olivia , tom hiddleston

three

chapter three
what is so bad about that?
Wednesday 24th January 2018 

"What would you guys say if I went on a date?" Olivia wasn't entirely sure how to break the news to her children so decided that bribing them with their treats from HMV would soften the blow. Asher, who was intently reading the Marvel comic book with a goofy grin in the backseat looked up to his mother with wide eyes. Lyra, who was singing her heart out let her voice die in her throat, although Olivia wasn't sure if that was because she had turned the new One Direction CD down.

"You mean, go out with another man? Like boyfriend and girlfriend?" Lyra questioned but Olivia chuckled slightly.

"No, no. Not like boyfriend and girlfriend. I'd just go out to dinner with a nice man and get to know him. And if it goes well, maybe we'd be boyfriend and girlfriend." Olivia explained to her daughter, although the thought of dating Tom hadn't even crossed her mind.

"Oh. So will he be our daddy?" The girl asked so that a small frown slipped onto Olivia's face.

"No, sweetheart. I hardly know him. Besides, I'd never ask for anyone to be your daddy unless you wanted them to be." Lyra looked content with this reply so smiled at her mother with a quick nod of her head. The young girl then turned her gaze back out of the window and to the passing trees. Asher, however, had remained unusually quiet. "Asher, darling?"

"Hm?" He hummed and turned to look at his mother. The young boy had been staring intently out of the window as Olivia drove the pair of kids to school.

"What do you think?"

"I don't want you to go on a date." The boy grumbled, crossing his small arms over his chest and glaring at his mum through the rear-view mirror. Olivia's heart dropped as she heard the words and hesitantly glanced at her son.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Because then you won't see us as much. George told me that his dad is always away now that he has a new girlfriend. You might replace us with this guy." The words of Asher were quiet and scared that his mother may be stolen from him by someone else. At this, Lyra looked to Asher with a fearfully sad look.

"Oh, Asher," Olivia said quietly as she didn't realise how deeply the boy had thought about the topic. "I would never, ever, replace you. I love you both with all of my heart and I would never be able to love someone as much as I love you guys. Asher, all families are different, and George's dad is nothing like me." Asher looked at the floor with a sad sort of smile.

"You promise?"

"I promise." Olivia smiled at the boy who seemed to be more at ease at the idea of his mother dating.

"Is he a nice man?" Asher inquired and the mum found herself blushing slightly as she thought of Tom.

"He is a very lovely man." Olivia answered and the boy gave a small sigh of relief. "He even," The woman continued to say with amused eyebrows. "picked out that comic for you. He's a big marvel nerd." And all of a sudden, Asher's eyes were alight with adoration.

"He is? Oh that's awesome! He is definitely the man for you, mummy. Will I ever meet him? If I do we can talk about marvel for hours!" Asher started to babble and Olivia laughed at her son's sudden change of heart.

"Me too! I want to talk about Marvel with him!" Lyra whined with a pout from her spot in the car. She had been listening to the whole conversation quietly and only now wanted to join in.

"But you don't know anything about marvel." Asher grumbled. Unfortunately, this comment didn't settle well with Lyra as tears began to cloud her eyes. The brother noticed his mistake immediately and guilt swelled in his throat. "I mean, you do. But not as much as me, so I can teach you about it all."