Ellie Devlin's life could hardly be classified as perfect, but it was tolerable. That is, until her mother, Moira, started dating again. Now that Jack and her mom are getting pretty serious, Ellie has to deal with the possibility of having a stepdad...
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***Chapter edited by thepeister1 and Danascully***
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"What are you doing? They'll be here any second!" Mum yelled at me. She rushed around the room, fluffing up pillows and generally straightening things out, so that everything looked more tidy and orderly. Not that it had ever been messy in the first place. She picked up a few magazines from the coffee table and threw them in the bin, cleaning up more of the 'mess'."Ellie," She moaned. "Get up, and go put something nice on."
"Why? It's just dinner," I replied, amused. I was lounging on the sofa, trying to read a book. Trying and failing. Mum was making so much noise as she puttered around; I couldn't lose myself into the book. She was really anxious about tonight, and it was kind of fascinating to watch her get so wired up. Mum was normally so composed and blasé about everything. For a second, it seemed to annoy her that I wasn't more concerned about tonight, but as she took in my calm composure and the way I was slumped on the sofa – a stark difference to her flustered state – some of the tension left her shoulders.
"Up, now. Please?" Mum ordered more normally. However, she still kicked my discarded black boots under the leather sofa where I was sprawled. When I didn't move, she leaned over and began tickling me.
"No, don't! Mum stop," I cried, giggling uncontrollably. I batted at her hands, trying to get her away from me; I couldn't stand being tickled. I usually laughed so much, I stopped breathing."I need to pee and I swear I won't be able to help myself from..."
"Then get up and go, you lazy girl." She sighed.
"I'm going, I'm going," I said, holding my hands up as I stood. I was just kidding with Mum earlier. My jeans and hoodie weren't exactly appropriate attire for a dinner party, so I dragged myself upstairs to find something more suitable to wear.
I was actually kind of... not nervous, but unsure about this dinner. When I'd encouraged Mum to date again, I'd wanted her to be happy. But now her relationship with Jack was beginning to get serious, and it was starting to worry me. I had no desire for a stepfather, let alone one with a kid in tow. Not that I'd ever let Mum in on my thoughts. She was happy, and despite my misgivings, it made me happy.
I guess I was just a little uneasy, but what was one to think when her mother decided to invite her boyfriend and his son over to dinner? I'd met Jack before when he'd come to pick Mum up for dates, but we'd probably, altogether, only conversed for less than fifteen minutes on his combined visits. He seemed like a nice guy, but right now I was having visions of sitting across from him at breakfast every morning, of sharing my home and my mum's love with him and his son. A dinner with the kids, that was serious, wasn't it? Kelley, one of my closest friends, seemed to think so. Her mum had dated numerous guys since she'd divorced Kelley's dad, but Kelley had only met two of them.
