I liked Marie. She was down to earth and practical, said what she thought and was straight forward. But that did make me worry about what she might say to me, or what she might say to Seph about me.
“Mummy, are we going to be driving for hours?”
I realised I hadn't answered my child, too busy being lost in thought.
“It'll be just over an hour,” Seph said, turning on to one of the main roads to get us out of the city. “And when we get there, Callum has said we can take you over to see the horses.”
This was a surprise for Rose. My daughter was still horse mad, although she would’ve preferred unicorns. It was hopefully also the sweetener for spending a weekend away from her best friend.
“Really?”
I could tell she was about to bounce off the seat with excitement.
“Really. As soon as we get there we'll go and see the horses. Tomorrow you can learn to ride one.”
I knew those words would probably make my daughter’s year. For the next half an hour at least, I knew she would be daydreaming about finding some magical horse that would turn into a Unicorn and carry her over a glittering rainbow.
“You can stop worrying, you know. You've been twitchy since this morning.” Seph had become all too expert at reading my moods.
“I'm not worrying.” It was a lie, and one he wasn't going to believe.
“That's bull waste and you know it.” He'd managed to stop cursing in front of Rose, especially after she copied one of his choice words.
I shook my head. “I've never done this before: met the parents so properly.”
“If it's any consolation, I've never brought somebody back like this either. I've got no idea if we're going to have our own room, or if my mum’s going to try to piss me off and put us in separate rooms either side of the house.”
“I suppose we'll see when we get there.”
I couldn't workout if the journey took too long or wasn't long enough. By the time we got there my nerves were shot and I was ready for a stiff drink or several.
Luckily, Marie offered me a glass of wine even before I’d taken my coat off, then proceeded to bollock Seph for something I was pretty sure Max had done and dropped Seph in it on purpose.
Before anybody had any chance to argue with her, she’d managed to get Seph out of the way to take Rose over a couple of fields to where Callum lived, his father with him, leaving me and Marie on our own.
I followed her into the kitchen, a big open plan space with gorgeous light coloured units, and a large family area with a sectional sofa and an oak coffee table that had enough stains on it to stop me from worrying about Rose creating havoc. The house was huge; it would have had to have been, given the number of children that had grown up here, but it felt homely as opposed to a show house.
“I've put you in what used to be Claire's old room,” Marie said, picking up her own glass of wine that I noticed was half empty. “Before any of the kids had, well, kids of their own, they all had their own allocated rooms. Now it's more around what fits, and Claire's has got a small dressing room off it that we can fit a single bed in. Eliza uses it when they come to stay, so I thought it would do for Rose. She'll be close to you but at least you can have some privacy.”
So Seph and I were allowed to share a room. I'd figured Max was joking when he said that Marie would keep us apart. Seph had half-thought he was being serious, which was Max's intention, of course.
“Thank you,” I remembered my manners. “And thank you for having us. I think we needed a break away from London.”
She smiled and nodded, eyeing me in a way that I knew she could see through the small talk.
“And I wanted to get you here so I could get to know you better, away from work that is. How's my son treating you? If it's not like you're a queen let me know, and I'll give him a good backhander.”
I laughed, knowing that she was only half joking. I'd heard the banter between her and Seph, and knew that all of her children adored her but were always still slightly scared of her temper as well.
“He's great. I'm not entirely sure what I've done to deserve him.” Even after my slight meltdown over Cassie, he'd been patient and understanding. I still hadn't quite gotten over what he'd said about my ex, Rose’s dad. I hadn't realised that he would worry that deeply about it.
“I must’ve trained him well. How was the trip over here? Was Rose okay?”
We did make small talk, general chatter about the area where she lived, and the house and what they’d had done over the years. She told me more about Callum and Wren and how it was nice having them live so close, and how she wished that there were more times when she could have all her children together in the same place.
The conversation made me miss my mother. It'd been months now since I’d last seen her in person. We video chatted every other day, mainly so she could see Rose, but it wasn't the same. At some point, I planned on going over to Spain, for a holiday and to spend some much needed time with her.
An hour or so later, Seph turned back up with Rose and his dad, all three of them covered in mud and Rose with a beaming smile across her face. I sat back, and watched and listened as Marie chatted to Rose, talking about the horses and asking her about school and her friends. Seph and his dad discussed the upcoming rugby season, and I just sat there and listened.
