Chapter 8
By the next morning, I felt a lot better. I enjoyed my morning O-neg which had followed some morning O’s, and found I really liked the taste of the raspberry leaf tea.
“I will go to Hanif’s tonight,” I told Theo, who’d just come in from seeing to the chickens and was about to go to bed.
“Really?”
“Yes, it’ll be a lovely date night. Just the two of us.”
“I shall look forward to it,” he said.
“Soon we’ll have the baby, so I think we should make the most of our alone time while we can.”
“I’m not wearing the wig so you can pretend you’re on a date with Spike though,” he stated.
Damn, my husband knew me too well.
Theo left the room, and before I went to work, I took the opportunity to look around the living room. There was no sign of any musical instruments lying around. Good, hopefully, all was back to normal.
Then I heard a strange wailing sound.
Oh please, no. Not another ghost in the building.
Following the sound, I cautiously brought my blue webs to my fingertips and headed over to the Bed and Breakfast side. The noise was coming from Mary and Edward’s old room. One we’d recently redecorated ready to use for guests now that they’d moved on. Were they back and sad we’d modernised?
The noise was horrendous, but as I got nearer, I realised what it was.
Theo was singing a lullaby. Only he’d changed the words.
“Rock a bye baby, not on a treetop.
Because it could be deathly if you should drop.
If the bough breaks,
And the cradle should fall.
You’d be at risk
Of a branch proving fat-al.”
I wasn’t sure which was worse. His singing or his reworked lyrics. But I did know I needed to find a way for Theo to be able to entertain our newborn without it sounding like fingernails down a blackboard.
* * *
“Morning,” I said jovially to Sita and Kim who were at the reception desk, before saying the same to Samara and Max.
“She’s had sex,” Kim announced loudly.
“Kim!”
“Don’t worry. It’s just a public service announcement that basically informs everyone that you’ll be in a good mood today, which we need after yesterday,” she added.
“My office. Now.” I pointed in the direction of the doors that led through to our offices.
“Ooh, yay, a debrief about how you were de-briefed.” She clapped her hands.
Sita’s eyes met mine, amusement beginning to crease the edges.
I rolled mine.
I decided Friday couldn’t come soon enough, especially when Kim didn’t stop yapping all the way to my office.
“…and that’s when I told him straight that there would be no more cubs until Alyssa turned eighteen and took over as alpha.”
Opening the door, I got myself a glass of water and sat behind my desk.
“Tell me everything,” Kim said, sitting opposite.
As I saw her eager expression, I relented. It wasn’t that long ago that we spent all our time gossiping. She was my best friend and I needed to remember that. Yes, our lives had changed with the business expanding and motherhood, but I needed to make time for our friendship.
“He wore a Spike wig,” I confessed.
“You lucky sod! Darius won’t dress as a vampire. When I asked him, he said ‘Over his dead body’. I told him if he was being a vampire he’d be playing the part of a dead body, but that just earned me a withering look.”
“It was great, but Theo’s just trying to get the baby to come early. He thinks I’ll not be moody then, because of course a newborn baby won’t create any stress in our lives, will it?” I sighed.
“It might not. You’re having time off. You’re so used to there being problems to face that now you’re anticipating them before they happen. Are you sure you’re not still suffering trauma from what happened with Satan?” she enquired.
“No, I’m fine with everything that happened during the war. I guess I’m just nervous about being a mum again. The first time went so fast. I don’t want to do anything wrong.”
“Oh, Shelley, you’ll do lots of things wrong. We all do. I was so tired a couple of days ago that I put a dress on one of the boys. I didn’t even notice until I passed Finian to Darius for a feed and he spotted his mole.”
“I guess.”
“You’ve got a limited amount of time before the baby comes, Shelley. Don’t spend it worrying and fretting. Spend it getting your rocks off with a husband willing to dress up for you. He could be Angel tonight.”
“My Angel Delight. The perfect dessert for after our meal out tonight.” I smiled thinking about it. Kim was right. I needed to make the most of this time, and not worry about what-ifs.
“You’re off out?”
“Yes, Theo has booked us in at Hanif’s.”
“Because he thinks a hot curry will do the trick?”
“Yup.”
“Hot curry, and hot sex with his hot dog. I wonder if Freya and Billy fancy babysitting tonight so that Darius and I can also have a night of passion. Otherwise, I’ll be even more jealous tomorrow.”
“He’ll try and get you pregnant again.”
“He’s always trying to get me pregnant. Can’t get past the lovely little tablets I take to stop it though. Anyway, deep down, he knows that being an alpha means three children are more than enough right now. Until he can detach from being in charge, or until the cubs are a little older, he’s just going to have to be patient.”
“Sounds sensible.”
“Yeah, who’d have thought it? Me being sensible. Anyway, back to your meal tonight. Do you think you can behave yourself around Rav’s food this time?”
“Well, I won’t be testing that Theo’s a vampire, or trying to cause a diversion at Sita’s, so hopefully it’ll all be fine. I’ve been there lots of times without throwing food you know.”
She laughed. “Yeah, but that’s not as entertaining.”
“Surprised you’re not coming to watch.”
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I instantly regretted them.
“Ooh, I wonder if Darius fancies spicy food before a spicy evening?”
“Kim, I’m not your evening’s entertainment,” I warned, but true to form, she ignored me.
“Gotta dash. Lots of work to do. Catch you later.”
With that, she was gone.
And so were my hopes of a romantic meal with my husband, just the two of us.
* * *
Sita walked in soon afterwards with a writing pad and a pen. “I have an urgent message for you, Shelley. I would have given it to you as soon as you came in, but Kim got to you first.”
“Don’t worry. What is it?” I asked.
“Conran Nelson called about his date last night. He says it’s imperative you call him straightaway.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” I sighed. “Give me his number.”
Sita left and I made the call. Then sighing even louder, I sent a message to Zara asking her to contact me as soon as possible.
She called me just after lunch.
“Hi, Shelley. Sorry, I only just saw the message. I’ve been having a lazy morning.”
“No problem. It’s about your date last night. I’ve been talking to Conran—”
Zara interrupted me. “—I suppose he’s told you all about what a nightmare I was when really it was all him. I honestly can’t believe the algorithm set me up with that pig of all people.”
“That’s just it, Zara. It didn’t.”
The other end of the line went quiet.
“Conran bottled out due to nerves. He told his friend to come to the pub to let you know that he wasn’t coming, and, well, his friend decided to pretend to be Conran and have the date.”
Zara proceeded to tell me about the nightmare date she’d endured.
“I can only apologise. Conran has been removed from our books now. He can thank his stupidity and his friend for that. He was clearly told to call us if he couldn’t make the date. I will look for your next match. When are you free?”
“I’m working tonight, but I’m off tomorrow evening if that works?”
“Okay, leave it with me then and I’ll make sure your next date is doubly aware of the fact that they cannot send someone along to cancel and have to inform the dating agency directly if they can’t attend.”
“At least I still have faith in your algorithm now,” she said.
“It can still take a while to find a perfect match,” I reminded Zara. “Your type on the computer can’t take into account that physical connection. That extra something in chemistry that’s needed.”
“Funny you should say that. I bumped into a guy on my way out of the agency yesterday and we shared a moment. I thought so anyway. I could have been wrong.”
Zara proceeded to describe Boone of all people. Boone who wanted to date a human female…
“I think I know who that is, and also, I know they’re definitely single. I’ll run both your details through the system and see how it turns out.”
“You know best. Anyway, thanks for letting me know about why my date went so awry. I’ll look forward to the next now, rather than dreading it.”
Ending the call, I ran through Zara’s details alongside Boone’s and then I went in search of Max. I’d just managed to feed him the results from the computer when Kim returned from her lunch break.
“We’re on for tonight,” she said. “Babysitters are booked.”
“On for what?” Max asked, his eyes looking from me to Kim and back again.
“Double date at Hanif’s,” Kim stated.
“But I want to come out too. Can we triple date? Brandon and I love curry,” he whined.
“I will see if there is a vacancy,” Sita shouted. “Then I get to talk to my son. It’s not like he calls me much anymore. I’m forgotten now he has fallen in love.” She picked up the phone. I turned to Samara. “I suppose you want to come along too?”
Sam scoffed. “I’m in no rush to get this baby out, so no, I will not be joining you this evening. Can’t talk for the rest of Withernsea though.” She smirked at me as Sita announced that she’d booked in Max, Brandon, and a seat for herself, as that way she ‘might actually get to spend time with my son’. Theo and I’s date had now turned into a table for seven.
I placed a hand on my belly. If you want to come out before seven pm, I really wouldn’t mind, I thought. My unborn child didn’t even kick in response.
* * *
“I’m so looking forward to our date tonight,” Theo said as I walked through the door. He was already dressed for the occasion.
“Yeah, hold that thought,” I replied, letting him know we would now not be alone.
“It is my intention that my wife shall have a lovely evening, so leave it to me. If any of our guests begin to spoil the ambience, I shall deal with it,” he said, taking me into his embrace—as much as a large pregnant belly would allow.
“Are you sure we can’t cancel and just stay here, the two of us? It could be one of the last nights it is just us two,” I pleaded.
Theo looked down, his gaze catching my own. “Your best friend wants to spend time with you. We’re going. She’d only turn up here anyway.”
I nodded. “You’re right. I’m sure everything will turn out fine. I’ll go get washed and changed, and we’ll get on our way. We could at least have a drink at the bar in peace before the others arrive if we get there early.”
“That’s the spirit, wife.”
“The only one I’ll be having,” I joked.
“Forgive me if I end up having several,” Theo said. “An evening with Kim, Max, and Sita.” He shook his head. “Even an evening with my moody wife might be preferable.” He then winked at me, before dashing out of my company.