The One Where The Lines Get Kinda Blurry

The One With Dinner In Paradise

Jen looked around the table at some of her closest friends and their families and she was unable to stop the huge smile that filled her face and shone from her eyes. For so long she had been privileged to share in their precious family time, the kids adoring their fun Aunt Jen, the one who provided countless candies and cuddles and whose home she welcomed them all into as if it was their own. But on some level she'd always felt like an interloper, an intruder, an outsider looking in on their private little worlds. But not any more. As she observed the magical scene before her eyes on this tropical paradise island, she suddenly felt connected on a far deeper and much more personal level. There was one reason behind that, and the reason being that now she had a family of her own to bring to the party. Perhaps not a conventional family, although who knows what one of those is since every family has its own challenges and hurdles to face no matter what shape or size they are, but a real family none the less. She slipped her hand under the long, ornately set table in the grounds of this luxurious Bahaman home and squeezed the knee of the man sat beside her. The gentle action drew a loving glance from him as he continued his deep conversation with some of the surrounding guests, his hand quickly finding the top of hers and interlocking their fingers together, holding it lovingly in place whilst he finished his conversation.

As he carried on speaking, discussing in great depth some of the most frustrating technical challenges he'd faced as a director, Jen turned her attention to the other end of the table where all the children were sat happily together. In the middle of the giggling gang of mostly long, dark haired girls, sat Cleo, whose face was alive with laughter as they played a game of who could pull the craziest and silliest face. It was immature, it was not entirely appropriate manners for such a beautiful table and setting, and yet it was absolutely heart warming to witness. She couldn't help but cast her mind back in time to the many dinner tables she'd sat around as a child, listening politely and with quiet fascination to the adults discussing all kinds of topics before being excused the very moment she'd finished her food because, in the extremely damaging and soul destroying words of her mother, she had nothing remotely interesting to contribute so she was dismissed. Jen attributed a lot of her anxieties and insecurities to the all too regular comments like that she'd been subjected to growing up, and as she watched the small group of children being allowed to not only sit at, but entertain the table long after the delicious food had been devoured, it made her heart sing even louder. This was everything she felt she'd been searching for her whole life and had never quite managed to find... until now.

"So, what's this big news you wanted to tell us that had to wait 'til Schwim got here?" Amanda asked, bringing her friend out from her contemplative state with a gentle nudge in the ribs on the opposite side to where David was sat still deep in conversation.

Jen grinned, "we'll tell you if he ever stops talking shop. You know what it's like when the boys all get chatting, they're worse than us." She picked up her wine glass and emptied the last of its white sparkling contents, the host swiftly coming to refill it without a moment of hesitation which drew a wide smile and a heartfelt "thank you" from their most esteemed guest.

It was at least ten minutes later when there was a long enough break in the boys' conversation for David to turn his attention back to the woman whose hand he still had firm hold of beneath the silky white covers that adorned the impressively decorated table. He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze and took a long drink of his red wine as he took his turn watching her converse happily with the girls. She felt his gaze after only a couple of seconds and turned her eyes to meet his, the sparkle in both of them illuminating even more brightly as they locked into each other and smiled warmly. "Amanda and Molly want to know what our big news is" Jen said a couple of minutes later when their conversation naturally waned, "I refused to say a word until you got here but now you are, they're getting impatient."