Cool Mom

97: Bern

-1 year later: the next summer-

I feel light headed as the plane lands at Bern airport. I was looking out over the city as we landed and the landscape has not changed at all in the six years that I have not been here. I feel Daniel take my hand and I turn my beaming face away from the window to look at him.

"Excited?" He asks.

"That obvious?" I laugh.

He cocks his head, "Well it was quite obvious from the little dance I witnessed with Hazel back home."

We both laugh at the memory of Hazel and I holding hands and prancing around the foyer as we waited for Daniel to join us.

"Seb's out of his seat." Hazel announces from across the aisle. And sure enough Seb is wriggling his way onto the floor. At one year and two moths he's already walking on his own. I let him wobble his way over to Daniel who picks up him while I join Hazel in Seb's seat.

Soon the plane comes to a stop on the runway and we exit the plane. I step out first holding Hazel's hand. But the minute I see who's waiting for me I let go of Hazel's hand and rush to hug her.

"We're in Bern together!" Tess screams as she returns my crushing hug.

"I thought you were flying in next week." I say as we pull away.

"Those were Phil's tickets on my Snapchat story." She grins, "I've been here since the first week of August."

Suddenly I remember that I'm not nineteen and single, I have two children and a husband. I turn back to find Daniel standing some steps away as Hazel holds Sebastian's hand and points at something in the distance.

"You two done?" He asks, smiling.

"No." Tess answers for me and grabs my arm as she begins dragging me towards her waiting car, "You can drive Hazel and Sebastian home. Emma and I will join you there."

Right before Tess shoves me into the car, I ask him, "Will you be okay on your own?"

"I've been here before, Emma. Don't worry." He winks at me as Tess successfully pushes me into the passenger seat and slams the door shut behind me.

She then gets into the driver's seat and drives out of the airport's private runway.

"How's the wedding coming along?" I ask her as I buckle in my seat belt.

"As you don't you know," She begins and I roll my eyes, bracing myself for another surprise, "Phil and I flew here in May and sorted everything out before going back to New York."

"You were here in May and didn't tell me?" I look at her and shake my head still smiling, I can't seem to get annoyed with her.

"Yes and now all I need to do is go in for my final dress fitting and-oh! Hazel needs to tag along since she's going to be our flower girl with Phil's niece, Sophia."

"Hazel will be thrilled." I smile as we drive towards our parent's house, taking a slightly longer route.

After a moment's silence, Tess suddenly pulls the car to the curb and sits staring ahead at road.

"Tess?" I'm shocked.

"Am I doing the right thing?" She whispers.

"What do you mean?" I ask her.

She sighs and turns in her seat so that she's facing me.

"I don't know how to say this." She shakes her head.

I place a hand on her arm, "Just say whatever is on your mind."

She takes a deep breath and finally meets my eyes, "For about two months now I've started questioning myself. I keep thinking if Phil's the right person? If I'm rushing into marriage. I mean, we're only twenty four?"

I can tell that this isn't all. There's more on her mind so I encourage to speak. "Is there anything else?"

She nods but refuses to meet my eyes. I lean forward so that she's forced to look at me, "Tess, I'm Emma. There's no holding back."

"I keep comparing us to you and Daniel." She blurts.

"Oh." Is all I'm able to say and I pause for a second to gather my thoughts before saying, "Why are you comparing your relationship to mine?"

She sighs, "Not exactly comparing. It's just you and Daniel have everything. You're so happy together. You're both professionally successful. You have two amazing children. You love and respect each other. And you're honest with one another. It's such a smooth sailing for you."

It's my turn to sigh, "Tess, you know it was never a smooth sailing for us. Yes, the things you said are true but so much effort goes into our relationship on both our parts. Daniel struggled so much in his first years of starting up Aaron Limited. I struggled between work and family and gave it up for some time before picking it up again. Daniel works double time to make sure he spends enough time with us. There's always struggle and compromise. And those are never the same for every couple. You and Phil will have yours."

She looks down at her lap as she takes in my words, I place a hand on her shoulder and shake it so that she looks up at me. "Phil really loves you. He would do anything for you. He had his job transferred from London to New York so that you wouldn't have to give up yours."

A small smile appears on Tess's face. "I love him so much."

"You have your answer." I smile back.

Tess wipes away the tears from her eyes and straightens up when I unbuckle my seatbelt and open my door, "Get out. I want to drive."

By the time we arrive at our parents' house or I should say our childhood bungalow, I see that while alterations have been made, it's still the house I remember. The swings in the front lawn make me smile at the memories of Tess and mine swinging contests that resulted in Tess falling off and twisting her ankle once.

I pull up in the driveway behind Daniel's black Mercedes and turn off the ignition. We head for the front door. The front of the big bungalow is all glass but it's tinted so I have no idea what's going on inside.

When I step inside my feet automatically carry me to the kitchen where I find everyone.

"Emma!" Mom squeals, coming over to hug me.

"Hey mom." I sigh as I accept her hug, reminding me of how she would hug me here every day after school as prepared lunch for us.

When she pulls away, her arms are replaced my dad's. He always came home from work to have lunch with us.

"Darling you're crying!" Dad exclaims when he pulls away to look at me.

"Just so many memories." I sniffle, smiling and wipe away the tears from my cheeks.

Dad pulls me back into a hug and kisses my head. Mom tells us that lunch is laid out so everyone heads for the adjoining dining room, mom and dad chatting with Hazel and Tess holding Sebastian in her arms. I start to follow them but Daniel grabs hold of my arm and pulls me back.

He pulls me into his arms. I wrap mine around his neck and bury my face in his shoulder. I feel him kiss the side of my head as I pull away to look at him, smiling shyly. He smiles back at me and kisses my forehead before taking my hand and leading the way to the dining room.

Sorry for the lag in updates but I fell into a slump because it's hitting me that the story's about to end :(

I have quite some work to do over the next few days but I will try and post the next chapter by Friday :) Three more chapters to go!

-T

P.S. I hope the time tag in the beginning of the chapter clears any confusions about the timeline of the story. Do comment and let me know if you have any questions! :)