A Beautiful Forever

by Lilliana Anderson

  I hear crying somewhere behind us and both Paige, and I turn to try to find Grace. Paige takes the opportunity to excuse herself to go and retrieve Grace from my mother.

  “Trina!” David admonishes chuckling slightly.

  “What? What did I do?” she asks.

  “You didn’t need to mention the tattoo Katrina, I didn’t exactly show you that photo,” I point out.

  “Oh god, I’m such an idiot – let me go and talk to her. I’ll tell her it was my fault.”

  “Trina, leave it,” David tells her. “I know you have the best intentions, but it’s better if you sit this one out, ok?”

  “Ok,” she agrees as David plants a kiss on the top of her head, squeezing her close to him. “I really am sorry Elliot,” she says.

  “It’s fine, Katrina. Don’t worry about it. I'll talk to her.”

  Paige

  Well, that was awkward. Katrina is fucking stunning. I feel short, fat and ugly near her. She looks like a female equivalent of Elliot. I think I hate her. Sure it’s irrational because I just met her but seriously – what the fuck? Why in the world would Kathy invite her here? Does this mean she prefers Katrina to me? Is this one of those weird things where the mother in law is nice to my face but tells everyone else that I was a consolation prize? Maybe she thinks that Elliot only married me because I got pregnant, oh god, what if he did…?

  When I reach Kathy, Grace has really taken to crying, she’s obviously tired so I take her inside to Elliot’s and my bedroom to feed her to sleep. She’s wailing and pulling at my top as I shush her and undo my buttons, so she can feed.

  I stand in the quiet, shut off from the party outside and look over the photos on the wall. Smiling to myself at the memories behind them, the largest photo in the centre is the one of me in the hotel room when he took a photo of my tattoo, the one that Katrina mentioned – how the hell did she manage to see it? Were they hanging out together? Has she been in this room with him? Oh god, I don’t even want to think about it.

  Grace snuffles in my arms as she drinks with her eyes closed and her tiny hand laid flat against my chest. My heart fills with love for her as I watch her drifting off into baby dream land.

  Walking over to the window, I look out at the people below me. I can’t believe there are so many people here happy for Elliot’s return. I can’t believe he was willing to give all of this up to stay in the UK with me.

  As my eyes move towards where Elliot is still standing my heart deflates, landing with a thud in the pit of my stomach. He’s talking animatedly and laughing with Katrina; David has this fake smile plastered on his face. If he’s the guy Katrina chose over Elliot, and he looks uncomfortable, then how should I be feeling?

  I look down as Grace’s mouth falls open and her body fully relaxes. I should put her in her cot and go back out, but I’m not ready yet.

  Elliot

  It’s time to eat and I haven’t seen Paige for a while, I think she might be hiding out inside with Grace. I excuse myself from talking to my aunt and uncle, and head back into the house in search of Paige.

  I find her fast asleep on our bed, cradling Grace in the crook of her arm. My heart feels full at the sight of them together, and I stop caring that we’re supposed to be outside with everyone. I ease myself onto the bed and brush the curls on the heads of both of my girls. They are so beautiful that I just want this moment for myself before I need to wake Paige.

  Her eyes flutter open anyway and slowly focus on mine. “Hey,” I whisper.

  Smiling, she sighs a little. “Hey,” she echoes back.

  “Food’s ready.”

  “Oh, how long have I been in here?”

  “Maybe an hour.”

  She closes her eyes for a moment before sitting up, bringing a sleeping Grace along with her. I watch as she carries Grace to her cot and places her gently inside.

  “Do you still care about her Elliot?” she asks me quietly when she returns to stand in front of me.

  “What? Why would you even think that?” I reply, sliding across the bed where I can reach her hands and pull her towards me, so she’s sitting on my lap.

  Her eyes are brimming with tears as she looks at me. “Because Elliot, she’s beautiful and it’s not like you broke it off because you wanted to… Plus, I was watching you from up here, talking to her… you look so… right together. I guess I kind of feel like a consolation prize in comparison.”

  “Paige, how can you not understand how much I love you? Do you want to know what I think when I look at Katrina? I think, thank god things didn’t work out with her, because if they did, I might have missed out on meeting you.”

  She rests her head on my chest, and I wrap my arms around her. It's times like these that she seems so small to me.

  “Do you think I would have tattooed your name on my arm if I wasn’t sure about you Paige?” I ask.

  She lifts her head, “Why did you show her the photo of my back?”

  “I didn't. I showed her a photo of you and I together, and she swiped to the next photo and saw it that way. It pissed me off actually, and I snatched my phone out of her hand.”

  “Why? Were you embarrassed?” she challenges me.

  “No Paige. I just didn’t think it was any of her business.”

  “Why were you even showing her your phone? Were you spending time with her while you were home?”

  Chuckling at her barrage of questions, I shake my head. “She approached me while I was packing up after training a client, we spoke for like – two minutes and that was it.”

  “Do you think your mum likes her better than me?”

  “No, not at all, my mum loves you.”

  “Then why would she invite her?”

  I laugh a little, not really sure why my mother did it. “Because she’s an idiot. I think she was just so excited that we were coming home that she invited every person she came in contact with. I’m surprised the checkout chick, and the petrol station attendant aren’t here.”

  Paige laughs through her nose a bit at this and I smooth her hair away from her face. “I love you alright. I choose you above every woman past, present or future – you’re The One for me, do you understand that?” I assure her, my voice still low so as not to wake Grace.

  Placing a hand on either side of my face she leans in pressing her lips to mine. I breathe in deeply, holding her tightly to me as I return her fervour but stop us before we move any further.

  “We have to get back out there Paige. They'll come looking for us soon.”

  “Alright,” she nods, sliding off my lap, taking one last look at Grace before she walks to the door.

  Paige

  The rest of the BBQ goes by fairly smoothly. Katrina and David leave soon after lunch, so I don’t have to feel uncomfortable for too long. Admittedly, I think they were feeling a bit weird too, so I guess we’re all glad when lunch is over, and they can leave quietly.

  I spend the rest of the afternoon catching up with Naomi and getting to know Stephanie. All in all, it’s been great to meet everyone who’s important to Elliot and his family, I just could have done without the ex-girlfriend sighting.

  Before he leaves, Elliot’s father, who actually seems quite nice considering what I was expecting, invites us both out to dinner the next week, saying that he wants to give us a wedding present since he missed our nuptials.

  Now that all the guests have left, I’m taking over baby duty by lying on the floor in the lounge room with Grace while she plays on her mat, grabbing at little balls and shaking them so the animals and tiny beads inside them rattle about.

  Elliot is off helping his mum, and Steven clean up after the BBQ of the century. We’ve decided not to say anything about Katrina to his mum. She went to so much trouble to put all of this together so we don’t want to appear ungrateful and Elliot seems very sure that she didn’t mean anything by it, so I will trust him on this one.

  With the BBQ behind us, I can look back on the day and say that I honestly feel
very welcomed by all of Elliot’s friends and family, and after I got over my moment of intense jealously, I can say that I had a lot of fun today, too.

  Chapter 39

  Elliot

  Mum has agreed, well, actually she’s insisted on looking after Grace for us while we go out to dinner with my father and Erica. Both Paige and I are really nervous about leaving her. We've never had her babysat before.

  “It’ll be fine you two, just go and have a good time. I’ll call if she won’t settle, don’t worry,” mum stresses to us as we leave. She practically pushes us out of the door and closes it in our faces.

  “Shall we?” I say to Paige, holding out my arm for her to take. She smiles and slips her arm in mine, leaning into me. “You look gorgeous tonight by the way.” She’s wearing a fitted black dress that hugs her body in all the right places, and I wish that we had a room of our own to go back to after dinner tonight.

  “Thank you, you scrub up okay yourself,” she replies.

  We drive to the restaurant, spending most of our time wondering aloud if we’re doing the right thing leaving Grace behind, we could have brought her with us. But when we pull up at the restaurant, we realise it’s pretty up market. Not really the right place to bring a baby.

  Paige

  God, I hate being away from Grace, and I hate eating at fancy restaurants, obviously with my background; I haven’t been to very many. Ok, I’ll be honest; this is the first time, the only extended table manners I have are learned from watching Pretty Woman.

  Elliot very gentlemanly opens my door and ushers me inside, the décor is very modern; all glass lined walls and dark square shaped furniture. The host shows us to our table where Elliot’s dad, and his wife are already waiting.

  Robert stands as we approach, shaking Elliot’s hand and kissing my cheek. I take my seat across from Erica and smile at her.

  “Are we late?” Elliot asks.

  “No, not at all,” his father answers. “We just wanted to make sure we were here before you.”

  “Ok?”

  “Well, it’s not every day that a father gets to welcome his son home from overseas, especially when he brings with him, such a lovely wife and a beautiful daughter.”

  I blush a little and thank him for his kind words. A waiter comes over and takes our drinks order. Robert orders a bottle of wine for the table and feeling uncomfortable asking for a coke in a place like this, I go with sparkling water. I feel like a wolf in sheep’s clothing in here.

  “You don’t drink Paige?” asks Erica.

  “No, I don’t. I’ll have one occasionally but I'm still feeding Grace, so I don’t drink at all at the moment.”

  “You’re still feeding her? Isn’t she eating normal food yet?” she asks wide eyed.

  “She only eats soft food, she still needs her milk,” I answer diplomatically.

  As our drinks are brought to us, we all talk about what life was like for us in the UK, Erica is interested in the fact that I’m a hairdresser, saying that she always wanted to be one when she was a kid. Although I think, most girls go through that phase at some point.

  The waiter returns and takes our orders, I order something to do with chicken and hope that it will be ok. The meals aren’t names that I recognise, so I just point at one and say that I can’t read it properly without my glasses. I catch Elliot trying not to grin; he knows full well that I don’t wear glasses.

  When our meals are delivered, I’m rewarded with the most tender slices of chicken, drizzled with a warm creamy sauce on a bed of semi crisp vegetables that tastes divine. I’m so glad I didn’t order something weird.

  I listen in as Elliot and his father talk about Robert’s work, he tells us some vague details of the case that he is working on and gives Elliot a reminder that he can always go back if he’s had enough of personal training.

  Elliot

  I have to give the guy credit. He doesn’t give up too easily. “I don’t think so dad, I never really enjoyed law,” I say.

  “Fair enough son,” he says surprising me by holding up his hands to imply that the subject won’t go any further. “Have you got work lined up or do you need to look around?”

  “I’ve already called the gym I used to work at, and they’re happy to take me back,” I say.

  “I’ll bet you’re very popular, Elliot,” Erica puts in. “All the women would want you because you’re so nice to look at, and all the men would want you because they want to look as good as you. I’m not surprised they want you back.”

  “Thank you Erica… I guess,” I laugh, making a joke of it as I place my arm around the back of Paige’s chair, using my thumb to caress her shoulder as we all talk.

  Paige is looking at her phone on the table. I know she’s resisting calling my mum to make sure that Grace is alright, truthfully, I would love to call her too, but I’m trying my best to just enjoy our time out and not worry. I know my mother will call if there’s a problem.

  My dad raises his hand and signals the waiter over, asking for the bill before turning to us. “Erica and I asked you out tonight because we wanted to give you a wedding present. We feel really bad that we didn’t get to come out for the wedding or the baby, so we wanted to give you something… helpful as a wedding gift.”

  The waiter approaches us again with the bill, and my father places his credit card in the black folder, handing it back to the waiter immediately.

  “We know you are both dying to get back to little Grace,” Erica adds. “But if you can just bear with us, we have something really special for dessert.”

  “Ok?” I say, looking at Paige as she says the same thing. Dad signs the bill when the waiter returns again and stands.

  “Did you drive?” he asks.

  “Yeah we did, where are we going?” I say standing as well.

  “It’s a surprise, just follow us,” he tells me.

  Erica claps her hands giving a little excited squeal and Paige, and I exchange glances as I offer my hand to help her up.

  Walking out of the restaurant, we follow behind my father and Erica, who are clinging to each other, the picture of a happy couple. I guess now that I think about it, this is the happiest I have seen my dad in years. Erica is obviously very good for him.

  “Where do you think we’re going?” Paige asks me quietly.

  “I seriously have no idea.”

  Chapter 40

  Paige

  Butterflies are churning in my stomach as we follow Robert’s Mercedes through the night. I put in a call to Kathy to let her know that we are going to be a little longer, and she tells me that everything is fine, Grace is fast asleep and we should take our time.

  I feel relieved and kind of sad at the same time. I miss my baby.

  “So everything’s fine?” Elliot asks.

  “Yeah it is, I don’t even think she misses us,” I tell him.

  “Of course she misses us. She's just secure enough that she can handle her grandmother looking after her for a few hours – that’s all.”

  He takes a hold of my hand across the centre console and gives me a reassuring squeeze before breaking away as he flicks the blinker on and squints out the windshield.

  “What the hell…?” he trails off, turning into a street behind his father who’s pulling into a parking garage under a block of flats.

  “What? Where are we?” I ask as he pulls over to the side of the road and parks the car.

  “I used to live here,” he says. “I didn’t think he still had it.”

  “Had what?”

  “The flat, this is the flat he used to let me live in. I moved out when he stopped supporting me. I thought he’d sold it.”

  I look up at the white brick building. It looks like it was built in the seventies, it’s very close to the beach. I can hear the ocean from where we’re standing.

  “Does your dad live here now?”

  “I don’t think so…”

  “We ready?” Robert asks, opening the entry door from the insi
de for us. They must have entered from the car park. Erica is standing behind him, a massive smile on her face as she gestures wildly for us to come in.

  Walking up the stairs, my heart is thumping in my ears, Elliot seems a little tense, and I don’t know what’s going on. So I blindly follow behind Robert, stopping when they stand in front of a brown door.

  “This is it!” Erica exclaims.

  “We’re at the flat,” Elliot points out, a question hanging in the air when he finishes.

  “Your flat,” corrects Robert, holding out a key and taking my hand before placing it on my palm.

  “What?” we say in unison.

  “The flat – it’s your wedding gift!" squeals Erica “Open it!”

  “Dad, I –”

  “It’s done, son. It’s yours. The paperwork is inside.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” I stammer out.

  “Just open it!” Erica insists.

  My hand is shaking as I reach out and put the key in the lock. As the door swings open I’m faced with a long narrow hallway. A faint smell of paint invades my nostrils as I step inside, closely followed by Elliot.

  As I walk down the hallway, I first come to a formal dining room with a square, chestnut-coloured table, surrounded by eight leather chairs and a high chair in the corner, there’s a mantle off to one side and on it are some photos of Elliot, Grace and I. I look back at Elliot, utterly surprised.

  “Do you like it?” Erica asks coming to my side. “We renovated and I decorated it for you, but if there’s anything you don’t like, just tell me, and we will fix it up lickety split!”

  Tears start to fill my eyes and threaten to spill, as I look around the room. “No, it’s perfect, thank you,” I tell her.

  “Can I show you around?” she asks, reaching for my hand. I’m speechless and simply nod my head and let her pull me along as she chats about what she did with each room.

  In the lounge room, she has put in a massive leather cream coloured couch in front of a large round foot rest that is covered in a beautiful burgundy, grey and white fabric. On the floor is a burgundy rug that covers all but about ten centimetres worth of floor. On the wall is a mounted flat screen television with a low line cabinet underneath it holding the DVD player and there’s two matching book cases either side, artfully decorated with books, vases, candles and photographs.