Alec Hardy: A Short Story

13

- A week later -

"Have we got everything?" Alec mumbles as he makes his way towards the front door.

"Yeah, Dad. You've checked three times." Daisy sighs.

"Better to be cautious than unorganised, darlin'." He sighs as he grabs the car keys. "I've set the DVD player up in the car for Ellie, has she got DVDs?"

"Yep, we are sorted, love." You smile softly as you grab the bag of snacks and your bag.

"Okay. I think we are just about ready. Let's go." You all leave your apartment and you lock the door. You all go down to the car and you get Ellie in.

You and Alec are checking that everything's in the car. He closes the boot of his car.

"You're so hot when you're stressed." You smirk slightly.

"I'm not stressed." He frowns.

"Okay..." you giggle as you get into the car. He pouts and gets into the driver's seat. He puts his seat belt on and starts the engine. He's still pouting slightly. You grab his hand and kiss it. "I'm joking, love. Not just when your stressed, all the time."

He rolls his eyes playfully and kisses you.

"Ugh!" Ellie groans from the backseat. "Gross!" You giggle and make sure your seat belt is on.

"Shush you!" You chuckle as you point at Ellie. Alec starts driving.

"To Scotland!" Alec grins.

- Later that day -

He pulls up outside a house and wakes you up. It's dark outside.

"Hey, we're here." He whispers. You stretch and get out of the car. He's parked outside a small house which must be his mum's.

"I'll wake Ellie up." You mumble as he goes and knocks on the door. Daisy gets out and stretches. Ellie eventually wakes up, she's quite calm and quiet, obviously still half asleep. She follows you to the front door where Alec and Daisy are stood.

Eventually someone comes to the door. It's a woman that must be in her late 50s if not early 60s.

"Alec!" She grins as soon as she sees him. She pulls him in for a hug.

"You alright, mum?" He chuckles as he hugs her back. Eventually they step back from each other and his mum looks at Daisy.

"Oh, Daisy. It's been so long. You've grown too much!" She smiles widely as they hug each other.

"It's good to see you, nana." She chuckles. Again, they eventually step back from each other.

"You must be (Y/N)? The one that's making my boy so happy. It's good to finally meet you." She smiled as she hugs you.

"It's so good to meet you too!" You step back from her hug.

"You're all he ever talks about when he phones me. I think he plans on keeping you forever." She grins.

"Mum... already trying to embarrass me?" He laughs and she nods.

"This is Ellie. She's my only daughter from a previous relationship. She's 6. Go say hello to Alec's mummy." Ellie goes all shy because she's tired and meeting someone new.

"H-Hello. Its nice to meet you." She gives Alec's mum and nervous hug.

"You alright, Ell? A bit quiet isn't she?" He turns to you.

"She's tired, she's been asleep most of the way and we were up early this morning." You explain.

"Well let's get you in and settled. Come on in." She welcomes you inside so you go inside. "I'll show you where the rooms are so you can get beds sorted, especially if your little one wants to go to sleep."

"That's probably the best idea, thanks Mum." You follow her upstairs.

"Alec, you've two have the spare double room and the girls have got the spare single room which has got a sofa bed in it too so they have a bed each."

"Thanks for this." You smile widely.

"It's okay. I'll leave you to it, you probably just want to get everything sorted." She smiles as she leaves the room.

"I'll bring the bags in so we can get the beds made. I'll bring Ellie's first."

"Okay, love." You smile softly. You help Ellie onto the bed so she can lay down then help Daisy set up the sofa bed. "Which one do you want, Daisy? Ellie can go on whatever."

"I'll go on the sofa bed. It's quite a big sofa bed too so kinda makes up for comfort." She shrugs. You chuckle as Alec comes in with some bags.

"There you go. Just our bags now." He passes the bags to you and goes back to the car. You find Ellie's pyjamas and get her changed. You get her straight into bed and she falls asleep straight away.

"I'll let you get changed and everything sorted." You tell Daisy as you leave. You go into the room you're sleeping in and Alec's in there.

"Are they okay?" He asks.

"Yeah. Ellie's asleep already. Daisy's going to bed soon I think."

"Okay. When did you wanna go to bed?" He asks as he sat on the bed.

"I'm not too worried. I slept on the way. When do you wanna go?"

"I'm alright. I'm quite awake at the moment. And there was something that I wanted to do, just us." He replies as you sit down next to him. He wraps an arm round your waist and pulls you close.

"What's that?"

"Well I guess that you could call it a date but it isn't anything posh. It's very far from posh."

"Okay. Go on..." you reply curiously.

"I wanna go to a restaurant I worked in as a teenager. I've heard that my boss is still in charge there." He asks as he looks down at you, hoping to gauge your reaction.

"Yeah. We can do. What restaurant is it though?"

"You'll find out when we get there but I know that you like it because we've had it before." He grins as he gets up and goes downstairs to his mum.

You find your shoes and get them on. He eventually comes back upstairs.

"Mum said she doesn't mind us going out for a bit. I'll go and let Daisy know." You nod and he leaves the room again but he's back within a minute. "Right, ready?"

"Yep!"