chesstotem | For dontthinkabout

Ariadne exchanged a look with Arthur, then got in carefully. "They're excited to see you," she said. "I'm so glad you came out. When I found out I was pregnant, I really wanted to let you know. I know things haven't been the greatest between us, but I know how much you care about Arthur."

He gave Ariadne at look before getting into the driver's seat.

"Thank you for telling me. I know I haven't been the easiest person to get along with and I know that I already missed so much. I just want to make things right."

"I want you to have the chance to know your grandchild, and be part of this family," Ariadne said. "I'm so glad you want that, now, too."

She smiled fondly at Ariadne. “Of course I want that.”

"I'm glad," Ariadne murmured, smiling a little as she leaned her head back. She pulled a sandwich bag out of her purse, with ginger snaps in it, and started nibbling on one.

Arthur was quiet for most of the ride. He only spoke when he was addressed, but other than that, he was focused on the road. It took almost an hour with LA traffic to get to their condo. He parked out on the sidewalk and shut off the engine.

When they got home, Ariadne gave him a kiss on the cheek, just a brief one, and asked, "Could you make me some more of that ginger tea?"

“Sure. Let me get my mom settled in,” he replied before lugging his mom’s suitcase to the other guestroom. His mother was in the foyer, looking around.

"I'll show you around," she suggested to the other woman. "If you want."

"Yes, of course," his mother said with a smile.

"This is the foyer," she said, gently taking her elbow to lead her into the living space, which had lots of big windows to let in sunlight. "Living room. Kitchen is right in here, and the dining room." The kitchen was equally lavish, with plenty of counter space and state-of-the-art appliances. The sunny nook off the kitchen housed Ariadne's drafting table and was quite cluttered with drafting tools and modeling supplies. "This is where I work. Arthur's office is where you'll sleep, we've got a bed up there. My parents are staying in the other guest room, then there's the master suite and the room that we're going to make into the nursery."

Arthur was in the kitchen getting the kettle on the stove when they came in for the tour. He glanced at them before turning back to the stove.

His mother listened closely as Ariadne pointed everything out.

Ariadne gave him an encouraging smile as they passed through, then took his mother upstairs, showing her where everything was, bathrooms and all. The nursery was bare, blank white walls making Ariadne think of a canvas to be painted.

Finally, they got to the room where she would be sleeping. Arthur had unfolded the sofa bed for her, and he'd deposited her bag as well. "I hope you'll be comfortable. If you need anything else, just let us know. We've got lots of extra pillows, even a feather mattress somewhere around here if you need something extra. That bed is really comfortable, though. I don't buy a bed if it's not one I can sleep on myself."

She laughed wholeheartedly. “You and I share the same sentiments about bed.” Mary went into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, bringing her suitcase close so she could open it.

She leaned against the edge of Arthur's desk, neatly organized in a way her workspace never was. She affectionately fingered an expensive enameled pen she'd bought him a few months ago for their third anniversary. "My parents went grocery shopping. My step-dad is insisting on cooking dinner for us all tonight," she murmured.

“What’s on the menu?” Mary asked as she looked up at her from her suitcase.

"I'm not sure exactly. Probably something on the grill. He likes to grill, and we've got a nice one that, frankly, doesn't get used all that often."

“Arthur doesn’t like to grill?” And then she shrugged. “Maybe he’s not the type,” she added with a smile as she toed off her shoes.

"He does, we're just pretty busy. A lot of times we just have to throw something together quickly. We do have bar-be-ques sometimes, though."

“That’s nice.” She gave a nod. “Well, you’re both busy with work and now with the baby.”

"Yeah. But we've been focusing on improving our nutrition, since I found out. I mean, really, when we decided to start trying really, we started paying more attention. I've been taking prenatal vitamins, and we're cooking a lot more fresh, organic foods."

Mary nodded thoughtfully. “I was the same way when I was pregnant with Arthur.”

Ariadne smiled a little. "Of course, it's tough to predict what my cravings will be like. He was giving me crap the other day because I wanted a bacon cheeseburger with extra pickles on it."

Mary laughed. “I remember wanting a scope of chocolate ice cream in a pita.”

"Sounds kind of weird now, but in a couple of months maybe it'll be really palatable. Or I'll want to eat nothing but pasta for two weeks.

My mom says she craved Mexican food with me. Three or four times a week, she said."

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