Chapter 35
CHARLIE
“Charlie.” I groan, rolling over onto my stomach and shove my head under the pillow, ignoring Jace as he hisses out my name softly a second time. When he grabs my shoulder and gives it a good shake, I finally relent, reluctantly opening my eyes.
“What?” I mumble out.
“I have to go,” he whispers and that wakes me up. Lifting my head, I squint in the low light of the lamp Bonnie leaves on during the night, unable to stand the dark anymore after everything she’s been through. Can't say I don’t blame her.
“What? Where are you going?” I ask, looking around the room to get a feel for the time. Whilst our arrangement downstairs was great, it wasn’t exactly practical to keep two mattresses in the middle of the loungeroom, so we moved it upstairs after the first night.
At first Mitchell suggested we use his room, but we quickly realised that his computer setup didn’t leave enough floor space for both mattresses to lay side by side, even if we were to take his bedframe out of the room, so we ended up setting up in Bonnie’s room.
“One of the shelters I reached out to the other day needs an emergency groom, and they asked if I could do it.”
“It’s the middle of the night, why do they need a groom now?
“Because, the police raided a dog fighting ring earlier tonight and a few of the dogs they rescued need medical attention but the state they’re in is preventing or delaying that.
I’ll know more when I get there but it sounds like at least one of them is so badly matted that the police actually thought the wrong end was the head. ”
“Can't the vet or vet nurses shave the dog?” I don’t mean the question to come out sounding as rude as it does, but I’m barely awake so my filter isn’t exactly up and running. Fortunately, Jace is accustomed to my half-sleep state and gives me an indulgent smile, not taking offence.
“It’s not always as easy as that. These dogs are probably severely underweight and dehydrated.
It’s easy to nick them and vets don’t always carry grooming equipment.
One of the vet nurses tried to cut out a mat to clean a wound and nicked the poor dog so they reached out to the groomer they normally use but they’re out of the country at the moment. ”
“What time is it?” I sit up, stretching as I let out a yawn that cracks my jaw and pops my ear. “Ow.”
“Nearly two,” he answers, digging through our duffle bags to pull out a pair of socks and a change of clothes.
We’ve only been asleep for a couple hours, and if he hadn’t been getting more sleep in the past few days than he has in the six years we’ve been living together, I’d be concerned about him driving.
“Okay, you go have a shower. I’ll make you a coffee to go.”
“You don’t have to. Go back to sleep. I just needed you to know before I go.” I wave him off, getting up and heading downstairs, not bothering to find any pants to put over my boxers. It’s the middle of the night, everyone is asleep and it’s not like I’m not covered, so it’s fine.
Shuffling in the dark, I make my way into the kitchen and turn the rangehood light on so I can see without blinding myself with the brighter ceiling lights. Letting out another yawn, I flick the jug on and head outside to go grab Jace’s thermos from inside the RV while it boils.
By the time it’s done and I’m putting the lid on his thermos tumbler, I feel Jace come up behind me and he plants a kiss on the back of my neck, causing me to lean back into him. “Thank you.”
“Always,” I tell him, my voice still a little deep from sleep. He reaches around me, taking the tumbler from my hand and places it on the bench before gently turning me to face him and pulls me in for a kiss.
“I love you, Charlie.”
“I love you too.” I give him another quick kiss before reaching behind me and grabbing his drink. “Now, go warm the RV up and double check all of your equipment and tools. I’ll be out in a sec.”
He heads outside and I throw a couple of slices of bread into the toaster. While I wait for it to cook, I quickly scramble together a packed lunch for him, figuring I may as well do Charlotte’s while I’m at it.
When the toast pops, I rush to slather on some butter and vegemite before wrapping them in a paper towel and grabbing everything to head outside.
“Drive safe,” I tell him, handing over his breakfast and lunch, followed by one last kiss and then I step back, giving him plenty of room to turn the RV around.
I stand and watch him leave until the taillights disappear, then I head back inside.
A quick glance at the time glowing on the microwave lets me know it’s only been about ten minutes since Jace woke me up.
Quickly putting everything away, I turn the rangehood and leave the kitchen, more than ready to head back upstairs to get more sleep.
“Everything okay?” I jump at the sound, spinning around to see Bonnie standing at the bottom of the stairs in the patch of light coming from the upstairs hallway light. “Sorry,” she says, a hint of laughter in her voice at having startled me, and I make my way towards her.
“Yeah,” I answer her question, recapping what Jace told me, but I jump again when I hear the sound of the front door locking. “Jesus,” I mutter, looking over my shoulder to see Mitchell putting the chain on the door and checking the deadbolt.
“When did you come downstairs?” I didn’t even know he was awake.
“Will he be alright to drive?” he asks instead of answering my question, and I nod.
“He has a habit of yelling at the idiots on the road, but he is a good driver,” I admit. “He’ll be fine.”
With that, we head upstairs and climb back into bed.
As soon as we pull the covers over us, my phone dings and I smile, reaching over and grabbing it from Bonnie’s nightstand to see Jace has turned his location sharing on.
Setting my phone back down, I let Bonnie and Mitchell know then snuggle in close, drifting off to sleep in seconds.
“Come on Charlie, get up!” Little hands press down on my shoulder, shaking me and I give a weak attempt to bat them away, earning me a giggle.
“Five more minutes,” I grumble out, my eyes heavy with sleep and refusing to open.
She giggles again and mumbles under her breath, “You asked for it.” I’m too slow to process her words, and before I can roll out of the way, a weight lands on my stomach, causing me to let out a loud grunt.
Finally opening my eyes, Charlotte gives me a wicked grin and shrugs. “If I have to be awake, you have to be awake.” That doesn’t seem fair, I did my time in school and then some and I didn’t wake her up when I got up a few hours ago. Wait, what time is it anyway?
“Okay, I’m up.” Her elbow digs into one of my ribs as she tries to get up, and I jerk on the mattress to escape it, a chuckle forcing its way out of my mouth.
We both freeze, and I see the moment she realises I’m ticklish.
“Don’t do it,” I warn her, fully awake now but she simply maintains eye contact and does it again.
“Oh, it’s on.” Her eyes widen and she lets out a high-pitched giggle, racing out of the room and I throw the blanket aside, jumping out of bed to chase after her.
She spots me as she rounds a wall and the squeal she lets out is enough to make me want to wiggle my finger into my ear as it echoes through the house.
I catch her just before she heads downstairs, scooping her up. “Your turn.” Another squeal hits my ears as I gently dig my fingertips into her ribs, tickling her back.
“No!” she squeals between fits of giggles, wiggling widely in my arms. “Stop!”
“Oh, not so fun is it? Want me to stop?” I laugh out, getting one last tickle in for good measure.
“Yes! Yes!”
“Well then,” I say, carrying her into her bedroom. “You better get ready for school,” I tell her before launching her into the air. She lets out a small scream, flying through the air and bouncing on her mattress.
I quickly grab her uniform off the top of her dresser and throw it at her, and she gives me a mock glare, fighting a smile as it lands on her head, making us both laugh.
I turn around to leave her to it, only to find Bonnie leaning against the doorframe, watching us with a soft smile on her face.
She hasn’t put her contacts in yet and I love that I can see the natural almost moss green of her eyes.
I understand why she wears them, and I’ve slowly been getting used to seeing her with the cerulean, blue contacts that match Charlotte’s eyes, but I welcome the brief moments I get to look into her eyes without them.
“Look at that munchkin, Mum’s not ready for school either.” Bonnie narrows her eyes at me when Charlotte lets out an ‘ooh’ sound, and I take a step toward her.
She eyes me cautiously, her gaze flicking between me and her daughter who lets out a cackle, but there’s laughter in Bonnie’s eyes, so I press forward.
“Tickle time,” I whisper, relishing her eyes widening, and she shakes her head, letting out a squeal similar to her daughter’s, trying to get away from me but she’s not fast enough.
Just like I did with Charlotte, I swoop Bonnie into my arms and her hands automatically interlock behind my neck. The second they do, I forget all about my plan to include her in this morning’s tickle fest, because I’m holding her in my arms again.
Sure, we’ve hugged and are even sleeping in the same bed the last few nights, so she’s put her arm around me and I her, but that’s nothing compared to the feel of me actually holding her in my arms.
“I’ve got you now, Bee.” I brush my nose against hers in a butterfly kiss, but our little moment is interrupted by Charlotte tugging on my shirt.
Looking down at her, she’s got a little frown on her face with her head titled in confusion. “Why do you call her Bee?” Bonnie freezes at Charlotte’s question but I just offer her a reassuring smile, refusing to let her panic, especially when the nickname was never a shortened version of her name.
“Well, that’s easy,” I answer, not looking away from Bonnie. “She’s our bumblebee.”
“Because you and Jace are her roses?” I nod and Charlotte coos, forgetting all about getting ready for school.
“That’s why you guys started calling me that?” Bonnie asks, her voice soft.
“Mhm. That, and you’re sweet as honey.” I wink, keeping my voice low so only the two of us can hear and I pull back with a smirk, my brows wagging when a furious blush spreads across her cheeks.
Meanwhile, Charlotte continues to coo over her mum’s ‘adorable’ nickname, completely oblivious to my double entendre.
“You can put me down now you know,” Bonnie mumbles into my chest, but I can hear the smile in her voice, so I shake my head.
“Nu-ah, Charlotte got carried into her room, now it’s your turn.” I wink, leaving Charlotte’s bedroom and making my way to the room we’re now sharing. As I do, I start to feel the strain in my arms and legs from carrying her for so long.
“You gonna make it?” she teases me, a smirk on her face.
“Yep,” I respond, the strain in my voice barely concealed and she snorts, not believing me for a second.
Given the two mattresses are lying on the floor, I don’t toss her onto them like I did with Charlotte. Instead, I set Bonnie down on her feet, my hands brushing against the outside of her calves, up her thighs and finally settling on her hips.
A shiver runs through her body, but she doesn’t step away and I can’t resist sweeping the strands of hair that have fallen into her face behind her hair. She closes her eyes and leans into my touch, so I press forward.
I give her plenty of time to pull away, moving slowly until our lips brush, and it’s like all the years apart vanish in an instant. She lets out a content sigh and pulls back to meet my eyes with the most gorgeous smile I’ve ever seen, then she’s kissing me.
I can feel her heart beating hard as she presses her chest against mine, pulling me down and lifting up onto her toes to deepen the kiss.
“I’m dressed!” Charlotte calls out from her room, and we reluctantly pull apart, panting and breathless.
“I missed you,” she whispers, and I echo it back to her, brushing my nose against hers again before we finally step back so we can grab our clothes and get ready for the day.
Bonnie jumps in the shower while I quickly change and head downstairs, finding Charlotte pouring herself a bowl of cereal. It isn’t until Bonnie comes back down, and Charlotte puts her shoes on that I realise I haven’t seen Mitchell since we went back to bed after Jace left.
“Where’s Mitchell? He should be back by now, right?” Each morning, like clockwork, he and Jace have gone for a run and returned at six on the dot, but it’s now eight-thirty and he still isn’t back.
They haven’t missed a day so far, and whilst it’s only been a few days, Jace seems more settled and satisfied after their runs than he ever did with me. Mitchell seems to push him in a way that I’m not able to and I love that for him.
“He didn’t go for a run today; he left about an hour ago, but he’ll be back tonight,” Bonnie answers, shoving Charlotte’s lunchbox in her bag and then we’re racing out the door.
“Who’s car are we taking?” I don’t see Mitchell’s car, and obviously the RV is gone, and my car is back home at Ariana’s. Though, strangely that doesn’t feel like home anymore. That seems a crazy thought to have when it’s been less than a week, but…it’s true.
“Duh, we’re taking Mum’s tank.” Charlotte looks at me like it’s the most obvious answer and I just blink.
“I’m sorry, tank?” She rolls her eyes at me in a way that only a six-year-old is capable of and shakes her head.
“Not a real tank, silly. It’s the name of Mum’s car.”
“Right. Of course, what was I thinking?” Bonnie and I share a look as Charlotte continues to lecture me about why we can’t drive around in an actual tank.
When we get to the garage, I can see where the nickname comes from and Bonnie explains that Mitchell had it customised, a whole bunch of safety features and other work done to it until you can’t even tell what the make and model used to be.