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"Oh no," The man in the kitchen yelled as they approached, running over to the boiling pot of water on the stove. "I can save this."
"Darling," Catherine responded, her voice clearly holding back laughter as she went over to assist him. The two of them laughed as the water simmered down, seconds away from slipping out of the pot.
Willow couldn't remember the last time she saw her parents together in the kitchen or the last time she saw one of them touch any appliances. Matter of fact, she couldn't recall one single time.
"This is my lovely husband, dear. Yes, it's chaotic like this all the time." Catherine hummed, gesturing towards the man standing beside her.
"Yes, that's me. Hello, dear, I'm Amos." He quickly slipped the cooking mitt off his hand and came in for a large hug, catching her off guard.
"We're all huggers, I should've warned you!" Catherine rang from behind him, beginning to place the food onto their assigned plates.
The feeling of his father wrapping himself around her felt like a knife turning in her stomach, not because of him, but because she couldn't imagine a world where your father hugged your friends. Or herself, for that matter.
"No warning necessary, It's quite alright. Nice to meet you, Mr. Diggory." She smiled as brightly as she could, pushing away all the intrusive thoughts from her head. Cedric slid his hand on the top of her back, giving her a reassuring smile.
"Oh no, don't call me that! Don't make me feel older than I am, Willow!" He chuckled back, assisting Catherine and shooting Willow an innocent wink.
"Oh I apologize, Mr. Diggo- I mean Amos." Was she just nervous? Or was the room growing warmer? Was it always this hard to keep your cool when you meet parents? Even when they were the nicest people to ever exist?
"He's just giving you a hard time, don't listen to him," Cedric said, shaking his head as his parents laughed at one another. "We'll set the table."
"Thank you dears!" Catherine yelled in response as Cedric led them out of the room. Willow followed and watched as he dished a medium-sized brown basket out of a wooden dresser.
"I'm sorry about them and I'd love to say it's because you're here, but they are always like that." He set the basket on the table, looking up at her with a grin. A grin that reminded her that no matter how nervous she was, it was all for him.
"They're lovely, Ced. It's very charming. Let me help you." She responded with a similar smile, taking the moss green placemats out of the basket, shortly realizing she had never set up a table before.
