One Big Family (Camren & Norminah)

Part 9: Celebrations

~~~ Family Lunch ~~~

Becky nervously knocked on the front door and took a deep breath. She knew this lunch invitation wasn't going to mean that everything was going to be ok. But it was a step in the right direction.

Hannah answered the door and gave Becky a small smile.

"Hey."

"Hi."

Cue the awkward silence.

"So..."

"Um...sorry, come in." Hannah smiled nervously.

The two wordlessly moved into the kitchen, Cooper smiled brightly and ran up to his mommy the moment he saw her. Becky engulfed him into a big hug. This was one of the most heartbreaking things about the separation. Becky and Hannah both hated being away from their kids and having to constantly share them going back and forth was hard not only on them but on the kids as well, especially when Max would sometimes refuse to even talk to his mother.

"Hey sweetie." Becky kissed him on the head.

She put him down in his chair then moved over to where her oldest son sat and she hesitantly placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Max."

The young boy didn't reply which made Becky sad. Her boy was still so angry with her.

"Ok so I thought we could have a mini barbecue for lunch." Hannah broke the awkwardness..

The family of four headed outside, Hannah headed for the barbecue and started it up.

"Do you need help?" Becky asked awkwardly.

"Babe I do the meat you do the salad." Hannah replied as if it was known fact.

Becky paused when she heard the term of endearment. Hannah noticed too and looked away.

"There's some stuff in the fridge." The brunette mumbled.

Lunch was surprisingly uneventful. In fact it was so normal it was like the last six months never happened. Even Max was starting to come around...it wasn't a miracle turn around but it was a start.

They kept all conversations to light topics such as school and music and everything else. Hannah and Becky explained to the boys that Grandma Lauren or Gran for short was in hospital for a while because she was sick.

After lunch they headed back inside the boys were settled watching their movie as Becky headed into the kitchen to help clean up.

Hannah stood by the sink doing the dishes.

"Need a hand?" Becky asked.

"Yeah sure."

Becky grabbed the dishcloth and started drying the cups and plates. They worked in silence as the awkwardness started to come back now that they were alone together.

"Today was good." Becky spoke.

"Yeah." Hannah replied.

"Thank you for...letting me stay, spending time as a family." Becky mumbled.

Hannah just nodded. They were standing shoulder to shoulder as they did the dishes there was like a centimetre of distance between them and both could feel the heat radiating from each other's skin. In a word it was torture. They both wanted it so badly but everything was weird and different now. Hannah still wasn't sure what all this means and neither did Becky. It was all rather confusing.

"Do you...tomorrow do you want to go visit Lauren with me?" Becky asked.

Hannah looked up and thought about it for a few moments then nodded.