concordia

ten

word count: 897

date written: 22.4.19

verse: unspecified au

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connie took a deep breath before she knocked on the front door, straightening her coat while she patiently waited for an answer. although it was unlike her to be nervous, first impressions were important and she was filling in for elle today. it was usually her who picked luca up from his various play-dates but, after agreeing to stay behind at work that afternoon, the task had been passed onto connie and she was determined not to let her down.

she gave her best imitation of elle's contagious smile when the door eventually opened to reveal a lanky blonde woman. "hi," connie said, trying to sound friendly. "you must be mrs. johnson. i'm here to collect luca." mrs. johnson eyed her almost skeptically before opening the door wider and moving aside so she could enter. connie relaxed slightly at the silent invite, stepping inside and thanking her as she passed by. it was a rather nice house -- very neat and organized with a largely cream color palette -- and connie hovered by the base of the stairs, not entirely sure what to do.

mrs. johnson strolled past her a moment later after closing the door, leaning through into the first room on the right. "luca!" she called sweetly, and connie immediately heard movement from beyond the doorway. "it's time to go!" there was a rush of hurried footsteps and, a few seconds later, luca appeared around mrs. johnson's figure, grinning when he noticed connie.

"where's mum?" he asked curiously, standing on his tiptoes to collect his coat and backpack from where he'd dumped them on the chest under the stairs.

"she's at work, sweetheart," connie explained, kneeling down to tie his shoes when he shuffled over to her with them on to avoid tripping. "so it's my turn today. that's alright with you, isn't it?" luca nodded slowly, holding his arms out when connie finished tying his laces and took his coat.

mrs. johnson stared at them in bewilderment, features narrowed as she watched connie help luca into his coat. although he seemed completely at ease, she didn't recognize connie whatsoever and was faintly concerned. "excuse me," she finally said, catching connie's attention. "but who exactly are you?"

connie frowned slightly, slowly zipping up luca's coat as she looked over his head at the other woman. "his mother?" she answered, equally as confused. she'd thought that was rather obvious even if she and mrs. johnson had never met but perhaps she'd mistaken her for some sort of babysitter. naturally she was far more than that.

"i don't think so," mrs. johnson argued, suddenly wearing a smirk. "see, i've met luca's mother and you look nothing like her." she sounded just as smug as she looked, under the impression that she'd cleverly managed to catch connie in the middle of a lie, but that was far from the case.

connie sighed, trying her best to be patient -- as elle so often reminded her to. "i'm his other mother," she clarified firmly, straightening out the collar of luca's coat. he giggled slightly when the fur on the inside of the hood tickled his neck. mrs. johnson scoffed.

"no you're not," she said scornfully, looking at connie with a mix of disapproval and disgust that made her skin crawl. "he can't have more than one." connie paused, barely managing to suppress her usual scowl.

"and why's that?" she asked, picking luca up as she got to her feet and balanced him on her hip. her tone was a clear warning in itself, stiff and sharp, but mrs. johnson either didn't notice or simply didn't care.

"because it's not normal," she told her, sounding grossly pleased with herself. judging by the sneer on her face, there was no denying that she felt nothing but disdain for connie's relationship. connie immediately tensed, suddenly feeling nauseous as her chest tightened uncomfortably and her stomach twisted itself into a knot. she couldn't believe the audacity of this woman, or the words that had left her mouth, and it took connie longer than she would've liked to find her own voice and respond.

"i think it's about time we left," she growled, holding luca tightly. she wondered if he could sense her anger, or feel her shaking, and immediately tried her best to calm down. it didn't work very well. trying to relax only made her angrier -- why should she have to be the one to try and keep things peaceful? it wasn't her who was in the wrong. "i'm not going to stand here and let you speak about my wife and i like that in front our son."

with a final glare, and her head held high, she turned and left before mrs. johnson could even think to retaliate with more senseless vitriol. the door slammed shut in her wake but as she made her way down the driveway in complete silence, connie's facade started to crumble. there were tears stinging in her eyes before she'd even reached the sidewalk, and she blinked them back stubbornly as she fumbled with her car keys. she'd long since tried to prepare herself for encounters like today's but only after experiencing it firsthand was she realizing that even knowing what to expect, and telling yourself you didn't care what others thought, didn't make them hurt any less.