Earlier plans

“If you want… we could do what we talked about earlier…” Lucy said, looking a lot more unsure of herself than she did before, giving Sarah multiple glances.

“What did you come up with?” Sarah asked, still looking excited.

You were pretty sure Lucy was referring to a fantasy from just a few hours ago but you didn’t speak up, making her be the one to explain to Sarah what it is that she was suggesting.

“Max said that… maybe I could go under the table and… you know…” Lucy started to explain, opting to finish her sentence by making a hand gesture.

She immediately regretted shaking her hand in front of her face as if just saying the words would have been much less of an embarrassment.

“oh…Oh!” Sarah replied, quickly getting the idea as the smile stayed on her face.

“That could work!... But… I don’t really think that’s gonna affect her much other than the initial shock. Plus she might actually get annoyed when you don’t start eating” Sarah joked, liking the idea but finding some faults in it.

Plus you kinda agreed yourself that Mom might let her motherly instincts kick in and she’d have trouble with somebody not eating the food she prepared.

You thought that might be a problem with all meals that you had as a family but you’d need to find a solution to that eventually.

However, before you could think of anything else to suggest instead, Sarah’s eyes lit up as she had an idea.

“How about we just rotate out? That way if she complains, we can just go back to our chairs and the other person can just carry on!” Sarah explained, looking proud of herself that she had come up with a solution.

“I’m down to try it. It doesn’t really change how much it affects Mom but I’m sure I can figure out something to keep her occupied” you said, agreeing with the idea.

Lucy however took slightly longer to respond to the idea.

“...Yeah let’s do that” she added, a smile coming back on her face that you could tell was slightly ****.

“Sweet! I’ll go quickly set the table and you two come down after that” Sarah excitedly replied, not noticing anything wrong with Lucy and running off out of your bedroom before either of you could say anything more.

There was a moment's silence after she left but when you turned to look at Lucy, you didn’t even need to ask what was wrong as she took one look at you back and knew you had already seen through her.

“Look I… kinda didn’t want to share the experience this time. That doesn’t mean I don’t want Sarah to join but…” Lucy started to say, trying her best to show that it wasn’t anything Sarah had done, just her own feelings.

She was still sat at the side of you so you just leaned over and kissed her, stopping her from talking and trying your best to calm down her anxiety.

“I get it. Just know… there’s always tomorrow. Where everyone will be watching…” you teased, choosing now as your moment to get up and leave the room.

“Wait, maybe we can hold off on…” Lucy tried to interject, feeling a bit more pressure at the thought of actually going through with the idea.

You however didn’t want to give into her fears and just left as quickly as you could, hearing her get up from the bed as you left your room and hurrying down the hallway so she couldn’t catch up.

She must have seen you dash away as you could hear her try to catch up but by the time you were already down the stairs, she hadn’t managed to get close enough to stop you.

Just before you made it into the dining room, you slowed your speed and tried your best to walk casually into the room as if you weren’t being chased. Sarah gave you a funny look as she must have heard you rushing but you managed to stand behind your seat just when Lucy made it into the room.

She hadn’t done the same as you and sped into the room with her eyes set firmly on you, disregarding whoever else was in the room just to stare at you.

“We need to talk about that properly” Lucy said through some heavy breathing.

“Oh have you got another idea!?” Sarah cut in excitedly.

“No we just…” Lucy went to reply

“Why are you kids all rushing around? You're old enough so start behaving like adults please?” Mom said as she entered the room, having followed Lucy down the stairs.

Sarah had seemingly given her a heads up as she was now back to being dressed, settling for some jeans and a sweater that seemed to cling to her body and was certainly too tight to be something from her usual wardrobe.

You were glad that she was wearing some of the new clothes that had been bought but given the amount of outfits you had seen her wear recently, you were starting to wonder how many new clothes she had actually purchased. You wanted to stare at her for longer but Mom didn’t stay in the room for long, walking directly to the kitchen to do the final check on dinner.

Lucy looked annoyed that she couldn’t talk to you now that Mom was in hearing distance but she gave you a **** stare just because she could, hoping that would convey her annoyance. That look soon turned more sinister with her starting to smirk as she realised that what you had been planning today could get you in a more compromising position.

With her smiling, you were quick to realise that it was probably not the best idea to have taunted her and now you had put yourself in a situation where you couldn’t talk to her about it.

Sarah was happily smiling between the two of you as she set up the few final things to get the table nice and presentable and you all got to sit down just as Mom came out with the food, her face also having a nice friendly smile like Sarah’s.

It seemed like only you were the one to notice that Lucy had other intentions and with the looks she was giving you as she sat at your side, it was clear you weren’t going to get away with anything unless you at least tried to soothe her somehow.

“Sweetie?” Mom questioned, breaking you out of your thoughts and making you turn towards her.

Mom held out her hand as she wanted to start grace and you moved to take it before then turning back to Lucy. She also quickly held out her hand for you to take and you instantly felt her give you a **** grip that threatened to crush your hand if you weren’t careful.

On the surface however you tried to act like nothing was wrong so Mom wouldn’t think anything was suspicious while she went to start grace, seeing her smile once she held both your hand and Sarah’s to start the one routine that had stayed the same regardless of all the changes you had all gone through.