In Love with a Stranger

by Rose von Barnsley

  “I couldn’t see beyond the mess I’d made. I wanted to leave him, but he threatened to keep you both from me. He wouldn’t out me on the accident, but he would on my prescription drug addiction. There would’ve been no way for me to gain custody of you both. I was trapped. He no longer trusted me with my own children, and he pushed more responsibilities onto Maggie. She always had little Camille in her arms and you on her heels, when you weren’t with your dad.

  “He loves you both so much and took you everywhere he could, even a few places he shouldn’t have. I’m so sorry, William. I’m the one who separated you two. It’s true that I stepped in when you were seven. He and some buddies were in his study smoking those horrible cigars, and when you asked for one, I saw him hand his to you. You took one puff and coughed your lungs out.

  “His buddies laughed, but he rubbed your back, telling you that you’d get the hang of it in time. That’s when I knew I had ammunition myself. I may have had a drug addiction, but it was under control. He, on the other hand, was being irresponsible and harmful. When I called him on it, he pushed you and Camille away to stop me from finding anything else I could use against him.

  “He still wouldn’t let me near the pair of you. He’d found me relapsed a couple times over the years, and it only made him more protective of you. He knew I’d never win my children, but he didn’t want them taken from him, either, so you were both left in the care of Maggie, but he was always watching over you.

  “As you both grew older, we began to heal and learned to love each other again. It took time, but I began to fully understand why he did what he did. He was just trying to take care of us, of his family, the only way he knew how. I’m sorry I’ve failed you so many times over the years. I was sure he’d told you. That was the looming threat I was afraid of, that you’d find out about my addiction and the accident.”

  “When I asked about it, he said he wouldn’t betray you.”

  She nodded at me, holding a small smile. “He’s a good man, and he really does love me.”

  “Are you still in counseling?” If she wasn’t, I was going to insist that she be in it, before she was allowed around my kids. It was obvious she was still struggling with things through our whole talk.

  “Yes, your father insisted I go back shortly after you were married, and he goes with me. He knew I wanted to be a part of your lives, but he still didn’t trust me. He said I could only see you if you agreed to it, if you could handle dealing with me. He also threatened to send me back to rehab, if I relapsed from the stress of dealing with the family.

  “He was right, of course. Your father always seems to be right. I think I’m doing better now. Your father looks after me and the rest of you as well. I know you don’t understand it, William, and I know he isn’t stepping into your life like he used to, but he still steps into mine, and I hope you won’t judge him or me for it. It works for us. I need it.”

  I was stunned by her confession, but I was relieved that my father had insisted on counseling. “I don’t think it’s a problem for you to visit with us, as long as there are others around. Are you alright with that?”

  She looked up at me so hopeful. “Really, you’d allow me to be around the children after everything I told you?”

  “Yes, as long as there are others there, I’d be okay with it. I wouldn’t want to stress you and cause you to have another relapse.” She nodded and stood up, moving back to the window. My father and Hannah were swinging a skipping rope for Penelope, while Maggie cooed over my son. “Would you like to join us outside?”

  She nodded yes eagerly, and I took her hand, leading her out to my family. Hannah offered my mother her side of the skip rope to turn for Penelope, and my father gave us a huge smile. I think he was hoping we’d come around and accept my mother back into our lives again. I knew my wife had respected my wishes to keep my mother at bay. I knew my father had truly changed, but I’d had no evidence that my mother had, until today. She’d given me everything I’d need to force her to stay away, with the hope that I’d accept her anyway. She’d given me the power, and it was time I exercised some compassion with it.

  We did settle in London at first, but there just wasn’t enough room for our family in the three-bedroom flat in town, when one of the bedrooms doubled as a music room and office. We moved to a small cottage a little ways outside of London. I still commuted into London a few days a week, but I worked a lot from home. At one time, I’d promised Hannah a home with a garden she could look out on when she wrote, and that was what I gave her.

  When little Teddy was born, we didn’t put an announcement out like most families did. We’d come to the decision that it was best to hide our family as much as possible. By keeping it private, it put us at less risk. My father couldn’t erase our existence, but he could hide a lot of my family’s activities and whereabouts. We weren’t necessarily at risk, but the privacy was much appreciated. We completely disassociated ourselves with the peerage, so we were no longer interesting to others.

  My little sister, Camille, applied to become a U.S. citizen. Carter visited frequently on business and personal trips, while they waited for her papers to come through. Carter had proposed, but they were waiting to get married until after she was officially a citizen to simplify the process. They made the decision to move there, because his job was based there, and Camille was pretty much just living off her trust fund enjoying life. There was no reason she couldn’t do that in the U.S. It would also give us a reason to go back and visit frequently.

  Ophelia did it in reverse. She decided to move to the UK to promote her clothing line and advance her modeling career in Europe. Duncan was still following her around like a lost puppy. I had it on good authority that he’d procured a ring for her, but he still hadn’t gotten up the nerve to ask her to marry him yet. I knew my mate, though, and it was only a matter of time until he did.

  One person who had gotten up the nerve to propose was Marvin. That was a great relief for me. His focus had shifted to his current fiancée, Eloise Kinsley, who had been his nurse. She actually did math for a hobby, and the pair were in equation heaven. He was the final threat that’d loomed, and he’d finally been dealt with, thankfully, in a peaceful manner.

  Hannah and Scott’s relationship never fully recovered, though she made the obligatory birthday and holiday phone calls. My wife was just a good person like that. Frankly, I would’ve been happy if we never saw or heard from that wanker again, but I’d leave that up to my beautiful wife. Last we’d heard, he was seeing some waitress and was preoccupied these days, so we’d figured it was best to let time do what it would there. As far as her mother went, that book had already been closed, and we were both keen to leave it that way.

  On a more exciting note, Brody and Lisa had a baby girl who they named Clara. Ever since she’d been born, Hannah had tried to convince Brody to move to England. Apparently, little Clara and Teddy were a match made in heaven, and she contended that Brody needed to work security for us.

  We didn’t actually need security at the moment, but if anything ever came up, I’d be inclined to ask him to move here as well. He was one person I knew I could trust implicitly with my family, and we really cherished that relationship.

  Hannah set up her little study overlooking the garden and had taken to writing children’s books. Writing with a baby at home had been difficult, so with the blessing of my parents, we stole Maggie from them. She was a godsend, and having her with us took a lot of stress off my beautiful wife.

  Today, Hannah and I celebrated another anniversary of the day we’d first found each other again, and we’d worn the children out playing and enjoying family time. I’d already read a bedtime story to Penelope earlier, even though she’d proclaimed she was too old for bedtime stories anymore. Of course, she conceded and gave me her cheeky grin, when I’d told her I still had a lot of them to make up for with her.

  We’d decided we wanted to have a few more children eventually, and I’d stripped before cl
imbing into bed, eager to get on with that, even though Hannah had said she wanted to wait a bit longer before becoming pregnant again. I hungrily watched my amazing wife come into the bedroom after getting our son to bed.

  “You still take my breath away, beautiful,” I said and turned the covers back, inviting her to join me.

  She smirked and started unbuttoning her pajama top, dropping it to the floor. I watched as she shimmied out of her sleep pants, pushing her underwear off with them. My God, she was still a vision to behold. I pulled her to me and wrapped my arms around her, my mouth finding that spot on her neck that made her shudder. This was a special anniversary for us, and I was ready to continue our celebration now, adults-only version.

  “I’m so glad we found each other again, beautiful. I can’t even imagine what my life would’ve turned out like had we not,” I muttered against her shoulder, becoming a little emotional at the thought and holding her to me tighter. I really didn’t want to imagine it, because it was just too horrible to think about.

  “I know, and I’m glad I remembered you. Seeing you in your office that first time, such a beautiful but odd stranger staring at me, it was all I could do not to cry, though I didn’t know why at the time. Even if I didn’t remember loving you right at that moment, I think my heart still did. It was a good thing that vapid woman, Brittney, ushered me away into the other room, so I didn’t make myself look like an idiot. Had I remembered you right then, I might’ve tried to throw you down on the waiting room couch and had my way with you right there,” she grinned.

  I knew she was teasing, because I remembered her at that point, and she would’ve been too leery and timid to have ever done something like that, but I certainly appreciated the visual.

  “I was so confused that day, Mary,” I tickled her side. “I eventually fired that horrible woman. She was a terrible secretary as it was, but when I overheard her shooting off her mouth about you to another assistant, I canned her arse. My father’s fortunate I’ve forgiven him for being daft enough to go find her and drag her to Scotland to try and say I’d married her. The woman was truly vile,” I shuddered.

  She giggled at my sour expression, but then her laughter turned into a smirk, as her hands starting to wander, finding me more than ready for her. “Well, Mr. Greyson, I’d say we really do have a reason to celebrate.” She leaned in, kissing me gently. It quickly turned heated, and before long, we were one, the feel of our bodies and our pleasure were the only things that mattered at that moment.

  As we lay there spent in each other’s arms, Hannah sighed. “We forgot to grab a condom, you know.”

  Oh, I knew alright.

  “Are you okay with that, beautiful?”

  “Yeah, I am, and given where I’m at in my cycle, there’s a good chance we might’ve just made number three,” she giggled, before snuggling against me, quickly giving in to sleep.

  I lay there grinning and gave myself a little fist pump. I just might get my Travis yet.