Chapter Text
“They’re here!” Annie yells, bolting towards the front door from the window seat she’s been glued to for the past hour, since getting the call that they’d landed.
She opens the door just in time because Hallie is in her arms before she can even process that it’s happening, almost knocking the both of them to the ground, but Annie manages to keep them upright. You’d never guess they saw each other just last month for Thanksgiving.
“I can’t believe I’m here. I missed everything, I missed this house, I missed- mom! " She cries, flinging herself into Elizabeth’s arms, almost taking her down next, as she holds onto her for dear life.
“Darling!” Elizabeth exclaims, smiling into Hallie’s hair, as she crouches down to embrace her fully and kisses the top of her head.
Nick has just about paid the cab driver and got all the suitcases out, which Hallie had absolutely no time for, not when her mother and sister were just a few metres away.
“Hey, Kiddo!” Nick calls, grabbing a suitcase with-
“Chessy?!” Annie exclaims, rushing down the steps to greet them.
“Chessy?” Elizabeth repeats, with a surprised laugh as she looks down at Hallie and back at the other woman who really is here, in London.
“Surprise!” Hallie looks up at her mother and then runs to join Annie and help with the bags.
Elizabeth smiles, her heart seeming to grow two more sizes as she watches Annie being passed from Nick’s arms right into Chessy’s. Of course she’s here. It makes sense. She’s family too.
“Full disclosure, I told them to let me tell you I was tagging along.” Chessy says, as they all finally make their way back up the steps to the house. “I won’t get in the way of your plans, I swear.”
“Don’t be silly, this is a wonderful surprise! Wonderful!” Elizabeth tells her, as they finally all pile into the porch.
“Well, I couldn’t miss an opportunity to see this one again.” She says, wrapping her arm around Annie’s shoulder and pulling her close. “Plus I’ve never been to London. Winter seems like the perfect time.”
“I can’t believe we’re spending Christmas here.” Hallie sighs, taking in her surroundings. It’s the first time she’s been back here since the summer.
“Me either, come and unpack!” Annie says, attempting to drag Hallie’s suitcase towards the stairs.
“There’s room for both of you too, you’re still welcome to stay here, if you’d like.” Elizabeth offers, feeling as though having Nick Parker stay in her spare room might be a little less awkward with Chessy here too. She has this fantastic way of making everyone around her feel at ease. It must be one of the reasons why she’s such a wonderful nanny.
“Oh, no, really Lizzie, we’ll be fine at the hotel just around the corner.” Nick says, and Chessy nods but says thank you anyway. “I’ll take that cup of tea though.”
“Hm, that’s strange, I don’t remember offering any tea.”
“Then why can I hear Martin already making up a pot back there? Hey Martin, how ya doing buddy?” He yells past her shoulder to Martin, who is indeed just behind them in the kitchen, making a pot of tea.
“Very well, thank you!” Martin calls in reply, though he’s still nowhere to be seen.
Elizabeth glares at Nick, not unkindly, before breaking into a smile, just as Martin finally appears, panting for some unknown reason. He doesn’t stop to comment on why before scooping Hallie up and twirling her around.
“Welcome back, gorgeous girl!” He beams.
Hallie giggles. “I missed you.”
“Woah, what’s got you so out of breath, fancy man?” Chessy asks, finally making him take notice of her.
“You came!”
“Of course I came.” Chessy laughs.
“Martin, you knew she was coming?” Elizabeth asks.
“She let it slip during our last call.” Martin replies.
“You guys call?" Nick asks, confusion clear in his voice.
“Yeah, it’s when we discuss what happened on The Bold and The Beautiful each week.” Chessy confirms.
Nick looks to Elizabeth, who looks just as surprised as he does, as she says “Don’t look at me, I had no idea.” And his gaze returns to Chessy.
“I don’t have to tell you everything.” She says, defensively.
“Martin, why are you out of breath?” Hallie asks, bored of whatever it is that’s happening here.
“Only preparing the greatest afternoon tea of my life thus far.” Martin replies, smugly.
“Fit for a queen, I hope.” Chessy says, already strolling past him like she lives here.
“Nothing but the best, Madam.”
Elizabeth smiles, watching as Chessy passes her. She has the strangest urge to start biting her nails all of a sudden, which is very odd considering she broke that habit in her teens, and what’s even odder is how much restraint it actually takes to keep her hands firmly planted at her sides. Surely, she’s just nervous for the week ahead. Not nervous, excited. Of course that’s it.
“If you’d all like to follow me through to the sitting room.” Martin says, despite the fact that Chessy is still leading the way. “Now, I don’t want to brag, but I have been told my clotted cream is better than Harrods’.”
“Clotted cream, you say? Better than Harrods? I gotta taste it to believe it.” Chessy tells him, knowing full well she’s never set foot in Harrods, let alone tried the clotted cream.
-
It gets to 7pm once they’ve finished the third pot of tea and consumed far too many tiny sandwiches and Nick announces that he and Chessy had better go before jet lag knocks them out right there on the sofa. He accompanies the girls upstairs to say goodnight, as Martin begins to clear away all the cups and plates back into the kitchen.
“Man, I’m beat.” Chessy says, wanting to break the silence now that it’s just her and Elizabeth left in the room.
“I can imagine. You left the house at 7pm last night?”
“Yup.” Chessy says, eyes widening a little as she realises it’s been 24 hours since they set off on this trip. Of course it’s actually only been 16 hours. She makes a mental note that timezones are wild, as she stands up to head for the door and wait for Nick. Elizabeth follows, stopping her just before she steps back into the kitchen.
“I’m so glad you’re here Chess.” She tells her, pulling her into a gentle hug and kissing her on the cheek. She’s not quite sure where that came from, only knows how true her words are.
Chessy feels her heart lift at the nickname and is completely taken aback by the hug. She hugs back, smiling into Elizabeth’s shoulder.
“You are?” She asks her, now the smallest bit flustered, getting a little lost in the soft floral scent of the other woman.
“I am.” She assures her.
And Chessy feels a wave of relief wash over her. “Phew. I gotta tell you, I was afraid of intruding on your Christmas.”
“Never. You could never intrude.” She grabs Chessy’s hand, squeezing it slightly, before letting go. And she looks so sincere, so utterly delighted that Chessy is here standing right in front of her, that it’s all Chessy can do not to melt into a puddle on the ground.
Ah, crap. Chessy thinks to herself. She is totally in love with this woman.
When Nick returns back downstairs, their moment seems to end as Chessy remembers where she was headed and quickly leaves the room.
“All set?” Nick asks her.
“All set.”
“So, we’ll see you tomorrow? For a day of London adventures?”
“You bet.” Elizabeth says, with a smirk.
“Goodnight, Lizzie.”
“Goodnight, Nick. Goodnight, Chessy.” She replies, catching Chessy’s eye again and lingering there, as she smiles, imagining what tomorrow could possibly bring.
When she closes the door, she stands there a while, thinking about the interaction that just passed between them and the warm feeling in her tummy. It’s not because of Nick, she knows that much. She lets out a giggle at the thought.
But if it’s not because of Nick, then surely that means… Oh dear, she thinks, shaking her head slightly and quickly deciding she’ll deal with that, whatever it is, in the morning. For now, she has two twelve year old daughters upstairs, with one of whom she still has a lot of catching up to do.