Meet Me Halfway

Chapter 18

"So, you just loop it through here and you've got the perfect pattern." Fiona directed Alice to do.

The two were sat at Alice's dining table surrounded by yarn and needles as Fiona was teaching Alice how to knit.

She figured that now she was about to become a mother and with it being the start of winter, it would a useful skill to pick up.

She did as Fiona told her, taking the needles in hand and perfectly stitching the yarn together into what would become a little jumper for her newborn son.

"Wow. You're pretty good at this." Fiona praises, her smile beaming brightly as she watches the girl master the hobby.

Alice shrugs with a smile. "I'm just a fast learner." She explains, continuing to focus on the knitting task

Fiona grins widely, watching Alice pick up the skill as she rests her chin in her hands.

"And just think, 4 months from now, you'll have a little blessing to knit for until your fingers fall off." She laughs.

"Thanks for this Fiona. And thanks for all this stuff. It's times like this I really wish I had a Mom in the picture." Alice sadly reveals. She didn't really talk about it much but at times it did pain her having an absent mother. Her pregnancy should be a special occasion she celebrates with her, it should be her she gains all her advice and knowledge from, it should be her mother showering her with constant love and support. It wasn't the same with her Dad as he couldn't necessarily relate.

It just fuelled the insecurities and fears she already but did a good job at hiding, of being a mother, a teen mother at that.

Fiona sympathises, pulling her mouth down into a mild frown as she rests her hand upon Alice's. "I'm always here if you need me honey." She assures the teen girl, acknowledging the softness and gratitude in her eyes.

Fiona leaves the trailer a little while later, leaving Alice alone with all the knitted items and gear.

She prepares to put them all away until a knock at her door halts her. Her father is on a shift and FP is away with his Father for the weekend so surely it couldn't be any of them.

She walks over to the front door, swinging it open nervously before being faced with smiling and serenading Christmas carollers, belting out we wish you a Merry Christmas to their hearts content.

She watches in awe, as they sing the cheery tune, admiring their Christmas spirit. It truly was her favourite time of the year.

They finish up the song as she pulls out a $10 note from her pocket and she's about to close the door, until she hears a mousey familiar voice within the crowd.

"Alice?!"

"Hermione? Hey, what are you doing here?" Alice asks cheerily. It was since to see a familiar face during this quiet weekend that she had spent alone so far.

She eases through the carollers closer to the front to answer Alice directly. "My family's church choir goes carolling every year to raise money for the homeless." She explains.

Alice folds her arms against her chest as she silently nods, taking note of Hermione's family's charitable and generous nature. She didn't think many Northsiders had that quality and had stood firm in the belief that the majority of them were all self serving, elitist, judgemental ignoramuses.

"Well, do you wanna come in?" Alice suggests, pointing towards her living room with her thumb behind her back. "I'm home alone, bored out of my mind and it's freezing out here."

She thinks it over for a millisecond, not wanting to overstep but also wanting to spend some time with a friend. She looks back to her grandmother with a smile. "Abuela, los alcanzaré más tarde. Me quedaré por aquí un rato."