Adam’s Boys

by Anna Clifton

  “You don’t need to offer me a one-day-at-a-time life anymore. I want to strap myself in for the whole Adam Cooper rollercoaster ride, even if I’m not quite sure what will be around the next corner.”

  “If we can grab a few moments together like this every day or so, then I’m convinced we’ll be invincible,” he pledged. “But as for that ride, I know you say you’ll take it on but you shouldn’t have to live like that. From now on, I’ll start thinking out loud as soon as an idea begins to brew. Deal?”

  “Deal,” Abbie repeated in happy relief before he caught her lips and kissed her with such euphoria she thought she might melt beneath him. When he finally broke away and gazed at her he had an expression of unfathomable contentment on his face, so much so that she could hardly find the words she wanted to say.

  “What is it?” he asked gently.

  “I want the four of us to move to England—for good.”

  He searched her face, his brows drawing together in urgent enquiry of the feelings behind her proposal but in the end he said nothing.

  “Firstly, so that we can be near your parents and Maeve too,” Abbie explained. “She told me this morning she wants to make her move back to Ireland permanent so that she can be with her sister. Secondly, so that you can become the Prime Minister of Great Britain, or whatever job it is you have your eye on,” she added teasingly. “And thirdly, so that I can run Justin’s precious London office or he’ll never forgive me.”

  Adam eyed her quizzically. “Since when have you been concocting lists of hard-headed, logical reasons for life? I thought that was my domain. I also thought you wanted to stay in Australia.”

  “It wasn’t about staying here. Well, in the beginning maybe, when I was frightened about losing control over my life and Henry’s. But my real problem was that you made me feel like I was going to be nothing more than scaffolding in your life. Then when your feelings for me changed, I was so blinded by my own fears and mistrust I didn’t know which way was up. But now I know that wherever you and the boys are is my home. And anyway, I’ll happily move countries to be with a man who stacks a dishwasher like he’s performing surgery.”

  He laughed, but then unable to wait any longer kissed her again as her mind drifted into an exquisite state of consciousness where she knew nothing else except that she needed the man in her arms in every part of her life—forever.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Stick ‘em up!”

  Abbie dropped her newspaper and handbag onto the floor and immediately raised her hands in front of the four height challenged bandits. They were armed with Nerf guns and lined up in front of her in the hallway. They were also wearing Zorro masks and had clearly been lying in wait for her to burst through the front door, eager to escape the rare London snowstorm gathering strength outside.

  “Take anything but don’t shoot me!” she cried out in mock distress.

  “We don’t want to take anything,” the tallest of the tiny bandits explained. His dark hair was standing up in tufts on top of his head and the dark eyes behind the mask suggested an uncanny resemblance to Peter Cooper.

  The four of them were dressed up in a hodgepodge of fighting costumes ranging from cowboys to superheroes. Clearly a major raid had been carried out on Pete and Henry’s dress-up box; and Abbie could pretty much picture the complete chaos of their bedroom in the wake of that raid.

  “Okay then, can I put my hands down?” she asked tentatively.

  “So long as you don’t move until you deliver the goods,” a redheaded bandit declared; he looked suspiciously like Perry Middleton, Pete’s best friend from school.

  “Hang on. I thought you said you didn’t want anything from me,” Abbie asked in challenge as she rested her hands on her hips.

  “Not stuff,” a Henry look-a-like retorted in his cowboy pants and superman cape. “What we want is for you to let Perry and Josh sleepover tonight. Dad said ‘yes’ if it’s okay with you,” Henry added, dropping his cover momentarily.

  “Oh he did, did he?” Abbie smirked at the four boys grinning up at her. Of course they were grinning—they’d already secured their object of the evening because they knew Abbie was unlikely to deny them what they wanted when Adam hadn’t put his foot down.

  “What about school tomorrow?” she queried, wondering why Adam had gone soft on a Thursday night when they were both strict about weeknight sleepovers.

  “Pupil free day!” Josh Middleton, Perry’s little brother had declared at that point.

  “Oh that’s right,” Abbie purred. “Henry and Pete, haven’t you told the boys that I always set revision homework after breakfast on pupil free days for any little boys who happen to be in my house?”

  With that Perry and Josh looked aghast at Pete and Henry.

  “She’s kidding!” Pete explained, grinning at Abbie as he caught her wink.

  “What about your mum, Perry and Josh? How does she feel about a sleepover?”

  “She said it’s okay with her if it’s okay with you.”

  “Hmm, down to me a second time. Oh, the pressure! What shall I decide?” Abbie declared teasingly, enjoying the four expectant expressions in front of her.

  But then Henry couldn’t bear the suspense any longer. Dropping his gun to the floor with a clatter he threw his arms around her waist and began to jump up and down. “Say yes!” he wailed imploringly.

  Abbie smiled down at her four-year-old and ran her hand through his hair. It was darkening up over the English winter—he looked more like his father than ever.

  “Okay,” Abbie replied, relieving them all of their agony of suspense.

  “Yee-hah!” they whooped around the hallway before one of them yelled, “Come on, let’s go down to the basement again.”

  “Don’t stay down there too long boys, it’s too … cold,” Abbie finished in a whisper, knowing the boys were halfway down the stairs and would never hear her final words above the din they were making.

  Abbie dragged a hand through her hair—damp and dishevelled from the snow—and leaning over to pick up her things she felt that feeling deep within herself again and smiled.

  With a clatter of high heels on the timber floor, she made her way towards the kitchen and the music booming from there. Coldplay was on—Adam’s favourite. He always played music when he was cooking, and from the aromas wafting through the doorway she guessed they were eating penne carbonara for dinner tonight—one of his specialties.

  Sure enough, as she paused at the doorway, she could see he was hard at work separating eggs as a load of pancetta and garlic crisped up in the fry pan. He was singing along to the music very loudly, in fact in complete abandonment, falling into silence every now and then if he had to concentrate on not combining yolks and whites. But as soon as the momentary cooking problem was resolved he’d break out again into whistling—louder than his singing—until he could pick up the words in the song again. He reminded Abbie of one those old fashioned one-man bands, trying to do five things at once quite badly but somehow pulling it all together in the end.

  Abbie dropped her things onto the chair next to the door and walked towards her husband, wondering whether seeing him at the end of the day would ever not make her feel as incredible as it did every night.

  She doubted it.

  The music was so loud and Adam’s concentration so intent that he didn’t see her until she was nearly at his side. When he finally did see her his face lit up. He dropped the block of parmesan cheese he was grating and grabbing her around the waist swung her around the room for a few rounds of ‘Paradise’.

  Abbie laughed helplessly, even though half the ingredients from his apron were transferring themselves onto the front of one of her more expensive suits—she didn’t care.

  When he grew tired of dancing and wanted to hold her, he slid his arms around her waist and kissed her so passionately she thought her legs might collapse from underneath her.

  What a welcome! She’d looked forward to their reunion all day—h
e hadn’t disappointed her.

  “Two extra boys and penne carbonara for dinner,” he yelled to be heard over the music. “That okay with you?”

  “That’s fine,” she laughed, noticing cream smeared across his forehead.

  He then reached for the remote and turned the music down as she reached for a cloth to wipe the cream off his face.

  “How was work?” he asked with a warm smile, gathering her up in his arms again.

  “Busy. I need to talk to you about some things that have cropped up,” Abbie explained, eager to get the office hassles out of the way as quickly as possible so that she could move onto a topic that was much more important to her that night. “Later on we’ll need to call Justin to make some decisions. You know that lawyer from Robinson Simons who wants to bring his class action practice across to us, well he was on the phone again today. He’s still keen so we need to sit down with him and start talking soon.”

  “I agree,” Adam replied. “And I’m sure Justin will too but let’s talk about that later. I have some other news—not about the firm.”

  “So do I,” Abbie replied, her voice husky with exhilarated anticipation. “You first though. Have you closed off on the membership for the think tank?”

  Adam had been working night and day on that project. He was determined to gather the finest minds in the country from a variety of fields. His goal was to formulate policies in areas he believed desperately needed fresh ideas and reform such as education, healthcare and his pet interest: the preservation of the UK’s rural industries and lifestyle.

  “Membership’s not quite closed. I’m still waiting to hear back from a couple of people.”

  “What’s your news then?” Abbie asked curiously.

  “John Roche has told the party he’s stepping down next year. There’s going to be a bi-election in the seat I’ve been waiting for.”

  “Oh, Adam,” Abbie breathed, reeling momentarily at how completely their lives were going to be turned topsy-turvy-town as Adam’s political career took off. “That’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you.”

  Slipping her arms around his neck she snuggled into him as close as she could, partly from her excitement at the incredible opportunity finally coming his way, and partly to conceal her mushrooming anxiety from his all-seeing eyes. For Adam had no idea how daunting the timing of his news was in light of hers.

  “I know what this means for you,” Adam reassured her, pulling back and looking intently into her eyes. “I’m going to have little time to help you run the firm from now on, and if I’m elected I can’t be involved in running it anyway, as you know.”

  “We’ll manage, don’t worry,” she replied nodding in confirmation of the confidence she wasn’t feeling at that moment.

  A husband who was almost certainly going to be elected as a British MP the following year, a wife running a growing law firm, two busy little boys… Abbie didn’t know how they would ever keep all the balls in the air, especially with the news she’d received that day.

  But there was one thing Abbie did know.

  When she’d made her marriage vows to Adam in that tiny church in the Cotswolds three months ago she’d also vowed to herself that whenever he dreamed one of his big picture dreams she’d start work on the blueprints on the double.

  “We can talk to Justin about it tonight,” Adam thought out loud. “I promise you, the firm won’t suffer because of what’s happening in my life—I know how important it is to you, JP and Justin.”

  “We’ll work something out. The most important thing is to get you elected.”

  “There are no guarantees, but if we pull out all the stops then I’m pretty confident I can do this. But enough about me for now—I want to hear your news.”

  At that moment the four masked bandits popped out from behind various pieces of furniture in the living room next to the kitchen and began to spray them with a flurry of foam Nerf missiles before evacuating back into the hallway.

  “Come on,” Adam grinned. “I think it’s time you and I retired to the conference room.”

  With that he took Abbie by the hand and led her into their walk-in pantry; they often escaped there when Pete and Henry weren’t looking. Sometimes it was to have a private chat without two sets of curious ears listening in. And sometimes it was just to have a cuddle without one of the boys yelling ‘get a room!’, Bart Simpson style.

  “Okay, I’d say we have about five minutes before they work out where we are,” Adam laughed. “Shoot.”

  Abbie locked her hands behind Adam’s neck. The excitement of making him even happier than he already was that night was bubbling up inside her like a new freshwater spring, in spite of the looming changes about to overwhelm their lives. But Abbie knew she’d come a long way in her first year with Adam. For now she could breathe, think, feel and function when uncertainty descended upon her, whereas not so long ago it would have sent her spiralling.

  “Okay,” she began. “Something that should have happened two weeks ago hasn’t.”

  Adam looked at her blankly—clearly he had no idea what she was talking about. But then his lips parted and his whole face lifted into a smile as his mind and heart did a duet of euphoric understanding. “We’re having a baby?” he blurted and watched in rapture as she nodded happily.

  “Abbie! When?”

  “August,” she announced, laughing at his jubilant expression. “It’s early days.”

  “Oh, man,” he sighed in elated disbelief. “How are you feeling?”

  “Well, it all seems to be starting much earlier than it did with Henry. I’m nauseous and need to eat in the mornings or very weird things start to happen to my stomach.”

  “I’ll get you tea and toast in bed every morning, don’t worry,” Adam gushed helplessly. “What do you think it is, a boy or a girl?”

  “There’s no scientific explanation for it but I feel sure it’s a girl,” Abbie mused thoughtfully. “As I said, it’s a completely different sort of early pregnancy to the one I had with Henry. And I had a dream about her the other night. Anyway, I know it sounds like psychobabble but there you have it.”

  “A girl,” Adam echoed in wonder and laughed out loud.

  “No promises,” Abbie said and then noticed his elated, daydreamy look. “Oh Lordy, you should see your face. I can tell your mind is already in the hardware shop buying pink wall paint. She’ll have you wrapped around her little finger from the day she’s born.”

  Adam grinned at her, acknowledging the truth of that proposition without argument.

  But then he frowned suddenly. The ocean of stress and pressure that had parted upon hearing her news began to collapse in upon him again as he remembered his own announcement of just five minutes before.

  Sitting down on a wooden box in the pantry, he pulled his still petite wife down onto his knee, wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder as he mulled over the sway their little baby would have upon their lives.

  “What is it?” Abbie asked as she cupped his jaw with her hand and turned his face to hers, her eyes gazing down upon him, the colour of rich sherry. “You look worried all of a sudden. Aren’t you happy about the baby?”

  “I’m ecstatic about the baby,” he explained as she trailed her fingertips through his hair. “But I am seriously reconsidering my move into politics next year.”

  “Adam!” Abbie protested.

  “No, Abbie, don’t ‘Adam’ me. The bi-election will be in the middle of the year and the baby is due in August. I’ll be campaigning in the country for months and you’ll barely see me. I won’t put you through that.”

  “Now wait just a second …”

  “It’s too late. I’ve already made up my mind,” Adam interrupted as he stared off into space again, knowing he was being stubborn but unable to soften his resistance. “You, the boys, the baby and the firm have to take priority over everything else. The more I think about this, the more convinced I am that I’m right. You told me that you were si
ck with Henry during and after the pregnancy. You’re going to need me at the firm and at home to help with the boys.”

  “Adam,” Abbie drew his face towards hers again. “You’re doing exactly what I used to do—spiralling. Now listen to me. My situation with this baby is so different to how things were with Henry. With that pregnancy, I felt completely alone and this time I have a husband and two little boys who love me. I have medical support around the corner. I have wonderful colleagues and partners who will give me every help I need at work.”

  But Adam was shaking his head. “You won’t have me to help you though—it will be just like Henry all over again. Anyway, there’ll be other opportunities for me, other elections …”

  Abbie rested a finger against his lips to stop him talking. “It will be nothing like what it was with Henry. We’ll be in contact every day and England is a small place—the distances are nothing. Adam, we can make this dream of yours come true if we’re together, you know that. This is your chance and you have to take it. Nothing you do or say will convince me otherwise. In fact,” she mused out loud, “I’ll be very unhappy if you don’t give this your best shot, and you know what they say,” she finished with a grin.

  “What?” He smiled back at her as he noticed the determined twinkle in her eye.

  “Happy wife—happy life.”

  He laughed at that point, in wonder at how the two of them had turned the tables on themselves in just one year. For there he was, trying to come up with every showstopper he could think of to derail his own dreams, and there she was deflating every single obstacle with her inventory of hardheaded logic.

  “This is insane you know,” he protested but could feel his resistance ebbing away in the face of Abbie’s indomitable determination. “Have you any idea how hard the next couple of years will be?”

  Abbie shrugged and laughed joyfully. “It’s going to be absolute chaos!” she declared. “But what an exciting ride. I can’t wait.”