The Valentines

III

Holding her hand to her mouth, Theo hid her yawn.

"Are you ready to go?" Esmé asked, picking up her handbag and collecting a set of car keys off the key rack. Theo nodded. "Ada ready to go?" She asked and the little girl giggled and nodded, hugging Esmé's legs. The woman smiled and ran her free hand through Ada's hair.

Theodora and Ada had been living with the Valentine's for around three weeks now, making it near the end of March. The red-headed young woman had learnt that Esmé did not like physical contact as much as her husband did, however, Ada was a very clear exception to that rule. Esmé had made it perfectly clear to Theodora that she did not like to be touched unless she permits it. When Theo asked why Esmé narrowed her eyes and commented that she hadn't been living with her long enough to find out reasons why yet. For whatever reason, Esmé always allowed Ada to be close to her, even when she wouldn't let her own husband be close to her. Theo thought it was sweet, and William agreed.

Speaking of the tall muscular man, he appeared down the large staircase.

"Remind me of the plan for today?" He asked his wife.

"Theodora, Ada and I are leaving now because I have a meeting and I do not want Theodora travelling to the uni on her own."

"'Cause of the nut job ex, yep, I know," William replied and Esmé nodded once.

"At the time Ada needs to be at playgroup, Theodora needs to be in her English lecture, so I will take Ada to playgroup at twelve noon."

"I'm picking her up, right?" William said and Esmé rolled her eyes.

"This is no different from any other Tuesday so I am failing to understand why you are struggling," she commented, opening the front door and stepping out into the chilly morning air. Theo and Ada followed, William leaning against the door frame.

"I'm just checking, darlin'. You have all the times in your head like clockwork, I don't," he admitted and Esmé sighed.

"I will text you when you need to retrieve Ada," Esmé glanced at her watch. "We need to leave, you need to shower. You leave for work in an hour."

"I love you!" William called after his wife who hummed and opened the garage door as he shut the front door.

Instead of unlocking the white range rover, which was the car Esmé usually used, when she pressed the button on her keys, a different car lit up and Theo's eyes widened and her jaw grew slack at the car she had never noticed was there.

"You have a Jaguar?" She asked and Esmé glanced at her as she opened the back door and helped Ada in. The night before she had prepared the car, moving the booster seat into the back and moving the car to the front of the garage so they could just get in and go. "Is it an XJL?" She asked, barely able to contain her excitement of getting into a car she dreamed about owning.

"Yes," Esmé replied. "As cute as you look standing there gawking at my car, I would much rather you get in so I am not late to my meeting," she stated as she shut the back door after putting her handbag in the footwell. Theo scrambled to get in, being very careful to not scratch the silver paintwork that had a slight ice blue tint. Both women got in and Esmé started up her car.

Theo all but squirmed at the purring sound it made. Esmé buckled herself in, double checked she had buckled Ada in, made sure Theo was buckled in, and then slowly and carefully drove the expensive car out of its position, speeding up as she drove down her long driveway. The gates had been fixed, and they opened as she approached, allowed her through, and then shut safely behind her. Theo was staring at the white leather seats of the car in awe.