A little awkward

As Laila was driving to meet her in-laws for what would be a very late lunch, Noah was giving her directions every step of the way. In the time between turns and changing lanes, he told her about his day, about the discoveries they had made and asked Laila about her day. When she finally arrived at his grandmother's house she quickly said her goodbye. "I have arrived, so I have to hang up now. They have been waiting for me for far too long already. Thank you for helping me out and letting them know I was okay. I will call you later tonight so we can continue our conversation."

Noah accepted her leaving a bit reluctantly but he too still had a lot of work to do and needed to get back to it. "Very well, I will keep you to that promise and let you go for now. Remember, don't ever hesitate to call me when you need my help. My cell phone only has a few numbers programmed in it, which are all people close to me. So, no matter where I am, what I am doing, if you call me on that number, I will always pick up. I might tease you but that doesn't mean I won't be there for you when it matters."

Laila nodded as if Noah could see her agreeing with him from over the phone, before saying "I know" but her body was acting on its own as that was how true she knew this was. From the moment they had been born there hadn't been a day where she had asked for his help and he had let her down. Before she finally ended their call, Laila made sure that Noah knew that he could always count on her as well. "I will let you go now but just know that everything you just said goes for me as well. I might not always take the initiative to call you but that doesn't mean I don't want to talk or that I wouldn't be happy that you called. So, if you want to talk, even if it isn't to ask me for help, don't hesitate for a minute and just call."

Having said all of that and seeing that her in-laws had already spotted her and were waving and smiling as they started moving towards the car, Laila began to feel a little awkward and said, "Well, I should go inside now. Goodbye.", before hanging up. She opened the car door and walked towards the people she had come to see. As the closed in the distance from the car to the house, the greetings started. "Hello dear, how wonderful to see you. John said he heard a car and we knew that it must be you. You poor thing to be driving for so long in your state and then get lost as well. Quickly come inside, your father-in-law will carry your luggage in."

Laila hugged both her father- and mother-in-law, before following Noah's mother inside while his father opened the trunk of the car to carry everything inside. When she came in, her mother-in-law welcomed her a second time and asked, "I hope you aren't too tired from driving all the way out here. You didn't have to visit us like this. Especially not while you are pregnant and have to drive the whole distance by yourself." Laila smiled and said, "Oh it wasn't too long. I spent the night at my parents' house and I took a short break halfway through my drive out to here. Where is grandmother, I want to say hello to her too."

In just the short minutes since her arrival, Noah's father had carried her bags inside and his mother had started pouring some tea as she was answering Laila's question. "Mother has gone back to bed for a nap after she ate lunch. She had been very excited that you would come to see her and didn't sleep well because of it. So, we thought it was best for her to sleep a little till you arrived. That way she would be able to hold out longer once you were here and enjoy this visit as much as she can. Living all the way out here, she doesn't get many visitors. So, when someone does take the effort to come see her, she immediately becomes happier and has something to look forward to. Especially when that someone is her grandson's wife who is carrying her great-grandson to boot."

After placing a cup of tea for Laila on the table, along with a plate of food, she said "Well come along dear and sit. You must be hungry after all of that excitement. I'm sorry we ate without you but we couldn't let mother wait for that long. She has medicine she needs to take with her meals. So, she needs to maintain some structure." Laila shook her head as she took a seat in front of the food. "Don't be sorry at all. I am glad you didn't wait for me. Grandmother's health is far more important. I too am happy to have come out here to see her and I am sorry I don't do it more often. Somehow there is always something that comes in between those plans." As Noah's father and mother joined her at the table Laila added, "Besides, the pleasure of meals together comes from having company and I still have that now." and pointed her hands in their direction.