by Nikki Ashton
I had to agree with his logic on that one.
“I know,” I sighed, leaning over his shoulder to read what he was working on, “but you’re expected to learn it to help you to get qualifications and qualifications will help you in life.”
He looked at me quizzically. “How many have you got, Dad?”
My heart thumped hard when he said the word ‘dad’, even now after three years, it still felt amazing and strange to hear it. Yes, we’d had some difficult moments where he’d thrown it back in my face that I’d not been around when I should have been, or that I had no right to tell him what to do, but they were few and far between. Things were generally good and his anger wasn’t anything I didn’t deserve.
“You know exactly how many. I’ve told you this before,” I replied, knowing full well he knew I’d only passed a couple at school and that anything else that I’d achieved had been done in my own time once I was working. “You don’t have to do it the hard way, like me.”
“You don’t even believe in them anyway,” he groaned, looking back down at the paper on the table. “Can’t I just be a swimmer instead?”
We’d had this conversation many times and while Frankie was good, it would take a lot of time and effort to make him great. I was willing to coach him and put the time in, but since discovering football and girls Frankie wasn’t quite so willing, so Maisie and I had persuaded him swimming for fun would be much better for him. That didn’t mean he didn’t smash it in the school swimming galas, because he did, even beating kids in the two years above him, but that was about as competitive as Frankie’s swimming was going to get. Plus, Maisie didn’t like the idea of us both being up and out of the house at four every morning and after what happened to me she would never let anyone else coach him. Also, even after three years or more, she still had the odd panic about when Josh took Frankie. Thankfully though he wasn’t a problem for us any longer. After getting a six month prison sentence, of which he only served three, he moved back to his home town to live with his Dad. We’d heard he was working in a call centre selling solar panels, but it didn’t matter because he was of no significance to us, Maisie was just glad there was no chance of me bumping into him and getting myself into trouble.
“Hey, babe.”
And there she was, my beautiful wife, looking incredible despite only having three hours sleep the night before.
She came over to me and wrapped an arm around my waist, dropping a kiss to my bicep, her favourite spot for kisses.
“She gone down okay?” I asked, lifting my arm to pull her closer.
“Hmm, she fought it, but mummy won. Yay go me.” Maisie grinned and fist pumped.
Our nine month old, Dotty, was not a good sleeper and kept both of us on our toes. We tried to share the night feeds, but as I worked long days, Maisie insisted that I slept, but without her in bed next to me I couldn’t always settle anyway. It was weird, for a man who was adamant he wasn’t settling down and didn’t want a wife or a family, I was fucking lost if they weren’t close by. I was totally gone for all three of them to the point of being a pussy about it. I’d even added an amazing 3D pretty pink Princess crown with Dotty’s name in it, to the collection of tattoos on my chest. Yeah it looked girly, but I didn’t give a shit, I adored my baby girl.
“What are you doing, sweetheart?” Maisie asked Frankie.
He pointed at the sheet of paper. “Maths and Dad is no help.”
“Well don’t look at me,” Maisie sighed. “Maybe we should call Auntie Amy.”
I shook my head. “You try getting her out of the house without my brother putting a stop to all non-essential movement. He’s a real daddy bear at the moment.”
“Poor Amy.” Maisie giggled. “She’s got three weeks to go until she has the baby, he can’t keep her inside until then.”
Amy had almost lost the baby at three months, but after bed rest for a few weeks everything had been okay, and we’d soon have another strong and healthy Cooper boy to add to the mix. To say Elijah was excited and worried was an understatement and he was counting the hours until the safe arrival of Jacob Elijah Cooper.
“He can and he will,” I replied, remembering how protective I’d been when Maisie was pregnant with Dotty. I would never forget how I’d missed out on Frankie, through my own stupidity, so when we found out Maisie was pregnant, just two months after we got married, I was determined I wasn’t going to miss one minute and I was going to make sure Maisie knew how lucky I knew I was.
“Can we go there, to ask Auntie Amy?” Frankie asked. “Because you two really are rubbish.” He looked up at us and grimaced. “And please stop cuddling all the time.”
Maisie and I laughed and I reached out for my boy, pulling him into the hug with us, almost dragging him from his chair.
“Dad,” he groaned, but with a huge smile and a giggle.
“We’re having a Cooper hug,” I replied.
“Well we don’t have Dotty with us, so it’s not a proper one,” Frankie said, getting off his chair and wrapping his arms around both our waists.
“This is a special one for our first baby,” Maisie sighed, kissing the top of Frankie’s head.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and kissed her softly as she raised her gaze to me.
“Do you know how much I love you?” I asked.
“Ugh no,” Frankie howled, but not letting go of us. “It’s gross.”
“Yeah, I think I do.” Maisie snuggled closer. “I love you too.”
And then as if on cue, a loud, demanding cry rang out through the baby monitor as Dotty let us know she wanted in on the action.
“I’ll go,” I said, kissing Maisie again before doing the same to the top of Frankie’s head.
As I left the room to go and get my Princess, I turned to watch them for a few moments. They were my life and I loved them more than I could ever show and I was just glad I’d been given a second chance, because without them I was nothing.
The End
Mercy – Lewis Capaldi
Out on The Floor – Dobie Gray
Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) – Frank Wilson
Like I Did – JC Stewart
Beneath The Streelights and The Moon – JP Cooper
Silhouette – Tom Grennan
Heaven Must Have Sent You – The Elgins
Soul Time – Shirley Ellis
I’ve Been a Fool (Toy Guns) – Lotus
To The End (2012 Remaster) – Blur
Release Me – Agnes
What Hurts The Most (Radio Mix U.S.) – Cascada
Shadows (Inpetto edit) – Those Usual Suspects
I Found U (Radio Edit) – Axwell, Max C
Find It Here
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this part gets harder and harder, because the list of people I need to thank gets longer and longer. This time I’m going to do something different, this time I’m going to acknowledge two people who probably won’t ever see this, or even know that I write books.
I would like to thank Mr Jennison and Mr Pace, two teachers who encouraged me to write and express myself and who taught me that there’s nothing wrong with having an imagination.
Nikki’s Links
If you’d like to know more about me or my books then all my links are listed below.
Website
www.nikkiashtonbooks.co.uk
Instagram
www.instagram.com/nikkiashtonauthor
Facebook
www.facebook.com/nikki.ashton.982
Ashton’s Amorous Angels Facebook Group
www.facebook.com/groups/1039480929500429
Amazon
viewAuthor.at/NAPage
Book Links
Guess Who I Pulled Last Night
No Bra Required
Get Your Kit Off
Rock Stars Don’t Like Big Knickers
Rock Stars Don’t Like Ugly Bras
Rock Stars Do Like Christmas
Cheese Tarts and Fluffy Socks
I wanna get laid by Kade
Box of Hearts (Connor Ranch #1)
Angels Kisses (Connor Ranch #2)
Secret Wishes (Connor Ranch #3)
Do You Do Extras?
Pelvic Flaws
Elijah (Cooper Brothers #1)
Audio Books
Find Them Here