by Lizzie James
I giggled at his words before turning my head and looking up at him. “Did you think I would say no?” I asked, curious now more than ever.
He looked down at me before his fingers began stroking patterns over my arm. “I didn’t know.” He dipped his head and kissed my lips. “Fate hasn’t really been on our side lately, has she?”
“No, I guess not.” I rubbed my stomach where our little one was kicking. “Maybe that’ll change now.” I cuddled closer to him. “Maybe our darkest days are behind us.” I closed my eyes, imagining Addie as our own personal guardian angel. I was sure that if she was in heaven, she’d send only good things for us from now on.
32
Alex
It had been several weeks since I’d popped the question and made Charlie my fiancé. Since then, things had gotten a little easier. They weren’t perfect, and I didn’t think they ever would be. At the end of the day, life wasn’t perfect. It was supposed to be hard, but we were making the best of it.
Charlie was due to give birth in a week’s time, and to say I was tense would be an understatement. Every time she moved, I thought it was coming. I spent my evenings upstairs with her in our apartment and she spent some of her days down here on the comfy sofa by the window.
We had both taken on additional staff. The café was doing so well and the further along her pregnancy got, the less baking she had done until she stopped baking altogether and had been using suppliers for everything. She hated doing it, but the café certainly didn’t suffer from it. She had a strong customer base, and I knew her regulars were eager for her to return back to work when she was ready.
James and Addie had planned a baby shower and we all decided to cancel it. Charlie didn’t want it without Addie and I couldn’t really blame her.
“Sweetie.” She came around the bar, holding the bottom of her back.
“How is the back?” I asked. “Take a seat and I’ll bring you a cup of tea over.” She had taken a huge liking for fruity tea in the last few weeks. I thought it was disgusting but she insisted that it relaxed her.
“Alex.” She gave me a smile and it was easy to see that she was glowing. “We need to go.”
“Go?” I asked. “Where are we going? What are…?” I looked at her and that was when I saw she was holding the bottom of her bump. “Oh, shit! Is the baby coming?” I shouted.
She laughed at my theatrics. “Yes. My water broke upstairs.” She turned around to face the door as I went running past her. “Get my bag at the bottom of the stairs.”
I was relieved when I saw James walking towards me with the bag in hand.
“Relax,” he mouthed at me. “I’ll drive. Let’s go.” He gave Scott behind the bar a quick wave. “Look after the place, Scott. We’ll be back with a little person.”
Charlie giggled at how blasé he was. How could they be so calm? She was going to be squeezing a person out of her and she was acting like she was just popping next door for a coffee.
“Alex, sweetheart.” She placed her hand on my shoulder. “What did we talk about? Don’t panic.”
“Right.” I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. “Don’t panic,” I muttered beneath my breath. “Panic later.” I rushed ahead of her and held her door open, helping her into the passenger seat.
James climbed into the driver seat while I climbed into the back. “Let’s go and meet this baby, then!” he said before he pulled out of his spot and drove us to the hospital, breaking a few too many speed limits on the way.
We had been at the hospital for a few hours now and there was still no baby. Her contractions had started about an hour ago and they were only getting worse. Charlie was handling it like a pro, though. She didn’t swear too much, but whenever she gripped my hand, it was tighter than the time before.
“Why is this taking so long?” I asked, stupidly.
She rested her head back against the pillow behind her. “It’s not like cooking a chicken.” She chuckled at me. “This baby will come whenever the time is right.”
“I’m sorry.” I squeezed her hand before bringing it to my lips. “I don’t like seeing you in pain.”
“Me, neither,” she quickly agreed.
Before I could say anything else, we were disturbed by a doctor coming into the room. “Okay, then, Miss Chase.” He washed his hands at the sink before drying them and snapping on a pair of gloves. “Let’s see if this baby is ready to come, shall we?”
I took a deep breath before sweeping her hair back that was sticking to her forehead. He placed himself between her legs and I knew that whatever was about to happen was going to change our lives forever.
She winced as he prodded her before he nodded to the nurse at his side.
“She’s ready.” He smiled up at us. I knew it was something he had likely done a hundred times before, but I still felt a thrill of terror shoot through me.” “Okay, Charlie. When I say ‘push’, I need you to push for me. Okay?”
“Okay.” She nodded her head before tightening her grip on my hand. “Let’s do this.”
I had watched many births on YouTube and had grossed myself out completely, but when the time came for my own child, I wanted to know what was going on. I didn’t want any surprises. The biggest surprise in my own child’s birth was how quick the baby came. Charlie had been pushing for a while, but the next command from the midwife’s mouth ramped up the intensity of the room.
“Okay, Charlie. One more big push is all I need you to do.”
She blew out a deep breath before she lifted herself up onto her pillows. She was soaked through with sweat, and her hospital gown was sticking to her. She squeezed my hand as she gave one final push before she slumped back against the pillows, her chest heaving with pain and exertion.
Seconds later, we heard the most beautiful sound in the whole world. The cries of our child.
“Charlie. Alex.” The midwife held her arms up, showing us our baby. “You have a baby girl.”
Charlie collapsed into sobs, tightening her hand in mine.
“A baby girl!” I turned my face to hers and kissed her lips, resting our foreheads against each other. “You did so good, darling. So damn good!”
“Can I hold her?” she asked.
“Yes, sweetheart. I’ll have to take her to get cleaned up but here you go.” She gently placed our baby in Charlie’s arms.
I could feel the tears running down my face. I knew how precious this moment was and there wasn’t anything more perfect or beautiful than the sight of my woman and baby girl embracing for the first time.
Charlie looked up at me, her glossy eyes brimming with emotion. “You’re a daddy!” she enthused.
“Yeah.” I reached down, loving the dark head of hair that our little girl had. “She’s so beautiful.” I bent my head and pressed my lips to Charlie’s, pouring all of my love for her into that kiss. “Just like her mummy.”
The nurse took our baby away to get her cleaned up and weighed. They moved Charlie to the ward after they’d cleaned her up and changed her into a fresh gown and I went to collect James.
He shot to his feet when he saw me. “What did she have?” he asked. He held his hands out, waiting.
“You have a niece!” I grinned at him, loving how happy he looked in this moment.
“Yes!” He slammed his body against mine, hugging me tightly before roughly slapping his hand against my back. “I’m so fucking proud of you!”
“Come and meet her,” I offered. I led him back to Charlie’s room, smiling at the sight that greeted me. We both took a spot on either side of her bed, all looking down in awe at the beautiful new soul in the world.
“What’s her name?” James asked.
Charlie looked up at me, gazing at me with a twinkle in her eyes. I knew what she was asking without her needing to say anything. I nodded my head, agreeing with her completely in that moment.
“This is Addison Charlotte Winters,” she said. “Addison, this is your uncle James.”
It was
impossible for James to stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks. “Hi, Addison.” He reached out and stroked the knuckle of his finger over her cheek. “I’m your uncle and I’m going to spoil you rotten.”
We all gasped as she turned her face to James’s hand.
“Welcome back to the world, Addie,” Charlie whispered before she bent her head and pressed the softest kiss to her forehead.
Epilogue
Charlie
It had been two years since little Addison had been born. Two years and three months since our world had changed for the better. Just like her namesake, little Addison was a terror on legs. She was into everything and could never sit still for longer than five minutes.
Today was the day that I would become Charlotte Winters, and to say I was nervous would be an understatement. It was the first day I hadn’t seen Addison in the morning, and I was missing her a little. Her daddy had decided she would spend the morning with him while I got ready.
We had booked rooms at The Savoy Hotel in the centre of London. Alex had insisted that we would only ever be doing this once and that every woman should be a princess on her wedding day.
My mum had come down from Wales and she would be responsible for Addison during our wedding. James would be standing up with Alex and me as we said our vows as Alex’s best man. I had decided not to have a maid of honour or any bridesmaids. I knew that Addie would be with me in spirit.
I stared at my reflection, willing the tears back. I couldn’t cry. Not today. Today was for happiness only.
“Knock, knock,” a voice called from the door.
“James!” I turned to face him before standing. I gave him a little twirl. “What do you think?”
My bridal dress was sleeveless and it fanned out from the knees down. It was very lacy and it had a belt of daisies around the waist. It was very simple. I’d made sure Addison had a matching dress but hers had sleeves and was a lot frillier.
“Wow!” He stepped forwards and pulled me into a hug. He kissed my cheek as he stepped back. “You look so beautiful, Charlie.”
“Thank you.” I smiled up at him, touched by his compliment. “How is the groom doing?”
He rolled his eyes. “Stressed. Addison is keeping him busy, though.”
“How does she look?” I asked.
“Beautiful. As always.” He reached over and tucked a curl behind my ear. “Just like her mum.”
“Alex sent you to check on me, didn’t he?” I asked.
“He’s winding me up.” He moved past me, taking a seat on a chair. “I can’t take the pacing.” He picked up my bouquet, admiring the daisies before placing it back down on the table. “I also came back here to give you a present.”
“A present?” I grinned at him. “For me? Really?”
“Not that you deserve it,” he said while rolling his eyes. “But, I thought you could use it today.” He nodded his head to the chair next to him, gesturing for me to take a seat.
“What is it?” I asked. I took the seat and turned my body to face him.
He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. He kept his fist closed, hiding it for a moment before he moved his fingers, the item dangling between us.
I gasped when I saw Addie’s chain bracelet. It had all her charms still on it, and I knew how much he treasured this piece of jewellery. It was the only thing of Addie’s that he still had as her mother had taken all of her belongings back to Manchester with her.
“James,” I whispered, awestruck.
“I know she’s here with you,” he said quietly. He sounded choked up, and I knew he was just as emotional about this bracelet as I was. “But I thought...” He reached over and fastened it over my pulse-point. “By wearing a little piece of her, she could be with you physically.”
This time, I couldn’t stop the tears from trailing over my cheeks. “I miss her so much,” I whispered.
“I know you do.” He reached over and wiped the tears off my cheek with his thumb. “I keep thinking it’ll get easier but she’s hard to move on from.”
I reached up and slid my arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly.
He rocked us gently from side to side gently, squeezing me before letting go.
“I also came to your room for another purpose.” He reached down and took my hands. “As your mother is looking after princess, I was wondering if I could have the pleasure of giving you away.”
I looked at him in surprise, touched again by how beautiful this man was. Inside and out.
“I would love that,” I whispered.
After making myself presentable, we made our way downstairs. Standing outside the hall where we would say our vows, my hands began to shake.
“Nervous?” James grinned at me.
“Yes.” I laughed. “I’m about to become Mrs. Winters.”
The opening notes of the wedding march began from behind the doors seconds before they opened. We’d kept it small, wanting this day to be private. The girls that Addie had worked with were here and some of Alex’s friends, including his friend from prison, Anton. I was surprised but I think he thought a lot more of Alex than he ever cared to admit.
James took my arm as we slowly began our walk down the aisle. We both laughed when we saw Addison waving theatrically at us as we passed her. I reached out, stroking her hair as we passed. She had a headband of daisies on her head and she looked so beautiful in her dress.
James turned to shake Alex’s hand and pulled him into a hug before he stepped aside.
“You look so beautiful, darling.” Alex took my hand and pulled it to his lips as we turned to face the registrar.
He gave us a polite smile before he placed his hand on the prayer book in his hand. “Are you ready to be joined in holy matrimony?” he asked.
We both turned to look at each other and smiled.
“Yes,” I whispered.
We went for the traditional vows, not wanting anything extravagant. We just wanted to be husband and wife, a family and to spend the rest of our lives together.
As we exchanged rings, I smiled when Alex rubbed his thumb over my wrist where Addie’s bracelet was displayed. His eyes glistened at me, and I knew in that moment that Addie wasn’t just with James and me: she was with us all.
“I now pronounce you man and wife,” the registrar said. “Alex, you may kiss your bride.”
He placed his finger beneath my chin and tilted my face before he dipped his head and pressed his lips softly to mine. “I love you,” he whispered.
“Forever.” I gave him a beaming smile, loving him completely in that moment.
We turned to face our guests as they stood up to give us a clap. I gazed at my mum, loving how happy she looked as she watched us. I watched her stand before placing Addison down on her feet.
She toddled over to us, her arms outstretched. Alex bent down and scooped her into his arms. He held her against his hip as he wrapped his other arm around my shoulders and held me to him. He bent his head and kissed our daughter’s cheek before he did the same to mine.
We walked down the aisle and made our way outside to where there was an old-fashioned Rolls Royce idling at the kerb. The three of us climbed in, securing Addison between us.
“Are you happy?” Alex asked.
I looked up at him, able to answer that question honestly for the first time since Addison’s death. “I am.” I reached over and kissed his lips. “We’re a family.” I reached down and stroked the hair on top of Addison’s head. “Forever and always.”
Also By Lizzie James
Tangled Series
Tangled Web
Tangled Lies
Tangled Truths
Tangled Pieces
Kindred Series
Missing Piece
Perfect Fit
Rough Love
Thank you for reading books on Archive.