Third In Line

Chapter Twenty - Spilling the Beans

After her grandmother had called for dinner time, it wasn't long before her parents left whatever dark corner of the house they were hiding in and arrived in the dining room. They couldn't stop giving each other loving glances and smiles as they sat opposite each other at the table, casually ignoring all of the strange looks that Ellie and the rest of her family were giving them.

"Something the matter?" Carole asked, breaking the silence.

"No, no. Everything's perfect" her mother replied, seemingly unable to stop smiling as she gently stroked Will's hand across the table.

Ellie continued laying down large plates of food on the table whilst closely watching her parents grin at each other. She'd seen it before, where her mum and dad wouldn't stop smiling and smirking at each other without explaining why. They always seemed to act that way when they had some exciting news to reveal.

"Wow, dinner looks great Carole" her father said, practically licking his lips as Alex put down a bowl of roast potatoes right in front of him.

"I had help" her grandmother smiled warmly down at her and Alex as they all took their seats around the table. "The girls are becoming fine cooks"

"You're forgetting when Ellie spilt the gravy" Alex grinned at her playfully from across the table.

Ellie carefully moved her hand to hide the gravy stain on her trousers from her mother's view, "You're the one that dropped the cranberry sauce in the bin" she argued back at her sister.

"Now now girls" Carole interrupted their argument as she sat down at the end of the table, easily able to place a calming hand on both Ellie and Alex's shoulders.

"These two argue almost as much as their mother and aunt did when they were younger" her grandfather said, grinning widely as he sat down at the other end of the table.

"Dad, you know as well as I do that it's impossible to argue as much as the girls do" her mother replied.

"We don't argue all the time" Ellie complained, trying to ignore the fact that she was just arguing even more. "She just gets on my nerves a lot"

"Yeah, well you get on my nerves more" her sister said, sneering at her whilst the adults at the table smiled at the both of them.

Ellie sneered back at her, as they normally would do when they finished trading insults. Their arguments never seemed to go anywhere meaningful, but there was still a part of both of them that enjoyed arguing with each other. They rarely got the chance to openly express themselves around other people, but when they were at the Middleton home, they always felt able to act and behave as they liked.

They were able to argue, irritate and complain about each other as much as they wanted, whilst maintaining their love and care for one another. They could act like normal people, and normal sisters.

"What's taking Pippa and Mark so long?" Will asked, glancing at the empty seats next to him and Kate on either side of the table.

"They'll be down in a minute. Jenny had a little... accident" Michael answered.

"Accident?" Alex asked.

"Probably best not to talk about it right before dinner" Carole said.

"Talk about what?" Pippa asked as she and Mark finally made their entrance into the dining room.

"About the mess that Jenny made" Michael answered.

"Michael" Carole glared at her husband across the length of the table. "Not at the dinner table"

Pippa and Mark took their seats at the table, each breathing long drawn out sighs as they relaxed into their chairs. Both of them looked exhausted and slightly delirious, but Ellie knew not to worry. Her aunt and uncle had been like that ever since Jenny and Charlie were born, which apparently 'happened to every new parent' according to her own mum and dad.