BUT so they don't go to waste, I get to post them here!!!
Here is the first one and there will be more!
Enjoy :)
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“Aaron, hi!”
Estee chorused as she pulled open the front door.
The moment Arlo
had left and Aaron had read the letter Sophie had given him, a whirlwind of
emotions had completely consumed him. The previous few months he had spent
debating over something he wanted to buck up the courage and do had just been
made so much easier once he realised how she felt.
Therefore,
heading straight up to their bedroom he had hunted for the ring he had hidden
so well before getting Phoebe and heading straight to the Carter household.
He knew he
needed to make it quick considering Sophie was heading out soon for Elliot’s
stag do and he needed to catch her before she did so.
While he
finally had the confidence to do this, he needed to do it quickly before his
past came right round and smacked him in the face, filling him with the fears
that he battled with daily.
“Hey, can I
come in for a second? I just want to talk to you and Arlo.”
“Yes, yes of
course you can.” Was Estee’s overjoyed response, actually showing the brightest
and welcoming smile and not a face of business for once.
“Phoebe,
darling!” She then squeezed the hand of the two year old who reached out to
give her a hug. “We’re all through here.”
Following
Estee’s leading way through Sophie’s parents’ home, Aaron reached the living
room and was met with not only Arlo but Sophie’s siblings Cameron and Maisy
too.
He’d built
up quite a bond with Cameron, so the 16 year old definitely looked pleased to
see him.
However,
before he got chance to engage in any sort of conversation with them, Estee
took the lead to the kitchen followed by Arlo and Aaron where they could speak.
When stood
by the counters with Sophie’s parent’s right opposite, Aaron felt a rush of
nerves wash over him. This was the first time he had been in the room with both
of them at the same time without Sophie, so it was a little bit daunting.
“I wanted to
ask for your permission…” Aaron began and watched as Arlo’s eyes lit up while
Estee looked a little more concerned. “To ask for Sophie’s hand in marriage. I
love her, so much and I’ve always been a bit cautious of the idea of marriage
but with Sophie, it’s different and I couldn’t think of anything better than
having her as my wife. I want to complete our family but I want to have your permission
to do so.”
Aaron
finished his pre-thought out speech with a release of breath before Arlo’s hand
instantly shot out in front of him.
“Of course
Aaron.” Arlo began shaking his hand. “You have my blessing. You make her so
happy and I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Arlo’s
approval filled Aaron with a sense of relief, knowing he had Sophie’s father’s
blessing who’s opinion she respected so much was an accomplishment, but the
next fear was always going to be the tougher one and that was Estee.
Both Aaron
and Arlo’s attentions were now on her as they waited for an answer, unsure of
what was going to come out of her mouth. Her lips rested in a taut firm line
and running a hand through her blonde hair, she then took Arlo’s hand in her
own.
“You have both
of our blessings, Aaron.” Estee smiled and Aaron’s heart felt like it had
physically stopped due to the previous build up. “I’d love for you to marry my
daughter.”
The whole
exchange didn’t feel real as hugs were shared between the two people he would
eventually be calling his in laws. To say he wasn’t nervous would be lying because
due to his previous certainty that he would never experience marriage, he never
thought this would happen.
However, regardless
of their flaws, like every family had, he knew he would be welcomed with open
arms into theirs and he was looking forward to it.
“I just
wanted to say thank you.” Arlo’s voice caught Aaron’s attention once Estee had
left the room. “For being prepared to take on a girl with Dubois blood in her.”
Arlo finished with a teasing grin causing Aaron to laugh when he caught on
where he was going with this.
“I did it
with Estee and it’s been challenging. To a lot of people she comes across as a
total witch and I know she’s made some huge mistakes in our marriage and
favours her career over a lot of other important things…” Arlo got a bit more
serious and this was the first time Aaron had heard him speak openly about her
cheating antics.
“But one
thing I will always love and admire her for is her passion, something that
definitely got passed onto Sophie. What most people see as being spoilt, hard
work and making you want to bang your head against a wall sometimes, I see
completely differently. It is the passion both of them have for what they do
and wanting to thrive and succeed that makes them that way. Their confidence is
beautiful and makes me love them even more. There’s only a few men in this
world that can take on a woman like that without letting them walk all over you
but I respect you very much for having the patience for Sophie. She needs
someone to argue back and put her in her place every now and then but also let
her thrive and succeed. I’m glad she’s found someone like you who sees her for
who she truly is; successful and confident but caring and selfless too.”
Arlo’s voice
broke off at the end as a tear fell from his eye. He truly respected Aaron for
making Sophie as happy as she was and he wanted him to know that. Arlo knew he
could have done things differently with Estee and not let her treat him the way
she did but that was his past and he was now so grateful that his daughter had
a man in her life that clearly loved her and would hopefully do things so much
differently.
*
“So you want
to marry my sister?” Maisy grinned as Aaron headed into the living room.
“You were listening
in?” Aaron chuckled.
“She had her
ear pressed against that door. She has to know everything!” Cameron added as he
paused the game that he was playing to engage in the conversation.
“Is it
alright with you both if she says yes then?”
Taking a
seat on the sofa beside Cameron, Aaron had both siblings looking back at him.
“Well that
depends.” Maisy began with a cunning grin on her face.
“Here we go.”
Cameron rolled his eyes in response earning a glare from his sister.
He obviously
knew where this was going and Aaron had an idea but didn’t hold the same
certainty that Cameron seemed to.
“On?”
“Do you earn
more than my sister?” Maisy asked with confidence. “Because in this family, it
never works that way. My dad earns less than my mum.”
“None of
this matters Maisy!” Cameron stressed causing her to stick her hand out a
signal for him to be quiet.
“Definitely
less.” Was Aaron’s calming response while the 14 year old looked at him with
her arms crossed over her chest.
“Good, then you
can marry her.”
While Aaron
was chuckling at the expected reaction from Maisy, Cameron didn’t express the
same amusement. He was clearly aggravated by his sister’s way of looking at
things and this wasn’t the first time Aaron had picked up on Cameron’s distance
from the traits Estee tried to drum into her children.
“Some of us
in this family are not that shallow, so yeah I’m good with you marrying Soph.”
Cameron began reaching out to shake Aaron’s hand. “As long as you promise one
thing.”
“Of course
man.” Was Aaron’s response while he waited for Cameron to elaborate.
“Make sure
she doesn’t turn into mum and makes a better wife than mum ever was to dad.”
Aaron was a
bit taken back by Cameron’s comment and was unable to form a response straight
away due to it.
He knew that
Cameron wasn’t the biggest fan of his mum’s ways considering he usually made
small hints, but this was the first time Aaron had heard him be so open.
With his mum
and dad currently out of the room, it seemed as though he was taking the
opportunity to open up on his opinions about it and finding Aaron the safest
person to do that around.
“Mum isn’t a
bad wife!” Maisy instantly jumped on Estee’s defence, clearly offended by her
brother’s words. “She just works hard, like Sophie does. There is nothing wrong
with that. I want to be like them.”
“There is
when you disown your family for it.” Cameron bit back before turning to Aaron. “I
know Soph isn’t like my mum but she could end up pretty close if she let’s her
job take over and I don’t want that for her. I want to have my sister around.”
Aaron could
hear the vulnerability in Cameron’s voice when talking about Sophie and he couldn’t
help but feel guilty on her behalf. Since Sophie had been working in London she
didn’t get to see her family as much. Aaron, Phoebe and her friends had been
her priority and he didn’t think she realised how much they missed her.
She had more
contact with Maisy than Cameron too considering they would constantly be face
timing but it was clear her brother missed her and did have concerns about her
turning out to be like Estee.
“I’ll make
sure of it Cam.” Aaron reassured. “When was the last time you saw her?”
Looking
across at his paused game for a moment, Cameron thought long and hard about it
before giving Aaron his attention once again.
“Feels like
months, it probably is.” He responded and if Sophie were here right now to hear
the sadness in her brother’s voice, she would have felt extremely guilty.
“Hey, well
how about you come and stay with us and Phoebe for a week?” Aaron suggested. “And
you too Maisy if you want to. I’ll drive you both to school and all that.”
There was a
sudden excitement filled in not only Maisy’s eyes but Cameron’s too. He was 16
and spent most of his time out with friends, not wanting to engage in life with
his family back home, but it was clear that regardless of his teen phase he did
truly miss Sophie.
She was his
big sister, someone he looked up to and he was also genuinely worried that his
relationship with her would spiral into what it was with his mum.
It was clear
Cameron had picked up many more of Arlo’s traits than Estee’s, and her career
focused and independent ways had not been happily accepted by him. He wanted to
feel a bit more protected and not so forced into being out in the world figuring
things out alone and that is why he relied so much on his dad and Sophie for
that care and love.
“Yes, yes,
yes!” Maisy jumped up spinning around in pure excitement, as her blonde hair
followed suit. “Phoebe, we can start planning our bridesmaid dresses.” Maisy
took hold of the two year olds hands and began dancing around.
Phoebe
joined in, laughing along but obviously not understanding what on earth the 14 year
old was talking about but still bouncing off her excitement anyway.
“Good!” Aaron
chuckled before turning to Cameron. “And you?”
“You sold me
when you offered to drive me to school. Your car is sick.” Cameron grinned,
trying to act cool and swerve his excitement onto something more ‘manly’ than
spending a week with his sister.
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