten," she answers, a little terse. She catches herself, then, relaxing her tone as she gestures for her mother to move ahead of them down the hallway, briefly showing her the bathroom and pointing out the laundry on the way.

"Oh this is such a lovely space, out onto the patio too," Joanne comments, as they step out into the living space, Shayne gently brushing a comforting hand across Courtney's lower back as they do.

"Yeah, this space was a big plus when we were looking- plenty of openness, but a fairly clear division between living, dining and kitchen spaces too," Shayne agrees, "oh, and the cats are hiding over in the living room somewhere."

"Not fond of people?" She prompts. It makes Courtney feel more defensive than it probably should.

"They love people, especially Mocha, they're just mad they haven't got dinner yet even though they aren't meant to for another half an hour," Courtney replies, moving over to the living room herself. Mocha beelines straight for her, but quickly changes direction to go and meow inquisitively at the unfamiliar person in the house. Instead, Courtney scoops Nutmeg up into her arms to hold him against her chest, almost as a shield.

"This is Nutmeg, he's the relaxed one," she introduces him, moving back towards her mother and Shayne, "and the chatty one is Mocha."

"They've got such sweet names," she tells them, hand reaching forward to awkwardly pet against Nutmeg's head and back as Courtney holds him, "weren't you super obsessed with mocha milkshakes when you were younger, Courtney?"

"I wouldn't say that was just when she was younger," Shayne adds, grinning at her, and Courtney feels herself blush.

"Yeah, yeah. They're good, alright?" she rebuts.

"I've always been more of a strawberry person," she comments, "why are you so embarrassed huh?"

"Urgh, it's just our thing. We got milkshakes the night we got together and the night Shayne proposed and I got mocha or something like it both times. And we kept Mocha's name from the shelter because of that," she answers, tone a little awkward and rushed.

"Ah, cute," she nods, "going to show me upstairs? I'm guessing your bedroom up there?"

"It's a three bedroom house, but we're using the other upstairs bedroom as an office," Shayne answers, leading them both upstairs. Courtney has the sudden urge to panic about letting her mother in their bedroom, so she subtly directs them to the office, first. There's not a whole lot for them to see in the office, however, and Courtney hears her heart pounding as a dull drum in her ears as they step into their bedroom. Her eyes move around the space, searching for anything she could've remembered subconsciously she left out, coming up blank.