Chapter 40
FORTY
KAT
SIX MONTHS LATER
I’ve made way too much food for the invite list, but I don’t care. Liam having everything means the world to me, and we might not have much money while we figure out what the hell to do with our lives, but I’ve made it my mission to make him smile as much as is humanly possible.
Great piles of chocolate chip cookies teeter on mismatched plates beside an enormous quiche and endless piles of cheese and cold meats.
Reggie jumps up, trying to get to the chicken, and I scoop him off the chair before he can make it to the table, then relegate him to the sunroom.
Hamish darts between my feet as I wash my hands, aiming to hoover up an errant piece of cheese.
I drop him another, while humming the Cheese Tax song to myself.
The ceiling of the kitchen-come-dining room, one of only two rooms we’ve so far furnished, is covered in brightly coloured paper chains.
Seeing them there, looping against the intricate ceiling in such stark contrast, makes me smile.
It took me hours to make them all, and it cost me numerous paper cuts, but I can’t see myself taking them down any time soon.
‘Kat,’ Liam says, swooping into the kitchen and gathering me up in his thick arms. ‘You did all this?’
‘It’s just a little food and some paper chains. Nothing crazy.’
Liam looks up at the colourfully decked ceiling in awe, and it breaks my heart. When he told me he’d never had a real birthday party, there was no way I’d let another year pass without one. Sandra had tried, but by that point he was a teenager surviving life, not celebrating it.
‘I love it,’ he says, tipping my chin to kiss me with utter tenderness. ‘You’re a top-notch fiancée, you know?’
‘So I’ve been told.’ I reach behind him and squeeze his backside. ‘Now put yourself to use, birthday boy, before I do.’
I raise my brows, and he grabs me by the ass, picking me up and pinning me against the counter. ‘You gonna put your money where your mouth is?’
‘Not unless you want Sandra to catch you with your naked ass out. But I promise that later you can do whatever you want with me…’
‘Whatever I want?’ he asks.
‘Always. I trust you.’
Liam steals one more lingering kiss before putting me back on the floor. ‘Where’s the mayor of Grumptown? Not like him not to be whiskers deep in food.’
‘I had to detain him in the sunroom. Can’t have paw prints in the icing.’
The doorbell rings, and I do a little skip on the way, discarding my apron on the back of a chair as I let Sandra and Colin in.
‘Kat, this place is something else. Every time I see it, it takes my breath away a little more.’ Sandra pulls me into a hug before I’m swiftly passed into
Colin’s fatherly arms.
‘Well, it’s still a little sparsely furnished, but we’re working on it. We thought we could do up the suite in the west wing and make you guys a little granny annex in case you ever want to stay over.’ I loop my elbow through Sandra’s as we walk back to the kitchen.
‘Granny?’ she asks, raising a brow.
I laugh and shake my head. ‘Not yet, but one day, I hope.’
‘You’ll be hard-pressed to get rid of us if there are babies.’
‘And the suite will be yours, to stay as often and as long as you like. I want this house to be filled with love.’
Sandra’s face softens, and she pats my hand. ‘You’re so good for each other.’
We enter the kitchen, only for Liam to pull us into a bear hug, which makes Sandra laugh. ‘Happy Birthday, my love.’
‘Thank you for coming.’
‘There’s nowhere else we’d rather be.’ Colin comes up and hugs Liam, clapping him on the back.
They take off their coats, and I pass around glasses of the neon cocktail I’ve knocked up—which thankfully tastes better than it looks.
‘This is for you,’ Sandra says, passing an envelope over to Liam.
He opens it and pulls out a card with a picture of a grumpy cat on the front who’s wearing a skew-whiff birthday hat. A smile lifts his mouth until he opens the card, furrows his brow, and snaps the card shut.
‘Sandra, I can’t—’
‘You can and you will. It’s a gift. Refusing a gift is rude.’ Sandra gives Liam a stern look as I take a long sip of my radioactive-looking drink.
‘It’s too much.’
‘No, my boy, it’s not. We know you can use it. Make your dreams come true.’ Sandra smiles at him before reaching for a block of cheese and popping it in her mouth, which sets Hamish off, wriggling around her feet.
‘Take the money, Liam,’ Colin says. ‘It’s best not to argue.’
‘And,’ I say, putting my drink down and clapping. ‘We have one more surprise for you.’
‘Kat—’
‘Humour me. It’s your bloody birthday.’ I cover his eyes and walk him through to the front door.
Sandra opens it, and I drop my hands right as Ellie barrels in and throws herself at Liam.
It took a while for us to get past the betrayals, both ours and theirs, but between postcards and photos, group chats and texts, we buried our grievances.
‘Happy birthday motherfucker!’ His face is a picture of shock as Ellie tackles him.
‘Ellie!’ Sandra admonishes her for cussing.
‘Group hug,’ she calls, pulling both Sandra and me into the cuddle. Freddie loiters near the door until Ellie grabs his hand and tugs him in, shortly followed by Colin. ‘God, I’ve missed you all.’
When I manage to detangle from her arms, I pull back and look her up and down.
Her skin has a deep golden glow, and worry seems to have melted from her face. Far more shockingly, she’s sporting what very much looks like a little baby bump. Sandra clocks it at the same time as I do and lets out an almighty shriek.
The men all look utterly perplexed until Sandra screams, ‘You’re having a baby?!’
‘I know it’s quick, but we’ve decided to embrace whatever life throws at us.’
For a minute, I’m worried that the surprise, with this extra surprise on top, might make Liam feel usurped on his own birthday, and I watch his scarred face, worry rising as he stares at Ellie’s stomach.
Then the most glorious grin covers his face, and he reaches out and gently touches the bump. ‘I’m going to be an uncle?’
Ellie nods, her eyes growing glassy. She reaches over and takes my hand. ‘And you’ll be an Aunt.’
Relief and joy swell in equal measure, and before long we’re all a mix of tears and laughter, babbling questions and shared excitement.
It’s late into the evening when we’re all stuffed with food, and all but one more than a little tipsy, when I light the candles on the cake. Liam’s face glows in the orange light, and he’s never looked more perfect to me.
We sing off-key and loud while Reggie manages to sneak onto the table, batting pieces of cheese at Hamish, who very much enjoys the game.
Liam blows out his candles to a resounding cheer from our little group. When everyone moves away, taking the cake to cut it up, I slip a hand onto Liam’s chest, snuggling in. He wipes a hand over his eyes before looking down at me.
‘You okay?’ I ask.
‘Better than okay. I have all of you here for me. I’ve finally got a family to call mine. For so long, I’ve kept them all at arm’s length, but now I feel like I can let them in rather than push them away.’
‘You’ve got a family,’ I say with a smile.
‘We have a family.’
Liam runs a thumb over my jaw before kissing me, to a shout of get a room from Ellie.
‘And it’s only going to grow,’ he says.
Smiling, I look out to the woods. To the place we first met, and the location of our deepest secrets. The caved-in well containing body after body. It’s dark now, but even in the brightest daylight, the forest has started reclaiming the scene of our very first kill.
Every family has secrets. Ours are just skeletons in a well instead of a closet.