by Casey, Ryan
She’d beaten the odds.
And she was still here right now.
Another of her nine lives.
She reached Martin’s side. Looked up at him. Half-smiled. “Guess what?”
Martin frowned. “Go on.”
She waggled her feet.
“What?”
She groaned. “God. The trainers. Look!”
Martin squinted at the trainers. “I don’t understand—”
“Stan Smiths. Brand new Stan Smiths. To replace my old ones. You know. The ones that got knackered traipsing through the mud with you in that shitty wilderness.”
Martin smiled, then. “Good to hear you’ve got your priorities straight, kiddo.”
“Don’t call me kiddo.”
He walked over to her, kissed her head. “You’ll always be my kiddo.”
She tutted. As if she didn’t like it. Which deep down, Martin knew damn well she did.
He looked at Harriet, then, as Oscar and Bruce ran around with one another. Looked right into her eyes and smiled. And he still felt defensiveness when he looked at her. He still felt weakness. Resistance.
But he ignored that resistance.
And he leaned in and kissed her.
“Eww!” Oscar shouted.
“Oh, don’t be daft,” Harriet said. “Just you wait ’til you’re old enough to find a girlfriend of your own. You won’t be ewwing then!”
“I already have a girlfriend,” Oscar said.
“Oh yeah?” Harriet said. “Who’s that?”
Oscar ran over to Holly and wrapped his arms around her neck. “Holly!”
Holly laughed. Hugged Oscar. “Now, now,” she said. “Think I’m a little old for you.”
Martin laughed too. As did Harriet. And as he stood there, Harriet’s hand in his, he really felt happiness. A happiness he’d never felt in years.
Because this was still scary for him. This was still uncomfortable for him. Some days, living this way felt damned near impossible.
But this was a rollercoaster.
And he was riding it.
Because what was the point in life if he didn’t live it?
“I wonder what it’ll be like,” Harriet said.
Martin frowned. “What?”
“The future. This place. Ten years from now.”
Martin looked back at the town. He saw people walking the streets. Smelled meat cooking. It wasn’t perfect. It wouldn’t last forever.
But it was home.
It was well situated.
Good people lived here.
And they worked together. They’d keep on working together. All for the good of this place. For the good of society.
For the good of each other.
Because that’s what mattered more than anything in life. Martin saw it clearly now.
Connection.
A life spent fearing attachment was no life.
Nobody got out alive anyway.
Might as well make the most of it.
And there would be hurt. There would be pain. There would be days that made you question this entire project entirely.
But they’d get through.
Together, they’d get through.
“Especially with another kid on the way,” Harriet said.
Martin almost missed it. Hell, when he realised what Harriet was saying, he almost choked.
“What…”
A smile stretched across Harriet’s face.
Ella looked around. Covered her mouth. And even Oscar bounced around too, even though he didn’t know what was going on.
And Martin felt that fear.
That sharp jolt of momentary fear.
Run away. Get away from here. It’s dangerous. You can’t let yourself get attached. You can’t…
And then he let those thoughts drift off, and he wrapped his arms around Harriet.
“I’m going to be a dad again?” he said.
“You’re going to be a dad again,” Harriet said, laughing.
“Baby brother!” Oscar shouted, jumping around. “I’m getting a baby brother!”
They laughed. All of them laughed.
And as fearful as Martin felt, as terrified as he felt—as scared as he was about the logistics, about the birth, and about raising a child in this world—this was just another part of the journey.
And he was on it ’til the end.
He stood there with Harriet in his arms, with Ella and Oscar and Bruce laughing and playing by his side, and in the light of the late summer sun, he felt home.
Two thousand miles away, Gary Alexander looked out at the Spanish coastline, thought about his older brother, and smiled.
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The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any reference to real locations is only for atmospheric effect, and in no way truly represents those locations.
Copyright © 2020 by Ryan Casey
Cover design by MibLart
All rights reserved.
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Published by Higher Bank Books