You are my favourite song - Tom Hiddleston fanfic ✓

Chapter 6 - Family

Sit sit sit
I remember when we used to sit in the government yard in Brooklyn
Observing the crookedness as it mingled with the good people we meet
Good friends we had
Oh, good friends we've lost along the way
In this great future you can't forget your past, so dry your tears
I say and to my peeps who passed away
No woman, no cry, no woman no cry, say say say
Hey little sister don't shed no tears
No woman no cry say say say

(No woman no cry - Bob Marley)

When we are done for the day I put some Bob Marley on and I drive to the house of William's mother. His baby sister is visiting and they are expecting me for dinner. Ben and William should already be there, as I am running a little late. Shooting wasn't completely done for today, but I've left Avery in charge. I've called ahead to let Monica know I'm late and she said it was no problem. We always get along fine, we had just met a couple of times when I had to tell her I was pregnant. She processed that for a minute and then pulled me in for a big hug, welcoming me to the family.

"Mummy! Mummy!" Ben runs over to me as soon as I walk in the door. I take him in a bear hug and lift him off the floor.
"Hello my little one! How was your day? Did you go to the playground again?"
"Yes, auntie Lisa took me!" Ben says with a big smile. "I was on the swing!"
"That's nice, little man. Now, let's go see your aunt and grandma."

Monica is in the kitchen and shouts a hello at me from her place by the stove. I find William and his sister in the family room, chatting over a beer. Lisa immediately gets up when she sees me and we hug each other. She goes to the University of Sydney and doesn't come home very often, as she has a very active social life over there. When I sit down she bombards me with questions about the movie I'm working on. "Are you really working with Chris Hemsworth? He is so hot!"

I humor her with a couple of stories from set, being careful I don't tell her anything I'm not supposed to. With a big movie like this we have to keep things a secret as much as we can, to prevent spoilers from ending up in the press. William is mostly just listening to us, giving short comments every now and then. I think this is the first time since the start of the production he is actually listening to me talk about work.

Monica puts dinner on the table, steak, potato salad and veggies. I convince Ben to eat three bites of his greens, one for each of his years. The boy has a strong dislike of vegetables, but the rest of the food on his plate goes in without a struggle.

After dinner Ben goes to play with his wooden train set. His nan helps him to lay down the track under the table and then sits with me again. William and Lisa are outside, his mum has asked him to take a look at her car as it was making a funny noise. Lisa is taking the opportunity to grab a smoke. I've made tea for Monica and me and we just sit quietly, blowing the steam from our mugs, Ben is making choo choo noises underneath the table.

Suddenly, William's mother speaks up. "Honey, you know you are family, right? No matter what."
I look up at her, a little apprehensive of what I think is about to follow. "What brought this up?"
"I'm not blind, my dear. I know you and William are having problems. I also know it's been going on for quite a while and from what I see, things are not getting any better."

I just stare at the woman across the table, my eyes big and my breathing suddenly a little hard. When she reaches out to put her hand on top of mine, the first tears well up in my eyes. In the talk that follows more tears are shed, not only by me. Monica has talked to William too and although he didn't tell her very much, she thinks he feels roughly the same as me. "If Ben is the only thing that is keeping you together, perhaps it is better to look at other options. By making each other miserable you are going to make Ben miserable too. Maybe not right now, but it is bound to happen."