Take Me Tom Pt. 80-83 by Boo96..,

My usual thanks go out to Kenji, editor extraordinaire, and to Paolo for his unstinting support and advice! Hopefully, all my ‘carriage returns’ are sorted, but I ain’t holding my breath! Things will be slowing down, and I’ll be skipping ahead days, weeks, and months. There’s still a bit of the story to be told so… Thanks, as always, to all who have read, and commented on the storyline. It’s appreciated.

Chapter 80

Meeting Janet’s Parents

Another day, another…

After talking with us, Emily had a slightly increased offer on her house, and accepted the offer. It was her decision, but it was nice that she asked for our opinion. We had been invited to Janet’s house for dinner, her parents kindly asking the kids to join us, too. Chrissie talked with Mathew at the V&A, just checking in with any progress. Their paperwork would be sent by the week’s end. We anticipated leaving Chicago at the beginning of June, so she set a start date for the beginning of July, thinking four weeks would be enough time to settle in. She had received paperwork and applications for the Richmond schools, so those were filled in, and fees paid. She just needed to get the kids’ transcripts before we left.

We headed to Janet’s after we all settled and caught up. Chrissie had met them several times over the past five or so years, so we wouldn’t be going in blind. We grabbed the address from Janet, put it into the satnav and set off. We pulled into a quite spacious drive, and a lovely three-story brick house. Janet was waiting beside her car, and led us in, her arm wrapped around the kids.

“Mom? Dad? We’re here!” she yelled out.

They both appeared down the hallway, Janet saying, “You remember David and Chloe?” she asked.

“Of course we do! How are you both? We haven’t seen you for a while now. How was your birthday, Chloe?” she asked.

“It was good,” she smiled up at Janet’s mom.

“Mom, Dad,…you remember Chrissie? This is Tom, and his…partner, Emily. This is my mom, Anne, and my dad, Steven,” she introduced us.

We shook hands, hugged everyone, and headed to the front room. Janet prepared

G&Ts for everyone, and we sat on the comfortable sofas, the ordeal of small talk beginning. We all relaxed, and the conversation began to flow easier. It was all pretty comfortable, them checking us out, as much as we were them. They seemed an affable couple. We were called into the dining room, and had a lovely spaghetti Bolognese with garlic bread, which was terrific!

Steven dug right in. I liked that about the guy.

“So, Tom. You want to take our daughter away to London, eh? My first question is ‘why’?” he asked, straightforward.

“Well, Steven, Chrissie can probably explain that a bit better than I would. Chrissie?” I said.

Chrissie laid out our plan, the how’s and why’s, spelling out what we were looking for. At the end of the day, it was for the kids to make their transition easier. She explained, in quiet tones, that they had just lost their father, and the turmoil they were understandably in. He understood that. Chrissie showed the house video, going over where Janet’s annexe would be. We made it clear that she was a child-minder only, understanding that her coursework had to come first.

I talked about how we would be her sponsors if the government needed that. We would help her with everyday expenses, pay her a living wage, and pay for her flight to get to London at the end of summer. I stressed that we would watch out for her. She would be under our roof, and we would be responsible for her.

“Steven, Anne, she would be a member of our family, and would be treated as such. We’re in the lucky position to help, so we’d like to…if that’s all right with you both?” I said.

“You know that if we hadn’t known Chrissie for as long as we have, we’d be saying ‘no’ to this. We’ll be trusting you with our only daughter, you know that?” he asked, seriously.

“Dad? Really? I’m twenty-three. Sheesh! I’ll be in the safest hands, dad. Mom? You’ve known Chrissie for years now. Do you really think she’d see anything bad happen to me? These three are THE most genuine people you will ever meet. I couldn’t be safer, or more cared for anywhere,” Janet smiled.

“Steven, I have always treated her as one of my own. I think you know how I feel

about your daughter. And the kids!” Chrissie smiled.

I had a second helping of the spaghetti, as the conversation drifted to the culture, and benefits of studying in the UK. I decided not to offer the financial assistance to pay the school fees, as it looked like they could afford it.

“Okay…let us talk about this offer, then we’ll get back to you, all right?” Steven asked.

“Whatever you’re comfortable with is fine with us. Just let us know, and we can get things started,” I said, deciding these were not the kind of people that would take my quip about not selling their daughter into white slavery well.

We spent the next hour easily chatting, the ‘interview’ going well, I thought. We needed to get the kids home, and in bed, so we made our excuses, hugging, and shaking hands as we left. Chrissie and Ems chastely kissed Janet goodbye, me just lightly hugging her.

We headed home, careful what we were saying with the kids in the car. We had laid out our plan, so it was up to them now. I still thought the opportunity we were offering her was terrific, and Janet had a bright future in front of her, either way.

We arrived home, so Chrissie and Ems sorted the kids whilst I poured the drinks. I wasn’t relegated yet, so I could read to them both before lights out. I had asked Janet if she would take David on a tour of the ancient vases at the Institute, and maybe the Oriental Museum. He still was intrigued with mine, so I thought he’d like a tour sometime. Janet knew more about this specialised field, but was sure Chrissie would join them. I kissed them both goodnight, and went to the front room with trepidation!

The three of us sat on the sofa, and sipped our drinks, another step taken tonight. Chrissie thought they’d agree to our offer, thinking, as we all did, that they’d be silly to pass on the offer. There was no teasing tonight! We ‘ticked’ a few more things off our list, but added a few more!

“Tell me, do you think you two would be able to share a car in London? We should start looking at what you’ll want,” I said.

Chrissie and Emily looked at each other.

“I…I think we could share, sure. I mean, are you getting a car for yourself?” Chrissie

asked.

“Probably. Not that you two wouldn’t be able to drive it, but we do need a, dare I say, family car. Have a look and see what appeals to you. Maybe an MPV of some sort? That may give us more room, and easier for trips out. It doesn’t matter, as long as we can all sit comfortably, okay? I’ll buy the car, all right? But you two are responsible for the insurance, and upkeep, okay?” I said.

“Don’t tell me you’re getting your car back from Ben?” Chrissie laughed.

“If he’ll sell it to me, yes, BUT no, I haven’t talked to him about that!” I laughed.

“So…how much can we spend?” Chrissie asked, tentatively.