by Annie Dyer
I sat up and shook my head at him. “Wish I'd only ever caught you the one time.”
He smirked, a broad shit eating grin crossing over his face. I'd make sure he fell backwards into the pool later, preferably while he was fully clothed.
“We'd best get out there.” Georgia sat up too. “Could you check on Rose while I get changed?”
I nodded, gave her a long kiss to the side of her head and got off the bed. “Take all the time you need, unless you actually do want gin. You can never guarantee how long it'll last around here.”
I walked out of the room with Maxwell, heading towards the pool, where I could see Rose on an inflatable with one of the other little girls. Killian was in the water with Eliza, taxiing her around in a large rubber ring and keeping an eye on everyone else.
“I take it you've got everything sorted?” Max asked.
Rose waved furiously over to me, a big beaming smile across her face.
“I think so.”
We sat down next to each other, our feet dipping into the deep end of the pool.
“Thank fuck for that.”
“I'm glad I've made everybody happy.” I couldn't help but smile though. I knew how much everyone liked Georgia, and I knew how much everyone liked me being with Georgia. She provided the pieces that made my jigsaw complete.
Max slapped me fairly hard on the back. “I don't think I need to tell you not to fuck it up, because I don't actually think you will. But do you want a piece of advice?”
I nodded. “Go on then. Share your gleaming pearls of wisdom.”
“Never forget how shit you felt when you didn't think it was going to work out. When you argue, because you will; when you find out how much she spent on a pair of shoes (because your head will implode), and when she tells you she wants to completely redecorate the house and you've got three days to do it (because trust me, women think that we can do things in that sort of time scale), you need to remember how crap it is when you don't have them.”
“That sounded like a lot of experience speaking then.” I knew Victoria had a massive penchant for buying expensive pairs of shoes. She’d had a couple of boxes of them delivered to Max’s office before now, and the look on his face when he opened them had been priceless. The look on his face when he'd seen the invoice that came with them had been even better. He’d sent Victoria a text afterwards, confirming their delivery. Whatever promise she'd text back to him had completely changed the look on his face and put a smile where there’d been a scowl.
“It's a fair bit of experience,” Max said. “But I don't think I've learned everything yet. Being married to Vic is like living the life of a Secret Service agent, continually waiting to be assassinated in some way. Always be prepared.”
We both stood up, facing the pool, still standing at the edge of it. Rose was shouting to her mum, so I guessed that Georgia was now on her way out. This was a priceless opportunity, possibly not one I'd get later on in the day. I patted Max on the back, much in the same way as he patted me on mine before, and then pushed. He fell, ungracefully, into the water.
It was the little things about family that made them worth keeping around.
Payton: So can I have some confirmation here of what's happened?
Claire: Seph and Georgia are back together. That's the short summary.
Seph: We were never actually apart.
Claire: Then why were you sulking so much then?
Seph: I wasn't sulking.
Payton: You were sulking. But moving on, you're properly back together now, aren't you?
Seph: Yes, we’re properly back together now.
Marie: Praise the Lord for that. I might end the year with all of my children married off.
Payton: You sound like Mrs Bennett from Pride and Prejudice, and I'm not sure how I feel about being ‘married off’.
Owen: Do any of your daughters come with a dowry?
Marie: I think it's the sons that should come with a dowry, if I'm honest. They’re the biggest pains in the arse.
Claire: And there we have it; straight from the horse’s mouth. Is this why Georgia is here? Did you bribe her, Mum?
Marie: I wouldn't need to bribe anyone to be with my Joseph, just a small payment to ensure that they can tolerate the amount of time he spends in the shower and staring in a mirror doing his hair.
Seph: I do not spend that much time in the shower. You're confusing me with Callum.
Callum: Given that I'm usually washing off ten tonnes of animal shit, I do need to spend quite a lot of time in there.
Payton: So Seph, what happened then? How did you persuade Georgia not to friend-zone you?
Seph: I was just my usual charming, handsome self.
Maxwell: So you flashed your bank statements at her?
Seph: Does no one actually think that someone would fall for me without my bank balance?
Claire: Well, I suppose you're not bad looking. Not on the same level as Callum though.
Seph: I'm so surprised I haven't got a complex given the amount of crap you spew at me. At some point a lot of you are going to get one big therapy bill.
Maxwell: Just the one? You need to sleep with one eye open, by the way. I didn't appreciate being dunked in the water before.
Callum: No, but everyone else did. The look on your face was priceless.
Claire: How’s Wren? She looked really tired before.
Callum: She's fine. Just really tired. We're going to need a bigger Chateau for Seph’s wedding, with all these kids materialising.
Payton: Lainey’s boyfriend seems nice. That’ll be another wedding coming up at some point.
Marie: Your father is already cursing the amount we're going to be spending on Christmas presents in the future. His suggestion is that we start in a Secret Santa with the adults.
Seph: Tell him if he does that, we'll start calling him Ebenezer Scrooge. And why the hell are we talking about Christmas when it's thirty-two degrees?
Jackson: Which begs the question why the hell are we all texting each other when we're all in the same hundred metre radius. Who's up for a beer?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Georgia
Any fears I had about Seph’s family being angry with me evaporated like spilled water on a hot day. It felt as if I had been here from the start; I was briefly introduced to Lainey Green and her new boyfriend, then Eli’s sisters, their partners and children and once those formalities were done, we just got on with it.
Rose had spent a lot of time on her own with being an only child, and one of the things I'd often worried about was how she would go about forming friendships and maintaining them with other children. When she was younger, she had found it difficult to share, both her toys and adults’ attention. Now though, after spending time with Elspeth and at school she was much more sociable. Apart from tonight.
She had played with the other children up until dinnertime, when all of a sudden she'd glued herself to Seph’s side. All the way through dinner, which had been a big outdoors affair, catered by the Chateau staff for the whole family, she’d refused to move from next to him. Even when he got up to go to the bathroom, she clung on to him, pretty much following him to the door.
I watched her, worried, but not wanting to interfere with how Seph wanted to deal with it, but at the same time wanting to step in if he needed help. After dessert, which had been the most gorgeous light lemony cake, he took Rose down to where there was a swing in the branches of one of the large sturdy trees. I watched them walk away for a moment, and then decided out of sheer curiosity, to follow.
In the last two or three weeks, while Seph hadn't been staying over, I hadn't said anything to Rose to explain why, apart from things like he had a lot of work to do or there were things he was doing with his family. I’d kept it vague, and she'd still been seeing him anyway in the evenings when he’d come round to do homework with her, or even come with me to pick her up from Elspeth's after work, so I wasn't sure exactly how much she had missed
him. Or if she'd even missed him at all.
The sun had pretty much set, and really it was too late for a little four-year-old girl’s bedtime, but it was the Holidays and there was no school to get up for in the morning, just a day of the pool and the beach a maybe some of the books she’d insisted on bringing with her.
The dusk of the evening allowed me to follow them down to the swing without either of them noticing. I heard murmuring voices, Seph’s low tones and Rose’s curious words just loud enough for the odd one to be caught.
“Are you back to being my mummy’s boyfriend?” Rose had sat down on the swing and was using her own strength to get the momentum going.
“I am.” Seph started to push her, just gently so they'd still be able to talk without her getting too giddy or too distracted by trying to grab the stars that were just starting to peek out. “I'm hoping I'll be her boyfriend for a long time, or maybe a shorter time if I become her husband one day.”
“If you marry my mummy can I be a bridesmaid? And if you marry my mummy what would I call you? And if you marry my mummy would I get brothers and sisters? And if you marry my mummy would Eliza be my cousin, and Niamh and Teddy and Lucy and Tomas?”
Grant Callaghan was right, that was one hell of a lot of Christmas presents, and that was my first thought, right before I considered what she was asking.
I folded my arms, interested to hear how Seph was going to talk his way out of this one.
“When me and your mummy get married, you'll be the main bridesmaid. You can call me whatever you like, and whenever you do call me, I'll always come running. Do you want brothers and sisters?”
It should have been the married part being unquestionable in his head, the when rather than the if, but it wasn't that that made any worries or fears melt away, it was how he answered her second question.
I'll always come running.
He’d just made a promise to my daughter that was better than any promise he could have made to me. I knew enough about Seph Callaghan to know that he didn't make promises if he wasn't sure he'd always keep them.
“If I have a little brother, can we call him Luke?”
I was considering this Rose's request for siblings, which made me think of when I'd seen Seph holding baby Lucy and Tomas. That had been enough to melt my ovaries there and then.
Seph pushed her a little more. “Why Luke?”
“So he'll be like Luke Skywalker from Star Wars.”
My daughter had good taste.
“Well, if we have a boy we'll think about that for a name. What about a girl?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I'd want a brother and not a sister.”
“I'm not sure that's how it works. Are you worried I'm going to stop coming round again to see you?” This was Seph trying to address her clinginess for the last few hours.
I thought I saw her nod, but it was difficult to really make things out in the dim light.
“I promise to come and see you at home more when we get back from holiday.”
I was impressed with how he managed his response, not promising anything that he knew he couldn't keep to and being realistic.
“Will you sleep over again with Mummy? You make better breakfasts than she does.”
I knew my place, and clearly my daughter had assessed both of our talents. She was right though; Seph was better at cooking than me. I wasn't going to argue that.
He carried on chatting to her about breakfasts and food and what she was reading, taking her mind off what they just talked about until he stopped the swing, picked her up, and started carrying her back to the Chateau.
I left the shadows at that point, Seph giving me a big knowing smile, obviously totally aware that I had been trying to be stealthy and listen in to their conversation.
“Here's Mummy,” Seph said. “I wonder if she's just come down to find us.” He shook his head slowly. “Nosy.” He mouthed the word at me.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Bedtime when we get back, Lady Rose. Do you want to sleep with us, or in the bunk room with Eliza and the other girls?”
She hugged her arms around Seph. “With the other girls.”
This surprised me. I thought after this evening she'd be reluctant to sleep anywhere without us, but then she had spent all the afternoon playing with Eli’s nieces.
“Can I have a hot chocolate?”
I could just about see the big eyes that she made whenever she was trying to get something she wasn't sure she'd be allowed to have.
“I'll bring you a hot chocolate when you're in bed and you’ve brushed your teeth. If you wake up in the night, you'll need to come to our room and not shout.” The bunk room was only two doors away from where we were staying, and Claire was on the other side. Given that her husband Killian ran his own security firm, I was pretty sure it was the safest room in the house and there would be a spare video monitor so I could check on her during the night.
I saw her eyes light up when we got closer to the Chateau, probably with thoughts of hot chocolate and giggles with the girls she’d been playing with. I was under no illusions that at some point during the night she would end up in bed with me, but at least I'd get a couple of hours alone time with the man who told my daughter that one day he was going to marry me. And he said it when he knew I was listening.
With the children in bed, and some of the couples making early nights of it, there were only a few of us left up, finishing off the wine from dinner time. Seph stayed by my side, his hand constantly touching me on my shoulder or back or on my thigh. We made our excuses just before midnight, heading to the bunk room first to check on Rose.
Surprisingly, she was fast asleep; the journey and the sun and the excitement must have tired her out. I didn't risk pressing a kiss on her forehead in case I woke her up; if she managed a full night in here it would be like all my Christmas presents had been delivered at once, because tonight I wanted some time alone with the man who was still standing by my side.
Back in our room, we got ready for bed like a well-oiled machine, stepping round each other, both going about our routines seamlessly, like this was what we'd always been doing. I stripped off the dress I’d thrown on for dinner, feeling Seph’s eyes on my back while I faced the darkened patio doors.
“Over the last few weeks, I wondered if I'd see you like this again.” His voice was husky and deep.
When I turned round to face him, wearing just my underwear, he was sitting in the wingback chair in the corner of the room, with just his boxer briefs on. Even with the dim light of the bedside lamps I could see that my almost nakedness had an effect on him.
“I'm lucky,” I said, stepping slowly towards him. “I never doubted that you would. I honestly thought that slowing things down was the right thing to do to protect Rose, but I never planned for that to be our ending.”
“Come here.” He gestured to his lap. “I don't ever want us to have an ending.”
I straddled him, my knees on either side of his thighs. I was thankful that the chair was wide enough to do this comfortably, as I could say exactly where this was going.
“From what you said to Rose before I kind of figured that.”
“Which bit?” His grin was far too smug.
“How you'd be my husband, and there was no denial of the babies thing; in fact, you encouraged her.” I felt heat build between my thighs, dampness there starting to accrue.
“Did I say anything wrong?” His hands left the sides of the chair and he placed them either side of my breasts.
My nipples started to harden, a response I knew he was aware of, his gaze dropping down to them. The slight lick of his lips made me want to clench my thighs. This. This was what I'd missed, along with everything else. I’d missed every part of him; his kindness, his quickness, and the way he knew exactly how to play my body to create the tune he was a master of.
“No, you said everything right.”
His thumbs brushed over my nipples, and I was pretty sure I was going to come right
there. Seph was looking at me like I was the only meal he ever wanted to eat, and I was more than happy to keep it that way.
“So when I ask you to marry me, you'll say yes?”
He pinched my nipples, creating a bolt of electricity that went straight to my centre. “Yes.” There was no other answer.
“And babies, do you want my babies? Mine, specifically.”
I kept it simple again. “Yes.”
He slipped his hand down between my thighs and pushed my panties out of the way, dragging the tip of his finger from my entrance to my clit, circling it slowly.
“You’re drenched.” The way he whispered the words made them sound even more dirty. “All of this for me?”
I nodded, my ability to speak eroded by his ability to play with my tits and pussy at the same time, turning me into some speechless, wanton woman.
He pushed a finger into me, murmuring something about how tight I was, how he couldn't wait to fuck me, how he couldn't wait to come inside me. There was another finger, and somehow he got rid of my underwear, making me ride his hand while he watched himself finger me almost to orgasm, my tits bouncing as if they were wanting to perform for him.
“Get on my cock, Georgia.”
I’d pulled his cock out while he’d been playing with me, not really thinking about what I was doing, just needy.
He removed his hand and guided my hips over to him, while I lined his hard cock up with my entrance. He didn’t let me sink down on him slowly; he pulled me straight onto, him, impaling me and making me gasp and grab his shoulders.
I might’ve been on top, but I wasn’t in control. Seph grabbed my hips and arse hard enough to bounce me up and down while he thrust his hip, his gaze moving from my eyes and lips to my tits, until he bent down, slowing his pace while he took one in his mouth, sucking hard.
That sent me over the edge, my muscles pulsing round him as I came, his cock feeling even bigger, harder.