The Valentines

XIV

Theo sat in the backseat of William's BMW, both of them waiting for Esmé to finish her work call so she could join them. Upon finding out everything that had happened at the University, William had not only been absolutely livid that Ron had dared to get that close to Theo, but he had also expressed a high level of excitement when he found out that Theo now had a friend.

In response he had decided to drag both women out on a date night, which usually only Esmé took part in.

"And you're sure this is okay?" Theo asked, nerves racking her body. Knowing William he probably hadn't told Esmé that Theo would be joining them and the last thing she wanted was to upset the apple cart. As it was she was struggling with asking Esmé for a session, having tried three times in the past couple of weeks and each time she floundered and spoke about something else.

"Course it is!" William said cheerfully, twisting in his seat to look at Theo. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Have you even checked with Esmé that this is okay?"

"No," William frowned subtly. "Was I meant to?"

Theo stared at him in exasperation.

"William," she groaned.

"What! Why would I ask Esmé?"

"Because she's your wife! And this is a date night! I'm not your girlfriend, or her girlfriend so why am I here?"

William's mouth opened and closed in genuine shock. Theo pulled her phone out of her pocket and made to dial Diana's number, to tell her she'd come and pick up Ada.

That had been another surprise to Theo. She had yet to meet Vivienne due to schedule conflicts with Esmé and William but the two dominant women had already spoken. Apparently, Diana didn't do well on her own for long periods of time and for three nights a week, Vivienne worked late and those happened to be the days that Diana was only in University for a few hours, which left her alone for the whole day.

So Esmé had suggested that Diana spend that time with Theo, either at the University or at the mansion and Vivienne had agreed. That meant that a lot of Theo's time was now spent with the chaotic ball of untamed energy that had quickly become her best friend. It also meant that Diana meeting Ada was inevitable.

The way Diana had interacted with Ada had instantly settled any worries Theo might've had about the two of them getting along. The last thing she wanted was for her new friend to not get along with her daughter, because that meant Theo would have to drop Diana entirely. She didn't care how good of a friend she was, or how good she made Theo feel, if Diana hadn't gotten along with Ada that would have been it.

Ada was Theo's world and it was another reason she was glad she hadn't met Vivienne yet. She didn't know a lot about the woman except that she was French, and she only knew what she looked like because Diana had her saved as her lock screen, but even that was an older photo apparently and Diana had very shyly hidden her phone away then.

Still, Theo didn't want to like Vivienne only for her to treat her daughter like crap.

But as it so happened, Diana and Ada got on like a house on fire, batting off each others energy and wearing each other out so when William told Theo that he had arranged for Diana to take care of Ada that evening, she'd been surprised.

It had made her mildly uncomfortable too, considering she hadn't met Vivienne yet and didn't know how she would react to coming home to find Diana with a child that clearly wasn't hers. William had convinced her it was fine, that he had met Vivienne in passing and she seemed to be quite nice.

Theo knew better than anybody that seeming nice and being nice were two different things.

A hand snatched her phone away.