Page 89 of Begin Again, Part 1

He looked so much older than he did at Grammy's funeral. His stomach had grown larger, too. The buttons of the pale striped shirt worn with a pair of dark slacks were almost popping out. Fine droplets of sweat dotted the balding patch on the crown of his head, and an angry flush covered his neck and cheeks.

He looked nothing like the man from Eden's childhood memories, the studious, smart professor with a head full of dark hair and smiling brown eyes behind rimless glasses. The past few months weren't kind to him, and she almost felt sorry for him. But then she remembered his ultimatum two years ago, and a slab of ice settled in her chest, freezing any shreds of sentimental pity her weakling heart was starting to feel.

"Dad, Mom, what can I do for you?" Eden asked, her voice as flat as the deadpan look in her eyes.

"Can we come in?" Erica ignored her question as she craned her thin, graceful neck and gawked past her shoulder, her sharp gaze scanning beyond the entryway.

"He's not here." Eden put her out of her misery, dashing all her hopes. "Brenda's taken him for a walk around the block. They won't be back for a while."

"We'll wait," Erica said, waving the gift bags in front of her like a peace flag.

She didn't look any better. She, too, had aged drastically since Eden last saw her. She was thinner and greyer somehow. All that frowning and generally being miserable had finally caught up with her. No amount of concealer could hide the numerous hard lines on her forehead and the tiny crow's feet sprouting from the corners of her eyes. She should have smiled more when she had a chance. It would have been a far better reason for the harsh lines around her mouth.

"I thought I made myself clear." Eden stretched herself to her full height and gritted her teeth, hoping she looked somewhat imposing with her fists bunched up at her sides. She didn't.

Her father shuffled closer, disarming her with his sheepish smile. "Honey, we know we should have called, but we were in the neighbourhood."

Eden bristled at the blatant lie. They'd never set foot in Forrest Creek if they had a choice. They never visited her at the old apartment she'd shared with her friends. She'd invited them plenty of times, but they always found some excuse to bail on her. Work commitments. Last-minute lectures. Supper with the university chancellor. Too many reasons, and none of them were true. Eventually, Eden stopped asking and pretended to be okay with making the weekly trips to the penthouse. She had no choice but to be okay with it. She was financially dependent on them, after all.

Not anymore. She had no reason to entertain them. And there was no reason why they were still crowded on her front porch like a bunch of missionaries.

"Let's have supper together, honey? It's been a while," Steve said in a voice sweeter than honey, his eyes soft and earnest.

Eden couldn't help but laugh. She'd never seen him try so hard. She wished he'd put in the same effort before their relationship went to shit.

"I've had a long day," she replied. "I'm not hungry."

"Please, we won't be long. Your mom and I have something to tell you."

"What?" Eden asked, her suspicious gaze shifting between them.

"Can we discuss it somewhere else? Inside, perhaps?" Erica stepped forward, and without waiting for an invitation, bulldozed her way inside with Steve right behind her.

Eden glared after them, her face stiff with annoyance as she slammed the door behind her. Like vultures, they swooped in on her the moment they sensed weakness. She should have tried harder to keep them out.

"Please, make yourselves at home!" She waved at the solitary couch facing the TV in her sparsely furnished living room. "I'll change into something more comfortable and get dinner started."

"No need. We've booked a table at that Italian place you love," Steve said as he took a seat.

Turning to her bedroom, Eden corrected him, "loved!"

"What?" Steve called after her.

"I don't love that Italian place anymore. Haven't since I was sixteen," Eden said over her shoulder. You'd know this if you were in my life, she thought as she stripped off her work clothes and changed into a long floral summer dress.

She walked back into the living room just as Brenda and Aiden returned from their walk. Her parents made a show of showering Aiden with kisses and hugs, and all the unnecessary gifts they bought him.

Eden watched her son squirm in her mom's arms. He wasn't used to excessive attention and found the constant high-pitched baby talk unsettling.

"What's wrong with him?" Erica couldn't hide her disapproval when Aiden refused to take one of the stuffed toys, a grotesquely gigantic bunny with the R500 price tag still stuck to its ear. "Doesn't he like toys?"

Eden wanted to tell her it wasn't the toy he didn't like, but the woman forcing it down his throat. But, she bit back her acrid comment. Smiling instead, she said, "Aiden's not used to all the attention. He's overwhelmed."

Arms crossed, her feet almost boring holes into Eden's laminate floors from her impatient tapping, Erica admonished her, "well, you need to socialise him!"

"He's not a dog that you take to puppy school! He's a little boy. And he's well balanced, thank you very much. He's not used to you two, that's all!" Eden rolled her eyes, already dreading their evening ahead. It was so typical of her mom, always quick to find fault in others.

Erica shoved Aiden in Steve's arms and turned to glare at her. "I know that. If he spent time with us, he wouldn't be so fussy, you know."

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