The Way Back | ✓

7.2

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Aurora truly was the most precious thing in this whole world.

As London sat there in Andrew's living room, the three of them having tea with biscuits and talking about the scary movie they had just finished watching after lunch that Sunday afternoon, she could not help feeling like she finally found a place where she belonged.

Her eyes trained on Aurora, watching as the little girl interacted with herself and Andrew, the conversation light. Not a dull moment.

"You should have seen, London," Aurora laughed, her baby teeth shining through that wide smile. "Ba looked absolutely ridiculous."

"Next Halloween let's try to get him into a more ridiculous outfit," London proposed, her eyes glinting with mischief.

Aurora grinned in agreement and when London lifted her eyes to see if Andrew was enjoying this time as much as she was she found him, his daughter in his lap, but paying no heed to her. His eyes were on London, his mouth slightly open, surprise on his face.

Her words finally clicked in her head.

Next Halloween. It was months away and they would be pretty long-term by then. London wasn't sure how serious their relationship was. She wanted it to be serious, to think long-term, but did he? He knew her intentions of wanting a solid relationship but as of late, they hadn't really talked about it. Was he getting second thoughts? Did he not want to be serious? After his divorce and the way he still had to figure out how to navigate through this new life, he might want something light and casual. London understood that, though it was far from what she yearned for.

Andrew smiled, his lips slowly lifting up. London felt nervous as her heart fluttered. The moment didn't last long though as his phone buzzed and just like that the spell was broken.

"Mummy is here, princess," Andrew said, looking at the text he got. "Come on."

Aurora rushed to her room to fetch her things while London and Andrew stood up, the air tense with Aurora's absence.

"Well," London said, patting her palms down against her black jeans, trying not to exude any awkward energy that she was feeling inside of her, "I better go open the door for Talia."

Seeing Talia was never pleasant, especially after that bitter phone call they both had on Monday. London thought that they were on good terms, given the conversation they shared after the dinner where she announced her enagement, but apparently not. London's empathetic side was not enough and perhaps Talia best dealt with things by pushing people away. But, it was all just speculation.

Andrew had mentioned that he had something important to discuss from that day of the phone call and London assumed it had something to do with Talia but Andrew hadn't mentioned it since, so London let it slide, patiently waiting for him to bring it up.

Later that evening, when Talia had taken Aurora back to her place — Andrew's old house — and the two of them made dinner, Andrew struck up a conversation, breaking the thin ice.

"I'd love to see what you and Aurora get to wear next Halloween," he said, his words making her pause. "But before we get to next Halloween I think we should talk about something else."

"You want casual, not serious," she blurted out, suddenly upset. All those emotions she kept inside of her — worry and doubt — surfaced and she turned back to the stove, adjusting the heat, hoping that it would stop the prickle in her eyes.