to make things awkward | fillie

24 | family day

The idea of a whole day spent with the Brown's created a mixture of anxiety and excitement in Finn's stomach. He considered that some of the anxiety might have stemmed from thinking Millie might ask him where Elsie had been. His ex had been a constant for nearly a week and then she was suddenly gone. Neither her leaving, nor her reason for leaving had come up yet, it was only a matter of time.

He decided to focus on his excitement instead. He hadn't seen any of the Brown's other than Ava and Kelly in years. Charlie was always a good time, and even though he knew Millie's big brother was going through tough times, Finn knew he was still able to be the life of the party. While Robert, Millie's dad, had been stern with Finn at the beginning of her pregnancy, he had softened over the months and, Finn was sure, continued to soften over the years, coming to see him, not as the kid who knocked up his daughter, but as the man who stuck around and took care of his daughter in her time of need.

"Finn, mate, good to see you!" Charlie said, his arms swinging as he stepped off the porch to greet them in the driveway.

The drive was relatively quiet, Harry Styles's new album playing in the background. Lucy had been texting more often lately and kept to herself on the road. Finn wanted to ask about her friends, but didn't want to pry too much.

"Hey!" He said to Charlie, bro-hugging him with a pat on the back, "Dude, how've you been?"

For a brief second, Finn thought it was the stupidest question seeing how he was only at his parents house because he was getting a divorce, but Charlie's smile didn't waver.

"Oh, good as can be expected. I've missed the east coast." He breathed in a full breath and let it out his mouth, "Rejuvenating. . .truly." he said.

Finn heard two car doors shutting behind him and turned his torso to see Millie and Lucy coming around the front of the car. Since Millie got back from LA, she'd been acting a little off. Not entirely unusual, but enough that Finn noticed. He tried to talk to her but they didn't have a ton of alone time.  He supposed this was smart, and possibly by Millie's design, but it did seem like she and Lucy were getting on better, so why push it?  He could've sworn that his daughter almost called Millie Mum last night. He wanted nothing more than for Lucy to feel comfortable enough to call them Mum and Dad.

"And this must be the famous Lucy." Charlie said, looking proudly at Lucy who awkwardly smiled and waved.

"Don't be daft, Luce, I'm your Uncle Charlie." He opened his arms and raised his eyebrows in question.

Lucy's features softened and they hugged, her feet coming off the ground a few inches.

"That's more like it." Charlie said, beaming.

Finn was happy to see how well this was all going. He didn't know exactly what to expect, but whatever it was, this was better.

"See what I mean?" He heard Kelly saying from the porch. She stood in the arm of her husband who was looking out at them hesitantly.

"She's the spitting image." Kelly said.

Robert side-eyed her, an inadvertent smirk growing on his face before he nodded, "She is, isn't she?"

Millie walked Lucy over them and introduced her—again in Kelly's case—and then Robert's smirk mutated into an outright smile.

"Hi, Gran." Lucy said with the cutest little chuckle, then she looked up at her grandfather and said, "Grandad?"

He nodded and gave her a quick hug, pulling back to look at her again, "Never thought I'd see the day. Pleasure to finally meet you, Lucy."

Finn could tell that the largely innocuous words were making Millie feel guilty. He gently grazed his fingers over her forearm and her shoulders relaxed immediately. With a smile over her shoulder, she squeezed his hand in thanks.