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As soon as she entered the house, something heavy came barreling in her legs with a cry of ‘’Auntie !’’.
Amelia lowered her eyes to meet the excited little face of her niece. Chloe was bouncing on her toes and beaming up at her. Amelia smiled at the girl, ruffling her mop of hair with her free hand while managing to close the door with the other. It was impressive how a smile from her kids could instantly make her feel better. She wondered what had made Chloe so excited as she bent down to kiss her niece’s forehead.
‘’Good evening, love, did you have a good day ?’’, she said, knowing the girl would eventually blurt out everything she deemed worthy of retelling.
Chloe's mismatched eyes twinkled and she nodded excitedly, ‘’Huh, huh !’’. She took Amelia’s hand and started dragging her towards the living room. ‘’Come ! Come ! You have to see it !’’
Amelia raised her head and saw her father on the couch, already changed into looser clothes and smiling at his granddaughter. She found that all her concerns for him seemed to be all for nothing.
The man was smiling in a serene manner and was sprawled on the couch in a loose-limbed fashion, the tension from this morning all absent. Amelia relaxed, glad that the old man was feeling better.
A squeal from Chloe brought her attention back to what her niece wanted to show her.
Amelia stared.
On her coffee table, was a gorgeous little porcelain tea set evidently for children, with several delicate cups on plates, little metal spoons included. Some biscuits were on a larger plate placed next to a sugar bowl and a lovely teapot. All around the table, several stuffed toys were placed with their arms raised towards the cup placed in front of them. Among their number was Ethan who wore a long-suffering look on his face and a bowler hat Amelia had no idea the origin of. The boy must have been strong-armed into joining the tea party. She guessed that some of the biscuits had been sacrificed as a bribe.
The whole scene looked absolutely adorable.
Amelia’s eyes were drawn back to the tea set. It was very beautiful, detailed and without a doubt, must have cost a lot of money. She chanced a look at her father but he was still looking at his grandchildren with a beatific smile on his face. She knew he took the implementation of some traditions somewhat seriously but she did not quite expect him to whip out a fancy porcelain tea set out of seemingly nowhere. Maybe the old man was making sure no other descendant of his will become a coffee addict. He will never forgive her for that.
Chloe's little hands were insistent and the girl made her aunt sit cross-legged on the floor. She grabbed a blue beret out of a box with 'HATS' written on it, explaining the origin of Ethan's headwear, and she placed it on Amelia’s head. When it seemed to be to her liking, the girl carefully took a cup and a plate from one of her plushies and placed it in her aunt’s hands.
‘’We’re having a tea party ! Papi is teaching me how to be a good host !’’
Amelia smiled at the girl, ‘’I can see that’’.
She heard her father chuckle behind her, ‘’Love, it's very rude to take away your guest’s cup before they’re done. You have offended them.’’
Chloe looked horrified at the thought and turned to the injured party, a big green stuffed cat Amelia remembered buying a year ago.
She seemed to take a decision and took on a mulish look before throwing her little nose up and speaking in an imperious tone. ‘’Well, Sir Whiskers was very rude to Ethan earlier so he is banished.’’
Their grandfather snorted at the name.
Ethan smiled gently at his sister and took another biscuit. Chloe rounded on him, hair flying, ‘’Stop eating all the biscuits! I saw you ! It's your fourth ! Auntie will have nothing left !’’
Her brother looked at her still smiling like an angel and put the biscuit in his mouth. Chloe’s little face flushed with indignation.
Amelia lowered her head, chuckling at her kids’ antics. She tuned out Chloe’s ensuing rant about being a proper guest and her father’s laughter and examined the cup in her hands.
Like she saw earlier, the craftsmanship was beautiful, the handle itself was a work of art with all its twists and the flowers painted on the side were thin and delicate, brush strokes evidently done by a professional artist.
Amelia recollected her and her sister having a similar tea set when they were children but she did not remember it being so detailed. She also had a distinctive memory of Matilda breaking one by one the handles of the cups and her father glueing them back, despite the obvious pain it caused him when he beheld the broken remains of a cup. None of these handles looked broken.
This was a totally new set. -where on earth did he get this ?-
She looked again at her father. This time, he noticed her gaze. She raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the same time as her hand holding the little cup in a silent question.
Her father blushed and turned back to his grandchildren who were now squabbling.
Oh. He wanted to play it that way ? Well, then.
Amelia turned to her niece with a sweet smile on her face, noting the panicked look on her dad’s face. She ended the ongoing argument on proper guest protocol with a clear of her throat. ‘’Darling ? Where did you find this beautiful tea set ?’’
Chloe gasped in delight and beamed as she responded ‘’Mister Andrew gave it to me ! He’s super nice, is he not !’’
Amelia gave a look to her father who was now avoiding her eyes. ‘’He is, indeed. I hope you thanked him for his thoughtful gift.’’
The head of her niece was bobbing wildly. ‘’I did ! He said ‘anything for your Papi’s grandchildren’ ! He also said that I needed to know how to throw a proper tea party because it’s in my genes.’’
-god, what the ?-
Her father must have guessed her thoughts from her facial expressions because he blushed even more. Good. Amelia was very much unimpressed with Andrew Sterling. Well, apart from his gift. The set was gorgeous.
-what was the man playing at ?-
The bell of the oven rang. Her father stood up quickly, looking flushed, ‘’Alright kiddos, time for dinner. Go wash your hands.’’
Chloe groaned but joined her brother who had already disappeared in the bathroom as soon as he heard the bell. She paused when she saw her grandfather’s red face but continued while sending him a worried look. When Amelia turned back, her dad had fled to the kitchen. He was definitely hiding something and she wouldn't be a good detective if she wasn't admittedly a bit curious.
She put down the teacup and removed the béret from her head, putting it aside because she quite liked it in fact- she’ll have to negotiate with Chloe- before following her father who was now getting the dinner from the oven before putting it on the table that he must have set earlier with Ethan. If they followed the rules she established, which she doubted.
She went to wash her hands in the sink. Her dad stayed silent and cut the meal.
She dried her hands and grabbed a plate to help him prepare. When he put the beans on the plate, he met her eyes by mistake and broke.
‘’Andrew passed by. He wanted to spend some time again and he brought the tea set with him. He wanted to please the kids.’’ He paused then added as an afterthought, ’’The hats were for Ethan.’’ She snorted. Of course.
Her father finished preparing the plates. He was fidgeting with his hands and was overall very bashful. It reminded her of Matilda when she first started to talk to her about cute boys.
Oh.
Oh. Well, in that case.
She knocked her shoulder against his. ‘’ You happy ?’’
Her father paused. He met her eyes slowly. ‘’It is not really like that but yes.’’
She smiled at him, ‘’Good.’’ Then she turned to the kids who entered the kitchen, noting Chloe who was seemingly deep in thought.
Amelia was happy for him but she had a reputation, after all. She noticed the way her father’s shoulders relaxed and allowed herself an internal fist in the air.
Her good mood was mercilessly squashed when after they started eating, Chloe suddenly raised her head at her grandfather and asked, ‘’Papi, is your pee pee broken ?’’
Amelia’s fork stilled in the air.
Her dad spit out the water he was drinking on Ethan who protested immediately at the assault.
He rapidly made his apologies to his grandson, who puffed and stood to get a towel. Her father then sent her a quick panicked look before responding in spurts to the little girl who was still waiting for an answer.
Amelia did not move and waited for the clarification.
‘’No ! Love, what would you think such a thing ?’’
‘’ Well you looked like you were in lots of pain before and then you looked sick and I thought it must be broken because Mister Andrew was holding it and then he went on his knees and put it in-’’
‘’Whoa, whoa !’’ Her father bursted out of his chair and put his hands on his grandchild’s shoulders to make her stop talking.
A bit too late for that.
Amelia immediately forgot all of her previous joy at the idea of her father finding someone in light of the event where her seven-years-old niece caught him receiving a blowjob !
- what was wrong with him ?! In the house with the kids ?! Didn’t he know the function of a lock ?!
Her fork was bending from her grip on it.
She noticed Ethan also looked intrigued at his sister’s question. Her father was looking absolutely mortified.
Good, she vehemently thought. Because of him, she will have to find a way to break out the subject of sexuality to her very young charges. Hmm, she will have to make a call to Veronica Collins.
Looking at her flustered father, she wanted him to stew a bit longer but she figured the humiliation was sufficient enough for a punishment.
-for now-
‘’Chloe, your grandfather is fine. I will explain later but now, finish your meal and you will have a chocolate biscuit after dessert.’’
Her niece dug in rapidly, perking up at the mention of sweets. However Ethan was not so easily fooled. ‘’You only give out biscuits when you don’t want to talk about something.’’
Amelia sent him a look. The boy took his seat back and picked up his fork. She will have to check that attitude of his.
Her father peeked at her. Amelia narrowed her eyes at him and mouthed ‘Later’.
He gulped.
When she tucked them in, with regrets towards that chocolate biscuit she had promised when she understood Chloe’s energy was not waning, she noticed her father had fled like a coward.
Disappointing but well, he will come back soon. The man could not bear being away from his precious grandchildren for very long.
She will get him.
Still, after deflecting the questions and making the children promise to not talk of the incident to anyone other than her and Mrs. Veronica, Amelia still wondered where on Earth Andrew Sterling managed to find a handmade porcelain tea set when the man was spending his holiday in a hotel nearby.