"So, how long have you guys had this planned for, hey?" George's half-hearted attempt at enthusiasm is convincing enough to bring a smile to his children's faces, the following Friday afternoon. "Because I bet you knew about this, didn't you?"

"We decided about this last Saturday," Levi explains, pulling up in front of the hotel in the car. "When we were all sat in the garden late one night. You were in bed because of your hangover."

"Yeah, and we kept it a surprise." Kieran covers his mouth to indicate how secretive he believes himself to be; through his fingers, a muffled giggle escapes. "Did we do good, Daddy?"

"You all did excellent," George praises; he is extremely grateful for the weekend getaway that Levi has brought the family on, but his guilt lays in the fact he feels no better than he has done the last few weeks. "This weekend is going to be fantastic."

The four of them each unfasten their seatbelts, before getting out of the vehicle; with their backpacks in tow, they enter the hotel reception. The building is decorated simplistically, with a modern feel to it; cool hues of blue and indigo mingle flawlessly with the white walls to appear somewhat futuristic. A young woman stands waiting at the front desk, a smile upon her chiselled face as she watches the family approach her.

"Good evening," she greets accommodatingly. "Are you staying with us tonight?"

"We have two nights booked under Panayiotou-Jones," Levi informs her, propping himself up against the desk with his arm. "Sorry — spelt P-A-N-A-Y-I-O-T-O-U." He turns to his partner, smiling bashfully. "I sometimes forget my name isn't quite as simple as it used to be. No thanks to you."

"I didn't ask to be born Greek," George comments, the first sign of playfulness in a very long time.

The young lady types in the prolonged surname as Levi has spelt it; she glances at her computer screen, grinning as she successfully locates their reservation. "Excellent! So — two nights in the family room; breakfast is included, and you've already paid ahead for car parking. Is that correct?"

"Spot on," Levi agrees. "What time does breakfast close in the morning?"

"Because you're here for the weekend, it'll close at eleven o'clock. On weekdays it's usually ten." She averts her eyes down, to slot the room keycards into an envelope for safekeeping, before she hands it across the counter to Levi. "Enjoy your stay with us. Any queries, please come and ask. You're room two-four-seven, on the second floor."

"Thank you," George chimes in, at the last moment. He hauls his backpack over his shoulder, cautious not to hit anybody in the process; then, he heads towards the lifts in the corridor. The rest of the family follow behind him, with Levi trailing behind at the back of the line. George presses the 'Call' button for the lift, stepping back to observe which of the three will arrive at their floor first. The one to the right eventually stops; when the doors open, the group walk inside. George presses the button for floor two, but becomes slightly disgruntled when the lift doesn't respond to his request. "What's this about?"

"It's not responding to you pressing it, is it?" Levi asks rhetorically; with his own attempt at clicking floor two proving unsuccessful, he heaves a sigh. "What's going on with this?"

"Daddy," Gemma pipes up. "You need the keycard."

"Oh." Levi, now embarrassed, scans the room card over the sensor, before pressing the button for floor two once again; this time, it works as intended. "Well done for noticing that, sweetheart."

The lift doors finally close, before the family are whisked up to level two. Upon arrival, the doors open once again, revealing a long corridor of doors; each one has its own unique number on, to mark the entrance of its own individual room. Levi leads this time, walking down the never-ending tunnel, until they come face-to-face with room 247; he hovers the keycard over the sensor, unlocking the door on his first try.

"Welcome to paradise," George jibes, his tone bordering on monotony. He passes through the entrance, taking in the appearance of the room; much like the reception, it is vibrant and contemporary, with splashes of pretty zesty yellows and greens in the bedding, wall art and accents. He turns to see the reactions of his children. "What do you guys think of this place?"

"It's amazing!" Gemma beams, prancing around excitably, exploring the little details of the room; she bounds over to the desk which is sat by the window, spotting the hot drink maker perched on the solid wood. "Look, Daddy! We can have hot chocolate!"

"We sure can," Levi remarks, with a mellow smile.  "We can all make them tonight before bed."

"When are we seeing Auntie Mel?" Kieran questions.

"That's where we're headed once we've settled into this room," Levi explains; he drops his backpack onto the large double bed, encouraging the kids to put theirs on their twin beds. "So the faster you unpack your toothbrushes and 'tomorrow' clothes, the faster we can go and see them."

Gemma and Kieran get to work with emptying their overnight bags as quickly as they possibly can; Gemma races to place her toothbrush and other toiletries into the en-suite bathroom to deem the task done. Kieran pulls out his outfit for the following day, folding it as neatly as he is able to, before placing it down on his bed. George and Levi do the same with their bags (although at a much calmer pace than that of their offspring), until everyone has finished sorting themselves out.

"We did it — can we go and see Auntie Mel now?" Gemma asks impatiently. "Ple-ease?"

"Alright," Levi snickers, grabbing the keycards from the desk where he left them. "Let's go and see them, then."

• • •

With a knock at Melanie's front door, the sweet family wait for a response. Melanie has been expecting their visit, so she is quick to answer; she opens the door with a smile, her eyes immediately falling to her niece and nephew. "Hey guys! Come on in! Come on in!"

They all step inside the house, taking off their shoes and leaving them in the hallway; before heading towards the living room. To the children's surprise, they find their beloved Cousin Tee sat on the sofa waiting for them, along with her wife, Stella. Gemma and Kieran squeal at the sight, rushing over to suffocate the women with love and affection.

"Hey!" Tee laughs, trying to get Gemma comfortable on her lap. "It's been so long since I saw you! How are you doing?"

"I'm good," Gemma responds.

"You're good, what?" Levi presses, with a slight firmness in his tone. "Don't forget your manners, Gem."

"I'm good, thank you," Gemma corrects herself.

"Good girl," Levi comments, dismissing the subject.

Tee continues to chat to the lively eight-year-old, while Stella interrogates Kieran about anything and everything — school, his hobbies, and whatever else she can think of. George observes these interactions unfold; it brings back memories of when Tee was the same age, if not even younger, herself. He remembers just how in-love he was with the adorable little girl; she'd always been the only child he ever knew in his youth, until Rosa and Alexander came along. In fact, his little niece was the only reason he ever considered children when he was in his early twenties — and this was in spite of the fact he'd never been interested in starting a family. Now, seeing her as a thirty-year-old woman, showing the same amount of love to his own children, causes him to feel all types of emotion.

"Gogos?" The sound of his sister's voice pulls him out of his deep rabbit hole of thought. "Did you want to have a little chat with me about things?"

He turns himself around to look at her. "Such as?"

"Follow me." Melanie leads him into the kitchen, so that the pair are out of the kids' earshot. Once she deems it safe enough to do so, she gives him a sympathetic expression. "How are you doing, George?"

"I'm doing alright," he lies. "Yourself?"

"No," she scolds, already knowing he is trying to deceive her. "How are you doing, George?"

"Alright," George repeats; for he doesn't wish to engage in yet another conversation about his immense grief over their mother. "Yourself?"

"Levi's told me you're hurting," she confesses. "He's told me you've been struggling to come to terms with Mum passing away. I'm not oblivious, Gogos. I've been around long enough to know when you're not being straight with me."

"What an unfortunate choice of wording," George teases, with little emphasis. "Have I ever been "straight" with you, Mel?"

"You know what I mean." Despite the melancholy nature of the conversation, she can't help but expel a soft chuckle at his wordplay. "I'm being serious. Levi said you got drunk at the Wake after Mum's funeral. He said he'd never known you to get so bad."

"I was just celebrating Mum's life." George doesn't wish to maintain eye contact with her now out of shame; so instead, he looks past her, at the digital clock on the oven, for the sake of locking his gaze on one fixed spot. "I'm not an alcoholic, Mel."

"I'm not saying you are," she assures him. "I'm just saying, don't fall down that hole. It's a dark, dark place. I've known people who made that mistake, and now they aren't here to tell the tale."

"But I'm fine," George reiterates, his eyes snapping back to her. "And this weekend is going to be great, isn't it?"

"You know you can talk to me," she reminds him, resting her hand against his shoulder. "We both lost our mum. So did Yioda. All three of us lost the same thing. We understand exactly how you're feeling. It hurts, so much. But don't let it tear your life apart ... for your kids' sakes. And for Levi's. You've got the best support system you could ask for."

Hearing Melanie's words of moral support is enough to result in George letting his guard down at last; his eyes glisten, as the heartbreak becomes too much for him. As his face contorts from his extreme sadness, he falls forward into her arms, hugging her tightly to rid the pent-up feelings he's holding in. Melanie holds him as he starts to sob quietly into her shoulder; she is painfully aware that he is having to keep the volume of his crying low, as not to arouse suspicion from everyone else in the next room. She wishes that he could scream and shout as much as he feels he needs to — just to eradicate some of the anger he seems to keep within him. Out of the three Panayiotou siblings, Melanie observes that George appears to be finding the loss the most difficult to come to grips with. After a few minutes, George's crying slowly dissolves into silence; though, he is still numb. He withdraws from his sister, looking to her with bloodshot eyes.

"I'm so scared that they'll get sick of me," he admits, his voice broken. "They're all fine, and I'm stuck here ... I'm drowning."

"They'd never get sick of you," Melanie comforts him. "Levi loves you more than anything in the world. So do the kids. They know you're having a hard time. Nobody can tell you how long you're allowed to grieve for."

"I just bring the mood down at home," George states poignantly. "Gem and Kieran seem to be withdrawing from me more. I can sense that they're worried about me. I feel guilty every day. I'm trying to be the best dad I can be for them. But now, they naturally seem to be drawn more to Levi."

"Maybe they just want to remain as positive as they can, so that it doesn't impact you," she suggests, admittedly uncertain. "If they spend more time with Levi, they'll feel more positive. Kids are smart, George. They can detect when something is off. You could be smiling ear to ear — if they feel like you're not truly happy, they'll gravitate towards the more positive parent. Levi is naturally going to be happier than you right now. I know he loved Mum to pieces ... but he doesn't feel the loss as personally as you do."

"I just feel like I'm letting them down." George shakes his head in defeat; remorse is the predominant emotion he feels in this moment. "I'm trying so hard. What if they give up on me? I feel like I'm never going to get out of this foggy cloud."

"You will ... eventually." She nods assertively, in an attempt to bring his spirits up about the situation. "It could take time, of course. They'd never give up on you. You're a husband and a father — and an amazing one, at that. Don't get yourself worked up over something that isn't going to happen."

George feels it is necessary to change the direction the conversation is headed in; he is aware that Melanie knows how he feels, so he no longer makes an effort to hide it. "I blame myself every single day for what happened to Mum."

"No part of it was your fault." Melanie shakes her head subtly, identifying that this is the only factor of George's grief that she cannot relate to. "What happened to Mum was just ... unfortunate."

"I think 'unfortunate' is an understatement," George scoffs, almost finding amusement in her words. "There will never be a day in my life where I don't feel responsible."

"It's not as if you killed her," Melanie responds, perhaps regretting the blunt choice of wording after. "I just mean, you shouldn't beat yourself up for what happened. It won't get you anywhere in life if you keep believing you're at fault."

George is unconvinced, bordering on dissatisfied with the conclusion of the discussion; alas, he nods his head anyway — for he is desperate to put the topic to rest. He turns on his heels to head back to the living room, but is stopped by his sister yet again.

"Hey."

He faces her, expressionless. "Yes?"

"I'll look after the kids tonight, with Tee and Stella," she offers. "You and Levi could do with a childless evening out together. Do whatever you need to. Just have a nice time. Let your hair down a bit."

George shakes his head again. "I don't want to burden y—"

"Behave yourself," Melanie jeers. "I'm looking after them tonight. Besides, you always used to look after Tee for me when she was barely walking. It's time I returned the favour."

George smiles weakly at her statement, knowing she makes a valid point. "Alright," he agrees. "Thank you. I don't deserve this, though."

"No. You deserve better," she taunts, playfully shoving him back towards the next room. "Come on. Have a good night with your husband."

He chuckles, for what may be the first time in a good while; ultimately deciding to action her idea of having a nice night with Levi.

• • •

Chapter eight! Are we still enjoying? xx