He got out and opened the back door, grabbing his own bag before joining her, taking her hand and squeezing it.
He nodded, and they walked up to approach the door. He rang the doorbell, and it took a few moments for anyone to answer. Once it opened, a dignified-looking woman who was maybe in her late 50s answered. She had straight, black hair and green eyes. Upon seeing the two, she smiled warmly. "Ah, Francis, it's lovely to see you again," she said kindly, her voice smooth and sophisticated. "And you must be Poppy?"
His mother may not have noticed, but Francis would be able to see that Poppy's smile was shy as she extended her hand. "That's me," she replied. "It's lovely to meet you."
Poppy stepped inside, still holding Francis' hand. She gazed around at the room they had stepped into. "You have a lovely home."
Poppy flushed and squeezed his hand. "Oh, well, I consider myself pretty lucky that I found him," she said, smiling up at him.
She raised an eyebrow as she looked up at Francis. "Oh, yeah. We weren't exactly traditional," she said with a slight laugh.
He grinned, squeezing her hand. "It was very strange at first, but we're happy. Where's dad?" Elizabeth crossed her arms. "The study. Where he always is, of course. How was the drive?"
"Oh, it was lovely," Poppy said, squeezing his hand. "Although Francis doesn't seem to respect driving rules."
She frowned. "Oh goodness. He's been driving like that ever since he's had a car. I don't know why, considering I know he can drive normally." She shook her head, and Francis crossed his arms. "I did not come here to get teamed up on."
"You know I'm on your team," she replied cheekily. "But you know very well that we had to pull over once or twice."
"We pulled over because it was your turn to drive." He frowned. Elizabeth chuckled. "Do you two want to go to your room and set up?"
