Forever and Always

Meeting The Black's

'So how do you feel about kids?' He asked as he tightened his tie. She looked at him, slightly taken aback, 'You want to know if I want kids?' She questioned slowly. He put his head in his hands 'oh! No I didn't mean it like that!' He said quickly, 'I just wondered because you know with meeting the wider family and all there's a lot of kids and I don't want you to feel...' She put her finger up to his mouth and shushed him 'I love kids' she said quietly and kissed him. She wandered back around and picked up a long red dress from the bed. She stepped quickly into the lovely, figure hugging gown and slipped a towelled robe over the top before returning to the bathroom to deal with her crazy hair. Oscar stood at the door fastening the final buttons on his coat, 'Ces, we're going to be late if you don't hurry' he called, she stepped out of the bathroom and discarded the robe on the towel rack outside the door before hurrying round the corner.

He handed her her coat and tried to open her front door with little success, she picked up her bag and keys from the table and chuckled. 'I'm surprised you're not an expert at that door by now' she scoffed in a silly posh accent as she stepped forward and gave the handle a good wiggle, pushing it up and pulling the handle towards her before it flung open. They looked at each other with mock concern 'what ever will I do?' She asked, continuing the humorous posh façade 'I'm so awfully weak, I can barely open my own door!' She put her hand dramatically to her forehead. He shook his head 'you worry me sometimes, I think you should get your head looked at' he said with mock concern. She pulled a face at him as he climbed into the drivers seat of his car 'ha de ha ha' she offered sarcastically as she clicked her seatbelt into place.

She was very nervous to meet nearly the whole of the Black family in one sitting and the closer they got to the family home, the more agitated she became. 'Come on Cecelia' she thought 'you're being silly. Pull yourself together! It's only Oscar's family and anyway I've met most of them before haven't I?' As they pulled up, she gulped and took a deep breath, the familiar old house looked almost daunting in the evening light. Oscar went up the steps and pressed the doorbell 'there he is!' said Oscars mum Hillary 'have you brought your lovely girlfriend?' Oscar turned to her only to find that she wasn't there, he turned to car bewildered as she popped round the back of the car. 'Hi Hillary' she called as she ascended the steps 'hello sweetie! Everyone is so excited to finally meet you!' Cecelia looked around the Black's living room in amazement at all the family members she had never seen before. Oscar went inside and greeted an elderly lady sitting in an armchair, 'hi there Nanna' he said and gave her a hug. 'Have you brought your girlfriend along?' Nanna Lily asked loudly, the room went quiet and she felt the gaze of his family on her as she approached the doorway, followed quickly by Hillary. Cecelia looked at Oscar in quiet desperation, and he cleared his throat and went to join her, 'everyone this is my girlfriend Cecelia' he announced 'be nice. I want to keep her as long as possible' he said and received a laugh from some family members. Normal conversation resumed and she was introduced to every member of the family one by one and after a while she was approached by a barely 3 year old girl in a floaty dress. Cecelia whirled round and almost knocked her over. She crouched down and apologised 'Hey, I'm Cecelia' she said 'what's your name?' The girl looked at her inquisitively and then went and tugged on Oscar's blazer. 'Uncle Oscar' she lisped 'who's that lady?' He picked her up and gave her a big kiss on the head 'that's my girlfriend Cecelia' he answered 'are you gonna say hi?' She shook her head shyly, 'I won't bite' she said stepping towards them 'be careful' Oscar whispered 'she might really' the girl gave a loud laugh and squirmed down from her Uncles arms. 'Thats Abby, my niece' he informed her, Cecelia nodded 'she's shy when she first meets people' he added 'but she'll come out of her shell eventually'.

By the end of the night, she had met most of Oscar's close family and they all watched as she sat on the floor with Abby and played games with her. As she was talking to Abby about her dolls and her stuffed teddies, a lady stumbled in with dirty, blonde hair with her brown roots showing terribly. She was wearing a very short dress and Hillary made her pull it down before she came in. 'Here we go' Cecelia heard Oscar's grandpa groan as the lady wobbled over to Abby and Cecelia.

'Who the fuck are you? Ain't never seen you before' she said bending down crudely to Cecelia. She stood up and brushed her hands together, 'I'm Cecelia' she said brightly 'I suppose my thick brother thinks you're cute huh? Well Oscar congratulations' she slurred clapping slowly and sarcastically 'you've gone and got yourself another slut!' She shouted. Hillary stormed over 'for Gods sake Lauren' she snapped 'go upstairs, you're a right state at the minute. You've never even met Cecelia and you're calling her a slut?' Oscar went over to Cecelia who was reeling from the shock of being called a slut by someone she hardly knew. He put his arms round her and said 'that's my sister Lauren' she turned to him 'is that Abby's mum?' He nodded and she gave a sympathetic tut. 'I feel sorry for her. She's such a lovely little girl but she has to put up with her own mother speaking to her like that' Cecelia said sadly. 'What a hypocrite' mumbled his Grandfather 'she's the one who had a baby at sixteen' he shook his head 'and she has the cheek to call you that, honey bunch. Should've socked her in the gob!'

At 1:30 the next morning, Oscar and Cecelia decided to call it a night. She got plenty of hugs and compliments, along with a ton of comments saying to ignore Lauren because she hated nearly everyone including her own husband and daughter. 'Wanna spend the night at my place?' Cecelia offered 'that would be nice actually, yes please' 'well it's not really worth going all the way to yours when you can just stay with me. I'll take you home tomorrow in return for you driving tonight'.

She rattled the dodgy handle when they arrived back at her flat, muttering under her breath about how the 'stupid bloody thing needs to be fixed'. They dropped everything in the living room and went straight to the bedroom to get unchanged and go to bed.