For The Longest Time

Chapter Eleven: The Family Dinner

Rosalie smiled softly as she brushed Peyton’s hair, she was a little nervous about introducing the little girl to her grandparents; it wasn’t going to be easy and she hoped that there wouldn’t be any trouble.

“Mama, what is going on?” Peyton asked looking at her mother, she didn’t understand why her parents wanted her to look her best; she knew that there had to be something going on for her parents to be doing all of this.

“We are having some very special guests over for dinner,” Rosalie said as she finished Peyton’s hair, she knew that she had to tell her daughter who was coming but she hoped that the little girl was prepared for what was going to happen; the blonde had a feeling that Celia was going to cause a little trouble.

Peyton looked at her mother curiously as Rosalie moved away from her, she watched as her mother headed to check on dinner while Lionel appeared holding Thiago.

“Papa?” Peyton asked making Lionel look at her with a smile, he glanced at his wife as she moved around the kitchen before he walked over to their daughter; he sat down knowing that the couple were a little stressed right now.

“Who is coming to dinner?” Peyton asked messing with the hem of her dress, she smoothed it out before looking up at her father who shifted Thiago so that he can sit on his lap; she wanted to know who was coming and why her parents seemed so stressed out.

“Your Abuelos are coming to dinner,” Lionel said making Peyton blink, she had always asked her parents about her grandparents and they had never had any answers for her and now she was going to meet them.

Lionel sighed running a hand through his hair as he glanced over at Rosalie, he knew that she was stressing out over what could possibly happen while they had their parents over for dinner.

Peyton looked over at her mother who was fussing over dinner, she could see that Rosalie was stressed out and it raised a lot of new questions but she could see that she wasn’t going to get any answers.

“Why don’t you go and watch some television?” Lionel said to Peyton watching his wife, he could see that Rosalie could do with some help and Thiago was getting a little restless about being sat in his father’s lap.

The footballer sighed as he moved to settle Thiago into his play pen before disappearing into the kitchen to help Rosalie with the dinner.

***

Claudia smiled nervously as she stepped into her daughter’s home, she didn’t know what to expect now that she was here to meet her grandchildren for the first time; she looked at Diego wondering how he felt about all of this.

“It’s good to see you Rosalie,” Diego said awkwardly as he nodded at his daughter, he glanced around the hallway wondering what he could say to take away the awkwardness that filled the room; he knew that it would be a while before that happened.

“I have to check on dinner but Jorge and Celia are in the living room if you want to join them,” Rosalie said with a weak smile, she quickly hurried back into the kitchen making Claudia sigh as she looked at her ex-husband; she wished that this hadn’t of happened, she wasn’t sure to act around her own daughter and it didn’t feel right to her.

Walking into the living room, Claudia looked at Celia hoping that Lionel’s mother would be someone that she could turn to right now however with one look at the other woman it was clear that they didn’t share the same feelings about their children’s marriage.

Diego and Claudia glanced at one another, it was clear that Celia was going to cause some trouble; they just hoped that it wouldn’t close off their relationship with Rosalie again, they wanted their daughter back.

“Mama,” called a voice making the four parents freeze as they quickly turned to see a small blonde girl hurrying passed the living room towards the kitchen; Claudia clapped a hand over her mouth at the sight of her granddaughter.

Jorge blinked surprised that this was his first sight at the little girl before he turned to look at his wife who didn’t even seem to care who the little girl had been.

“Leo?” Jorge asked as his son appeared with drinks, he knew that he was being silly but he wanted to meet his granddaughter; he watched a smile form on Lionel’s face as he set down the tray that he was carrying knowing what his father wanted.

“Peyton,” Lionel called softly as he glanced at the parents, he licked his lips as he focused on his mother for a moment before the little girl appeared and hurried to her father’s side; he carefully moved to pick her up and held her close as Claudia’s eyes filled with tears.

“Pey, these are your Abuelos,” Lionel said making the little girl look at him before peeking shyly at the people that she hadn’t noticed before; she quickly buried her head into Lionel’s neck making Diego chuckle at how much Peyton was like her mother.

***

“This is going well,” Rosalie said softly looking at Lionel, he smiled at her as he nodded his head while he wrapped his arms around Rosalie; Peyton seemed to get along well with her grandparents all except for Celia, who just glared at the six year old.

Lionel rested a hand on Rosalie’s bump, he couldn’t wait to find out what their next baby would be; he didn’t mind now that they already had one of each.

“How are you feeling?” Lionel asked softly as he watched his wife, he didn’t want her getting stressed out over nothing and he had spent most of the night fussing over her; they hadn’t missed their parents looks when Lionel did so.

“I’m fine,” Rosalie said turning to face her husband and kissed his lips, she knew that he was worried about how all of this was affecting the baby but they had been through worse when they had been pregnant with Peyton.

Lionel nodded his head before he moved back into the kitchen, dinner would be ready at any moment and he wanted to make sure that there were no problems; he knew that tonight was important.

Rosalie ran a hand through her hair as she suddenly spotted the smile on Celia’s face, she didn’t know what it was but she suddenly felt nervous; she knew that the other woman didn’t like her.

The sound of the doorbell rang stopped her internal thoughts, the blonde glanced at Celia who seemed even more smug before she headed to answer the door knowing that Lionel was busy in the kitchen.

Jorge furrowed his brow as he looked at his wife confused, he didn’t know what it was but he didn’t like how she was suddenly very happy since she had been sulking since they had arrived.

Opening the front door, Rosalie choked as she spotted someone she had never thought she would see again; she blinked shocked at the sight of the woman that had nearly ended her relationship with Lionel.

“Antonella?” Rosalie breathed at Lionel’s ex-girlfriend, who smiled at her.