Sophie
Sophie helped her father move their things into their new house.
He got it with the job.
What the job was exactly, still hadn't been explained to her full satisfaction.
She looked around, saw no one, and carried the couch into the house by herself. Best not to make an issue of how strong she was.
Robin ran around their small backyard, singing to herself.
"Robin! Go get the suitcases out of the car!" Sophie called.
"Nah nah nah, Dad said I don't have to!"
"Brat!"
Rowena
Rowena noticed the new arrivals. Newborn Billy asleep in his cot, Rowena trotted outside to greet them. She was sure that Duke would let her know if Billy started crying.
"Good day," she said, looking over the fence. "Welcome to the neighbourhood."
Sophie
"Ah, hello." Sophie swept her hair out of her face and smiled.
Robyn bounced some more.
"Sophie!" Sean called out from inside the truck.
"Come and give your poor old broken down father a hand!"
"Dad, when you are that, I'll help you," Sophie called back.
"Such a trial-"
"And a tribulation, I know. Come and say hello."
Sean stuck his head out of the truck's back doors and waved.
"We just moved from Australia..."
Rowena
"Australia? Really?" Rowena asked with genuine interest. "That's a long trip. I'm Rowena Braddock, but you can call me Ro."
Sophie
"Well, I'm Sean O'Shaughnessy," Sean said in his slightly Irish accented voice.
"And these are my two lovely daughters, Sophie and Robyn."
"You want something, don't you?" Sophie said suspiciously.
"Aye. I want you to go back and keep unloading the van."
"It's mostly done."
"And it will be all done once those chairs are inside," Sean said.
"It's a pleasure to meet ye, Rowena."
Rowena
"I have a daughter," Rowena replied. "And three - four sons."
She shook her head with a smile.
"I had to stop and think about that for a moment," she laughed. "Miette is... on a trip around the world. Oliver is in the State. Jason's moved out. Only Duke is here now, and my newborn, Billy. Born just on the 27th."
Sophie
"Aye? Congratulations then." Sean smiled. "How old are your others? Soph's 16, and Robyn is 10."
Sophie moved back to the van, grumbling slightly.
Rowena
"Jason's 23. Miette's 20. Oli is 17, and Duke is 12," Rowena smiled. "And thank you. What brings you to London?"
Sean
"New job," Sean said easily.
"And it's back to. I met Anna, my wife here after I moved here from Dublin. First time the girls have been here though. After we moved to Australia, we were kinda operating on a tight budget."
Rowena
Rowena nodded.
"Sure, sure," she said agreeably. "And what do you do?"
Sophie
"This and that, but it pays well."
Sean smiled slightly.
Sophie looked over at them, decided they were far too engrossed in talking to each other and lifted the dining room table. She managed to get it through the door with a minimum amount of noise.
Robyn ran inside the house.
"Soph, where do you want to sleep?"
"This room'll do me." Sophie gestured at one of the bedrooms.
"And the big one'll be Dad's, so that means this one will be mine!"
Robyn bounced down the stairs again and flew at her father.
"This house is so cool!"
"I'm glad ye think that, for it's fer sure we'll be staying a while." Sean smiled at his daughter and picked her up.
Rowena
Rowena smiled.
"Well, that's good news," she said. "Perhaps you'd like to join us for dinner tonight? I imagine you're not much looking forward to cooking when you've just moved in."
Sean
"That would be very nice, thanks for offering," Sean said.
"If it wouldn't be too much trouble..."
Rowena
"No, never," Rowena replied, waving his concerns off. "Why, I'll only be my husband Sam, Duke, Billy and myself tonight and I do miss having lots of people to cook for. I love cooking."
Sophie
"If you're sure it'll be alright...we'd be glad to."
Sean nodded slightly.
"Sounds great," Sophie said cheerfully as she came and stood next to her father.
Rowena
"Great," Rowena smiled. "How about seven then?"
Sophie
"That sounds fine," Sean said.
"We better get back to unpacking."
"And put maybe some of the rooms in order," Sophie said.
"We'll see ye tonight then?" Sean asked.
Rowena
Rowena nodded.
"Wonderful," she smiled. "See you then."
And she headed back inside.
Sophie
"So, this is London then?" Sophie said thoughtfully.
"Aye." Sean nodded, then put Robyn back on the ground.
"Let's go finish unpacking."