‘Firstly Ms Warner,’ Richard said jumping out of bed. ‘Angel is really pissed off with me for choosing a fat, old, previously pregnant, now geriatric mother with child.’

  ‘Geriatric?’

  ‘Isn’t that what they call women of your age with a baby?’ he cheekily grinned.

  ‘I’ll let that wash,’ she said watching him walk naked around the room before going to the en-suite bathroom. ‘Did you read what that bitch journalist woman wrote about me?’

  ‘She’s an old hack, been around for years. She’s always slagging someone off to prove a point,’ he replied brushing his teeth. ‘It’s a newspaper, it’ll be old news soon enough and then things will go back to normal.’

  ‘Normal? You and I are normal?’

  ‘I call you and I unique,’ he smirked before going back into the bathroom.

  ‘Beau is seven weeks old and we’re, collectively, ninety years old,’ she said as he popped his head out of the door.

  ‘Happy birthday,’ he smiled. ‘Sorry I didn’t send a present as I thought you’d just throw it out.’

  ‘Richard,’ she said and took a deep breath. ‘Tell me what happened to Tia Malone.’

  Even though he was in the bathroom she knew the mood had changed. He walked out slowly and his bright smile had completely faded.

  ‘It’s really difficult for me to talk about,’ he said quietly. ‘I need-.’

  ‘I know time, you need time. I get it,’ she sighed and sunk under the duvet cover.

  ‘Just a little bit of time.’

  Lily sighed as she watched him dance around the kitchen, singing to Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s going on’ the following day.

  ‘He’s happy,’ said Eleanor, finishing off her Pimms and smiling at her son, while the ladies sat outside in the evening sunshine. ‘What’s he making?’

  ‘Paella,’ Lily grinned before looking at Beau sleeping in his pram. ‘And you’re not staying for dinner?’

  ‘I have a previous engagement, anyway it might be nice if you two had some time together,’ she said quietly. ‘Have you discussed what happens next?’

  ‘He won’t even tell me what happened with Tia, I don’t think he wants to think about tomorrow.’

  ‘You know he has to go back to the States?’ Eleanor stared at Lily for a moment. ‘I’m not sure when but it’s on the cards.’

  ‘I know but he’s not said anything about anything so I’m just enjoying him being happy.’

  ‘You both look very happy,’ she smiled before getting up. They looked at the dancing man in the kitchen knocking back his beer before scowling at something on the stove. ‘I hope he doesn’t poison you.’

  ‘I don’t mind. It’s good to see him having fun.’

  ‘Richard!’ yelled Eleanor before realising Beau was close by. ‘Sorry. I won’t be home tonight.’

  ‘What?’ he said before walking into the garden. ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘Out,’ she smiled and gave Lily a quick peck on the cheek.

  ‘To have some fun?’ Lily smirked and was met with mischievous eyes from Eleanor.

  ‘Now if you need me, you have my number and I’ll be back in a flash.’

  ‘I’m fine. Go and enjoy yourself.’

  ‘I’m leaving you in charge of two children,’ smiled Eleanor as Richard shook his head and went back into the kitchen. She leaned down towards Lily. ‘You do need to speak to him about what he wants to do and what you want from him.’

  ‘I just want him,’ Lily said honestly, feeling her heart bursting with love for both the boys. ‘I’m not sure he knows what he wants.’

  ‘Convince him it’s you then all will be fine and we can live as a family, happily ever after.’

  ‘You do know we’re talking about Richard, don’t you?’

  He continued to dance and sing until he eventually came out with a tapas starter, all beautifully displayed on a plate.

  ‘Impressed?’ he said sitting next to her before placing a gentle kiss on her cheek.

  ‘When am I not?’ she smiled and buried her nose in his neck before he pulled away. ‘Can I ask you a question?’

  ‘Do we have to talk?’ he grimaced. ‘I just want a quiet evening with you.’

  ‘You’re not going to get a quiet evening if there’s a baby involved,’ she scowled as he shrugged.

  ‘I have ear plugs,’ Richard grinned before glancing at the baby. ‘He’s a lovely boy.’

  ‘And you’d know about babies?’ she laughed before taking a bite of her food.

  ‘Considering he’s your child, he seems very well behaved.’

  ‘I see,’ she laughed and sipped her drink before sighing.

  ‘You’ve been doing that constantly for the past two days,’ he smiled and stroked her face.

  ‘You make me very happy.’

  ‘I know,’ he laughed out before taking a massive swig from his beer.

  ‘How comes you’re featuring a Spanish theme tonight?’

  ‘I have a friend who lives in Spain and they taught me a few recipes,’ Richard replied getting up. ‘Better check on the food.’

  ‘When are you going back to work?’ she quickly asked as he stopped then slowly turned. ‘I just need to know how much time I’ve got with you before you’re off.’

  ‘Let’s not talk about it,’ he said to the ground before looking up. ‘Let’s enjoy the time we have together.’

  ‘If you’re going to break my heart again, could you give me some notice?’

  ‘Now that’s not fair,’ Richard smiled over his shoulder as he walked back into the house.

  ‘Isn’t it?’

  She got up and gently picked up her son who was sound asleep before proceeding to take him through the living room then up the stairs to bed. Lily lay her sleeping angel in his coat and closed her eyes for a moment, knowing their few days of bliss was about to end and it was going to be down to her to blow it.

  Checking the monitor was working and she could see Beau through the video link, Lily descended the stairs and walked out onto the patio, towards the table. She turned to hear more Marvin Gaye music from the kitchen and shrugged off her feeling of doom for a moment.

  ‘Want a proper drink?’ he asked standing by the door, holding up a bottle of beer.

  She nodded, walked towards him and took it out of his hand, forcing a smile before sitting back down and staring at the monitor as her baby slept.

  Lily took in the moment’s silence and glanced around the garden before closing her eyes and feeling the warm evening sunshine on her skin. The next think she knew he was stroking her hair as she looked at him.

  ‘Hello,’ she said seeing there was a dish of paella in front of her. ‘That looks wonderful!’

  ‘My seafood speciality,’ he said without a smile and peered into her eyes. ‘I know you want to talk about the future but can we just have some time for you and me?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said and sat up properly as he kissed her on the cheek before dishing out the food.

  Lily looked at him and knew she couldn’t lose him again but assessed his avoidance about ‘them’ was down to him either not wanting to be with her or not knowing what to do.

  ‘What do you think?’ he asked eagerly as she ate through half a plate quickly.

  ‘This is amazing,’ she said, impressed by his cooking skills. ‘I forget you’re a good cook.’

  ‘As opposed to your cooking which you covered in chilli to hide the taste,’ he laughed before shoving a massive spoon of rice in his mouth.

  ‘I like chilli,’ she smiled. ‘Is this paprika?’

  ‘Tia said it’s best to use the-.’ He stopped and looked at Lily as she immediately put down her fork of food.

  ‘It’s Tia’s recipe?’ she said, taking a deep breath. ‘I thought you didn’t see her anymore?’

  ‘I saw her at the beginning of the year and a few times since then,’ he said avoiding eye contact.

  ‘Where does she live?’

  ‘Spain,’ he mumbled as she pushed her plate of food away, immediately feeling riled.

  ‘I’m full,’ Lily said and sipped her beer.

  ‘Why do you still get jealous?’ Richard said, looking puzzled.

  ‘Did you sleep with her when you saw her last?’ Lily immediately knew the answer as he took a swig from his beer. ‘I see.’

  ‘I’m not going to lie to you,’ he grumbled.

  ‘You know what?’ she said standing up. ‘I’m pretty tired.’

  ‘Hey, don’t do this?’ he groaned. ‘It’s not like it was between us and-.’

  ‘Is that what you told her about me?’ she said angrily. ‘It’s not the same because I’m banged up with a child you don’t want to get involved with? You said to me, before you married your teen bride, you’d stay faithful and-.’

  ‘We weren’t together,’ he said bluntly.

  ‘And we obviously aren’t now, are we?’

  Lily stood there and stared at him as he threw his fork onto his plate and glared back at her.

  ‘I don’t want to talk about us.’

  ‘But I do.’

  ‘What do you want me to say?’ he said standing up abruptly. ‘I can’t tell you the things you want to hear because I am having a hard time getting my head around you having a baby.’

  ‘You don’t want me or the baby?’

  ‘It’s not my problem,’ Richard said and sat back down, wiping his mouth roughly with a napkin.

  ‘It’s my problem and a happy one,’ she said realising her happy bubble had combusted. ‘You’re still screwing Tia I take it?’

  ‘You didn’t want to talk to me.’

  ‘You were married!’ she shouted and took a deep breath. ‘And here was I thinking you were the injured party when all along you were fucking about, as per usual.’

  ‘I’m not talking to you when you’re like this,’ he said sharply.

  ‘Good!’ she bellowed. ‘Then don’t bloody well talk to me at all.’

  Lily stormed up the stairs and went into the bedroom, checking on Beau as she quietly started to pack their things, holding back her angry tears. She knew this wasn’t down to finding out about Tia, but her annoyance at him not making some sort of commitment. Lily stopped for a moment and sighed at her son.

  ‘We’ll be home soon my sweetheart. You come first from now on. Everyone else can just fuck off.’

  It was only eight thirty and she avoided glancing out of the window to see if Richard was still outside. There was a gentle knock on the door. She ignored it. The second knock was harder as she marched toward the door and flung it open.

  ‘You left this,’ he scowled handing her back the baby monitor.

  ‘Thanks,’ she huffed and went to close the door before he put his foot in the way.

  ‘I take it you don’t like my paella?’

  ‘I don’t like you screwing about.’

  ‘I love you very much, you know that.’

  ‘I don’t know anything when I find out you’re still fucking her,’ she hissed and tried to push the door shut before being forcibly pulled out by him. ‘Get off me!’

  ‘Listen to me for a moment,’ he said gently holding her wrists as she avoided eye contact. ‘It’s about now, not then. What I did in the past doesn’t matter, do you hear me?’

  ‘I hear,’ she said trying to pull her arms away.

  ‘I told you again and again I don’t want kids and I can’t take on someone else’s child but I am trying for you. Believe me it’s bloody hard,’ he gulped as she looked up at him. ‘You need to understand this effects my expectations, what I wanted.’

  ‘Do you really want me?’ she asked earnestly.

  ‘That’s a bloody stupid question.’

  ‘Is it?’

  After nearly a week of them being together, Richard pushed her up against the corridor, kissing her neck when the doorbell rang.

  ‘Will you get that?’ Eleanor shouted out from the garden, as Richard ignored the instructions and Lily tried to fend off his octopus arms. ‘And Richard leave the girl alone!’

  ‘Answer the door,’ she said pushing him away. ‘Do as your mum says.’

  ‘Let it wait.’

  ‘Come on,’ she said and watched as he stepped back and pulled a sulky face.

  He flung open the door and to Lily’s horror, John Bentley was standing on his door step.

  ‘What the hell is she doing here!’ shouted Bentley on seeing Lily.

  She was a little taken back by his hostility considering, not so long ago, he was being reasonably nice.

  ‘I thought it would be a good idea for Lily to stay here for a while until everything dies down,’ Richard said holding open the door as Bentley walked in.

  ‘Why didn’t you speak to me first?’ Bentley snapped and Lily recognised the familiar glare being generated in her direction.

  ‘Because you’d have told me not to do it so I took it upon myself to make sure she was okay,’ he said gently as he smiled at her.

  Lily caught the look of disgust on Bentley’s face as he walked into the living room.

  ‘We’ve got business to discuss and you have to fly back out to LA!’ Bentley shouted as Richard walked towards her, grimacing.

  ‘I think I’m in for a bollocking now,’ he sighed and kissed Lily gently on the lips.

  ‘I should go back home.’

  ‘Let me get this sorted and I promise I won’t gag when I change your beautiful baby’s nappy later on.’

  ‘You don’t have to do this, okay?’ she said feeling guilty about ‘your’ really knowing it was ‘our’. ‘We will talk about things, won’t we? I need to know where we stand and what happened with Tia.’

  ‘Lily,’ Richard’s smile faded. ‘You don’t need to know everything.’

  ‘I do,’ she said with steely resolve noticing his pained expression.

  ‘Okay,’ he eventually said.

  ‘Good.’

  Lily and Eleanor were in the garden and could hear the full stage quarrel happening ten minutes after Richard went in to speak with Bentley.

  ‘Is this normal?’ Lily asked worried about what was going on.

  ‘It can sometimes be incredibly heated between the pair of them, mostly when they’re talking about you,’ said Eleanor blankly. ‘They sound like an old married couple.’

  ‘Bentley must be the woman because all I can hear is him screeching.’

  ‘What have the pair of your been talking about for the past week?’ Eleanor smiled. ‘Have you sorted things out? Whatever, you both look really happy and I’m pleased.’

  Lily suddenly perked up when she heard Bentley say her name. Both Eleanor and Lily looked at each other when the words ‘bitch’ and ‘manipulate’ were said very loudly.

  ‘He’s talking about me I take it,’ Lily said getting edgy.

  ‘I’m going to listen. You stay here. ’

  Eleanor crept round the house as Lily smiled at Beau in his buggy. Fifteen minutes later Eleanor ran back and sat on the chair before they heard the front door slam shut. Lily could see she looked furious. Richard came out, his face red with anger and sat in a chair, glancing out at the garden.

  ‘Let me get Beau his milk,’ said Eleanor with a very terse expression on his face. ‘And I’d take kindly if you could tell John Bentley not to bloody well slam my door when he visits!’

  ‘He was annoyed.’

  ‘How could you let him speak to you like that!’

  ‘Were you listening?’ snapped Richard.

  ‘The whole street must have heard him!’

  ‘I’ll get the milk,’ Lily said and jumped up seeing she was going to be in the middle of a family dispute.

  ‘I think Richard needs to speak to you, don’t you Richard? I mean John Bentley seems to have a lot to say about your relationship and has the deciding vote!’ Eleanor turned and stormed back into the house as she shouted. ‘Why don’t you ever stick up for Lily? If you listen to him you’re going to make the biggest mistake of your life and I’m not going to console you this time!’

  Richard took a deep breath and closed his eyes as Lily’s heart immediately plummeted to the ground.

  ‘What happened in there? I heard Bentley say my name a few times before a string of expletives came out,’ she gently said and could see he was stressed from the frown on his forehead.

  ‘He doesn’t think it’s good that you’re in my life again,’ Richard sighed. ‘He thinks all you do is cause chaos and confusion wherever you go.’

  ‘Like a tornado,’ she smiled and could see he wasn’t happy which only added to the twisting in her gut. ‘What do you think?’

  ‘I think everything’s changed since you became a milf,’ Richard said staring hard at her. ‘Mothers I’d like to … I think the respectable word is ‘fancy’.’

  ‘Ah,’ said Lily nodding and smiling.

  ‘He thinks you’re after more money.’

  ‘I’m not!’

  ‘He thinks you went to the press and said all that stuff.’

  ‘Do you think I did?’

  ‘Not at all, because if you did you’d have slagged me off more and made a swipe at John,’ he smiled before his facial expression changed to concern. ‘What are we doing here?’

  ‘Your mum asked me to stay.’

  ‘I mean where do you and I go from here? What’s the plan?’

  ‘That’s what I’ve been asking you,’ she said shrugging, immediately getting scared. ‘Nothing to tie you down. You need time and space like Star Trek.’

  Richard went silent for a moment a looked away.

  ‘You’ve got a baby, Lily,’ he said quietly. ‘I told you I don’t want to be a father to another man’s child. I don’t want to be a father to even one of my own, full stop.’

  ‘I know,’ she gulped.

  ‘I love you but I’ll never have a relationship with your child, it’s really not my responsibility, and I don’t want it to be,’ he said and she saw his lip quiver. ‘John thinks it’s only a matter of weeks until I get bored and dump you.’

  ‘Alright,’ she said knowing he was going to say something awful, the fear quickly hitting her. ‘I see you have thought about it.’

  ‘If I do, where does that leave you?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she said knowing she was going to cry. ‘I love you so much Richard, you know that.’

 

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