‘Did you, darling?’ Raina smiled at her. ‘Go with Gabriel, then, and you might be able to say hello to it.’
‘What’s its name?’
‘I don’t know. You’d better ask Gabriel.’ Raina shot him a smile.
‘Um... I don’t know either. You have to ask it. I believe that it’s only allowed to tell you if you’re four years old.’
‘I’m four!’ Anya was dancing on the spot, pulling at Gabriel’s hand as he led her back out of the tent.
It was all so beautiful. Twinkling lights, games for the children. There were even little tubs of glitter jelly on the table. Raina sipped her wine, feeling a tear prick at the side of her eye. The one thing that would make it all beyond perfect was sharing it with... She turned as she heard the door to the tent swing open behind her.
Alistair! Raina blinked, wondering if this really was a magic castle and just thinking about him had conjured him up. But he seemed real enough, walking towards her with that awkward smile on his face that she loved so very much.
Now wasn’t the time to run into his arms. It wasn’t the time to punch him for having hurt her so much either. Raina stared at him only half-aware that the glass had slipped from her hand and fallen onto the grass.
‘Does Anya like the tent?’
Something about the way he looked around gave Raina an inkling that he might have had a hand in all this. ‘Did you do this, Alistair?’
‘Um...yes. I did.’ Suddenly he puffed out a breath. ‘I wanted to do something for Anya so I took the liberty of asking Gabriel for his help...’
She’d get to Gabriel later. He and Clara had clearly been in on a subterfuge and she’d let them know that she knew. But remembering the delight on Anya’s face when she’d seen the tent, she couldn’t find it in her heart to blame them for it.
But she had questions. Important ones.
‘You did all of it?’
‘Not quite. Clara iced the cake, because I made a complete mess of it.’ He pointed to the cake, which had pink sparkly frosting and an icing-sugar castle on it. ‘She came with me to check the unicorn out as well.’
‘Wait... Alistair, are you telling me you made a cake?’ That would be a first. ‘I thought you were at a conference in Scotland this week.’
He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. ‘We sent someone else, and I took the week off. And, yes, unlikely as it might seem, I made a cake.’
It was make or break time. Raina could either send him away now or she could ask.
Asking probably wouldn’t do any good. It would only break her heart again. But if there was a one in a million chance, Raina knew that she had no option but to take it. Before she had a chance to think about it any more, she found herself walking towards him.
‘Why did you do all this, Alistair?’
‘You told me that I could be whoever I wanted to be. That it was my choice, and I had to own it.’ He grinned suddenly. ‘This is who I want to be.’
Raina felt herself begin to tremble. ‘Couldn’t you just have said so?’
He shook his head. ‘No, I don’t think that would have been enough. I had to prove that I could do it. To myself and then to you.’
A lump formed in her throat. Raina was so used to thinking of Alistair as everything she wanted and couldn’t have. But if he could change, then she could too.
‘It’s beautiful, Alistair. And doing it all yourself...’ Tears formed in her eyes. ‘No one could have done any better than this. If you ever had to prove yourself to me, you’ve done it.’
* * *
He had proved himself. A week of hard work wasn’t all that unusual, but getting to grips with what would delight a four-year-old had been more puzzling. Clara had finally brushed away his questions, reminding him that he’d been a child once, and telling him to just get in contact with that much-neglected part of his psyche.
It had hurt, a lot more than he’d expected. Making the cake had been simpler than he’d thought, just a matter of buying the ingredients and following the recipe carefully. But he’d sat in the kitchen, inspecting its progress through the glass door of the oven, and tears had rolled down his face. His father would never have considered that the cost of time, instead of money, was a reasonable bargain.
‘It’s been an interesting week. And, yes, I did prove it to myself.’ He’d left a part of himself behind as well. The part that was bound by his own childhood. And as he’d turned away from that, he’d seen a future that was lit by all the possibilities he’d thought were lost to him.
‘Thank you, Alistair. It’s perfect.’
‘There’s something else, Raina.’
‘Yes, I’ve heard all about the unicorn...’
‘No, not the unicorn. I love you and I know you love me.’
She flushed suddenly, staring at him. For a moment Alistair wondered if he’d been wrong and had built a castle out of sand, but something in her eyes told him that he was right.
‘Raina, you told Gabriel that you hated me. I know you, you don’t hate anyone. You’d only say that if someone you loved hurt you. And I know that I did hurt you, very badly.’
‘Yes...you did.’
‘I’m sorry for that, Raina. And I know I’ll have to work to win you back, but I love you. I’ve always loved you, and that’s never going to change.’
Tears welled in her eyes, and Alistair saw all the pain. And all the love. Suddenly Raina threw her arms around his neck.
‘Alistair, I love you too. I’ll always want you, through the good times and the bad...’
‘You...do?’ Loving him was all he’d dared hope for. He’d thought that it would take time before Raina could allow herself to rely on him again.
‘Yes, I do. We can deal with whatever life throws at us together.’
He was helpless now. Bound by magic, silken ropes that were worthy of any self-respecting magic castle. Alistair kissed her cheek, gently disentangling himself from her embrace. There was one more thing that he had to do.
Falling to one knee, he reached for her hands, holding them in his.
‘Marry me, Raina. This is the second time I’ve asked and this time it’s for keeps. I won’t let anything break us apart.’
* * *
Raina felt a tear roll down her cheek. This sudden realisation of all the dreams she’d tried to deny had brought her to a stumbling point. ‘I want to say yes more than anything, Alistair. But it would be selfish of me. You want a family, and I might not be able to give you—’
He reached up, laying his finger against her lips. ‘You and Anya are the only family I need. We’ll have enough love to meet anything that the future holds.’
‘But—’
‘Trust me, Raina.’
She did trust him. And she loved him. Raina fell to her knees, kissing him.
‘Yes, Alistair. Yes...’
She felt his chest heave, as if he’d been holding his breath. Then he took hold of her hand. ‘I have a ring.’ He said the words almost shyly.
‘A ring? You mean you had this all planned?’
‘I planned the party. Everything else was a hope that I was determined to make into a reality one day.’ He raised her hand to his lips, kissing her finger and then slipping the ring onto it. Three stones flashed brightly in the sunlight.
‘The two diamonds on either side are from your old engagement ring.’
Raina felt her breath catch. ‘You kept it?’
‘I never stopped loving you, Raina. Even when I didn’t know it. This one is new...’ He brushed his thumb against larger stone in the centre. ‘That’s for the future. Because I never will stop loving you.’
‘It’s lovely, Alistair. And I love the thought behind it even more.’ She felt tears in her eyes again, and when he brushed them away with his finger, she knew that this was how it was going to be f
rom now on. Alistair would be there for her, always. He got to his feet, lifting her with him, and then wound his arms around her.
She could hear the sound of Anya’s excited chatter outside, and reckoned that the unicorn had made it round to the garden. But she still had time to kiss Alistair again.
‘Our own magic castle. I love you so much, Alistair.’
* * *
The afternoon passed in a daze of happiness. Raina had shown Clara her ring, and she’d screamed and flung her arms around her. The guests started to arrive and Gabriel turned his attention to organising the unicorn rides. Alistair had momentarily left Raina’s side to watch as Anya opened her presents.
Raina could see the tension on his face as Anya opened the package that he’d brought for her, but Anya knew what it was straight away. The pink, sparkly princess arm that she’d said she wanted. Alistair was all smiles as he helped Anya take off the flesh-coloured prosthetic and put the new one on.
‘Can you do that?’ Sam Ross had been unable to take up a place in the pilot project because he was recovering from an operation, but he was a regular visitor at The Watchlight Trust’s offices, and due to take a place with the next group. When he’d seen Anya’s new arm, he’d dragged his mother over to where Raina was standing.
‘Yes, we can do it.’ Raina bent down to the child. ‘Sam, what are you thinking? Would you like a superhero arm?’
‘Yes, please.’ Sam’s reluctance to accept a prosthetic seemed to have been quashed.
‘A superhero arm...?’ Alistair had joined her again, his eyes still following Anya as she showed everyone her new arm, flexing the fingers to show them how it worked. ‘That’s a great idea.’
‘Are you sure?’ Sam’s mother enquired.
‘Ben’s going to love that particular challenge.’ Alistair smiled, putting his arm around Raina’s shoulder. ‘The design and the micro-electronics are the same, it’s just a different outer shell. Something the other kids can’t do, eh, Sam? Be a superhero...’
Another little piece of love that had been spread this afternoon. If they weren’t careful the tent was going to explode from the pressure of all the moments of magic that it contained.
* * *
At six o’clock the goodie bags were distributed, and the tent began to empty out. Clara and Gabriel found something in the house to catch Anya’s attention, and Alistair and Raina were finally alone again.
‘Clara and Gabriel have ordered us out of their garden.’ Alistair folded her in his arms and kissed her. ‘Clara says I can come back tomorrow to help clear up. But not until the afternoon.’
‘Mmm. That’s nice of them. What shall we do with ourselves until tomorrow afternoon?’
Alistair smiled. ‘I’d like to go home, and spend the evening with my family.’
‘That sounds nice. What then?’
He chuckled. ‘I want to spend the first night of the rest of my life with my beautiful fiancée. Soon to be wife...’
He wanted all the same things that she did. And together they could make them a reality.
‘That sounds perfect, Alistair.’
EPILOGUE
Exactly two years later
ALISTAIR HELPED HER out of the car, and Raina walked up the front path. Alistair followed, the same dopey grin on his face that he’d worn for the last thirty-six hours. He’d carried Raina over the threshold eighteen months ago after their wedding, and now he was about to do with same with their newborn son.
They’d explored all their options. It had taken a little medical intervention before Raina had been able to fall pregnant, but Alistair had taken much of the stress out of the process by telling her every day that he loved her and that he already had everything he wanted.
She put the key into the lock, twisting it and then pushing the front door open. Alistair took hold of her hand, and they stepped into the hallway together.
‘Welcome home, Alexander James Duvall.’ Alistair took Alex from the baby carrier carefully, smiling down at him.
‘Where is everyone?’ Raina looked around. The house was suspiciously quiet.
‘Come and sit down.’ Clara appeared from the kitchen, taking Raina by the arm and leading her into the sitting room. ‘Gabriel took the kids out into the garden. Anya was determined not to open any of her birthday presents until you were here...’
‘Wow! It looks so nice in here. Are you sure that’s enough balloons?’ Two huge bundles of balloons were clustered on each side of the bay window, reaching from the floor to the ceiling.
‘We reckoned that the pink ones would be for Anya and the blue for Alex.’ Clara looked round as a muffled bang sounded from the garden. ‘And the twins have found out that if you sit on a balloon it pops.’
Raina chuckled. Clara and Gabriel’s eighteen-month-old twins were into all kinds of mischief, often egged on by their father. ‘And who showed them how to do that?’
‘Well, Anya’s far too grown up for that kind of thing...’ Clara chuckled. ‘I’ll go and tell them you’re back.’
Alistair waited until Raina had made herself comfortable on the sofa and then delivered their sleeping boy into her arms. Sitting down next to her, he curled his own arms around them both.
‘This is...’ His expression was that of a man at the mercy of joy.
‘Fleeting, I imagine.’ Raina grinned at him.
‘One moment is all I need.’ He put his arms around her and kissed her.
They were interrupted as Anya tumbled into the room, followed by Gabriel, who had a twin under each arm. He sat them down on the floor and they both clambered to their feet, walking unsteadily towards the balloons. They’d clearly learned that a pincer movement meant that their father couldn’t grab both of them at the same time, and as Gabriel picked Sofia up Pietro managed to reach the balloons, tugging at them.
‘It’s your own fault, Gabriel.’ Clara entered with the cake. ‘They weren’t interested in the balloons until you started popping them.’
Gabriel chuckled. ‘If they weren’t so much like their mother, I’d find it easier to keep up with them.’ He reached Pietro before he managed to pull the column of balloons down, swinging him up above his head, and the little dark-haired boy whooped with laughter.
Alex was still blissfully asleep in Raina’s arms. Maybe he was dreaming of the warmth and the love that surrounded him. Alistair went to the kitchen, returning with a bottle of champagne and one of sparkling apple juice.
‘Daddy iced my cake all by himself.’ Anya wriggled up onto the sofa, and Raina put her arm around her daughter. It was a tradition now that Alistair make Anya’s birthday cakes, and his icing skills were improving. This one had a dinosaur theme, with small models of dinosaurs ranging over an iced prehistoric landscape.
‘I’m particularly proud of the triceratops.’ Alistair twisted the cork in the champagne bottle, and the pop attracted the twins’ attention. ‘Presents first, or cake, Anya?’
‘Presents!’ Anya slid down from her seat, running to the fireplace and carefully sorting through the wrapped packages, deciding which to open first.
‘Right, then. Presents and champagne.’ Alistair passed the bottle to Gabriel, who started to fill the glasses that were laid out on the table next to the cake and reached for the bottle of apple juice. ‘Special champagne for you, Anya, as it’s your birthday. Raina?’
‘I’ll have a few sips of the real stuff.’ It would probably go straight to her head, but nothing could be as intoxicating as this.
‘Right.’ Alistair put a glass in her hand and raised his. ‘A toast...’
* * *
They’d toasted the baby then Anya and then each other. Anya had opened her presents and they’d eaten cake. It had been a perfect afternoon.
Clara had taken little Alex, cooing over him and wondering aloud whether Gabriel missed that gorgeous baby smell as much as she
did. Raina had seen the smile that flashed between them, and reckoned it wouldn’t be very long before Clara was pregnant again. Alistair had suggested that Raina might like to lie down, and she suddenly felt very tired.
* * *
When she came back downstairs, the house was quiet. She could hear Alistair reading a story in the sitting room, and when she walked quietly through, she saw him. Anya was on his lap, and he held Alex carefully in front of her so she could put her arms around her new baby brother.
The book was propped open in front of them, and it didn’t matter that he couldn’t turn the pages. He’d read this story to Anya so often that he knew the words, and if he went wrong Anya was just as familiar with it and would correct him. The sound of his voice seemed already to have lulled Alex to sleep.
Raina crept into the room, sitting down quietly. He smiled up at her, and she nodded him on with the story. This moment was far too precious to interrupt.
Finally Anya’s head started to droop against his chest. A moment later she was fast asleep, worn out by the excitement of the day. Alistair smiled, gesturing for Raina to take Alex while he carried Anya up to her bed. By the time he returned, Alex was settled into his Moses basket.
‘So...’ Alistair looked around the room. ‘They’re both asleep. What do we do now?’
‘First you need to come over here. Then you can kiss me.’
‘Ah, yes. Of course, I knew there was something, I’d forgotten.’
‘Don’t you dare ever forget that.’ She felt his arms around her, and snuggled against him, knowing that whatever happened Alistair would always be there for her.
His chest heaved as a sigh of contentment escaped his lips. ‘You know, I could really get used to this. I’m looking forward to the next six weeks. Just the four of us...’
‘There might be times when you wish you could just put on a suit and go into the office. For a bit of peace and quiet...’ Today had been a great day, but Raina was under no illusion that every day was going to be like this.
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