A Beautiful Forever

chapter 37

Paige

Today is the day of the big BBQ, Elliot and his step dad, Steven went out early this morning and came back with a mountain of meat

and bags of ice.

I spent the morning in the kitchen with Kathy helping to prepare salads and platters for nibbles. I’ve never been a part of a big family

BBQ before, not even when I was a kid. Besides it being a little daunting, meeting everyone who is anyone to Elliot and his mother, I’

m kind of looking forward to it.

After all, this is the reason we came back to Australia to give Grace the great Aussie upbringing like Elliot had.

“Lucky you have such a big back yard!” I exclaim to Kathy as we start to lay the food on some fold out tables.

She laughs a little as she surveys the food. “I may have gotten a little carried away with the invite list.” Turning to me, a look of

concern on her face, she takes my hands in hers. “Paige, I know this is a lot for you to take in, but I want you to know how excited I

am that Elliot has you. I have never seen him happier. Plus, I really want to show you off. You're such a special girl, and I’ve always

secretly wanted a daughter you know.”

Tears prickle the back of my eyes as her words touch me. “Thank you Kathy… that means a lot.”

She pulls me towards her and gives me a quick hug, releasing me when we hear Grace start to call out over the baby monitor.

“Can I go and get her?” Kathy asks me with a hopeful look on her face. As much as I want to go and get my daughter myself, I nod

my head and let Kathy go in. Grace is lucky to have a grandmother that cares so much about her. My own mother has been present

in her life so far, but there is always an awkwardness present between us that I don’t think will ever go away. With Kathy, it’s

different. She's always been a loving person towards her son and is naturally loving towards both myself and Grace. I guess we’re

both lucky to have her.





Elliot


“Steve, I don’t think we’re going to fit all of this meat in the fridge, have you got a spare esky?” I ask. I think my mother has invited

every person she has ever met since the day she was born, there is so much meat in front of me.

“Yeah mate, here you go,” Steve says, walking towards me with a blue esky in hand.

I nod thanks as I take it from him and fill it with a bag of ice, placing the meat on top before closing the lid and sliding it out of the

way.

“Sounds like people are arriving,” Steve comments as voices filter from the house out to us. He starts walking inside, giving me a

friendly slap on the back as he passes. “Time to put your game face on.”

When we walk inside there is already a crowd of people saying hello to my mother - who’s holding Grace; and Paige - who’s looking

a little lost.

Relief washes over her face when she spots me, so I’m quick to make my way towards her and take hold of her hand.

“Look at Grace, she’s loving it,” Paige says quietly to me as I join her.

“She’s a big show off, isn’t she?” I comment smiling at our daughter who is absolutely loving being the centre of attention.

We stay connected by our hands as we greet the procession of friends and relatives who come through the door, some of them I

don’t even remember, and some, I don’t even think I’ve met before.





Paige


So far, I have met, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, distant cousins, friends of Kathy, friends of Steven, and just when I was beginning to

wonder, some friends of Elliot arrive.

He seems really happy to see one particular couple, and steps away from me to greet them, actually hugging the guy and doing that

back slap thing they all do. Moving on, he hugs the girl, kissing her on the cheek before he holds her at arm’s length.

“Is that what I think it is?” he asks her. Nodding, she rubs a hand over her protruding belly. Elliot congratulates them both, before

turning to introduce them both to me.

“Paige, this is Gary, my mate from my uni days and his wife Stephanie.”

“Oh!” I breathe, holding out my hand to shake both of theirs, “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“All good I hope,” Gary rumbles. He is much shorter and chunkier than Elliot, with slightly thinning dark hair cut close to his head. His

face pleasant and friendly, I like him already.

I smile at him and turn to Stephanie, “So you’re Stephanie, Naomi’s friend?”

“Yes, I am. We went to high school together actually. She’s coming you know; she'll be here soon.”

“What?! Oh wow, I haven’t spoken to her for like, a year.”

“She’s really looking forward to seeing you and Elliot - and the baby of course, where is she?”

“With Kathy, I’ll take you over to introduce you. Congratulations on your baby, how far along are you?” I ask, guiding her towards

Kathy, who is slowly making her way outside with Grace.

“23 weeks, so I’m on the home stretch now,” she answers, following beside me and chatting about her pregnancy.





Elliot


I feel really pleased that Paige just walked away with Stephanie. It bodes well for my hope that they’ll be great friends.

“Looks like our wives have dumped us,” Gary comments, watching after them.

“That’s a good thing mate. They're off to bond over babies,” I say watching after them as well. I’m about to steer Gary outside, so we

can both get a beer when a new group of people come by to say hi.

“Hello,” I say carefully, wondering why in the world they’re here.

“Hi Elliot, I hope you don’t mind – your mum invited all of us when she was at mum and dad’s place a couple of weeks ago. We’ll

only stay a little while, I just didn’t want to be rude,” Katrina says, her face flushed with embarrassment.

“How are you mate? It’s been a while,” David says, extending his hand in greeting.

“I’m fine. It's fine,” I say to them both as I shake David’s hand. Gary is just standing next to me with his eyebrows firmly stuck up on

the top of his forehead, as he watches this play out.

This is really weird, why in the world would my mother invite my ex and her fiancé here? She must have lost her mind slightly while I’

ve been gone.

Katrina looks really awkward, so I give her a friendly hug and cheek kiss in greeting. She turns around and introduces me to her

mother and father as well as her brother and his wife. It makes me realise how underdeveloped our relationship actually was. We

never went beyond meeting friends.

I point them all towards the back yard where everyone is congregating and tell them to help themselves to a drink.

“What the hell?” Gary says to me as they walk away.

“Exactly,” I reply, watching them go outside.