olivia , tom hiddleston

twelve

chapter twelve
you are so incredibly attractive
Wednesday 31st January 2018

Olivia smiled as she watched Lyra belt out the One Direction lyrics through the rear-view mirror. They had just collected Asher from his weekly football practice, and the duo seemed to be even more excited than usual.

"Kids," Olivia started, and turned down the music slightly. "Have you remembered Auntie Lizzy and Uncle Eric are coming over for dinner?"

"Oh, mum! I forgot about that! That's so exciting! Uncle Eric can show me some pictures from his Power Rangers movie!" Asher exclaimed. He'd recently re-watched it, and Eric had promised Asher in the phone that he'd show him some set pictures.

"Yay! My favourite! Will marvel man be coming?" Lyra asked as she swung her legs in the back seat.

"No, honey. Marvel man is quite busy until Sunday. I'm going out for dinner with him." Olivia explained and Asher whooped.

"That means we get to see you nearly all week! I must admit mummy, it's felt weird for you to be out of the house so much." Asher innocently spoke, unknowing how it made his mother feel guilty.

"Oh, guys, I'm sorry. I didn't realise I was out that much." The mother tried to smile but it faltered. Had she been putting Tom before her kids?

"No you silly billy! It's fine." Lyra giggled and continued gazing out the window. Her hair was in high pigtails today and Olivia thought it made her 300% more adorable. "When do we get to meet marvel man?"

The question made Olivia nervous. She didn't want to introduce someone into their life that wasn't serious. But she knew Tom was, and he was so interested in her children. "I'm not sure, Lyra, I'll ask him."

"I want to watch ALL the marvel films with him!" Asher exclaims with a giddy smile. He kicked his football boots which flicked mud across the car and earned a screech from Lyra.

"Asher! I told you to take those off when we got to the car. I've now got to clean this up." Olivia sighed as she continued to focus on the road. Asher's comment had lead her into a trail of thought. 'Marvel Man' was a phrase created by her son that had caught on, only because he helped pick Asher his favourite comic. Having her children meeting Tom would make Olivia's relationship real and confirm that Tom was a big part of her life. That thought was slightly intimidating to the women.

It's one thing to open your own heart to someone new, but to open your kids heart to someone? That could be catastrophic if disaster happened. Lyra and Asher had never had a dad, and she didn't want them to cling to the idea of it if they ever get to meet him.

And on top of that, he's a real marvel man. And she's not sure how Asher will deal with that.

"Sorry mum. I'll take them off now." Her angel of a son says, and he reaches down to untie his shoes and put them on the towel Olivia neatly placed below his car seat. The boy had snapped the mum out of her daze and she began to smile.

"So, who's ready for tacos?"

***

"Auntie Lizzy, Uncle Eric!" Lyra squeals not even a second after her mother has opened the door and smiled.

"Oh there's my favourite girl." Eric chimed and scooped Lyra into his arms and showered her face with kisses. Olivia laughed lightly and turned to her sister and gave her a hug and placed a kiss on her cheek. She closed the door and turned to Lizzy.