Who: Estella Derrick, her mother-in-law, and Caden Flint
What: MIL gonna get pwnd
Where: Estella's house



"Out of all the unexcusable--"

"Unexcusable!"

"Out of all the unexcusable, horrible, horrible things to do, Estella Susanne! With a Quidditch Man!" Marion Derrick exclaimed, flapping around the latest edition of The Tattler. That just so happened to have her and Caden's face plastered dead center. Estella wasn't sure how her mother-in-law had gone nearly six months without spotting one of the rags, but this was a woman who insisted she learn to drive because 'What if someone came and I was here? There would be no car in the driveway and they would ask questions. Honestly, I don't know how you convinced Jake to move to a muggle neighborhood---.' So Estella was simply assuming that her luck had run out.

"I can't believe you would do this to Jake, Estella Susanne."

"Would you stop with my full name," Estella muttered, but she didn't get up from her seat on the couch. It was as if Marion thought she was Estella's mother, scolding her this way. It had been bad before Jake had died, but now with him gone, it was as if she'd transfered her mothering skills (or lack of) to Estella. And, because she'd lost her only son, Estella rarely voiced her annoyances.

"How long has this...this little tryst been going on?" The magazine was rolled up in her hand, and with Marion standing in front of her so intimidatingly, Estella had half a mind to think she was going to whack her with it like a scolded puppy.

"Since August," she responded, eliciting a shriek from Marion. Estella put her hands up, "You're going to wake Jacob!"

"August--August! So you waited a year for Jake to be dead and--"

"That is not how it happened!" Estella stood up then, hands still up in frustration, "That is not the reason, Marion, and you know that!"

"What am I supposed to think, Estella? Really? You've kept this from all of your family, and I'm supposed to think this is a real relationship? Do you love him?"

Estella, surprising herself, didn't hesitate in answering, "Yeah, you know what? I do, I love Caden Flint the 'quidditch man,'" her fingers went up to put invisible quotes around the words, "and it's been a long and hard road to get here because he's suffered just as much as I have, Marion, but we're happy, finally, and I do love him, so--so you're not going to make me---"

She shut her mouth, fuming that she had to explain herself as if she was some teenager getting caught in a broom closet. Part of her wished she'd been brave enough to tell her mother-in-law before she found out like this, but Estella knew the reaction wouldn't have been any better.

"Do you have sex?"

Estella let out a laugh, and then realized Marion was serious, that the sex was worst than loving him. She faltered slightly, and then a bit of nerve came over her and her shoulders moved in a taunting manner.

"As a matter of fact, we have great sex," she started, making Marion's jaw drop, "We have sex all the time. He is a quidditch player, you know, and seeing as I'm very flexible---"

Her eyes caught something moving in the mirror behind Marion's head and was quite sure she was about to melt into a puddle of horribly bashful goo as Caden's reflection appeared. She didn't even turn around, absolutely frozen in embarrassed and humiliated shock, as Marion came around the couch.

"So you're the Quidditch Man!"

"--you would do this to Jake, Estella Susanne."

Fuck.

That was his first reaction as he popped into Estella's flat, listening to the two women argue in the other room. He had mentioned it the other day that he would be stopping by after practice, but he wasn't ever sure what time 'after practice' would be. And now he was stuck standing in her kitchen, leaning his shoulder against the wall that separated that room from the living room, where Estella and who he assumed to be her mother-in-law were talking. For some reason, it was the first room that came to mind whenever he apparated, mainly because that was the room he usually found her in. She was usually fussing around with one thing or another, making Jacob lunch, or dinner depending on when he actually showed up. But right now, she wasn't doing either. Oh, no. No, she was talking to her late husband's mother about him.

How the fuck did she put up with her? Even Caden found his jaw clenching as he tried not to interrupt the conversation that was taking place. Did the woman honestly think Estella would do something like wait a year and just move on? It was ridiculous. It was--

"Do you love him?"

Caden stopped moving completely, staring at the ground as Estella gave her answer. There wasn't even a pause, which took him by surprise. But, it was a good surprise. It was just...he didn't really know how she was going to answer that. They had never exchanged the words before, but it was more than obvious that the feelings were there, even if they didn't verbalize them.

But that wasn't even the beginning of what was happening with this conversation. The next question made Caden raise a brow, his own mouth parting slightly. No, she wouldn't really--

Okay, so she would. Caden closed his eyes and sighed, rubbing at his brow before he stepped out of the kitchen and took the few needed steps into the living room. Honestly, he was surprised that Estella was still standing up after she noticed he was behind him. He focused on her eyes in the mirror before he turned to look at Marion. "Put that together all on your own, did you?" He stepped closer towards the two of them so he was now standing beside Estella, his hands sliding into his pockets as he continued to keep his eyes focused on the older of the two women. "Yes, I am the Quidditch Man. But I do prefer to go by Caden, if you wouldn't mind." He glanced over at Estella again, making sure that she was still breathing

Estella didn't know how she was still breathing. In the mirror she could see that her face was the deepest shade of red, maybe it would even turn purple and maybe she wasn't breathing, but suddenly Caden was beside her and she let out the breath she'd been holding and turned slowly, to face Marion even if her head was slightly ducked down. She'd been quite proud of herself for yelling back and even found her snide retorts amusing, something she'd tell Ally the next day, but now. She would never say those things in front of Caden--well, the sex thing, not the---oh. Oh.

She was going to puke. She was going to get sick and Marion was going to take Jacob away and Caden was going to never speak to her again and yeah, she was going to be sick. Estella put up a hand and darted out of the living room to the bathroom. As soon as she shut the door she knew that she shouldn't have left Caden alone with Marion, but---well. He had said he would gladly get rid of her, but Estella didn't really think he actually meant her to take him up on it and--

"Oh God," she muttered, dropping her head to the door; she would be of no use to him on the brink of vomiting on his shoes.

Marion, however, was glad for Estella's quick exit, "What exactly are your intentions, Mr. Flint? My grandson is in a very delicate situation, and I'm not quite sure this," she lifted up the magazine, "is the proper environment for him to grow up in. Now, I don't know how you raise your child, but I will not stand for Jacob to be put through such antics for some random fling, like I know you quidditch men are so used to having."

He really didn't know what to do about Estella's situation. He instinctively wanted to go and check up on her, to make sure she was alright, but he couldn't. She had ran out of there for a reason, even if it did stick him in the same room with her mother-in-law. Because this wasn't awkward. Not at all.

Caden shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He wasn't nervous but he really just didn't want to be there. Especially if she was going to keep on asking questions like the one she had just thrown at him, or if she kept flashing magazines around. He was well aware of the fact that his fame caused problems for Estella and Jacob, and he wasn't about to have this woman point that out to him as though he were blissfully unaware of it. And her mentioning Marcus? Oh, well, that really wasn't going to settle right with him. But, he'd remain calm. Or, he'd try to.

"First of all, it's not a fling. Second of all, you know absolutely nothing about me. You know nothing about my family, and you sure as hell don't know anything about my relationship with Estella. I'm not a man who has a new girl everyday, or causes drama just so I can be on the front page of a gossip magazine, much like the one you have in your hand. I'm not your stereotypical 'Quidditch man' if you will." He was really trying not to have a bite to his words, but it was difficult.

Estella had cracked the door open after hearing Marion's voice through the door, and had slowly begun her way back to the living room. No, she couldn't run from her anymore, or hide, not if she wanted to move on with her life. It was so easy to just let her mother-in-law to take Jacob off on random trips, to tell her how to live her life and just nod along, than to fight with her, but she was tired of it. It wasn't only the fact that she was trying to affect her relationship with Caden; this was bringing a new strength to Estella, and she slowly came to stand behind Caden while he finished before coming around.

"I want you to leave," she said softly to Marion, who looked like a fish gasping for air as a result of the fact that Caden had talked back; the woman definitely wasn't one to take no for an answer. She was one of the main reasons Estella and Jake had moved so far away and made things as muggle as possible. Anything to deter her visits, which seemed impossible, but the attempt was there.

"Estella Susanne--"

"You're not my mother," Estella responded sharply, "And Marion, I love you, I do, no matter how much you make me want to rip out my hair," she didn't stop at her mother-in-law's gasp of indignation, "but you can't do this anymore. You shouldn't have been doing this in the first place, since Jake and I got married. It's not your place, and Jacob will be fine."

"I--" Estella's hand went up, and some silly part of her believed it was being so close to Caden that gave her the courage to get it all out.

"We'll visit once a week. On my terms, I'll owl you tomorrow--just. I need you to leave."

Marion's mouth shut into a tight line, and without daring to look up at Caden, she turned and left through the front door. Estella held her breath until she heard the engine of the car start before she slumped down onto the back of the couch, hand covering her face.

Estella's voice made him turn, looking over his shoulder to follow her around to his side. He couldn't help but feel just a little bit proud of her as she stood up to her mother-in-law, but found himself staring down at the floor beneath him when Estella finally took control of everything. He didn't want to be held responsible for anything happening in their family, but honestly, it was impossible for him to just stand there and not say anything...but he was kind of glad that he had, because part of him knew she wouldn't have ever said anything if he wasn't there.

The fact that the low grumble made her finally plop down onto the couch, he was sure that meant that Marion had finally left. He let out a long sigh, moving over to where she was sitting on the couch, standing in front of her. He remained quiet, not really quite sure of what to say. He was sure she was still absolutely humiliated about what he had walked in on, and then there was the whole deal with Marion, so he could only imagine what kind of mood she was in.

"Do you want me to leave?"

"God no," she muttered, then winced again because she couldn't keep her mouth shut around him. What the heck was wrong with her, anyhow? She was a Slytherin, damn it, she shouldn't be able to get so easily flustered like she did. Estella dropped her hand to her lap, immediately wringing her fingers as she looked up at Caden. She was sure he heard her naughty words (she blushed even thinking about what she'd said, oh God), but Estella had absolutely no idea what else he'd caught. She bit her lip and felt, once again, that bubbling feeling of courage deep in her gut.

"I love you," she said quickly, eyes not moving from his, "in case you didn't hear me shouting it at my mother-in-law. I love you, there, in case I mumbled it, because I tend to do that when I'm nervous, and I know that's not at all how I pictured actually saying it to you or if you even wanted me to and I'm very nervous right now because that shouldn't have happened, at least not in front of you, not the 'I love you' thing but the fight and I'm sorry she talked to you like that but I'm happy you talked back because I know I wouldn't have had the nerve if you didn't and, all right, I'm rambling."

She looked down finally, letting out a breath, wondering when she'd developed the skill to speak so much in one breath. She could be a bloody Shakespearean actor. "You can leave if you want, actually, I mean. If you want. Because that was weird--"

He didn't think he had ever heard one person say so much in such a short amount of time. And it wasn't just a lot of words it was...it was kind of a big deal that she was just spitting out like bullets because she was so nervous. His brows furrowed together as he took in everything she was saying, which might have looked bad from her point of view, because it could have seemed that he was confused about the 'I love you' part, he didn't have time to switch facial expressions between each sentence...or, well, each part of the very long run on sentence that she had just managed to get out into the open.

He had thought about interrupting her, just so he could say something in reaction to each part of her long explanation, but decided to wait until she was finished. But even then, she started to speak again, which made him sigh, stepping towards her to close the distance between them, cutting off whatever she was about to say by kissing her. It was soft and held for a few moments, his hands going to rest on either side of her on the couch. "Are you done yet?" He raised his brows, and once he was sure that she had nothing more to say he nodded his head, staring into her eyes, and after taking a few moments to compose his words in his head, he spoke.

"I did want you to say it...I wasn't sure when, but I did want to hear it. I wanted to hear it because...because I love you, too."

It was obvious that Caden wasn't just repeating it back to her because she had said it first, and he felt obligated. It was obvious because of how he was looking at her, and how his voice got just a bit quieter as he said it, as though the words needed to be handled with care, because they weren't just any words and...it was just obvious that he meant it. But now it was out there, and he could feel a weight being lifted from his shoulders. Knowing that he loved her, and she loved him back, it was...a relief. There wasn't any more wondering, and questioning it.

She had enough sense in her to grab onto Caden's forearms because Estella was seriously ready to pass out and fall back onto the couch. There were no words, just--ungh, that's all she could do to describe it. Most days she felt so comfortable with Caden that she didn't think twice about how handsome and dashing he was, but when he did things like this, when he kissed her like that, Estella felt like a schoolgirl giggling over her latest fancy. She wanted to sigh and bat her eyes in a silly manner, but that would be left for her daydreams because as soon as she gained some sense back Estella launched herself up at Caden. Arms wrapped around his neck and she kissed him hard, pulling him toward her and back toward the couch---

---which they would be tipping over the back and onto in just a moment, but she didn't care. Caden Flint loved her and that fact made her so bloody happy that she hoped she woke up the entire neighborhood with their snogging session. Except for Jacob, Jacob should stay asleep because then they'd get interrupted and--oh, stop thinking and snog the man that loves you and--and ungh, it was such a good feeling, it was beyond words.