Wasn't Expecting You

Ice-cream

"Dad?" Joey said, stepping forward to give his dad a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't focus at work knowing what was going on here, so jumped on a plane to support my family," David explained as he wrapped me up in a tight hug.

"Are the girls here too?" Joey asked.

"No, they are still at home. Aunt Gabby is looking after them."

"Thanks for coming David, it means a lot that both of you can be here," I said and smiled letting me know he wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

"Alright, well let's get dinner. Then you can tell us all about how today went," Sophia urged, trying to usher us out of the foyer.

We took a short walk from the hotel before ending up at a little Italian restaurant where Sophia had booked us a table. As soon as we sat down I launched into telling them all about Beau.

"We are actually taking him out for ice cream tomorrow. Did you want to come and meet him?" I offered.

Sophia's eyes widened in excitement. "While we would love to, we don't want to impose on your time of getting to know him," she replied, hesitant with her words but her facial expression told me otherwise.

"You're my family, him getting to know me means knowing my family too. I'd really like for you to meet him," I explained.

Sophia looked to David who shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'why not', but there was also something else there in her eyes that I couldn't understand. Like they were having their own silent conversation.

"Okay, we'll come. It sounds great!" She replied happily.

The next morning the four of us met in the lobby before collecting the car and making our way to my old neighbourhood. There wasn't much talking in the car and I could sense that Sophia especially seemed to be really nervous. David reached across and took her hand in his, shooting her a comforting smile in the same way Joey does to me. Sometimes watching his parents felt like a glimpse into my own future, or so I hoped.

Soon we were pulling up outside an older brick house. It was looking a little worse for wear, as were many houses in this area. Toys littered the front yard and as we pulled up I noticed a curtain in the front window move as little eyes looked out at us. The house was better than I had imagined, filling me with the confidence that at least this seemed to be one of the good homes.

"I might go out by myself to collect him, is that ok?"

"Of course Morgan, we'll be right here," David replied, looking at me through the rear view mirror. Joey squeezed my hand in comfort as I opened the car door and walked up to the front of the house.

I stepped around some toys and an overturned bike on the path up to the door, taking in the pile of shoes by the front door. I had barely even knocked on the door when it opened, revealing a boy of about 10 years old and little Beau standing behind him smiling up at me.

"Who are you?" The older boy says, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Hello, I'm Morgan. I'm Beau's sister, is Mrs. Barnes here?" I politely replied, guessing that this boy was the Bradley that Beau mentioned yesterday.

"Bradley! How many times have I told you not to answer the door!" A female voice calls from the hall, scolding the boy who looked unfazed.

"Oh hello dear, you must be Morgan," she said pushing Bradley out of the way to step outside and close the door, finally looking at me. "Oh of course you are, your eyes are just like little Beau's here!" She exclaimed, a bright smile on her face.