After the death of Belle's parents in Solace, Belle doesn't think anything else could possibly go so wrong in her life. Despite her booming business, flourishing relationship with Harry, and overall happiness with her life, Belle can't quite escape...
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Saturday, 26 October 2019
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"Edward, please mind the pool! I don't want you falling in."
I don't understand how parents or guardians do it sometimes.
Realistically, I have nothing to worry about. I know Edward's eight years old now and fully capable of playing safely, but watching him scurry around kicking a ball so close to Niall's in-ground pool makes me nervous. He knows how to swim, that fact I'm confident with, but I can't help but worry. Maybe it's more of the fact that I'd rather him not fall in the water, in this weather, with no change of clothes on hand. Or perhaps I'm just a tired killjoy.
"God, you're such a mum." Niall snickers, throwing his legs up on the outdoor coffee table we're all sat around. His comment brings out laughter from everyone sitting around on his back patio.
Despite the slightly cooler temperature, we all decided that we needed to get together for some bonding. It's not often that we get to see each other for more than a few hours at a time; normally we only get a glance of each other in passing, aside from my employees of course. The bakery is closed for the night and the boys aren't at work, by some miracle, so we thought why not spend the evening together. I almost equate this as our bakery retreat, with all my employees and their families in attendance.
Once Niall made up his mind about hosting a barbecue at his house, Harry and I were quick to agree to attend. It'd been a little over a week since the whole surprising Harry fiasco and we were desperate for some human interaction. Harry had his two days off and then proceeded to throw himself back into his job, only this time he made sure to come home to sleep - even if it was just for a few hours. When some time opened up in his schedule, and I mean another two-day break, Niall jumped at the opportunity, dutifully planning everything to a T in a little over a day. After convincing us, it was only a matter of time before everyone else was in cahoots.
It wasn't difficult to convince my staff, and their families, to join us tonight. We've all been aching for a chance to hang out more so than we usually do, especially outside the bakery. So, when I told of our plans earlier in the week, everyone jumped at the opportunity to come and eat, drink, laugh, and talk. They love hanging out with Niall almost more than they do me, not that I blame them, Niall really is the life of the party.
Ian and his girlfriend, Jess, were the first to arrive earlier this evening and they didn't come empty-handed. With the promise of food, they decided to stock us all up on a wide assortment of alcoholic beverages - mainly Guinness as we all know how much Niall adores a brew. They were definitely looking to get a bit more than plastered this evening, not that Niall was complaining.
Alexandra, Jack's heavily pregnant wife, can't drink for obvious reasons so she made us this amazing mocktail mix, from scratch with fresh strawberries and lemons. We all told her she shouldn't have gone through the trouble, what with making and bringing Welsh Onion Cake - her family's special recipe - on top of already growing a human. But as Jack's told us many, many times, Alexandra is a force to be reckoned with, even nearly eight months pregnant, so she definitely wouldn't have shown up empty-handed.
