Love Always Wins

7

Friday December 20th.

Seb brought Chloe's red Ferrari Portofino to a stop outside his home. As she'd barely used the car since he'd bought it he'd decided to use it for the trip to the airport and back, just to give it a run out. Grabbing his hold-all from the passenger seat next to him he couldn't contain the grin that spread across his face as he got out of the car. He was always happy to be home but right now he was even more so; he was home, his holiday could now really start, they were days away from Christmas, he was finally going to see his children today and he'd been given news last night of a huge step forward in his wife's recovery. He was literally buzzing with excitement. Locking up the car, he made his way to the front door of his home with large buoyant strides and was soon inside. Even the Christmas tree that greeted him in the hallway looked more sparkly and festive today and he dropped his hold-all down on the floor before kicking off his trainers and making his way into the lounge where he was greeted warmly by his mother who rushed over and embraced him.
"Hallo Mama, schön dich zu sehen, wie geht es dir?" As he hugged her back and placed a kiss on her cheek his eyes darted eagerly around the room acknowledging his father, David, Chrissie and Catherine. Where was his wife?

"Hi Seb, it's good to have you home. How was Italy?" Catherine asked from her seat on the sofa.

"It was ok, it was good to see everyone one last time before Christmas." He replied knowing it wasn't quite the truth. He had tried to enjoy himself but being used to having Chloe travelling everywhere with him meant that he'd missed her badly, hated being away from her and had worried and pined for her the entire time. He noticed that she wasn't here, maybe she was in the kitchen or upstairs having a nap.

"Chloe's having a walk outside with Richard." Catherine hadn't failed to notice how Seb was looking for his wife. "I thought the fresh air would do her some good."

"Ok." He nodded. So her brother was here, considering how things had been left last time they saw each other, this could be awkward. Feeling the need to talk to Seb alone, Catherine got to her feet and gestured for him to follow her to the kitchen. "How is she today?" He asked the second they entered the kitchen.

"She'll be a bit tired, she was up at four this morning feeling rough but she seems in much better spirits today." Catherine went over to the Nespresso machine to make herself a coffee and he watched in amusement as she started to open draws and cupboards.

"The pods are in that rack, next to the machine." He pointed to a chrome pod holder, he loved how everyone seemed to have made themselves at home here, it was nice to have so many people around. "I should thank you for yesterday."

"Why?" She asked as she examined the print on a pod she'd picked up.

"For what you did for Chloe." He moved to stand beside her and got her a mug out of a cupboard. "And me." He added. "You succeeded where I had failed."

"She just needed a little nudge in the right direction." She replied, brushing it off as though she'd done nothing major. As the coffee machine hummed while dispensing her drink she watched as Seb went to the window.

"It's more than that, you made her accept our child. I was starting to feel like some kind of monster who'd come along and left her pregnant." In truth he'd been starting to feel as though she thought that he was as bad as Stephen.

"She doesn't think that about you at all, it was herself she thought badly of but she'll be ok now."

"I've been so worried about getting her to Zurich on Monday, think she'll be ok with that now?" He asked as he watched Chloe and Richard walking, arm in arm, across the grass towards the house.