Beyond the Family Ties

Part 28

Things at home were slow to heal, with Becky's pride being too great for her to let Freen do anything for her or Laurel, except begrudgingly accept help rubbing calamine lotion into her spotted skin twice a day, and Freen knowing that if she was too overbearing with her eagerness to make amends for her badly worded attack, Becky would only pull away further. Yet Christmas was approaching, and Becky's icy demeanor had to thaw out slightly in order to let things seem normal for the sake of her daughter. The three of them put the tree up together, Becky and Laurel trying not to itch as they attached baubles to the tree and let Freen unknot the bundle of twinkling lights, and Freen helped her wrap the pile of gifts for Laurel, both of them making halting, uncomfortable chit chat every so often to try and diffuse the tension. Things weren't good between them, but they were together, and they were trying, and that was all that mattered. As self-righteous as Becky felt in her hurt, she knew that she'd hurt Freen too, and she understood that it would take time for them both to get over that.

Still, Christmas helped. By the time the day rolled around, Becky and Laurel were on the outs of the chickenpox, their dotted skin free of most scabs, and the contagious period well past, and they both accompanied Freen to Angel 's house for dinner, bearing gifts and expensive wine. Everyone was there, with the addition of Eliza, and of course, Mike, and Becky felt slightly chastened by everyone's presence, with them all making a fuss at her being there with them all after so long, even though she'd been home for nearly a month by that point. She'd seen Sam, for the promised cup of coffee, taken in the kitchen of her apartment, as well as Angel on most days, but Winn and James had been busily absent, and Freen hadn't invited Mike around, although Becky hadn't told her not to.

It was a tense Christmas, to say the least, although that was mostly just on Becky's end, sitting sullenly at her end of the table, listening to the conversation that washed over her. Mike was the most vocal, and he'd been friendly towards Becky when she showed up, as usual, and she'd swallowed her dignity for a moment to congratulate him on his engagement to Freen, asking a few polite question about work and what he'd been up to for the past few months, before escaping that conversation with much relief. She'd taken solace with Sam and Winn, the three of them sitting on Angel 's sofa with glasses of wine, chatting quietly about their plans for the New Year.

Other plans were talked about to, with Mike talking about his plans for him and Freen. Becky listened to them quietly, offering no objections, even though she silently criticised them all. Occasionally she'd sneak a glance at Freen, wondering if she agreed with what he was saying, taking in the indifferent look on her friends face as she listened to her fiance talk.

"Well of course, we're moving to the suburbs," Mike said, matter of factly, and Becky frowned, knowing that Freen loved living in the middle of the city, and had always said she'd hate to live further out, and so far away from it all.

"What about work?" Becky interjected.

Mike met her gaze, his eyebrows rising slightly. "Well, I'll drive in every day."

"And Freen? She works long hours; it's probably a bit of an inconvenience to have to drive an hour in for every shift, and then home afterwards."

Waving the hand gripping his fork dismissively, Mike let out a condescending laugh, flashing her a smile as he set the cutlery down and reached for his drink. "Oh, for Freen. Well she's quitting when we get married."

"Quitting?" Angel spluttered, shooting her sister an accusing look.

Freen shrugged nonchalantly, taking a sip of wine, while Becky pressed her lips into a thin line to keep the objections on the tip of her tongue safely inside her mouth. Mike continued, as if it wasn't a shocking idea that someone who loved her job so much, and worked so hard to save people's lives, would so readily give up the career she'd built after marrying him. "Yeah, I mean, I'm thirty already, and Freen's not getting any younger," he laughed, "so we'll obviously be trying for kids pretty soon. With such a stressful job, it just makes sense for her to stay at home. I'd be able to support us both on my salary, even through her pregnancy."