4EVER

Chapter 37 - Bloom

"Ooooh gosh yeah...tenderloin...mmm twice baked potatoes YUM, salad, shiiit...shrimp cocktail. Woof mom pulled all the stops for our visit." Noelle mumbled to herself and eyes popped trying to keep her excitement for food quiet and not disturb anyone.

Stacked high with glass food storage containers, Noelle turned around and was startled by her mother who steadied her full arms with a mighty hug.

"Oh my God momma you scared me."

"OOF Someone is hungry. Good, good." Juliette quipped happily as she helped to unstack her collection.

"Famished." Noelle plus one admitted.

Her daughter's color wasn't lost on Juliette, recalling the months of morning sickness suffered. From the cupboard she pulled some saltines and a jar of peanut butter, a plate and knife quickly followed.

"Here...snack on this while I warm you and Prince some dinner."

"I can do it mom, you sit." Insisting but quickly declined by her mother who kindly but firmly placed her hand on Noelle's forearm.

"Noelle, I never get to fuss over you. Now hop up on the breakfast bar and get me up to date on the girls. How's everyone doing?" Busy Juliette was laser focused on every word while watching her daughter scoop the peanut butter straight out of the jar using a cracker and ignoring the knife and plate. If Juliette could've she would've giggled at the sight. It was just like when Noelle was young and her father detested finding cracker crumbs in the jar.

Juliette bet that Oliver wouldn't be mad seeing it now. It would bring him back to a time that went all too fast.

"Oh everyone is doing well. Ya know Marissa is busy with all those kids, in fact I've lost track by now. And you know the ER is always swamped but her and Donovan still act like teenagers."

Juliette patted the top of her daughter's hand excitedly as she arranged a small basket of dinner rolls. "I just love to hear that. Never let that die Noelle. Mmmm...life gets busy, you know and you get tired, have kids, maybe a dog and before you know it's just the two of you shuffling in a big house and you hardly know one another anymore."

Her mother's words were not lost on her. "Mom, is everything alright with you and dad? I mean, are you guys really sniping at one another because Prince and I are moving fast or is there something else going on?"

Popping the oven open, Juliette slid a couple of Pyrex dishes into the wall oven. "Oooh you know your father. Life revolves around the ding of the market opening and closing. When he's not doing that he's reading about the market and not much else."

"How's Chantal handling all your travels? What are your client's thinking about you being gone for so long? I bet they miss you."

"Well Chantal and I have had our ups and downs with it. Business is good and definitely growing. People are much more proactive about their mental health nowadays so I'd say creativity is keeping the practice rolling right now. Once the tour is finished at the end of April things will level out."

A cracker broke right in the jar but that didn't cause Noelle to pause. Instead she just dived right back into the jar to retrieve it, and in turn, began to lick the gooey goodness off her hand.

It was a delight to have Noelle home. While she was always close to her daughter, Juliette knew deep down there had been a distance since Jack. Perhaps Noelle shrouded herself in independence to portray being okay after such an experience or maybe it was just sheer embarrassment.

Either way, Juliette didn't care. Noelle was home now and brought with her a beautiful man with a gorgeous bump to match. If she could help, Juliette was determined to make things happen for Noelle herself.