“Are you complaining, Mr. Thomas?” Ally giggled.
“Oh hell no, Ms. Brody,” he laughed back. “In fact, I think I may have to keep you barefoot and pregnant. How does twelve kids sound?”
“Oh dear lord,” Ally chuckled out loud. “Let me get through this one before you plan the next one.”
“Hmm,” he said with the worst fake pout ever. “Fine.”
Ally burst out laughing, leaned down and kissed his lips.
“Maybe one more,” she smiled against his mouth.
“Good,” Cole replied with a nod. “Because we can’t have Little Bean here being the only one, now can we.”
“No, I guess we can’t,” Ally smiled back but her smile faded when she saw the look in Cole’s eyes. She knew immediately he was thinking of Ben. “Cole, please call Steph. I know you miss him. Maybe if you knew he was okay.”
“I can’t Ally,” Cole replied sadly. “I promised myself I was walking away and I have to. Maybe I shouldn’t have given her money. Maybe if I hadn’t she would have given Ben to someone who really wanted him. What if I have made his life worse?”
“Cole you did what you thought was right,” Ally said, taking his face in her hands. “She was selling her child, which was wrong, giving her that money meant he stayed with his mom, instead of being given to the highest bidder. At least with him staying with her, you can keep an eye on him.”
“Ally, sweetheart,” Cole said looking her straight in the eyes. “I love how you feel about him. Any other woman would have been glad to have him out of their life. I mean who would want the complication of a child with someone else. And you should know that better than anyone, but you only see the child. And believe me I love that about you, but I need to let him go. I can’t do it anymore.”
“I understand,” Ally said sadly. In her heart she knew he was right. That holding on was just hurting him more. But deep inside her she knew that little boy would always be part of him and she just loved him all the more for that.
“Besides,” he added with a broad smile. “I have you and Little Bean to worry about, and the eleven other kids we have to work on making. In fact I think we should start practising again.”
Without saying another word he sealed her mouth with his and rolled her over once more pinning her to the bed.
********************************
Ally lay in the darkness of the bedroom her head pressed against Cole’s bare chest. She listened to him breathe softly and to the soft drumming of his heart.
Her thoughts were filled with Ben. She knew despite what Cole had said, he was really worried about Ben. And so was she. After news broke about Ben not being Cole’s, the press had hounded them. But Cole had refused to make a statement. Steph on the other hand had no such problem and had spilled her guts to them.
She became somewhat of a celebrity, but for all the wrong reasons. She was regularly photographed falling out of one night club or another and usually with a different man every time. The newspaper headlines would say “Thomas lucky escape”. Cole would always just sigh and say they all seemed to have forgotten about the baby.
She wondered if he would ever truly get over what happened with Ben.
She thought of their Little Bean. She knew her baby was already so loved and wanted. Something she had never really felt and it made her sad that somewhere out there, there was a little boy no one really wanted too.
Cole moved slightly and then suddenly let out a sad, pity cry that pulled at Ally’s heart.
She pressed her hand against his face and whispered softly. “Cole, it’s okay, I’m here. You’re just dreaming.”
Cole’s eyes snapped open and fear was staring out of them back at her. Without saying a word he wrapped her in his arms and held her tightly.
“Cole, you are scaring me,” Ally said as she pressed her lips to his bare shoulder and breathed in his glorious smell. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh God,” he said when he finally loosened his hold on her. “I dreamt I lost you. You were calling me and calling me, but I couldn’t get to you and then you were gone.”
“I am right here,” Ally replied taking his face in her hands and kissing him softly.
“Oh Christ, I don’t know what I would do if I lost you,” Cole whispered as he pressed his head against her. “If anything happened to you or the baby, I don’t know how I could go on. You two are my world.”
“We are fine and we are going nowhere,” Ally reassured him. “I promise you that. We are here for good.”
She kissed him one more time before she snuggle back into his chest. She could hear his rapidly beating heart begin to slow as his breathing grew shallow and deeper.
She lay there listening to him breathe and thinking about how she could help the man she loved.
He was worried, that much was clear. But she knew he was trying hard to let go of Ben and she knew pushing him would not help him. She needed to let him go too.
She closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep still in Cole’s arms.
Chapter 4
Ally stood in the walk in wardrobe, stared at her reflection in the full length mirror and sighed. She looked at her body from head to toe, taking in every inch and she was not happy. Her boobs were bigger and even though she didn’t have a bump yet, her body was definitely changing. Her soft woollen black dress wasn’t sitting quite how it used to. She felt awkward and uncomfortable.
“Uh oh,” Cole said as he walked into the wardrobe behind Ally and slipped his arms around her waist. “What’s the face for?”
“I look terrible,” she pouted and Cole laughed out loud. “Don’t laugh. I mean it. Just look at my boobs for starters.”
“Okay, lets,” he grinned, slipping his hands up and cupping them. “I think they are pretty amazing.”
“Cole, be serious,” Ally pushed his hands away but to her annoyance she couldn’t help but laugh. “I can’t go out tonight. I look terrible no matter what I wear.”
Cole turned Ally around in his arms so that she was facing him and smiled down at her in amusement.
“You, my gorgeous girl,” he began and kissed her on the forehead. “You are simply breathtaking.”
“No I’m not,” Ally sulked and Cole laughed again.
“Yes you are,” Cole grinned. “You are perfect. I think you look beautiful in that dress and I think being pregnant really suits you.”
She looked up into his face and she knew he meant every word of what he had just said. She smiled and leaned up on her tippy toes and kissed him softly.
“Thank you,” she said against his mouth. She stepped back out of his embrace, looked down at him and smiled again.
“You don’t look too shabby either,” she grinned. He was wearing his usual black suit and shirt and looked as drop dead gorgeous as ever.
They were both heading out for the night. Ally with the girls for her hen’s party and Cole with the guys for his bachelor’s party. Both insisted they wanted a small low key affair much to the disappointment of everyone else.
Caitlin was really not impressed and had pushed Ally to do something a little more fun than a quiet drink in Cooper’s, but Ally pointed out that she was in fact twelve weeks pregnant and she couldn’t even have a drink. Caitlin sulked but she reluctantly agreed.
“Thank you Ms. Brody,” Cole laughed pulling her back into his embrace. “I am glad you approve. And if I am really lucky, tonight I will get to climb into bed with the hottest girl in Dublin.”
“Just Dublin?” Ally giggled.
“Oh hell no,” he replied pulling her tighter to him and she could feel his arousal against her. “You need me to show you just how hot I think you are right now?”
He claimed her lips with his and he kissed her deeply pressing her harder against him.
“Behave,” Ally said breathlessly as she pulled her mouth from his. “Caitlin and Hannah will be here shortly and so will the guys.”
As if on cue, the door bell sounded.
&
nbsp; “See,” Ally smiled as she kissed Cole before taking him by the hand and leading him from the wardrobe, stopping to grab her bag from the bed, before they headed out the door.
“Here they are!” Sid exclaimed from the bottom of the stairs, where he stood with the rest of the group and a smiling Rosie, who had just let them in the door. “It’s time to get the party started. We have strippers to see.”
Hannah gave Sid a playful slap on the arm.
“Don’t even think about it,” she said pinning him with a look that said, “don’t go there”.
“Oh and you girls don’t have some half naked guy lined up for Ally?” Nathan asked with a loud laugh.
“They better not,” Ally replied deadly serious. She shot a look at Cole and he didn’t look happy. “I don’t want some grubby asshole touching me. They know how I feel about this. So it will never happen.”
A look of relief washed over Cole’s face as he smiled at Ally. But Caitlin and Hannah groaned in unison.
“We know,” Caitlin grumbled. “You are no fun.”
“Well the lads are always out for fun,” Nathan chirped happily but the smile on his face dropped when he saw Cole’s face.
“Nathan I told you, a quiet night,” Cole said dead straight. “I warned you, none of your crazy stunts. I meant it.”
“Fine! Fine!” Nathan said and pulled out his phone from his pocket and headed for the living room. “I gotta make a call.”
The rest of the group burst out laughing and followed Nathan, except for Cole who reached out to Ally and, taking her by the hand pulled her closer to him.
“I will not be home late,” Cole told her in a quiet voice. “So if you need me at all, call me.”
“I’ll be fine,” she reassured him and kissed him. “I will be with the girls, and my two aunts will be there, so will Gus’s three girls and Emma from the garage. So I will be okay.”
“I still wish you would let Nick go with you,” Cole pushed.
“Nick is your friend,” Ally laughed quietly. “He should be with you tonight. I will be fine with Liam dropping and collecting me. I won’t be home late either. Please, try and relax and enjoy yourself.”
“I love you,” Cole said slipping his arms around her and drawing her closer to him. “You know that, right?”
“Oh for the love of God!” Caitlin exclaimed when she walked out of the living room into the hallway. “Get a bloody room.”
“I had one,” Cole laughed with a playing pout. “But you guys arrived and ruined the moment.”
“Too much information dude,” Caitlin replied and stuck out her tongue before she turned to Ally. “Right woman, are you ready to go?”
“Ready as I will ever be.” Ally sighed looking back at Cole and smiling at him.
Ally grabbed her coat and her bag, kissed Cole once more and headed for the door. Liam was out in the garden waiting next to the brand new Range Rover Cole had insisted on buying for Nick to drive Ally around in.
Ally hadn’t been happy about giving up her own car but after several arguments she finally agreed with Cole, that, until things settled down, she was safer having Nick accompany her where ever she had to go.
When the girls reached the car, Liam smiled brightly at Ally as he opened the back door for her.
“Good evening Liam,” Ally chirped brightly as she slid into the back seat of the car, followed closely by Caitlin and Hannah.
“This is going to be awesome,” Hannah squealed excitedly, clutching the paper bag she was carrying tighter.
“What’s in the bag, Hannah?” Ally asked nervously. She knew these girls and she knew they had no intentions of giving her the quiet night she had requested.
“You’ll have to wait to see,” Hannah replied, grinning like a Cheshire cat and Caitlin just laughed when she saw the expression on Ally’s face.
“Oh God,” Ally cried. “What have you two done?”
“Relax,” Caitlin said in her usual commanding tone. “You are going to have fun. We promised to behave and we will. But Al it’s your hen night so loosen up.”
“Okay,” Ally sighed and sunk back into her seat and stared out the window.
It wasn’t long before they reached the car park of Cooper’s.
As they pulled up close to the door, Ally thought about the first night Cole had turned up there. She smiled as she remember how determined she had been to get away from him. She cringed as she remembered how she had spectacularly vomited in front of Cole that night.
She also remembered how she had left him standing laughing in shock as he watched her drive away in the back of a cab. She knew that night it was far from over but she had no idea of the rollercoaster love affair she was about to set out on.
But she loved Cole and how they got from there to here, didn’t matter to her anymore. She was happy, contented and so excited about their future.
Liam opened the door and took Ally’s hand to help her from the car.
“Have a great night, Ms. Brody,” he said as the other girls climbed out behind her. “You have my number if you need me for anything I won’t be far away.”
“Thank you Liam,” Ally smiled up at the older man. She liked Liam but she didn’t feel the same connection as she did with Nick.
When they walked into the pub, Ally immediately spotted the rest of the girls, who were all wearing bubble gum pink t-shirts with “Ally’s Hen Night” wrote in bold letters across the chest. Ally knew this was going to be anything but a quiet night. Caitlin grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the table as everyone cheered and stood up to hug her.
She hugged both her aunties and Emma from the garage and then she turned to Gus’s three daughters, my half-sisters, she reminded herself and hugged each one of them in turn, starting with Nicola, then Faye and finally Shannon. When she got to Shannon, Shannon squeezed her tighter and held her a little longer that the others.
“Thank you for asking us to come,” Shannon whispered to Ally when she finally released her from her embrace.
“Of course, I wanted you here,” Ally smiled at the younger girl staring up at her. “You are my sisters. I know it’s weird for you all. It’s weird for me too. But I want you all to be part of this important time in my life.”
“Thank you Ally,” Shannon smiled as she wiped a tear from her eye. Ally then turned and saw Laura, Gus’s wife, sitting there. She had talked to all the girls since the news had broken and she and Gus had cleared the air, but she hadn’t spoken to Laura yet. She was scared Laura would hate her for what her mother had done all those years earlier. And Ally loved Laura so much, she couldn’t bear to find out.
“Hi sweetheart,” Laura said with a huge smile and wrapped her arms around Ally. “Hope you didn’t mind me tagging along. I just thought, well your mom isn’t here, I knew Nan wasn’t going to come and I guess you’re kind of my daughter now too. If that’s okay with you?”
“That’s very okay with me,” Ally said as the tears welled up in her eyes as Laura released her from her embrace. She gave her a huge smile that said all she couldn’t in words.
Ally turned and went to take the seat next to Shannon but before she could sit down, Hannah spun her around and draped a satin kiss the bride sash over her head and held it out for her to thread her arm through it.
“Oh God,” Ally sighed as both Hannah and Caitlin removed their coats to reveal they too were wearing bubble gum pink t-shirts. Only theirs read bridesmaid one and bridesmaid two.
“We aren’t done with you yet,” Caitlin laughed as she pulled a tiara with a veil attached to it out of Hannah’s bag and sat it on Ally’s head. And then to complete the picture Hannah pulled a pair of L-plates from the bag and attached them with string around Ally’s neck.
“Perfect!” Hannah exclaimed with a big, satisfied grin.
“Are you happy now?” Ally asked as she looked from Hannah to Caitlin and back to Hannah. They both nodded and smiled in unison and Ally couldn’t help but laugh.
They all took t
heir seats as Caitlin called the waitress and whispered something to her. The girl smiled and nodded before she hurried off.
When she returned, she was carrying a tray with two large bottles of champagne and champagne flutes. She was followed closely by a waiter carrying a beautiful bouquet of two dozen roses and a champagne flute of orange juice.
The waitress sat the champagne down on the table and smiled up at Ally. When she stepped back, the other waiter placed the champagne flute of orange juice in front of Ally.
“These are for you,” the waiter said with a broad smile as he handed Ally the roses.
“Thank you,” she said as her face burned bright red with embarrassment. She quickly slipped the card from the flowers and opened the little white envelope. She smiled as she read the card.
My dearest Ally,
Have a wonderful night. This time next week you will be Mrs. Thomas, my beautiful wife. And I will be the luckiest man alive. I love you gorgeous girl.
Your Cole xx
Ally smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes. She had never felt happier than she did right in that moment. She looked up and everyone was watching her, smiling and Ally instantly felt her face burn.
“Come on,” Caitlin said, knowing how uncomfortable Ally was with being the centre of attention. “Let’s get this party started.”
She winked at Ally as she picked up the bottle of champagne and started to fill the glasses. Ally reached for her glass of orange juice and smiled to herself because Cole had made sure she had something too because she couldn’t drink, with being pregnant. She stared down at the card and smiled again. She really did love Cole bloody Thomas.
“Okay everyone,” Caitlin said lifting up her glass and standing back up. “We are all here tonight because my girl here has bagged herself a hottie. And you can bet he is a lucky man to have landed such an incredible girl as my woman here. Ally, Hannah and I have been friends since our first day of school. And I know Hannah will agree when I say, we couldn’t have wished for a better friend than Ally. She is one of life’s true angels. So I ask you all to raise your glasses and join me in wishing her all the very best for the future. To Ally.”
One Last Chance Page 3