The Great Pretender

30: Baby Let's Play House

Cherish frowned into her pillow, cursing the fact that she'd left her phone on over night. Who in their right mind would call her this early in the morning? Grumbling as she fumbled for the phone she caught a quick glimpse of the time display on the screen. Okay, so maybe it wasn't that early after all, but it didn't mean that whoever it was, wasn't interrupting her beauty sleep.

"What?"

"Cherish?"

"Mom?" she sat up quickly, wondering if it could possibly be some kind of emergency situation; she had only just spoken to her mother last night.

Renata was quick to pick up on the alarm in her daughter's voice and giggled airily. "No, Sweetheart, nothing's wrong. I was just calling to tell you that Audrey decided to do a Secret Santa this year and since you weren't here I picked for you."

Cherish grinned, she had been planning on getting everyone something, though a Secret Santa did make things easier. They hadn't done this for almost three years, and she missed the random silly gifts and clues they'd give each other in the days that led up to Christmas. "Who'd I get?" she demanded excitedly.

"Jessline. I think Audrey is sending out a list of things that everyone wants. I thought you could look for something today while you're shopping."

"Merçi, Maman!"

"De rien."

"Mom, is there anything you need?"

"Nothing, Babe. I'll just be happy when you're here."

"You're sure? Nothing?"

"Yes. Now I'm going to be late, so I'll talk to you later.

"Late? It's Saturday."

"And?"

"Mais oui, j'ai oublié."

Saturday mornings back home were usually a trip to the gym with Étienne from next door and then a brunch with his girls, Cherish and Len. The memory bought a tiny pang of pain, but she smiled as she sifted through years of Saturdays and the happy family picture it made. Saying a reluctant bye to her mother, Cherish got out of bed and trudged to the stairs. The tradition here was Ari's friends on Saturday mornings, and an unbelievable amount of squealing, bubblegum popping and unbearably repetitive songs.

Stopping at the head of the stairs, she decided that maybe she needed to find a Saturday morning tradition that wouldn't drive her insane. Within a minute, she had gathered her purse, some clothes, her shoes and pulled her jacket on. She ran down the stairs and out of the house, not even bothering to notice that she was still in her pyjamas. She only realised just how stupid her idea might have turned out to be when she was pulling into Ian's driveway. Thankfully Seven's truck was nowhere to be seen.

"Cherry!" Ian looked up from his breakfast, "What are you doing here?"

"Had to get out of Ari-ville! The door was open, as always."

Ian chuckled and kicked out a chair for her, "You didn't even change."

"Nah," she flopped into the chair and made a face at Chester who was, for once, quiet and blinking his wide eyes at her in obvious shock. Ian raised an eyebrow at her, and tried to voice a question around a mouthful, "Whuff-tuff?"

"My mother woke me up when she called and we started talking about Saturday mornings. I realised my Saturday morning are always hijacked by Ari and her friends so I thought I'd just get out. I figure since I can't have brunch with Étienne and the girls, then breakfast and whatever else it is you do on Saturdays will have to suffice."