by Clare Lydon
Jason and Heidi were soon lost in conversation, which left Heidi’s mum smiling at Eden. They’d shaken hands earlier, but beyond small talk, they’d kept their communication on need-to-happen basis. Now, there was nowhere to hide.
“Are you a cricket fan, Eden?”
She shook her head. “No. Me and sport don’t really mix. I played hockey at school, but only because they made me. I prefer running.”
“How are you coping with all the children around? Heidi tells me you don’t have a big family. This must be a shock.” As if backing up Heidi’s mum’s statement, Maya and two other similar-aged girls whizzed through the kitchen at speed. There were around eight small children and their parents at the party, along with Heidi’s family. Games had been played and cake had been cut. Now, all the kids were high on E numbers, and all the adults were draining the wine to cope with the volume levels.
“A toddler’s birthday party is certainly a new experience for me,” Eden replied. “Although, after a while, their behaviour is probably the same as most adults after a few drinks in a bar. Only they’ve got more energy.”
Heidi’s mum laughed, and Eden recognised Heidi’s smile in her face, along with Heidi’s eyes. Those same ones, still the colour of her gran’s afternoon sherry. Eden inhaled, just to make sure it was still there. It was. Maya Snr was still wearing her gran’s perfume, too. But this time, rather than freaking her out, it was comforting. Almost like her gran was still with her.
“And you and Heidi are getting on well I hear?” She didn’t stop for Eden to reply. “I’m pleased. I know Heidi thinks I only wanted her to have a partner so that Maya had a second parent. While that’s true, it’s a lot to put on one person. Plus, Heidi does a great job as a single parent.”
“No arguments there.”
“But I don’t want her to be a single parent, because having someone to share life with makes it that much better.” She eyed Eden directly, putting a hand on her arm. “All of that to say, I’m glad she’s met someone who makes her smile again. She always smiled, but now she glows. My eldest is very independent, always has been. She doesn’t need anyone else to be happy, but she deserves it.” She squeezed Eden’s arm. “Thanks for coming along and being that person.”
Eden shook her head. “I’m the lucky one with your daughter coming into my life. I’m going to do all I can to make her smile.”
Heidi’s mum beamed at her. “That’s all a mother can ask.”
Eden breathed in Heidi’s mum’s scent, and swallowed down. “My gran would have said exactly the same.”
Chapter 36
Heidi saw the last person out at just after 8pm, then walked back into the main room, sagging against the doorframe. Maya was conked out on the couch, letting out tiny snores. Heidi walked over to Eden and kissed her lips, pulling back to look into her eyes. She was still here, she’d survived, and that was the main thing.
She glanced out the window, grabbing a tea towel from the kitchen drawer. The weather had cleared up and the sun was now low in the sky. Heidi opened the patio doors and wiped down her metal table and chairs. Then she grabbed two cold beers from the fridge, popping their caps before raising an eyebrow at Eden. “Join me?”
“Love to.”
They sat down, enjoying the silence for a few moments. Heidi took a swig from the bottle, before snagging Eden’s gaze. “How was round one of the Hughes family?” She sat forward. “Or should I say, Hughes family plus toddler overload?”
Eden shrugged, batting a hand through the air. “Piece of cake. Go hard or go home, I say. Family? Tick. Toddlers everywhere screaming at the tops of their lungs? That could take some getting used to.”
Heidi laughed. “If it helps, I think all the parents would say the same thing, too.”
“Kate and Meg were lovely. As were Cleo and Becca. I approve of all your friends. That’s a good start, right?”
Heidi nodded. “Excellent. Kate and Meg have been one of the best things to happen because of Maya. And they’ve got a fabulous group of friends, too. Becca knows them through her sister. It’s the usual thing: six degrees of separation in the lesbian world.”
“Some things never change.” Eden drank some beer, glancing around Heidi’s garden. “And your mum was sweet, too. Told me she was pleased I’d come into your life and made you smile again.”
Heidi put a hand to her mouth. “Parents never stop being embarrassing, do they?” But then she winced. Was Eden embarrassed by her mum? Or just ashamed? “Sorry, that was insensitive.”
Eden shook her head. “Never think that. Just because my mum is a waste of space, don’t ever think you can’t talk about yours. Because she’s really lovely.” She pointed to the flowerbeds on either side of Heidi’s paved back garden. “Talking of lovely, this garden reminds me of my gran’s. Paving, decking, and carefully tended flowers either side.”
Heidi smiled. “This was all planted when I moved here, so I can’t take the credit. But my mum is a keen gardener, and as I get older, I find I’m turning into her. I’m glad you liked her, because that’s my future.” She hoped she wouldn’t scare Eden, talking like that.
But when she looked back up, Eden was smiling. “Good that I have a gauge. You don’t have that, so my future is a mystery.”
“You’re a mystery I’m happy to unravel and solve at my leisure.” Heidi got up, wrapped an arm around Eden’s neck and sat in her lap. Their closeness made her smile right away. She kissed Eden’s lips, losing herself in the moment. When she pulled back, Heidi stared into Eden’s blue eyes till she was lost at sea.
“Are you sure I’m not too much?”
Heidi shook her head, holding Eden’s gaze. “You’re perfect. I’ve got everything I could possibly want right here. Maya, my family, you.” She pressed her lips to Eden’s. “It’s enough.” She kissed her again. “You’re enough. I don’t know if I’ve said, but I love kissing you.”
Eden’s eyes grew darker. “I love kissing you, too.” She paused, before kissing her again. This time, it left Heidi shipwrecked. But somehow, she knew Eden would save her. She already had.
“I even enjoyed chatting with your mum today. Even smelling her perfume. It was comforting more than freaky today, which was good.”
“That’s amazing.”
Eden nodded. “It is. My gran was my world, and I miss her every day. But maybe meeting you and your family has helped me turn a corner in my grief, too. I wasn’t aware I needed to, but apparently I did.” She glanced up. “Your eyes remind me of my gran. Did I tell you that?”
Heidi’s heart boomed as she shook her head. “You didn’t, but I’m honoured.”
“It’s fitting, too. She was the only good thing in my life for so long. My rock. Now, you’re here.” She buried her head in Heidi’s waist. “I hope that doesn’t scare you.”
Heidi squeezed her shoulder. “Sweetheart, we’re way beyond that. I’m in this for the long haul. I hope you are, too?”
Eden met her stare. “One hundred per cent,” she replied. “You know what else I realised today?”
Heidi shook her head. “Tell me.”
“That you’re a brilliant single mum. That some mums can be enough. That’s a change for me, too. I met your friend Denise and she was brilliant with her son, too. I guess it’s all about the people involved, not about the amount of people involved. You can have two great parents, or two shit parents. Or one brilliant one, just like Maya’s got.”
Heidi beamed. She hadn’t expected today to work its magic that quickly, but she was beyond happy it had. “You’re saying that even after all the children.”
Eden laughed. “Even then.” She cleared her throat. “Your life is unpredictable, but it’s full. Your family drive you mad, but they’re also there for you. You’ve never doubted that, have you?”
Heidi replied in a heartbeat. “Not for one single second of my life.”
Eden was quiet for a moment. “Always remember what a gift that is. After my upbringing, and after gran died
, I thought the easiest thing was to push everyone away. Be self-sufficient. Throw myself into work. If you don’t open yourself up, you can’t get hurt. But I get it now. I get why you might want to have a child. In your case, to spread the love. To carry on your great family tradition of support. Because what a gift that is.”
Heidi kissed her cheek. “Whatever you suffered in the past, I can’t change that. But I want you to be part of our family now. Me, you and Maya. And that means you’re part of the extended Hughes clan, too. You think you’re ready for that?”
Eden took a deep breath, raising her crystal-blue gaze to Heidi. “Let’s give it a go, shall we?”
Chapter 37
Eden couldn’t quite believe what she was reading. The Daily Mail — or The Daily Fail, as she called it — had done a double-page spread on their ‘deviant’ Chocolate Delight ad. Apparently, the brand, having wooed the public with its brilliant competition, was now revealed to be in on the LGBT agenda to turn the public into a mass of sexual deviants. All via the power of chocolate spread. Even Eden was impressed with their warped logic.
Johan couldn’t stop laughing. “What the fuck do they think this is going to do? We couldn’t have engineered this any better, could we? Two pages in the biggest national newspaper in the land, and one that’s read all over the world.” He paused, glancing at Eden. “It’s online, too, right?”
She nodded. It was one of the first things she’d checked this morning. “Uh-huh. The whole country is now waking up to the fact that lesbians and their children love chocolate spread, and lesbians are going to rule the world. Or something.”
“This literally couldn’t have gone any better. They took the bait and they hung themselves. I absolutely love it.” Johan shook his head, putting the paper down. “Have you heard from India?”
“I have.” Eden had received a message earlier, telling her sales had gone through the roof because of the ad, and this coverage could only make things better. “I wondered if she’d be worried about family groups boycotting, but she said she doesn’t give a rat’s arse. Actual quote. She only wants morally upstanding people enjoying her spread, and she doesn’t class homophobes or haters under that heading. As she told me in her email, ‘other brands of chocolate spread are available’.”
“Ha! Go India!” Johan kicked the case of Chocolate Delight at his feet. “You know we’ve got a glut of food brands lining up for us to do similar with their products, now.”
Caroline had told them both this morning that their achievement had opened other avenues for the firm, ones she was pretty pleased with.
“I know. I’m hoping for something I really love to eat or drink this time. Something like a champagne brand.”
That tickled Johan’s taste buds. “Laurent Perrier would be good. Even Lanson. I’m not fussy about champagne if it’s free.”
“What would you say if Blossom Hill came calling?”
Johan screwed up his face. “I’ve got standards.”
“We could make it cool.”
“I’m always up for a challenge.” He smiled. “But the success of this is down to you. Bringing in the family angle, having the guts to make it gay. Who knows what else might happen now you’re almost a parent.”
It’d been three weeks since Maya’s birthday, and she was slowly getting used to Eden, and vice versa. “I’ve got a long way to go before I’m a parent, but I’ve got a window on family life now, that’s for sure. So much so, I might be taking some time off.”
Johan clutched his chest. “You’re having a baby?” She could hear the smile in his voice.
“Or Heidi and I have talked about taking a holiday.”
“You’re taking holiday. You, who never takes holiday?”
“Heidi’s the same. She works for herself, plus going away solo with a kid is hard. Seeing each other even when we both live in the same city is hard. So we’ve decided, maybe a holiday is in order. I told Caroline, and she almost fell off her chair.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“But she agreed. It won’t be till late September when Heidi’s bookings have died down a little, but we’ve made a plan. I’m finally going to be taking some of my holiday, rather than taking it in financial terms.”
“When am I going to get to meet the amazing Heidi, who has so turned your life around in a matter of a few short months?”
“We’re going out tomorrow if you want to come. Gay karaoke. Can you handle it?”
Johan’s mouth dropped open. “Gay karaoke is the best. I do a mean George Michael.”
Eden looked at him. “This is news.”
“Only because you never listen to what I tell you about my weekends.” He paused. “Tomorrow night? I think we’re free. I’ll bring Cameron. It’ll be epic. What’s your song?”
Eden shook her head. “I don’t have a song. My contribution is to clap all you brave souls.”
Johan raised a single eyebrow. “We’ll see about that.”
Chapter 38
“Now then, I want you to make a good impression. This woman’s very important to me, okay? So try not to shed so much hair that she’s a streaming mess, okay? Plus, I’d like to get laid tonight and not have to decamp to hers. You think you could manage that?”
Dusty yawned in response.
Behind her, Lib laughed. “She doesn’t know what you’re saying, you know that, right?”
Eden scoffed. “Of course she does, she’s a super-intelligent cat. Everyone who meets her says so, don’t they, Dusty?” She tickled the kitten’s stomach. “What time are you going out?”
Lib sat down on the couch opposite, rolling her eyes. “Subtlety has never been your strong suit, you know that?” She tapped her Fitbit. “In about half an hour. I’ll stay to watch Heidi crack under the cat pressure, then I’ll leave. Although she lasted longer last time, didn’t she?”
This was Heidi’s third evening of Dusty exposure since they’d begun seeing each other, and Eden was hoping it wouldn’t be a total wipeout. They’d both agreed they were going to ride this time out. Plus, Maya was coming, too, which meant leaving wasn’t an option. Heidi had told her that once Maya saw the cat, they wouldn’t be going anywhere. Then, it was just a case of whether or not Dusty could cope with Maya.
“Have you heard from the hospice?” Eden glanced up at her friend, knowing she hadn’t had it easy the past few months. Her mum had now reached a stage in her illness where the nurses had advised hospice care, and Lib was finally listening. She’d been trying to be a hero, but she’d finally seen sense. Still, Eden knew it hadn’t been an easy task. They’d shared a bottle of wine talking about it last night, and Lib was going to a friend’s birthday today. A night out had never been a more welcome distraction.
Lib nodded. “Yeah, and she’s doing okay. They’re being very good. They’ve got an app I can check, and they update her progress every couple of hours. That’s amazing, isn’t it?”
“It is. But tonight, promise me you’ll have fun. There were enough tears last night.”
Lib gave her a sad smile. “I’m trying, it’s just not easy. I feel guilty going out when Mum only has so long to live.”
Eden put Dusty on the couch next to her and sat forward. “You’ve sat with her for months. You’ve paused your job. You’re allowed a night out.”
“I know. It’s just hard to remember that sometimes.”
Eden got that. Losing your mum at any time was a hard lesson in life. She’d learned it early. Lib was just coming to terms with it now. “If you’re feeling up to it tomorrow, we’re going trampolining. Heidi has the day off, and Maya loves it. I’ve even started to love it again, and you said you’d like to come.”
Lib nodded. “I would. You can teach me all your moves. So long as I’m not too hungover, it’s a date.” She paused. “And don’t forget we still need to book our weekend away. I know you’re going away with Heidi, but it doesn’t mean you get out of your 40th birthday trip with your friends.”
“I know. And
I’m happy to go wherever you want. Let’s book it this weekend. I’ve heard Lithuania is nice this time of year. Apparently the wine is less than a quid a bottle, someone wise told me.”
A knock on the door interrupted their chat. Eden grinned, then jumped up to let Heidi and Maya in. It was still weird to think she was now a part of this little girl’s life, but she was adjusting at an alarming rate. What she’d found out in the past month was that children were just small people. If you wanted to find out about them, all you had to do was chat to them. Nobody had ever done that to Eden when she was little, so maybe that’s why it was a revelation when Heidi had told her.
When she opened the door, she made sure to kiss Heidi hello — that part was easy — but also to drop down and greet Maya. In return, she got a broad grin and a pair of tiny arms around her neck. Emotion swelled inside Eden as she untangled herself. She glanced up at Heidi, whose sure gaze was watching her.
“You’re getting good, you know. Before you know it, you’ll be reading child-rearing books.”
Eden stood up and kissed her again. “I feel like I need to.”
Heidi shook her head. “I think you’re doing just fine learning on the job. Although tonight might be a steep learning curve. Especially when she sees the cat.”
On hearing the ‘c’ word, Maya jumped in the air. “Cat!”
“You think your mummy’s as excited to see the cat?” Eden gave Heidi a wry smile.
“Mummy can’t wait,” Heidi replied, taking Maya’s hand.
“I’ve got a gaming coffee table too, Maya. You want to play on that?”
“Cat!” came Maya’s reply.
“I guess that’s a no.” Heidi took a deep breath. “Come on then, let’s go and meet Dusty. You’ve overcome your allergy. It’s time for me to overcome mine.”
Epilogue
The following February