by Fox Brison
The consultant was a pleasant woman. Mind, I could have been facing Genghis Khan and I wouldn’t have thought more than superficially. You know... well isn’t this a nice surprise, the chief of the Mongol horde is here. He has nice eyes. I wonder if he drinks yak’s milk. That sort of thing. She explained the procedure and yes I understood every word of it. Thankfully Nat didn’t and wasn’t afraid to ask questions.
However, when it was time for the actual tests to be carried out, I asked Natalie to wait. This part I had to do on my own.
Lying on the examination table, fear began to set in. Everyone I’d dealt with was friendly and professional, yet they all owned expressionless faces that wouldn’t have been out of place in a mannequin factory. They weren’t Autons, the homicidal dummies from Dr Who, but because of the situation, they felt twice as scary. I closed my eyes and attempted to gain control over my thrumming nerves, but I didn’t gain anything until I thought of Nat waiting for me.
No matter what. I didn’t realise I said it aloud until the nurse stopped what she was doing and gave me a quizzical look, complete with tilt of the head.
Three words, possibly as important as I love you in the grand scheme of things, at least as important as them right now. I will love you no matter what. I will be there with you no matter what. The future is ours no matter what.
And, no matter what, the minute I was out of this place I would make sure Natalie knew exactly where she came in my life – right at the very top.
***
“What happens next?” Natalie asked when I took a seat back in the waiting room.
“They said they’ll have the results ready later this afternoon.” I gulped. I wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or bad.
“Well we can’t play Mmm Fingers for the next four hours. How about we get out of here and go for something to eat? Or a drive?” Natalie was pale. Neither of us had eaten much that morning and I nodded, even though I wasn’t particularly hungry, and I’m not sure Nat was either. Still she was right; sitting here for the next few hours would do nothing but send me closer to the edge.
***
The hospital was in Ashington but we ended up combining both of Nat’s suggestions and drove three miles south to the beach at Newbiggin by the Sea.
You could take the girl away from the coast but it always called me back.
We bought a portion of chips and a can of coke and walked along the seafront until we reached a bench overlooking the water. Salt and vinegary steam wafted into my face and a transitory grin graced my face. This was us to a tee. An international soccer player and her professor girlfriend sharing a poke of chips on the coldest day imaginable watching the tide roll in. We were nowhere near the dock of the bay, but we were definitely wasting time. I snuggled in closer and Natalie wrapped her arm around me. She was always protecting me from the elements and from myself if I’m honest.
Neither of us said a word.
Now I know some people might think that unusual, but it wasn’t for us. Nat could never be described as garrulous, although she’d become more verbose of late in order to take my mind off things and I was grateful for it. What she was going through was equally as emotional, just in a different (and at times I’m sure more difficult) way.
And she was going through it for me.
“No matter what I love you,” she said feeding me a chip and I couldn’t help but feel happy.
No matter what. It was becoming our motto.
“Me too.” I peered out towards where the sea met the sky. No one knew what tomorrow would bring, what would be coming over the horizon. It might be a storm, or fair weather. It might be a cruise liner or a tsunami. But feeling Natalie’s thigh as it pressed against mine, feeling her arm tucked tight around my shoulders holding me safe and warm, no matter what rose over that imaginary line we would face it together.
“So two things. One,” she reached into her bag and handed me a turkey baster, “and two, have you thought of any names?”
“Names?” I held her mother’s turkey baster loosely in my hand. What the hell? “For this?”
“Names,” she repeated, “for this kid we’re going to have sooner rather than later.”
“You mean?” I waved the baster at her. “I’m not using this, Natalie Jeffries, it’s unhygienic! Please God don’t tell me your Mam learned about these on Ellen too!”
“It’s symbolic.” She dipped her head and blushed. “It was a joke, but I’m deadly serious. I want us to start a family, Skye. I’m sorry I reacted the way I did when you first mentioned it. I was taken by surprise is all-”
I shut her up with a kiss.
It’s hard to describe how blissful this moment was. I write romance books as part of my living, but even I would have struggled to write a scene as perfect as that. Eating a bag of chips as the tide slowly rolled in, my soulmate agreeing to have a baby with me?
Life did not get any better.
We returned to the hospital, eyes red rimmed but not from the foreboding I expected, but from joy. Life’s funny sometimes and it’s that dichotomy which probably keeps us going when the darkness slowly blankets the world. “Skye Donaghie-Jeffries?” I lifted my head and tried to loosen Nat’s grip.
“Together,” she said and I nodded my acceptance.
Together, no matter what.
***
So quickly, what’s your favourite time of the year? Is it winter, when cold dark nights draw you into the warmth of hearth and home and you cuddle on the sofa with a mug of hot chocolate or glass of mulled wine? Or is it springtime, when flowers and trees are beginning to bud and there’s a sense of renewal, of hope? What about summer, when the sun is shining, hopefully, and the heat and cloudless sky drives away the darkness? Perhaps it’s autumn, when summer is a lingering memory, when the trees are aflame like a foliage inferno and winter creeps forward to cover you in a blanket of white.
And is the place you’re in and the person you’re with central to timing?
For me, the person is everything.
The evening she whispered I love you... the morning she said I do… the afternoon she cried when the doctor gave me the all clear and I knew I’d have a future with the woman I’d only just married…
“I can’t believe you remembered,” I said, looking out of the plane window over a sea of clouds on the way to our honeymoon. It still amazed me I could mention something to Nat once and months later she’d use it some elaborate surprise.
She really should have been the one writing the romance novels.
“I can’t wait to see the Book of Kells and Croagh Patrick,” I said contentedly. Two days in Dublin followed by four in County Mayo. I couldn’t have wished for a more perfect destination.
“Me neither. Plus, it means I get Granny O’Shea off my back. She threatened to cut me out of the will last time I spoke to her. She’s been dying to meet you and has been guilt tripping me for the last six months, saying the way I’m dragging my feet she’ll be dead before she does.”
“She won’t try and give me too many of her old family recipes, will she?” I asked half jokingly.
“Most of them are delicious,” Nat protested.
“Peppered milk?”
“That’s a remedy not a recipe. Although I’m beginning to wonder if Ireland in February was such a great idea. Mind, we could have come in July and the weather would’ve been just as bad.”
“I’ve packed my kagool, it’ll be amazing. Besides, I think for bad weather is more far romantic than good. It means I get to snuggle into you to keep warm.” I finished my airplane sludge, I mean coffee, and closed my eyes, sleep now easy to find. I drifted off, the comforting presence of my wife next to me, as she always would be.
The destination doesn’t really matter it’s the person you love and the journey you’re on that counts…
Other Books by Fox Brison
Island Skye
Skye Donaghie is having the worst day; she gets stranded twenty feet above the North Sea, her girlf
riend dumps her and her neighbour is run over by her car – whilst fishing.
The only saving grace is that she reconnects with Natalie Jeffries, the gorgeous soccer star sister of her best friend, Sara. However, the reunion is bittersweet as it brings back memories Skye has spent the past decade trying to forget.
Faced with a family who abandoned her, and a friend who doubts the new found relationship, Skye must conquer her demons and lay the past to rest, or she risks losing everything.
Heavenly Heirs
Rachel McTavers is a waitress struggling to make the two ends of nothing meet. She rarely accepts charity, yet is always the first to offer it. Will pride stand in her way of finding true happiness?
Devon Williams appears to have it all, yet appearances can be deceiving. When she looks at her reflection in the mirror she is terrified by what she sees. Will fear stand in her way of finding true happiness?
The chance discovery of a two hundred and fifty year old diary presents both women with the opportunity to live a life they had only ever dreamed of. Will they grab it with both hands or will they need a little divine intervention?
A Game to Love
Georgia Maskel is on the brink of greatness as an international tennis player, when the revelation of a devastating family secret causes her to make a mistake so monumental it destroys everything that she has spent her entire life working towards.
Five years later, and struggling to resurrect her career, Georgia cannot escape or rise above the mediocrity that now plagues her game. Running out of ideas her coach, much to Georgia’s displeasure, enlists the services of Dr Emma Myers, a well-respected sports psychologist, with a reputation for getting results. After a difficult start to their relationship the women soon find a way to work together, but as emotions run high and the search for answers intensifies, professional and personal boundaries are pushed to the limit.
Will they make the breakthrough necessary to get Georgia’s career back on track? Can they trust each other, and themselves, enough to lay their souls bare and dare to dream again? Do they have the courage to accept the truth and ultimately discover a way to win the most important game of all, the game to love?
Awakening Sorrows – Book 1 in the Sorrows Series
The Dark Times are a whisper of a memory, of a time when Terrakuis was invaded by a vicious and merciless host, an army which tore through the continent like a vicious plague. But after being decimated in a battle seared on the souls of those left standing, the Kortoban army retreated to their homeland…
Teran, his sister and their two friends are living a peaceful life until their world is ripped apart when one of them is discovered to possess a rare and dangerous gift. Accompanied by two master magicians, Jacob, the wily Hunter of the Light and his much maligned apprentice Eslin, they become embroiled in a conspiracy which leads them to unearth an even more horrific truth; the only object that can halt the impending destruction of not only their world but the Light itself is The Star of Boran, a gift from the gods.
Hounded by those they fear and betrayed by those they should trust, their journey towards self-discovery ultimately turns into one of self-preservation.
The Shadow Moon is rising, an ominous warning that The Mistress of the Dark is gaining in power.
Her army is set to march once again.
Unbridled
Still reeling from catching her partner in flagrante with another woman, veterinarian Haley Jones travels to San Francisco to visit her sister, Jennifer, and lick her wounds. But instead of receiving the support and comfort she craves, Jennifer delivers another monumental shock to Haley’s already traumatised system.
Left to fend for herself in a strange city, she accepts the invitation from Jennifer’s roommate to join her for a night out on the town. There she meets Dani Robbins, a beautiful cowgirl who is no stranger to casual dalliances.
Sparks instantly fly between the two women, an undeniable attraction which Haley finds impossible to ignore. With the words of everyone telling her to let her hair down and have some fun ringing in her ears, she begins to wonder if Dani could be the answer to all her problems.
However, spending one wonderful night indulging in her fantasies, only leads to the beginning of Haley’s troubles.