22 June 2012
Mum had her hair scraped back in a high pony tail, and had her apron tied around her waist and had a smudge of flour on her cheek. We both hugged each other and I leant in and wiped away the flour from her cheek. 'mum this is Adam.' I said proudly, like a small child presenting an exciting object to their parents. Mum didn't deal with any formalities and pulled Adam straight into a warm embrace. 'I'm Claire' she said stepping back and looking him up and down, we both had the same dark brown glossy hair and were both tall and slim, except I had green eyes and my mothers were a hazel colour. As we stepped inside the house we were hit by the smell of freshly baked bread and the smell of whatever mum was cooking for dinner. It gave the house a warm and welcoming feel, which had been absent in Adams house. 'your father has just popped out but should be home in time for dinner.' mum said dashing off to check that dinner wasn't burning. We put our bags upstairs and then I lead Adam outside. What we didn't have in house size we certainly made up for with our garden. It was a whole acre and while we could have built a larger house, mum had insisted that we kept the beautiful old farmhouse.
For a winters day, it was a beautiful afternoon the gentle winter sun was shining, illuminating the garden with it's golden glow, we could hear the soft bubbling that the stream in the middle of the garden was making and there were birds chirping in the trees. Just then my two dogs came wiggling up to us in excitement, I bent down and started rubbing their tummies. 'this is Tilly.' I said pointing to the cute little black and tan sausage dog, which Adam had taken over rubbing her belly. 'and this is Luna.' I said indicating to the beautiful blue/grey Weimaraner. Adam enthusiastically stroked and fussed both dogs.
Someone patted me gently on the back, I spun around and cried, 'daddy.' and wrapped my arms around him. He turned to Adam and said, 'so you must be the boy.' he said sternly, Adam shuffled nervously. Then my dad broke out in a huge grin and said 'welcome to the family.' and shook Adams hand enthusiastically. Just then mum called out, 'dinner is ready.' and at the word dinner both dogs ran at full pelt towards the backdoor where she stood.
'this is delicious, Claire' smiled Adam. Mum beamed back at him. It was true, my mum was an amazing cook, she even made the dogs homemade kibble and biscuits. I was an only child, because after me my mum couldn't have any more children, so the dogs were the babies she never had and were spoilt rotten.
After brushing my teeth I walked into the spare bedroom, I collapsed onto the bed beside Adam and kissed him playfully. He looked up from his phone and kissed me back. 'your parents are so lovely.' Adam said shyly. 'I'm sorry about how mum treated you.' 'adam don't worry about it, your mum will come round.' I said and then rolled over and closed my eyes. As I drifted off to sleep, I couldn't help thinking about the niggling doubt at the back of my mind about what would happen if she never come round.
Love And War Chpt.38 • Opuss № I