•Lighter Than Air•

•Chapter 24•

The next day, the house was bustling with life. Claire and Leon were on their way to get ready for their dinner with the lawyer. They were going to be picking up Rebecca and Billy as well, so they had to be in tip top shape. Needless to say, Leon could hear Rebecca's excited squeals from the phone Claire was talking into. Rolling his eyes with a smile, he headed out into the living room. He spotted Chris and the girls sitting down together. Genevieve had Sherry in a half hearted sleeper hold while Sherry tried to escape it.

Though, as soon as they spotted Leon, Genevieve let go of her and smiled sheepishly in his direction. Chris glanced at Genevieve, snickering and ruffling her hair shortly afterwards. Sherry stuck her tongue out at Genevieve before standing up and moving over towards her father. Leon opened his arms for his daughter and she got the message immediately. She wrapped her arms around her father and hugged him close.

"Hey dad, are you excited for this lawyer dinner thing?" She asked, smiling up at him.

"Well, as excited as I can be for a business affair." He said.

"Business? I mean, sure, but it has to do with two innocent lives too!"

"That's true, but I'll be more excited for them when we're winning the court date. That's how you know things are really working in our favor." He told her.

"I can't argue with that." Sherry said, releasing her father from her hug as Claire walked into the room and took Sherry's place beside him.

"Alright, we're going to go pick up Rebecca and Billy. Chris, I'll text you when we get there." Claire said, taking Leon's arm and dragging him out the front door with her while he waved at Chris and the girls.

Soon enough, they were on the road. Per usual, it took some time before they finally arrived at Rebecca and Billy's cabin. When they arrived, Rebecca and Billy were already waiting outside on the porch for the both of them. When they arrived, they looked up. Rebecca immediately jumped up and waved towards Claire and Leon with a big smile on her face. Billy glanced up at her, then towards their car before standing up himself with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey guys! Thank you for coming!" Rebecca chirped, running over and hopping into the back seat of their car.

"Yeah, thank you, really." Billy said, moving forward and sitting down in the back seat besides Rebecca. His hand reached for hers on instinct, she happily obliged and held her partner's hand.

"It's no problem, guys. Trust me. I've always enjoyed driving. That's one of the reasons you'll almost never see this one driving." Claire turned her head and gave Leon a prompt poke to the cheek.

Leon glanced towards her with a playful roll of his eyes. "She's still traumatized from my driving skills back in 98." He laughed lightly.

"Huh? What did you do back then?" Rebecca asked.

"Crashed a car, with me in it! That was a wonderful first impression!" Claire couldn't help but laugh at her own comment.

"Hey now! That was like the second impression! I saved you from getting mauled by a zombie during our first impression. Duh." Leon returned a flick to Claire's forehead.

"Same difference, it was all the same day." Claire then put her hands on the wheel, pulling out of the long, hidden driveway.

"You two really do argue like an old married couple." Billy commented, with a light smirk on his  face.

"He's not wrong, that's exactly how my parents would mess with one another." Rebecca backed up Billy's statement.

"Oh, hush you two." Claire retorted, laughing under her breath. Although, Leon was quiet about that comment, seeming to just watch Claire to analyze her expression during that exchange.