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[andhiswife]

Greta's done her best not to feel guilty for how focused she was on her Bake Off appearance, especially in retrospect. It was what it was, and she knows that in the grand scheme of things, a couple of months isn't that much of a commitment.

But Saoirse's growing so quickly, a fact that becomes all the more apparent when Greta finally regains the wherewithal to focus on her properly. She's a long way from being a beanpole, but she's still grown out of last year's winter coats by a shocking margin, necessitating a shopping trip (the necklace Magnus enchanted for her might still qualify as 'wearing' her coat -- enough for her own magic to not know the difference -- but she still needs a coat that can ward off the chill). And she's eight. It's hard not to wonder how close they might be to Saoirse deciding she's too old to cuddle on the couch, or that the games and stories they've enjoyed thusfar are for children, which she is not.

So, both as an implicit apology for being so distracted over the past few months and as a means of taking advantage of the time they've got, Greta suggests a mother-daughter outing. Saoirse seems to enjoy any excuse to dress a bit more sharply than normal, and Greta just wants to give the lass her undivided attention for an afternoon. Things at the cottage may have returned to normal, but a little outright spoiling is overdue, she thinks.

Three o'clock sees them stepping into the café that has the best hot chocolate, by Saoirse's decree (and when Greta sees just how many options there are in the toppings department, she can understand the girl's reasoning).

"Goodness, that's an awful lot of options," Greta observes as she looks over the chalkboard menu. "What do you think? Any ideas?"

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[selkiesaoirse]

One of Saoirse's very favorite things is to spend time with Greta, no matter where they're doing it. At the height of Greta's involvement in the show, Saoirse had even taken to just sitting at the table quietly, watching her or doing homework, just to be near her.

Greta's her mum, after all, and she's enjoying that while she can.

Getting new winter clothes had been so much fun, too, and now Saoirse is sporting her new peacoat — a pretty coat for going places, not necessarily for being warm and playing in — and a pair of gray wool tights under a heavy skirt. A cute top and her coat-necklace help her beret (which matches her coat, naturally) and a pair of nice boots finish off the look. She feels very sharp, and makes sure to pose cutely when she thinks other adults are looking.

"I want the Hug in a Mug," she declares. It's a double chocolate cocoa with a dash of cayenne pepper, and marshmallows and whipped cream on top, cinnamon powder sprinkled over the cream, and a cookie straw poked into it the whole thing.

[andhiswife]

"That does sound good," Greta says, still perusing the menu. Saoirse sounds certain of herself, and her palate has expanded enough over the past year -- and the past few months in particular, as Greta's tried increasingly gutsy flavor combinations -- that Greta isn't too worried that she's biting off more than she can chew in the spiciness department. Still, it might be wise to get something a little less daring for herself, so they can trade off if need be.

She settles on something called 'That's Entertainmint,' which involves mint hot cocoa topped with a froth of whipped cream, mint-chocolate shavings, red sprinkles, and a candy cane. That'll be her sugar intake for the day, she thinks. It's as well they're doing this now, so Saoirse won't still be ricocheting off the walls when it's time for bed.

Once their drinks have been ordered and they've been given a number, Greta finds them a cozy corner booth that's a bit tucked out of the way. Though she's yet to actually deal with any over-excitable Bake Off fans, she's noticed some double-takes and the occasional bit of furtive gawking when she's out and about. She'd like to think no one's going to bother her while she's out with Saoirse, but she also doesn't want to stack the proverbial deck by sitting right by the window or something.

"We're coming up on your winter break," she says as they get themselves settled. "Anything in particular you'd like to do with all that time off? Besides your homework, of course." Greta has no such gap in her own schedule, and Thomas is busier than ever in the run-up to the holidays. But they ought to be able to make time to do things as a family.

[selkiesaoirse]

"I'm going to finish my homework before break," Saoirse decides importantly. "Because winter break is supposed to be for relaxing and having fun, not for doing homework." She folds her coat in half neatly and sets it on the bench beside her, and sets her beret atop it, because hats aren't allowed at the table. That's something Granny always made sure she and Ben knew.

She adjusts her skirt over her lap and lays a napkin over it, to be extra safe.

"We need to bake cookies for Santa, don't forget," she adds. "And, maybe we can make egg-nog, too. I know traditionally Santa drinks milk with his cookies, but I think he'd like something different from a family that's different. Right?"

[andhiswife]

Greta has to bite back a grin at how deliberately grown-up Saoirse sounds. But then again, maybe it's not that deliberate. A year or so ago, it would have been inarguably precocious, but she's old enough now that she might just... genuinely be thinking a little less like a child.

It makes her heart ache, even as she realizes how lucky she is to have this: to be able to watch a child grow up, to have enough time to note changes like this. Not just the rapid milestones babies fly through (and she saw so few of those, in the end), but the slower, more subtle growth achieved by older children.

"That's a good idea," she says. Her smile is small and a little wistful, but not patronizing. "If I do forget about the biscuits, you'll have to remind me. And we'll have to pick a good flavor. He probably gets chocolate chip or sugar cookies at every other house."

The thought of making egg-nog sends her eyebrows creeping upward. "We could," she allows. "Though the egg-nog I've made before isn't the sort you could have. It often has alcohol in it. Traditionally." But after a considering beat, she adds, "There must be some way to make it work without that, though. Maybe we could find a recipe online."

[selkiesaoirse]

She begins thinking of the different kinds of biscuits — because 'cookies' are what her school friends call them — she knows about, thanks to Greta and Thomas and the baking show that Greta was on. But when Greta brings up alcohol in egg nog, she blinks.

"How come the egg nog you can buy in the grocery store doesn't have alcohol in it?" she asks. It's traditional, isn't it?

[andhiswife]

"Probably so they can sell it to more people," Greta says drily. There's no real need to sugar-coat it, and she thinks Saoirse would appreciate it more if she didn't. Besides, it makes sense in a way she's certain the lass can follow. "I've looked at some of the ingredients lists on the boxes, and some of them... well, calling it 'egg-nog' at all is a bit generous, if you ask me." There's an entirely different sort of egg-nog being sold at the liquor stores, but obviously Saoirse wouldn't have seen those.

[selkiesaoirse]

That does earn a little giggle, as well as a small glint of warm appreciation. She likes it when Greta treats her like a grownup, and a lot of what she says isn't so hard to understand, anyway.

Grownups just assume kids won't understand them, so they never try.

"Is homemade, without alcohol, I mean, different, d'you think?" she asks.

[andhiswife]

Greta gives the question due consideration. "Well, it'll certainly taste different to the egg-nog made with alcohol. I'm not sure how it would compare to the store-bought kind, but things you make at home often do taste better than the store versions. Especially because we could make it exactly how we like it, instead of being stuck with whatever comes out of the carton."

A server arrives with their drinks, both of them looking as if they can barely be contained by the oversized mugs that house them. "Goodness," Greta murmurs as the towering pile of whipped cream and sprinkles bobbles a little upon being set down. "They certainly don't do this by halves. Thank you," she adds to the server.

[selkiesaoirse]

"Yes, thank you," Saoirse echoes politely. She smiles hugely at the mug in front of her, and reminds herself to be very patient and gentle as she slides it closer to herself. The cookie straw sticking out of it is inviting, and she sips through it as is right and proper. The cocoa slides up and brings along the chocolate inside the straw, making it especially sweet and lovely.

Hug in a mug, indeed!

"It's delicious, Mum," she declares. "D'you want to try it?"

[andhiswife]

It's hard to know where to begin with her own concoction, and Greta ends up using the candy cane -- already melting a little where it was soaking in the hot cocoa -- to scoop up a little whipped cream. There's really no decorous way to do this, so she resigns herself to looking a little ridiculous, and slurps the whipped cream and traces of cocoa off the cane.

"I would love to," she says, sticking the candy cane back in her cup. "And you're welcome to try some of mine, if you can, er... get through it." The cream is still thick enough to be intimidating, but if Saoirse wants to take a crack at it, she's welcome.

Greta leans across the table, supporting herself on her elbows so she can take a sip through the conveniently included cookie straw. And it is quite delicious -- pleasantly spicy, but not so much that it would overwhelm anyone but the most sensitive. "Very nice," she says approvingly.

[selkiesaoirse]

"It really is like a hug," Saoirse decides. She's very pleased with her choice, and doubly so that Greta approves, as well. "It makes my tummy feel warm, and my toes, like a big, warm hug!" She giggles and takes another sip, then grabs the spoon from the wrapped napkin at her place setting to start chipping away at the whipped cream.

That's almost the best part, after all. If they were home, she's just use her fingers, but she's wearing nice clothes and she's out and about specifically for the purposes of showing off, so she should be on her best behavior.

"I'll wait to have any of yours until you can, too," she adds, following her own train of thought. "It's not fair to try someone's food if they haven't even done."

[andhiswife]

"Aptly named, too," she says, sitting back with a smile. She's glad Saoirse's enjoying herself -- and that she thought to do this in the first place. Getting back to normal after filming ended has been an odd, piecemeal process as she rediscovers the things she'd been neglecting -- accidentally or on purpose.

Well. Neglecting is a strong word to apply to Saoirse; Greta had taken pains throughout the process to include her as much as possible, so she wouldn't feel like she was being shunted aside or forgotten. But she'd been distracted -- almost perpetually so -- and it's good to be able to give someone her full attention again. Especially the someone who has the strongest claim to it.

"Oh," she says, surprised and a little impressed that Saoirse insists on waiting. "Well, I'd better get to work, then, haven't I?" She retrieves a spoon and starts to attack her own mass of whipped cream.

"How have the children at school been treating you?" She'd know if anything outright awful had happened, but it occurs to her that Saoirse might have been holding onto smaller grievances, presuming them less important than her mother's stint on television. "I expect there were some questions when your coat seemed to disappear."

[selkiesaoirse]

"They're alright," Saoirse says with a shrug. "They did ask questions, a bit, but nobody's bullied me like at my last school." She's glad they'd made the switch, really, because her friends at this school are much nicer than most of the friends at her old school. "Mostly they just wanted to know where it went, so I told them it's at the cleaners." It's an easy enough answer, even though it's a lie. But she can't well tell them that it's in her necklace, can she?

[andhiswife]

"You know what you could tell them," Greta says, with just a hint of mischief in her smile, "is that you've outgrown it. It wouldn't even be a lie." She hadn't been wearing it at Brynmor for all that long -- certainly not long enough for anyone else to have noticed that the coat was a perpetual perfect fit. As far as any of them are concerned, it was only a matter of time before she'd outgrow it.

And if her teachers merely think it was an odd, childish affectation, well. It wouldn't be the only one they'd seen.

[selkiesaoirse]

Saoirse's eyes widen, and she giggles. "Because it's so small now!" So, technically, she has outgrown it. Now that it's small enough to fit inside her pendant, she can't exactly put it on, can she?

She uses her spoon to scoop up some whipped cream. It's a sweet contrast to the warm spiciness of her cocoa. She focuses on it for a few moments, then sips through the straw again.