Cool Mom

18: Brother's Teasing

I'm helping Hazel with her food when I hear David's voice approaching us and then he acknowledges Daniel.

"This is my little brother, Daniel." I hear him say and when I look up I see that he has two men with him.

"Hi!" Daniel greets them and shakes their hands.

"These are some of my colleagues, their children are in the same class as Morgan." He introduces the men.

"Nice to meet you. This is my wife, Emma and my daughter, Hazel." Daniel says, motioning towards where we're sitting.

"Hello." I say while Hazel continues gobbling down nachos and coke.

The men continue talking and I'm distracted by Hazel who keeps shifting between heaps of nachos and marshmallows, before finally settling on a slice of cake when I tune back in on the men's conversation.

"My younger brother is installing a cement factory. He's struggling a bit with the capital but once it's up, he'll be earning riches in no time." One of the guests tells them.

David smirks at Daniel before saying. "You know, Daniel has experience with beginner's loans and bank interests."

"Really?" The man asks.

"Yeah." My husband replies, taking a sip of his diet coke.

And I know he's getting angry. When Daniel was starting with his companies, he struggled a lot in the beginning but in no time he was stable and everything's been running smoothly ever since. But that first year was hard and since Daniel refused to be coddled by his family, David has always seen it as his brother's weakness whereas it was actually his maturity and willingness to start fresh.

Every time they meet, David always finds a way to bring this into conversation no matter how hard Daniel and I try to avoid it.

"Daniel started..." Before David can go any further, he cuts in. "I'm really sorry but I should go check on mom and get something to eat. It was really nice meeting you all but please excuse me."

Without waiting for their replies, he makes his way to his mother and takes a seat next to her before catching my eye and nodding at me to come over too.

I take Hazel's hand and get her another slice of cake before going to him.

"It's okay." I say, sitting down next to him.

"I told you I didn't want to come." He simply says, pulling out his phone and scrolling through his pending messages.

I sigh and look at Hazel who's enjoying the cake.

"Okay! Kids! It's time for some party games!" Elana calls out.

The helpers set chairs in a row and the DJ plays music for musical chairs.

"Do you want to play?" I ask Hazel.

She nods and rushes to the children after handing me her now empty plate.

Hazel is out of the game after a few turns and she runs back to us while Daniel, I and her grandparents clap for her all the same. I kiss her cheek and she sits on my lap for the rest of the game. One of Morgan's friends from school wins and we all clap for him.

"Bunny, do you want some water?" I ask, looking down at her when I realize that she's asleep with her head leaning back against my shoulder.

"Thank you for having us." I say as we say goodbye to the family.

"Thank you for coming. Hazel! Did you have fun?" Elana asks her.

"Yes!" She nods as Daniel buckles her into her car seat.

"Alright, see you all later." Daniel says, closing my door after me before getting in behind the wheel.

Hazel falls asleep almost as soon as the car starts moving. It's surprising given all the glasses of coke she managed to drink. After driving in silence for ten minutes, I look at my husband who has his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

"It was nice seeing everyone again." I comment, looking out of my window.

"Sure." He scoffs.

"What?" I ask, looking at him.

"Nothing."

"It's him again, isn't it?" I urge him to speak.

"Who? David? Yes. Thank you for realizing that."

"Will you please get over it?"

"Over what? The fact that I messed up my first year of profession?" He asks, bringing the car to a stop on the side of the road. "Like my brother so kindly reminds me every time."

"It doesn't matter. Look where you are now." I touch his shoulder, upset that my husband's hurt.

"On my way back home."

"Wha...?" Then I burst out laughing and he starts laughing with me.

I lean across the center console and press a kiss to his lips. "I love you, no matter what."

"Mommy..." I hear a groggy voice speak from behind us.

"Yes Bunny?" I ask, looking back at her.

"Are we home?" She asks, rubbing her eyes.

"Not yet." I reply.

"Okay." With this she goes back to sleep and Daniel and I sit in silence for a few seconds before I feel him take my hand in his, making me look at him.

"I love you too." He says, kissing my cheek before starting to drive again.

I smile at my reflection in the car window.

Not very proud of this chapter but here it is :)

Please comment and let me know what you think of this story!!

-