Devi smiled as she listened to her father talking about Christmas. When she looked back on those times when they had all been together, it seemed so idyllic that she thought she must have been forgetting all the bad parts. There must have been fights, and tantrums, surely? Devi couldn’t remember them.
She felt a little uncomfortable, though, when her dad told her she was beautiful. It was nice, but like many girls, Devi wasn’t ever sure how to take serious compliments. Jokes she could do, and flirting, but an actual comment that was quite serious… that was something else altogether. She was glad her mum interrupted from the kitchen, just to break up some of her embarrassment.
“Honestly, mother!” she remonstrated jokingly, sounding every bit the teenager she was. “Did nobody ever teach you it's rude to eavesdrop? We’re having a moment here.”