Never The Bride(58)

'You'll do fine, Abbie,' she said quietly, laying her wrinkled old cheek on top of my head. 'You have the biggest and most loving heart of anyone I've ever known. Look how you are with me, how you were with Mr. Sumo, who rarely showed you any affection in return. This baby is going to be the most loved and happiest baby ever. And I'm going to be so proud to be able to help you.'

'What would I do without you, Daphne?' I sniffed, sitting back on my heels and wiping my eyes.

'I hope we have a few more years together before you have to find that out,' she replied, as she wiped her own. 'But on the bright side, I'd better start knitting again. We have a baby Davis to keep warm.'



       
         
       
        

I brushed off her scary reminder that our time together was limited and focused on the happier thought of all of the planning we had to do before a baby arrived. I looked down as Teddy seemed to sense something momentous was happening and woke up with a bark.

'You may have lost your real brothers and sisters, Mr. Barker,' I told him as I lifted him up, 'but you're going to get one who, one day, is going to love you so much. You'll have a little friend to play with soon. What do you think of that?'

I was rewarded with another stream of pee in the face, and everyone else burst into fits of laughter as I spluttered and Teddy barked. This motherhood lark was going to take some serious getting used to.





Epilogue


All's Well That Ends Well

June

Five Years Later



'ABBIE, ARE YOU COMING down? Everyone's here,' Miller called up the stairs.

'I'll be there in a minute,' I confirmed as I washed my hands and stared at myself in the mirror. A very different Abbie was looking back at me compared to the one pre-Miller. A much happier Abbie, one whose life seemed pretty damn perfect.

I left the en-suite of our master bedroom, which was in the new extension of the house, or not so new now, and headed down our own set of stairs that came out next to the utility room. Beside that was what had been my new ground floor office, as Miller had taken over my larger one up above the garage. But I didn't need an office now that I was no longer working, so Miller had converted it into his gaming room. The extra extension had also given us a new guest room that was accessed from the upstairs landing of the original part of the house. Downstairs, in addition to the games room, it had provided one long room that ran along the back of the house, from the kitchen diner to the lounge, so you could do a complete circle of the ground floor rooms and main staircase. It meant we had a nice family room as part of the kitchen, and extra space for Jackson's toys.

I smiled as I stepped out of the bi-fold glass doors that spanned the back of the house. My nearly five-year old son was riding around the garden on the Sumo Express, with his blue train driver's cap on and chubby Teddy in Sumo's old carriage behind. While Teddy was most definitely a Mummy's boy, Jackson was all about Miller. That is, unless he fell over and hurt himself, or was hungry, then it was me he wanted. He was a gorgeous little boy, having all of Miller's features, cheeky smile, dimples, dark brown eyes, and dirty-blond hair. He was going to be a heartbreaker when he was older.

'There you are. What were you doing?' Miller asked as he headed over in his chef's apron, a pair of tongs in his hand. We'd invited our loved ones around for a barbeque for my birthday and they were all on the terrace, seated around the huge patio table, Daphne in her comfortable electric wheelchair. The sound of their laughter and chatter warmed my heart. My life was everything that I'd dreamed it would be, and then some. 

'This and that,' I replied, accepting a kiss, then returning it as I put my arms around his neck and made sure it lasted.

'Hmmm,' he groaned. 'What was that for? Is this chef's apron doing it for you, baby? I can always wear it to bed later.'

'No,' I laughed, smiling up at him. 'You do it for me, you're all I need in bed.'

'If only,' he replied with a roll of his eyes. 'I miss the days when it was just the two of us in our bed.'

'God, me too,' I agreed. Teddy loved nothing better than climbing the stairs we'd had to have made for him, as the bed was too high for him to jump up, then snuggling down against us at night. Then, more often than not, we woke up to find Jackson had crawled in between us sometime during the morning. We'd had to upgrade to a super king-sized bed to accommodate our family. But waking up and seeing all three of my boys sleeping there with me was one of the best feelings in the world.

'Hey, stop hogging her, Miller,' Georgie called. 'We have important girl stuff to discuss.'

'Whose wife is she?' Miller replied.

'I'll make it up to you later,' I whispered, brushing his lips with mine again. 'Why don't you grab the boys to help you cook while us girls chat?'

'They're a hindrance. Heath wants more coals on the fire, Dean wants less, and the others are arguing over whether sausages should sit in the grooves of the grill or across them.'

'No one wants a gritty sausage that's dropped.' I winked, making him laugh and smack my backside playfully. 'Can you find a few minutes to – '

'Mummy!' yelled Jackson, interrupting as he chugged behind us, and Teddy barked a greeting at me.

'What, sweetie?' I asked, my stomach still fluttering to hear myself being called that.

'I'm hungry,' he moaned as he pressed the button to stop the train by the house.

'Already? You only had breakfast a while ago, and don't think I didn't spot you eating one of Teddy's biscuits either. I've told you they're no good for you,' I warned him with a wagging finger. He giggled and bit his lower lip. He was completely fearless with anything he considered to be edible, as well as playing and climbing, which terrified me.

'They're yummy though,' he nodded with a serious expression.

'Yummier than Mummy's cookies?' Miller asked with a mock gasp. Jackson grinned and shook his head as he jumped off the train.

'No, silly billy. Those are the absolute best,' he exclaimed, giving his dad an honestly look. He ran over to put his arms around my knees and looked up at me through his dark lashes. 'But I can't reach the cookie jar.' He pulled a sad, pleading face, which made us both laugh.

'Which is a very good thing,' I replied, hoisting him up as I made a mental note to move all of Teddy's biscuits and cans of dog food up out of reach as well. I'd even caught Jackson with a spoon in Teddy's food bowl one day when he was younger, eating the gravy-smothered chunks.

'Not when I'm hungry,' Jackson pouted.

'You're always hungry, son.' Miller ruffled his hair and planted a kiss on his head. 'One cookie, that's all. Lunch will be ready soon.'

'Not if you don't cook it,' I reminded him as Jackson snuggled up against me.



       
         
       
        

'What were you going to ask me, baby?'

'It can wait, go cook. Be with you in a minute,' I called over to my friends at the table.

'If you're getting the cookies out, I'll have one,' Daphne responded.

'Oh, me too,' chorused Charlie, Quinn, and Georgie.

'Rachel?' I asked. We'd become closer, more because of Miller and Dean being best friends. She'd never be in my closest circle of Daphne and the three girls, but we got on well. She'd been to Fi-Fi's wedding to a footballer last year, which I thankfully hadn't been invited to, and had been mortified to find out that the "slutty dress" Fi wore had once been mine. We'd had a good giggle about that.

'I'd love one too please, darling,' she nodded.

'Oh no, now everyone wants one of my cookies,' Jackson sighed. 'Will there be enough left for me?'

'Yes,' I laughed as I carried him inside. 'Besides, they're not your cookies, they're for everyone. You know I always bake enough for you and Daddy, plus spares. But we can make some more together tomorrow, how does that sound?'

'Can we make doggie-shaped ones, like Teddy?' he asked, his face lighting up. Teddy was his best friend. He just adored him and Teddy was so protective of him.

'We can make any shape you want,' I confirmed, smiling as he squealed and clapped, then pursed his lips for a kiss.



'Ok, now that all of the wedding talk is out of the way, how are you, Daphne? What's the news from the school house?' I asked. She was so happy in her new flat. We visited her often and still had her over for Sunday lunch. She was able to come all the way on her electric scooter if the weather was nice, like today. She'd even got herself a boyfriend, none other than Mr. Bentley. They'd sit holding hands as they watched the spectacular Shropshire sunsets from the communal lounge, which looked out to the Welsh hills in the distance. He'd never replace David, but I was so happy that they had each other. He'd zoned out and fallen asleep when we all started talking excitedly about the upcoming wedding and last-minute arrangements. Dilbury was going to be a hive of activity this summer.

'Well, you heard about poor Joyce Weathers?'

'The one whose husband died this week?' Quinn asked. It was strange to hear her and Miller now talk with a slight British inflection to their American accents.

'Well, it was Charlie's fault,' Daphne nodded, with a tongue in the side of her cheek as she gave Charlie a look.

'What did I do?' Charlie exclaimed indignantly. 'I only met him at the village fête this year.' 

'Joyce had been reading one of your saucy books, got a bit excited, and convinced Frank to try out a position you'd written in one of your stories.'