Hey, you

Chapter 28 - Home

Home didn't really feel like a home anymore. In fact, it felt rather unfamiliar as Ellie stepped through the large wooden front door, followed swiftly by Arthur who dropped his luggage bag onto the floor.

'Tom? Daisy?!' Arthur shouted as Ellie continued to look around what appeared to be an empty house. She felt tired, it had been a long flight back to L.A. She just wanted to get into her pyjamas and cosy up under her duvet with Milo. The anticipation of telling her Dad about the baby had been building for the entire journey home. She needed to find the right time, almost when he was at his happiest. The only problem with that was that he was usually in his best mood after a few glasses of red wine, which would surely spell disaster.

'Ellie?' a young voice gasped. Daisy had appeared at the top of the stairs gazing down at her with glee.

'Hey!' Ellie's eyes had lit up. She always missed her younger sister the most when she was away.

'I drew this for you,' said Daisy passing her a piece of paper as Ellie picked her up to cuddle her.

'Oh thank you,' she said looking down at Daisy's drawing, 'So who's this then?'

'That's me and that's you - and that's Will... we're watching Harry Potter together - remember like last time?'

'Yeah...' Ellie stuttered, 'I remember. That's really good Daisy, thank you,'

'And don't I get a cuddle?' interrupted Arthur wearing an unfamiliar kind grin and holding out his arms before hugging Daisy. Time stood still for Ellie, for a brief moment at least. Just whilst she stopped and watched Arthur with his youngest daughter. Maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world; him having a grandchild, she thought to herself. Perhaps it would bring out a side to him that it seemed she only saw when Daisy was around.

'Dad?' asked Ellie, hesitantly, 'can we talk?' The shiver beneath Ellie's voice raised a slight concern for Arthur.

'Yeah sure, what's up Ellie?'

'I...' Ellie didn't really know where to start. She didn't want to just blurt her news out to him. She knew she needed to proceed with caution. 'Something happened whilst I was away a few weeks back...'

'What? Do I need to be sitting down for this?' Arthur asked, with a slight smirk.

A knock at the door was a most unwelcome interruption. Ellie had almost managed to build herself up to telling her Dad the truth. The knot in her stomach felt as tight as ever. It was now or never, she'd begin showing any week now.

'Oh, who's that?' snapped Arthur, who'd been pining for a whiskey ever since they'd stepped off the plane. He marched over to the front door, making the stomps from his feet heard from outside.

The door opened to reveal Robert, stood on the porch, wearing a smart suit and looking as smug as ever. 'Afternoon Arthur,' he said removing his sunglasses. 'We heard you were back... it's Ellie that we need to speak to...'

Ellie felt her body freeze as if she'd just turned to stone.

'What's this about Robert?' asked Arthur calmly.

'We've been given some new information, regarding Mr. Miller...'

'What kind of information? I thought there was insignificant evidence?' Ellie asked sarcastically. She had her story straight in her head, everything would be fine, she continuously told herself.

'Well, it seems that we have some new evidence, Miss Greene. Evidence that could be quite significant in fact...'

Arthur looked bemused as Ellie and Robert's eyes were locked on each other. Ellie's frown was only making Robert's smugness feel more and more irritating.