Page 58 of Could It Be Magic?
Nick’s heart thumped. He tried not to feel hurt that he was finding this out from Tristan and reasoned with himself that it had all happened so swiftly, and that was probably why Thea hadn’t filled him in on all of the developments herself. He forced a smile at Tristan. ‘Your sister’s got her head screwed on, Tris, I’m sure she’ll do the right thing.’
‘I hope so.’ Tristan looked so worried, Nick forgot his own concerns.
‘I’ve known you both for a long time, Tris, and you’ve weathered worse. She’ll get through this, and we’re both here to help her, aren’t we?’
Tristan smiled then. ‘You’re right. And she’ll have my guts for garters if she thinks I’ve been talking to you about it all, so can you not let her know I’ve told you? She’ll tell you in her own time, I’m sure.’
‘My lips are sealed.’ Nick smiled at his friend. He walked Tristan to the door and flipped the closed sign. They were still closing a little earlier in the relaxed days between Christmas and New Year, and Nick was relieved. It would give him time to get home and changed before heading out to Thea’s place.
As Tristan went out of the door, he turned back to Nick. ‘I’m so glad you and Thea are finally getting it together,’ he said. ‘It’s taken you both long enough. Don’t let this thing with Ed put you off. Thea’s been over him for a long time, and she’s handling things the way she should. He won’t come between you two, and if he tries, he’ll have me to deal with!’
‘I appreciate that.’ Nick smiled. ‘Take care, Tris.’
Driving home to his cottage, he mulled over what Tristan had told him. He wasn’t worried, not really, but he didn’t want to say the wrong thing to Thea, either. What they had was so new, and so special, that he didn’t want to jeopardise things before they’d really got started. He’d let her take the lead and tell him what she wanted him to know, and hopefully she’d allow him to help her face this difficult situation. He knew how headstrong she was, though, and that he’d have to be careful how much he offered to help her. She’d been so used to dealing with things independently since Ed had gone that she might think he was trying to take control, otherwise. He shook his head in frustration. It felt as though there was suddenly a layer of complication to their relationship that hadn’t been there before Christmas. He’d always known it wasn’t going to be easy, starting a relationship with Thea and her children, but, he told himself firmly, none of it was going to jeopardise things. They’d take each day at a time and build something new. And today’s brick in that new structure was dinner with Thea and the children. That was something to feel optimistic about.
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Thea took a deep breath and focussed on letting it go as slowly as she could. She wasn’t going to let Ed get back into her head again, not after all this time. Their reconnection had been necessary, and logical, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. She’d do what she needed to do for the children, but nothing more. She hadn’t told Cora and Dylan about their meeting, in case it had all gone pear shaped. Thea couldn’t bear them getting their hopes up if it was all going to end in tears again, but she knew she couldn’t keep it a secret from them much longer, especially not with Cora and Ben in regular contact via Snapchat. She’d sat them both down when Cora had told her about the initial communication with Ben, so they were both in the loop, but she hadn’t wanted to raise their hopes or stress them out about everyone actually meeting. That was a bridge she needed to cross now.
In a way, it felt reassuring that she could view it so dispassionately. She’d been angry, initially, when she and Ed had spoken, but now, with the benefit of an hour or so’s breathing space, and Tristan’s presence beside her before and after the meeting, she felt better about the whole thing. There was just one thing she needed to do, though, to fully clear the emotional space before Nick came round for dinner with her and the children, and that was to talk things through with them. They had a right to know what had been discussed, and she needed to know how they felt about allowing him back into their lives. They weren’t babies any more, and they had the choice about how they wanted to proceed. It wasn’t just a decision for the adults.
‘Cora, Dylan, can you come down here a minute?’ Thea arranged the three mugs of hot chocolate on a tray and added a selection from the box of biscuits that Lorelai had given her when she’d popped in a couple of days back. She hoped this would go some way to making the discussion a little more palatable.
The thump of two sets of feet on the stairs signalled the kids’ arrival into the living room, and Thea took a deep breath. Although Cora was still messaging Ben, Thea wasn’t sure if Ed would have had the chance to speak to him since their chat. She hoped not. This was something she wanted to broach first.
As the kids flumped on the sofa, Thea settled herself in the armchair and, with murmurs of appreciation, Cora and Dylan sipped their hot chocolate.
‘Mmm, this is lush, Mum.’ Cora grinned, and the smile became wider when she glanced at her brother, who had a frothy moustache of squirty cream. She reached for a chocolate digestive from the tray and before Thea could blink, it had vanished into her mouth.
‘So.’ Thea’s stomach gave a little flip. ‘I went to meet with your dad this morning.’
Cora’s hand, holding a second chocolate biscuit, paused halfway to her mouth. ‘Why didn’t you tell us?’
‘I didn’t want to get your hopes up. It’s been a long time since he and I have been in the same room together, and I wanted to make sure we could both cope with it before I brought you two along.’
‘And are you both still alive?’ Cora gave a brief grin.
Thea grinned back. ‘Just about.’ Then, she became serious again. ‘I know it’s a lot to take in, even with the contact you’ve had with Ben, but it was important that your dad and I ironed out a few things before getting you both involved.’ She briefly told them about Ben’s sister, Maisie, too, so that they were completely in the picture. Cora wasn’t surprised – Ben had already told her about Maisie – but Dylan just nodded. Thea looked at her son, who was staring intently into his mug of hot chocolate. ‘What are you thinking, Dyl?’
Dylan raised his eyes, and Thea’s heart began to ache. ‘It’s all right,’ she said gently. ‘You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.’ She reached out the hand that wasn’t holding her own mug and gave his messy mop of brown hair a stroke. ‘As I said… it’s a lot to take in. And I know you haven’t had as long as Cora has to get used to the idea of meeting Ben. And your dad, of course.’
‘It’s not that,’ Dylan said quietly. ‘It’s just… do you think Dad loves his new kids more than he loves us? Is that why he stayed away so long?’
Thea’s eyes filled with tears at the pain behind that question. She shook her head. ‘No, darling, of course not. Your dad loves you. We both do. And we want to make sure that you’re both happy for him to come back into your lives.’ She hated having to defend Ed, but she needed to make sure Dylan didn’t feel that it was something about himself or Cora that had caused the distance between the family. They’d had conversations like this before, when Dylan had been old enough to realise that his father wasn’t around, but the fact that there were new children in the mix had obviously re-ignited some of his anxiety.
‘But why has he waited so long?’ Dylan asked. ‘I can’t, like, even remember anything about him. It feels weird.’ He furrowed his brow. ‘And what if he doesn’t like us now? What if we don’t like him?’
Thea, who’d spent enough time over the years trying to get past the fact that she didn’t like Ed very much any more (and that was putting it mildly), gave Cora and Dylan what she hoped was a confident smile. ‘Then I promise you don’t have to see him. I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do. This is a lot to ask of you both, and just because your half-brother, Ben’s found you, that doesn’t mean you can’t choose what to do. This has to be something you want, and Dad and I aren’t going to push you either way. We might not see eye to eye on a lot of things, but we both love you very much. It might not be right for you at the moment, but perhaps sometime in the future you might feel differently. If you don’t want to go any further with it now, I promise you we’ll both understand.’
Cora, who’d been keeping quiet up until now, suddenly interjected. ‘But won’t that be, like, really rude if I suddenly stop talking to Ben?’ Her brow furrowed in that all-too-familiar stressed-out teenager way. It was an expression that Thea had learned to identify, and she called it ‘social media anxiety’. She hated seeing it in her daughter, but at times it felt inevitable.
‘You don’t owe anyone anything,’ Thea replied. ‘Remember that. My job is to keep you two safe and happy, and if that means putting things on hold with Dad and his new children, then that’s OK. If you decide you do want to meet them, then that’s fine, too.’ She reached out and pulled them both close to her. ‘You are the most important people in my life, and I’ll support you, whatever you want to do.’
They cuddled for a moment, and Thea bit her lip. She didn’t want to say anything else to them: Cora and Dylan had to make their own choices about what happened next. She thought she’d done a decent job of trying to stay neutral about it all, under the circumstances, but she realised, to her surprise, that it hadn’t really been that difficult. Making contact with Ed earlier that day hadn’t been pleasant, but it could have been far worse, and for the first time since the bomb had dropped about Ed, Ben, Ciara and Maisie, she felt strong enough to be able to face it.
‘So.’ Cora disentangled herself and looked mischievously up at Thea. ‘Now that’s all done, can we talk about Nick coming round for dinner? I mean, are you two a thing now or what?’
Thea shook her head. She was still getting used to the speed at which her daughter could change emotional lanes, and not even feel the bumps in the road. ‘I’ll let you know. But he seems to like you two, so I thought it was about time we sat down together for some grub.’ She smiled at them both. ‘If that’s still all right with you two?’
