Belonging - an adopted by Hamilton sequel

13th of December, 2024: Being told

13th of December, 2024

"Sep?", I asked Sepi, who sat across from me at the dinner table in me and Dom's kitchen. She looked up from her computer, her eyes excited, but clearly tired. It was late afternoon, and a Friday. It was snowing quite a lot outside my window. Both of us were exhausted, as we were trying to meet a deadline to pitch our concept and idea for a non-profit to stakeholders on Wednesday next week.
"Yeah?", she asked.
"We've done enough today, haven't we?", I asked her honestly. She cracked a laugh.
"I mean, yeah. I think I can't look at more code today or I might actually break", she pointed out, taking off her glasses to wipe her eyes.
"I feel the same about words", I agreed, closing my laptop and the manuscript to the actual pitch. She closed her laptop as well. "What have we gotten ourselves into?", I exclaimed, for what seemed to be the thousandth time since September.
"Oh, you know, two crazy twenty-something-year-olds quitting their jobs and deciding to create a non-profit website is just perfectly normal", Sepi remarked, as she gathered her things, as well as the empty snack packages. This very conversation had become a gimmick over the last few months. I stood up as well, and put the finished tea cups in the dishwasher. I followed Sepi to the door.
"Just promise me you won't look at the code until Monday. That's why we planned it like this. It's practically finished. The website looks just like we wanted it too", I told her as she put on her boots.
"Only if you promise to not go over the pitch again. It's literally perfect", she fired back, as she put on her down coat, and wrapped her scarf around her neck.
"Promise", I said, taking her hand.
"Promise", she replied. "We're almost at the finish line", she added, smiling.
"Just a few days now", I said, letting go of her hand.
"Okay. I'm gonna go now before we turn this excitement into worries", she pointed out as she grabbed her bag, and headed out the door. "Bye!", she exclaimed.
"Bye!", I said, and waved at her she closed the door behind her. I locked it four times, just to be sure, before I turned around and ended up on the blue velvet sofa, and next to it, Dom's family dog Ariel was laying on her bed. She excitedly looked up, wagging her tail at the sight of me. I instantly started petting her, which made her squeak.
"Have I been that boring today?", I asked, high pitched. "I promise we're gonna go out for a walk when Dom comes home", I ensured her.

We were dog sitting Ariel this week, as Flo was on a week long school trip to Washington DC, Agnés was on a work trip to Spain, and David was working odd hours at the hotel, as they were about to launch a new restaurant for the holidays. It had never happened that all their calendars didn't work out, so me and Dom had offered to take Ariel for the week. I was loving having a dog around, as it reminded me of living at home with my family and Tobi.

I sat on the floor, playing with Ariel when my phone rang. I saw it was Flo, and picked up.
"Hi Flo!", I greeted her, excited to hear from her. "How's the trip? How's the capital?"
"Hi Rue", she replied, sounding a bit distanced. "It's good", she answered my question. "Um, is Dom home? I didn't want to bother him at work", she asked me.
I quickly glanced at the time.
"He's probably in his last meeting of the day. He'll be home in an hour. Why?", I asked her, feeling slightly worried by her distanced voice. It seemed as if she was hiding something. She didn't sound as bubbly as she usually did.
"Oh, nothing really. Dad was just wondering if you could take Ariel an extra day? Because I'll first get back on Sunday and Dad's schedule just got crazier", she quickly explained, putting on a happier voice. But I knew too well that it wasn't her normal happiness.
"Yeah, sure. No problem", I replied, still not sure of what to make of her mood. "Do you still want to talk to Dom? I can tell him to call you when he comes home", I suggested, sensing that there was something more she wanted to say, but not to me.
"Yeah. Thanks", she said, her voice short and strained.
"I'll do that then", I told her.
"Thanks. Bye", she continued to say, and before I could reply, she had already hung up. I looked at my phone, confused, and put it down on the coffee table. Then, I turned my attention to Ariel again, who was sitting and waiting patiently for me to play with her again.
"Turns out you're stuck with us a little longer, Ariel", I said, smiling to the side. "But you don't mind, do you?", I asked her, stroking her ear. "No you don't"