25. Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Mack
O ur lives were perfect after that, everything settled down, we lived our everyday lives. Working hard, playing hard and loving hard.
Maisie and I moved into our dream house with Milo, who very quickly let us know that he was not happy with the arrangement at all! He cried and cried at the front door until we made the decision that he should live with Ace. It was hard on Maisie to let him go, he'd been her only friend for such a long time. But Milo had fallen in love and who were we to stand in the way of true love.
Maisie and I both worked incredibly hard over the next few years, we both graduated our respective courses, Maisie went to work full time at Meadowside Veterinary Practice which she adored, she was making real true friends there and had really hit it off with a sweet woman named Piper. The stories Maisie came home with had me howling, animals were such savages, getting themselves into all sorts of mischief.
I had graduated with my diploma in public services and was now working full time at Meadowside Fire Station which I loved. I had come a very long way since those dark and depressing teenage years. I wasn't completely terrified of life anymore. I could speak up, share my opinions, be myself without the fear of retaliation, abuse and back lash.
I was still naturally an anxious person but I think that was just so deeply ingrained in me now, it was my natural instinct to be cautious, primed and ready just in case I needed to be on high alert. Thankfully I hadn't yet found myself in a situation that made me feel uncomfortable, not since that camping trip back when Maisie and I first got together.
Maisie was my strength, she was my calm and my bravery. She brought out the very best traits in me and thanks to her I'd made a group of lifelong friends. Brothers really, they were family.
Jax had lived a wild few years, finally coming out of his awkward teenage stage and taking to a different stage altogether. When he turned twenty two, he decided that he wanted to own his own pub. However, the Bowman's didn't come from money. The only thing they had to their name was the house that we had all lived in. So, Jax used his initiative and decided that the best way to earn a quick buck would be to take his clothes off for money. Now, I was objectively comfortable in my own sexuality to be able to admit that Jax was an incredibly good looking guy, tall, muscled, tattooed. It just so happened that stripping would give him the confidence boost he needed to pry him out of his shell.
In the end, he'd met Piper at the club, falling head over heels in love, left the club, brought a pub, got married and had baby Beau. Of course also becoming step dad to Posie in the process, who practically worshipped the ground he walked on.
Ace and Lily finally got together, after years of insisting they were just friends they finally took the plunge and gave things a try. If I'm honest, I'm pretty sure Ace continued to force the issue until Lily finally relented and gave him a chance. In my mind though, they were always meant to be best friends, there was a unique love there between them. A comfort, a need to have each other close but not in the way you'd expect from a couple. They were each others person. I'd never said that to either of them though, it hadn't been my place so I'd just kept it quiet .
Maisie agreed with me though, those two were destined to be great, true friends. I think Lily felt that way too, her love for Ace was deep and real. You could see it in her eyes when she looked at him, there was a fondness, a deep respect but not all consuming romantic love. I just hoped when things came to an end that Ace didn't get his heart completely obliterated.
That man loved completely, he put his absolute everything into every relationship he held, he didn't have any sense of self preservation and that was a worry that plagued me.
Then there was Hugh and Grace. What an absolutely perfect couple they are. Their love shone above all else, when they looked at each other you could feel the energy change and true love pulse between them. After they'd gotten married, they moved into their own little house and Hugh graduated shortly afterwards. They decided very early on that they wanted to start a family straight away and we all knew that whatever children they managed to bring into the world would be truly outstanding, just like them.
They tried for a baby for a long time but when it finally happened and they welcomed gorgeous little Lucie into the world, ah man, was it worth it. That kid was unbelievable, not only was she utterly gorgeous with huge chocolate brown eyes and a messy mop of brown curls on her head but she brought the entire group of us even closer together. We all became uncles and aunties overnight and we all loved that little girl as if she was our own.
I'd never known a person to hold such true, unconditional kindness like Grace. She was probably the nicest person I'd ever met, willing to do anything to help anybody. Goodness shone from her, people gravitated towards her. She was the most incredible mother to Lucie, it came naturally to her and you could tell just by watching them together that being a parent was Grace's calling in life, it was her destiny and we all loved her all the more for it.
Life was perfect, it was incredible. We were all exactly where we were supposed to be in that moment in time.
Everything was amazing, until it wasn't.
The nicest person on the planet was taken ill, really ill. There was no stopping what happened next and all of our hearts were truly obliterated when Grace died. She handled her illness with courage and grace right up until the very end. She made peace with her destiny and said her goodbyes to us all. She left behind a gorgeous family, a heartbroken husband and a group of friends who would miss her forever.
Why did the worst things always have to happen to the very best people? I know that Hugh would have traded places with her in a heartbeat. He would have taken her pain and suffering and made it his own.
There would always be a Grace shaped hole in all of our lives. We grew up together, we became adults together and she helped us all in more ways than any of us could explain. We didn't just lose a friend that day, we lost the soul of the group, the mother hen, the calming voice and the warmest hugs.
Life would never be the same again and we would all struggle with that loss for a very very long time.
We had to sit and watch Hugh's heart shatter into a million pieces, we watched the depression swallow him whole when he retreated into himself for such a long time. Impenetrable walls went up all around him and stayed there for years. He lived for Lucie and Lucie alone, there was no way he would ever leave her but I knew that if Lucie hadn't been around then we would probably have a Hugh shaped hole in our lives too.
Hugh and Grace were soulmates, the forever kind of love we all prayed for. I counted my blessings everyday that my soulmate was here with me, she was healthy and happy and I'd never ever take that for granted. I couldn't even bare to imagine the soul deep pain that Hugh was feeling, but there was nothing any of us could do but be there. Be there when he needed a break, be there when he needed a friend and be there when he needed a shoulder to cry on. And let me tell you, I'd never witnessed a man completely break the way I'd seen Hugh shatter. The gut wrenching sobs that left him, on multiple occasions were enough to bring me to my knees. It was hard to watch, heart breaking to witness . I couldn't help him, I couldn't take his pain away and I owed that to him.
He'd helped me all those years ago, he'd taken away my pain and made me strong and I couldn't repay the favour. I couldn't mend his heart, none of us could, apart from Lucie. As she grew, she learned about her mummy and what had happened. She was quite possibly the most mature little girl I'd probably ever met. She was only fifteen months when Grace died, she had no memories of her but she understood. She was able to comprehend the loss and anguish we all felt.
She exuded goodness, just like her mum. Grace would live on in that little girl and she would bring a little bit of solace to us all.
Life had flown by and before we knew it Grace had been gone for more than two years. Things had settled somewhat. Hugh was able to function again, he still lived every single day for Lucie but that's what got him through.
One day it would be his time again, I truly believed that he wouldn't be alone forever, Grace wouldn't want that for him. In fact, her very last words to me were "Don't let my Hughie be alone forever, show him it's okay to love again." I made that promise to her which felt incredibly wrong whilst she was laying on her death bed but the look in her eyes told me that she needed for me to tell her that. She wouldn't be able to leave in peace if she knew that he wasn't going to be okay.
So I made that promise and I was damn near determined to keep it.
Little did we know a little something, or a little someone was on the horizon for our Hughie. A tiny, curvy brunette with sad eyes named Sophie. The rest as they say, is history … or is it?