Just in Time (A Tom Hiddleston Fan Fic)

Chapter 10: Photos and Bites

We return downstairs to find that Diana has everything ready on the he table. I take the seat that is offered by Tom, then he helps his mom into her chair.

"Everything looks wonderful," I says as Diana begins passing around the serving plates. "Thank you, my dear," Diana responds, smiling at me. There's something about Diana that draws me to her. Maybe that she reminds me so of a softer Tom that I want to just hug her and tell her my deepest, darkest secrets.

We eat and have light conversation through dinner. Diana catches Tom up on the happenings of his siblings. His sister, Sarah, is a teacher in India whom Diana expects to be home for the holidays. Emma, his younger sister, is doing academic research toward her master's degree.

"Do you have siblings, Dear?" Diana asks. Having the drink question sprung on me earlier, I'm prepared for this one.

"No, I'm an only child," I respond.

"And your parents? Are you close with them?" Tom squirms a bit in his seat, not out of worry at what I will say, I believe, but because he's empathetic toward my situation.

"I never met my dad, and I haven't seen my mom in years," I say honestly.

I see Diana's facial expression change to match Tom's empathetic one, so I continue. "I have my Aunt Sylvie, though. We're close, and she's there for me when I need her."  We resume eating, though the silence is deafening, at least to me.

"So raising three children must have been challenging at times," I say to change the subject.

"You have no idea, Dear," Diana says with a deadpan expression. Then she looks at Tom, and smiles and winks at him.

"I've always wondered about birth order. You know, like poor Tom being squished between two girls," I say, talking about Tom as if he's not even there. He slowly raises his head from his food and lifts an eyebrow, a bit in question and a bit more in challenge.

"Yes, well, I suppose it was a bit difficult for Tom at times. At his heart, Tom is very a caring person, and with his sisters, he tried to be a good brother.

"Of course, Sarah was having none of that. She is the oldest, after all, and she reminded Tom at every chance. I don't think Tom was trying to usurp her place as oldest - I just think he wanted to be her protector.

"Now, with Emma, Tom got his wish. He and Emma were closer than I've seen any two siblings. Then Tom went off to school, and Emma developed her circle of friends. Still, I see in Tom his desire to protect those closest to him, especially women."

At this, Tom clears his throat, looking directly at his mom. "Sorry, Dear, I completely forgot that you were here," Diana says, as she rises to start clearing the table.

Tom and I help. Diana directs us to place everything on the counter, saying she'll take care of it later. She puts the kettle on and herds us to the living room again. I take a seat on the love seat and see that there are some photo albums on the coffee table. Yesss! I fist pump internally.

Diana takes the seat beside me, while Tom seems to sink deeper into his chair as if resigned to some awful fate.

"I hope you don't mind, Kenni, but I pulled out some family albums for us to view." I resist the urge to do grabby hands as she picks up the first.

"These are of Tom as a baby." Tom is the most adorable baby I've ever seen. Chubby cheeks, arms and legs just like a baby should be. He has dimples, and I look at him trying to imagine Baby Hiddles. With the scowl that's on his face, it's difficult to imagine.

"And here he is when he started school. I've never seen a child so excited. He practiced carrying his book bag for a week before classes started. I often worried about Tom's seriousness at such a young age for his studies, but he made many friends so I supposed the two balanced out."

"Oh, here we are," Diana says, with evident pride in her voice. "This is about the time Tom took a serious interest in acting." I look at the photos of Tom in various plays. One is a candid photo of him preparing to go on stage. I see the serene concentration on his face, and I realize some things never change. There's also a photo of Tom with his rugby mates and even one of him in action on the field.

"Tom, you really did play rugby," I say, looking at him in surprise. "Of course I did," he replies, looking as if he's developing a headache or something.

"Here's a few more..." Diana starts, then closes the book abruptly. I look at her with a question in my eyes. "Nothing important, Dear. Just Tom with a girlfriend or two." Damn! I would have loved to see them!

We continue on, looking at another older album - pictures of Tom's grandparents, and his mom and dad when they were first married.

"It's getting late, Mum. Kenni and I should be going," Tom says with a mock stretch to convince his mom that he's tired.

We walk to the door, and Diana gives Tom a hug and kiss on the cheek. Then she turns and hugs me deeply. Normally when people I don't know well hug me, I stand there stiff as a board. With Tom's mom, I hug her back like I may never let her go.

As I step out the door and walk toward the car, I hear Diana whisper to Tom, "She's a good egg, Dear." Tom kisses her swiftly on the cheek and promises to see her again soon.

We reach the car at the same time, and Tom opens the passenger door for me. I buckle up as he slides into the driver's seat. "See? That wasn't so bad," Tom says, smiling smugly at me. I reach for his hand and take it to my lips as if to kiss it. Instead, I bite the top of his hand. "Ouch! What was that for?" He snarls, pulling his hand back from me. "That was for breaking the rules," I say, trying to look stern. I smile and take his hand again, and I kiss it where I just bit it. "Thank you for not listening to me. Now, home James," I say, laying my head back against the seat. Tom chuckles at me.

"I'm telling Ben you kissed my hand. And, you'll pay for that bite later," he growls and wiggles his eyebrows.

"Bring it on, Hiddleston. Bring it on."