Completely & Stupidly: Forever and Ever

Chapter 8. Vanessa

 By lunchtime, they had all arrived at the bowling alley in Hotton and were excited to get inside and knock down some pins. On the journey out of the village, they had tried to come up with nicknames for each other to enter into the system but kept changing them before anything could stick. As everybody piled out of the taxi, Vanessa paid the driver generously, mostly as an apology for Moses spilling his juice carton all over the back seat, but thankfully the driver assured them that it was fine and wished them a lovely day. Though, Vanessa couldn't help but notice the rainbow flag air freshener that he had dangled from his mirror in the front, so it was more than likely that he had realised that they too were members of the lgbtq community, which filled her with a welcomingly, warm feeling that she had not often felt from strangers. "Hurry up," Tracey called out as she stood between the automatic doors of the bowling alley, causing them to jolt open and closed as their little gang rushed inside. "Thank you" Vanessa nodded to the taxi driver and then jogged over to join the rest of her family in the foyer. "I hope these kids know we're going to kick their arses" Charity laughed quietly into her ear, as she popped her arm around her waist. Vanessa shook her head, "No, we're obviously going to let them win, Charity, they're four" she said very matter of fact. "I know how old they are. Anyway, I was referring to the older ones" She added as she pulled open the zip of her bag and let out a friendly grin to the young man on the front desk. "Hi, three adults, two teens and two children for bowling please" Vanessa politely informed, as Charity dug around her handbag for her purse, now wishing she had 'accidentally' left it at home. "Okay great, if you'd like to come on over, I'll set you up with some shoes" another young man beamed, and he led them over to a small waiting area where he took the foot size of each of them, and then proceeded to hunt down the appropriate shoes. "Right, you lot better appreciate this day out because it just cost me a fortune" Charity moaned as she joined them after paying. "Aw, don't be so tight" Tracey scolded with a smile as the young guy reappeared with a trolley full of flat shoes for them to change into. "I think these are for you" He bleated on bended knee as he passed Johnny and Moses a pair of velcroid shoes, each in the same tiny size. "And here you go" He muttered as he reached over and handed Sarah the next pair. "They're not mine" She scoffed as she noticed the numbering inside was two sizes too small for her. "They're mine" Vanessa sighed, without giving eye contact to the boy, who then apologised for assuming while the rest of them laughed at the mix up. "Right, are we all ready?" Charity called out over the hubbub once she'd noticed everyone had fastened their new shoes and popped their other ones into the little trays on the trolley. "Yes" Moses shouted, causing Johnny to join in as they jumped up and down on the spot. "Alright let's go then, last one there's paying for all the sweets" Charity cried, and was then taken aback while she was left stranded as every last one of them ran off to find their lane.
"No, you can't put the borders up, that's cheating" Noah told Sarah as she hogged control of the little settings computer. "Only the kids should have them up" He added as he looked to Vanessa for a nod of approval. "That's me not hitting a single pin then" Vanessa laughed, nudging Tracey's arm as she did. "Well, I'm glad we're not playing as Woodfield's vs Dingle's then, if you're that bad" Tracey replied, nudging her sister back while the two little ones tried to lift up the heavy balls from the stand. "Hi, remember me?" Charity's voice sounded from behind as she finally found them at the sixteenth alley. "Trace, don't look now, but I think that gorgeous woman is talking to me" Vanessa whispered, loud enough for Charity to hear. With that, Charity dropped the pile of coats that she'd lugged across the room; onto Tracey's lap, and took Vanessa's hand, pulling her up from the sticky leather sofa for a quick kiss. "These gorgeous women want a drink, so go get them in Trace" Charity announced as she threw her purse at her with a bit more force than she intended. "Fine" Tracey huffed as it bounced off her chest and onto the floor, then she pushed the kids coats aside and climbed to her feet. "Mum, what were you going to be called again?" Noah asked. "Oh, I don't know, just put anything down," Charity told. Sarah rolled her eyes and typed out the word 'Bossy' and pressed enter, listing it alongside the others. When she returned moments later with the drinks, a couple of cokes for the kids and a bottle of wine for the adults. "Right, I've sorted us into two teams" Sarah announced proudly after finally finishing the setup. "Team one, Queen S, Lil No, Dinosaur-man and Bob?" Vanessa read aloud, a little confused as she deciphered who was who. "Versus team two, Bossy, Tiny and Blondie" Charity read aloud, "What that's us is it?" She added, gesturing with her thumb between herself, Vanessa and Tracey. "Old versus young" Noah joked, making an already hyperactive Moses laugh again. "Alright, Son" Charity breathed, pushing her palm into his face. "We'll see who's laughing when the game is over" she added with a smile as she rolled up her sleeves ready to bowl.