A Storm Is Brewing

Court Dismissed

A/N: this isn't proofread so I'll probably come on and fix it at some point. Just wanted to post before I sign off for the new year so you weren't all waiting for it. I've tried to fit in as many favourite lines/scenes as I possibly can so if I've missed yours out I'm really sorry. I had so many messages so going between those and the comments was difficult without making this like 15k words (it's 7k haha).
Happy New Year to you all, hope 2024 is everything you hope for!

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When we arrived at the hotel in New York, the first thing I noticed was that we weren't exactly dressed for the occasion. The hotel was fancy—the kind of place I dreamed of going to as a child, but always thought it would be completely unattainable. We were shown to our rooms by a man who seemed overly excited given it was 2am and he would likely work the entire night. As promised, Leah had booked a suite with separate bedrooms and made it clear from the get go that the kids had a room together, Amanda had a room next to them, and our room was furthest from the others.

It felt strange to be here with such a small group of people. Usually, these types of occasions were spent with every member of the Williamson clan that existed, but Leah had been adamant that one person from our retrospective original families was more than enough. Truthfully, I wondered if it was a bit of a letdown for her. I knew she loved those family events, basking in the atmosphere of loud rooms and the sound of multiple conversations taking place. I wondered if this new year would be less special to her than others, one that forced her to be away from what was usual and instead be stuck in an apartment with me, three kids, if you could call Liv a kid, and her mum.

The boys had fallen asleep in the car on the way from the airport, not stirring when we put them into bed. Liv was quick to bury herself under the covers of her own bed, telling us to wake her up when breakfast was being served and already discussing exactly what she would get from the menu on the bedside table. Amanda, too, went for a nap; I suppose she thought she would be on babysitting duty the next night while Leah and I explored New York into the early hours of the morning. I guess I thought that too.

In true parent fashion, I headed straight for our own bedroom to start unpacking the cases. Despite being exhausted, I wanted to make sure I didn't have anything to do except enjoy the holiday when I woke up later. Leah followed, as she often does, silently offering her help until the three suitcases were empty and she knew I could finally settle myself. Travelling with kids was not easy.

"Soph, I want to show you something."

She held her hand out, smiling tiredly at me as I groggily took hold of it and followed her into the living area of the suite. Initially confused, I continued following her out of the room and into the elevator, going up just two floors until she led me onto the rooftop terrace. My eyes widened, and I felt like every bit of tiredness that existed within me left my body when I set my eyes on the view we had.

"Oh my god."

That came out as a whisper, one that caused a huge smile to spread across Leah's face and a relieved sigh to leave her mouth.

"Do you like it?"
"Like it? It's beautiful. Perfect, even."
"I've booked us in here tomorrow night; I thought we could watch the ball drop from here. Unless you want to watch it from the crowd, I didn't really think about that. We can -"

I chuckled at her rambling, making her shake her head at her own overthinking.

"This will be perfect."
"Okay, I can breathe again." She chuckled.
"You'll be panicking about something else in a minute anyway; I'm used to it."
"I know. C'mon, let's get some sleep, or we'll be asleep before midnight tomorrow and miss the thing we came for."