Handprints ( #2 BOOK IN SERIES )

February (Part One)

"Do you have any idea what is going on?" I ask Cory.

"Not a clue," he answers, his face looking as clueless as my own.

The two of us are sat around the dining room table, as instructed to by my mum. Earlier in the day she told us that she wanted to speak to us over dinner before hurrying out of the door for work. Nothing else was said but that.

Now, a few hours later, Cory and I are sat around the table while my mum prepares the dinner. Erin has already eaten hers and is currently sat in her high chair, wiggling around in her chair hinting that she wants to be let out.

"The last time we had a dinner like this I told my mum I was pregnant," I mumble to Cory. "What if she says the same thing?" my eyes widen in horror at the thought.

"I'm not even going to comment on that," Cory says.

He leans over to undo the straps on Erin's high chair to let her out for a few minutes. The moment she is out she begins crying while putting her hand in her mouth. She's not crying enough for tears but she does manage to scream the house down.

"It's probably her teeth. I'll go find her teething ring. It should be in the room somewhere," I get up from the table and walk into the living room.

Sprawled across the floor are dozens of toys, all in different shapes and colours. I glance around quickly to see if I can find the teething ring but it is not in my immediate view so I begin checking under the sofa and under pillows. Eventually I find it underneath a cabinet and god knows how it got under there.

"I'm just going to give it a wash," I say as I pass Cory on my way into the kitchen.

The aroma of food hits my nostril straight away as soon as I walk in. My mum is stood there, plating the food up onto three plates, her hair scraped back into a pony tail while she drinks a glass of wine. A must have when cooking she once told me.

"I'm just giving this a clean," I say to her as I run the tap water.

"Oh, I put another one in the fridge a while ago. Why don't you use that one?" she says to me.

I take the other teething ring out of the fridge and take it into the dining room to Erin. Instantly it begins to soothe her as the coolness of the ring hits her gums. She calms down in Cory's arms and soon she has fallen asleep.

"Here's your dinner," my mum places a plate full of food in front of me.

I begin tucking into my dinner straight away; enjoying the flavours of the food and how real it tastes unlike the microwave meals I am used to.

"I want to talk to you two about something," my mum eventually says to us both after a few minutes of us eating in silence.

"Okay," I say to her, waiting for more.

"You're probably not going to like this," she says, looking directly at me. "I'm seeing someone and you know him,"

"Don't tell me it's Reynolds?" I ask, dropping a forkful of food.

Instead of saying anything she just nods her head at me.

"Great. Good for you," I say dryly at her.

"Since last year when we broke it off, we've kept in touch. Both of us felt like we still wanted more though. I wanted to tell you before you found out any other way," I think back to last year when I heard Reynolds sneaking down the stairs.

"I still find it weird. You're my mum dating my teacher but I don't care this time. You've supported me throughout this last year, the least I can do is support you too," I say to her, meaning it.