Loaded

part 11

"stop staring" Darcy whispers.

"I can't" my dad and I say in unison. Darcy really doesn't realise what a big deal this is, for me and dad it's like seeing a once in a lifetime solar eclipse.

"Are you filming this" Darcy laughs. He pushed my phone down, he's surprised when he hears my siblings protest through the phone.

"Live streaming" I reply.

"Only to the family group chat, they wouldn't believe it if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes" I add.

My brother and sister literally gave up on what they were doing to watch the miracle that is taking place on the tiny screens of their cell phones. It's not every day you see your hard face mother hug our even more Stoic grandmother. They had a deep conversation where they were honest and opened up to each other, I hadn't witnessed that though I walked in on the beginning of the hug and immediately yelled for dad to come witness the once in a life time event.

"Has hell frozen over " dad asks, making me chuckle.

"We can hear you, I have terminal Cancer there's nothing wrong with my hearing" gran says sharply making dad cower. I guess it's true what they say when your near the end of your life you want to make peace with those you love the most. I should be upset about my grandma's impending death but I think I'm still in shock at the whole situation. I expect the news will sink in later once my family have have left and I have time to process the news.

"Why don't we go out for lunch, don't worry darling you have time to change" mother says looking me over,I feel Darcy chuckle behind me.

"Well that lasted all of 12 hours" I say to myself as I leave them to get changed. I should have known my mom couldn't completely change the habit of a lifetime and stop criticising me.

....

Grans disapproval of the restaurant is obvious by her up turned lip but she doesn't say a word. Gran runs a manicured finger across the table before tutting, mom takes a pack of anti septic wipes from her bag and cleans the whole table including the already clean silver wear. As I child I found this frustrating and a little embarrassing but as an adult I'm mortified. The staff look at us and all I can do is give them an apologetic smile.

"Were going to have to tip them big" Darcy whispers in my ear mirroring my own thoughts, I nod in reply.

"I'm so sorry, please don't spit in our food" I whisper to the waitress as she approaches the table. The waitress laughs silently im sure she's had worst customers but I still feel bad.

Grandma and mom win the award for worst customers ever, mom asks about the sugar content in everything and gran makes the staff confirm the dish she's chosen doesn't have mushrooms. Even when the chef confirmed the veal doesn't have mushrooms she still isn't convinced and proceeds to tell him she is deathly allergic to mushrooms and that her death will be on his hands if she so much as consumed one mushroom. The chef actually looks a little scared as he walked away.

"Your not allergic to mushrooms" mom states

"Yes I am"

"No you just don't like them" mom clarifies.

Gran shrugs "same thing"

We sit in uncomfortable silence as we wait for our food, Darcy taps on his phone and tells us he is replying to important emails. I raise my eyebrows, I know he is lying but I can't blame him. I wish I had thought of it first, I watch him play candy crush on his phone as he continues with his ruse.

"Is now a good time to talk about Christmas" gran asks, I'm so not ready for this conversation.

"Were going to Europe for Christmas" I blurt , I don't know who's most surprised me or Darcy.

"Europe" my family asked in unison.

Darcy raises an eyebrow but he looks amused, I really should have thought my lie through. I have no idea what to say now, I know nothing about Europe.

"Why Europe" gran asks

"Yes Savannah why" mom clearly doesn't believe me, she's giving me a sceptical look.

"I have worked a lot this year so I decided to take some time off work so we can travel and have a second honeymoon" Darcy says confidently, even I believe that it's planned and I hadn't just blurred it out.

"So this was your idea" mom asks

Darcy smiles at me then nods.

"To take my daughter away from her family at Christmas" mom continues, she sounds pissed

"Mom" I chastise, I can't believe she really cares about this. We usually spend Christmas arguing and wishing we hadn't spent the holidays together.

"She is my wife and I'm her husband, we are family so with all due respect Kathleen I'm not taking your daughter away from her family at Christmas" Darcy speaks confidently , I honestly feel so turned on that he stood up to my mom. No one's ever done that before, I just want to pull him into the bathroom so we can fuck.