Chapter 42
While the boys washed their hands, Lauren padded through to the hall, and then into the living room, to see if Marc really had taken the opportunity to get a quick bit of shut-eye.
He hadn’t come back through to the kitchen to check on them, but she was half expecting him to be keeping an ear out, in case of trouble.
However, when she glanced over to the sofa, she saw he’d crashed out, obviously grateful for the chance to snooze.
Smiling, flattered by the trust he’d put in her, she crossed the expanse of living room until she was close to the sofa.
Lauren noticed the deep purple shadows under Marc’s eyes and wondered how much sleep he was used to getting. She figured that both boys were old enough to sleep through the night but wondered if the early mornings took their toll. They must on any parent, especially one doing it alone.
In sleep, the waking worries had been ironed out of his expression.
His long legs, slightly bent at the knees to fit onto the sofa, looked invitingly sexy, and Lauren surprised herself by imagining what they would feel like, wrapped around her.
She imagined curling up with him under the sheets, feeling the warmth of his body, the sensations of them making love…
Stop it. Stop it right now.
She gave herself a mental shake. They needed to be slow, steady, gentle. Hopefully there would be time for faster, more urgent things later. All the same, she couldn’t resist reaching out a hand and gently stroking Marc’s tousled hair. She’d allow herself that, for now.
Her hand rested at the nape of his neck, and reluctant as she was to wake him, she couldn’t tear herself away.
The sound of the tap running in the kitchen suggested that the boys were still washing up, and so she dropped to her knees at the head of the sofa, and before she could think better of it, she’d placed a kiss on Marc’s forehead.
Marc stirred, his eyelids fluttering, and gave a groan. ‘Oh God, did I drop off?’ he murmured. ‘I’m sorry, Lauren, I didn’t mean to leave you with those two terrors.’
‘It’s fine.’ Lauren smiled down at him. ‘We had fun.’
Marc’s eyes widened as she pulled back slightly so they could see each other better. ‘But that was a lovely way to wake up.’
They moved towards each other again, and Lauren breathed in anticipation of another delicious kiss. Closer, closer…
‘Daddy, come and see what we’ve made!’ Luca’s shrill, excited voice came from the kitchen.
Lauren pulled back with a grin. ‘Maybe later?’
Marc groaned in frustration. ‘Bloody kids.’ He sat upright, running a hand across his eyes, scrunching his nose in a way that immediately reminded Lauren of Liam and Luca. They were mini-images of Marc, with their wavy dark hair and brown eyes.
‘Do you want me to pretend you’re still asleep?’ she whispered, a mischievous glint in her eye. ‘I reckon you’re good for another twenty minutes’ kip if you need it.’
‘As lovely as that sounds, I’d like to see what you’ve all been up to,’ Marc replied. ‘I’ll be there in a sec.’ He smiled back at her. ‘And we’ll continue this later…’
Lauren’s pulse quickened at the suggestion in his smile. She hurried back to the kitchen, to supervise the icing of the cakes, before the boys took it upon themselves to start without her.
‘Daddy fell asleep on the sofa,’ she said, as she saw the two of them waiting expectantly by the kitchen island to complete the cakes. ‘He’ll be in in a sec. Do you want to help me to mix up the butter cream, and choose which of the icing pens you want to use to draw your designs?’
Luca and Liam both nodded solemnly, and in perfect time with one another.
This was serious business, and they obviously intended to do their best. As they busied themselves with making the icing, Lauren mused on how lovely it was to spend time with them.
She’d never seen herself as the maternal type, but there was something so relaxed about Marc and his sons.
She knew she wanted to discover more about them all.
Marc appeared at the kitchen door as they were beating the ingredients for the icing.
Lauren glanced up at him and smiled and then returned her attention to supervising the boys, making sure that the finely powdered icing sugar didn’t end up going everywhere.
Adding in a few drops of green food colouring to Lucas’s bowl, so that he could put his stegosaurus on a light green background, she then turned to Liam.
‘What colour would you like your icing to be?’
Liam considered for a long moment. ‘Black. I want to put some stars on and make the sky.’
‘Okay,’ Lauren replied. She added in some drops, and soon Liam’s bowl was full of a decent black-grey icing.
They both proceeded to smooth their icing onto their cakes.
Then, with concentration that would be admirable from a winner of The Great British Bake Off, the boys used the sugar syrup icing pens that Lauren had brought with her and carefully recreated the designs in their sketch pads onto the tops of the cakes.
In the meantime, Marc had sidled up to the kitchen island, taken a seat and was watching them all, fascinated.
Lauren tried not to keep glancing at him, for fear of giving away her feelings in front of the twins, but every so often she couldn’t resist. Every time she looked his way, she was encouraged to see him looking back at her.
He’d obviously run a brush through his hair and tucked his polo shirt back in, before returning to the kitchen.
She was flattered that he’d made the effort.
He also looked happy and relaxed, and all of this felt… natural.
‘Wow, boys, these look amazing!’ Marc said, when they’d iced the cakes. He reached out to grab one, but Liam pushed his hand away. ‘Not yet, Dad. We’re not finished.’
‘Really?’ Marc raised an eyebrow and grinned in Lauren’s direction. ‘Seems to me, if you put any more icing on them, they’ll be more sugar than sponge!’
Lauren, who’d pinched a couple of the boys’ cupcakes to decorate herself, more for something to do with her hands to calm the butterflies in her stomach, had cut out the centres and filled hers with icing, putting the cut-out bits of cake back on top to make butterfly wings.
She sprinkled a few multi-coloured sugar strands on top, and left it at that, not wanting to steal the boys’ limelight.
‘Are we ready to put them on the cake stand?’ she asked, when she spotted that both Liam and Luca were spooning their leftover icing not onto the cakes, but into their mouths.
Both boys grinned and nodded. Icing finished, they presented their creations on the pretty cupcake stand Lauren had brought over with her.
She’d found a method online using second-hand china plates, sourced mainly from Purrfect Paws charity shop, struts and a tile drill bit that meant she could create as many stands for Hope’s Café as she wanted.
The cakes, decorated to the max with dinosaurs, stars, multi-coloured sugar strands, silver and gold fondant balls and some rather garish butter icing in blue, green, black and a last-minute yellow that the boys had mixed in separate bowls, looked quite something on top of the delicate flower-patterned china.
‘You’ve done brilliantly,’ Lauren turned to both boys and gave them a broad smile. ‘I’d love one or two of these with a nice cup of tea.’
The boys sat down obediently at the table, and Lauren went fill the kettle, but Marc caught her arm as she passed him. ‘Oh no you don’t. You’ve been doing the hard yards with the cake decorating this afternoon. Let me serve you your tea.’
The warmth of his hand on the sensitive skin beneath her elbow sent a shiver down Lauren’s spine.
He looked deeply into her eyes, and his thumb, as if it had a mind of its own, began to stroke the inside of her elbow gently.
Lauren’s breath shortened, and her lips parted as Marc’s gaze lingered, first on her eyes, and then flickering down to her mouth.
‘All right,’ she said softly. ‘If you say so.’
‘I do.’
They were so close, so achingly close to something. Marc’s hand began to slide upwards, bringing Lauren nearer to him, and she almost forgot that they were in the company of two very eager six-year-olds, who wanted to get stuck into some cake.
‘Dad! Hurry up and make the tea!’ Liam’s voice, with a trace of imperiousness, commanded. ‘I want some hot Ribena, though. Tea’s gross!’
‘Me too,’ Luca echoed.
With a jolt that Lauren felt, Marc seemed to come back to the here and now. ‘Right away, Boss!’ Recovering himself, he dropped his hand from Lauren’s arm and gave her a wink. ‘Your wishes are my command.’
This gave Lauren a minute or two to catch her breath and regain her equilibrium. She walked to the table and sat swiftly down to still her shaky knees.
She tried to centre herself by looking out across the lake.
Today, it was shrouded in a heavy mist, which rolled, ghost-like across the calm, grey water.
The muted colours were no less beautiful, but it gave the lake house an even more remote, cut-off air.
She grinned as, when she turned back to the twins, still sitting at the island, she saw they were already pinching the toppings they’d placed so carefully on their cakes, and sticking them in their mouths.
‘Can we eat them now?’ Liam demanded.
Lauren laughed. ‘Do you want to bring the cake stand to the table, and then Dad can choose the ones he wants to eat, first?’ Glancing at the two boys, she added, ‘We made sure that Luca’s were on the top level of the stand, as he made one less, and Liam’s were on the bottom.
’ That should prevent any accusations of favouritism, if Marc knew to take a cake from each part of the stand, she thought.
‘Surely it’s only fair that I get to try your creations as well?’
Lauren grinned. ‘Three helpings of cake? You’ll be bouncing off the walls by bedtime!’ Nevertheless, she brought her cakes over and popped the pair of them on the smallest level of the cake stand. ‘There you go.’
The boys were excited and talking about taking one of their cakes into school each for Mrs Saint.
‘Which one do you think I should give her?’ Liam asked. ‘The one with the spider on?’ He pointed to a mainly green iced cake with a black blob and eight spindly legs, and silver balls for eyes.
‘That one would be lovely,’ Lauren said. She didn’t dare to look behind her, where she could hear Marc pouring the water into the teapot. Suddenly too nervous to even contemplate munching on a cupcake, she willed her pulse to slow.
‘Here we are.’ Marc brought the teapot to the table and then hurried back to get two steaming mugs of Ribena. ‘Dig in, but be careful, boys. I’ve put a bit of cold water in your mugs but they’re still very warm.’
‘Have this one first, Dad.’ Liam pulled one of his cakes from the stand and plopped it onto Marc’s plate.
‘And this one,’ Luca added, doing the same.
Marc glanced down at the riot of colours and patterns on his plate, then looked back up at Lauren.
‘Wow… I don’t know where to start. These look…
incredible.’ There was a teasing twinkle in his eye, and despite their ‘moment’ over brewing the tea, Lauren began to relax again.
‘Shall I pour?’ He briskly filled her cup first with milk and then tea.
‘Thanks.’ She felt in need of a cuppa, and she nodded in approval. ‘Not bad. If you ever decide you want a change of career, you could always come and work for me in the café!’
Marc laughed. ‘I’m back at my own job in January, but I daresay, after slogging my way through yet another interminable AI-related debacle, that will sound like living the dream!’
‘Well, it suits me.’
Marc sat down and, to try to forestall any arguments, he took swift bites of both cupcakes in quick succession. ‘Wow, lads, these are great!’ he mumbled through a mouthful.
The boys beamed. ‘Which is your favourite?’ Liam asked slyly.
‘Difficult to say,’ Marc hedged. ‘Perhaps I’d better try Lauren’s one, as well.’ He reached out a hand to the top of the cake stand. After a pause to drink and swallow, he shook his head and looked back down at his plate. ‘I can’t decide between you all.’
Liam groaned, but Luca beamed. Lauren just smiled. Parental diplomacy at its best.
They chatted together, and Lauren wasn’t surprised that the combination of sugar and caffeine seemed to perk Marc back up. So much so, that when they’d finished clearing away, he even suggested a game of Twister.
‘The boys haven’t forgiven me for smashing it on Christmas Day and have been demanding a rematch ever since. What do you reckon?’
Lauren giggled. ‘I’m not sure I’m good for much contortion after all that cake!’ Despite the butterflies in her stomach, she had managed to eat some of the boys’ creations.
‘Boys, why don’t you play each other for the first round, and then we can join in for the second?’
Needing no further encouragement, Liam and Luca shot off to the living room, and Marc and Lauren followed in their wake.
‘Look,’ Marc said quietly, once the boys were out of earshot, ‘I just wanted to say thanks for this afternoon. You didn’t need to do any of that, and they look like they had a great time. I really appreciate it. And that you let me have a quick snooze.’
‘You’re welcome.’ Lauren smiled up at him. ‘They’re such sweet kids, and I had a lovely time, too.’
‘They’re sweet, yeah, but it was sweeter of you to do it.’
That pause, so heavily loaded in the kitchen, descended between them again. Neither of them had mentioned the kisses or had the chance to repeat them. Perhaps now was the time? Lauren opened her mouth, screwing her courage to the sticking place.
‘Before we go in there and get stuck into Twister, there’s something I wanted to say,’ she said, trying to sound more self-assured than she felt.
‘Yeah?’ Marc’s eyes were warm, and as she looked up at him, she could see them softening with affection.
‘I, er, really liked kissing you the other night, and on Christmas Day. And, if you wanted to kiss me again… well, that would be all right. More than all right, in fact.’
‘Would it now?’ The teasing tone in Marc’s voice belied the smile on his lips. ‘Well, that’s all right, then. If you promise not to headbutt me again!’
‘I promise.’
Lauren saw Marc glancing in the direction of the living room, then, when he’d assessed the coast was clear, he moved towards her.
Taking that as her cue, Lauren reached up and rested a hand at the back of his neck, as Marc slid an arm around her waist. She gently pulled him towards her until their lips met.
The kiss was as sweet as the icing on the cupcakes.