Epilogue
Four Years Later: South Downs
Noah took my hand and helped me up the steep path.
‘You don’t have to do that, you know. I’m fine on my own,’ I said, using him to balance anyway.
‘I know you are, but you’ve got precious cargo.’
I knew where I stood in the pecking order.
Barney, our Labrador, ran up, as if to remind me. He dropped a ball, and Noah ran a few steps to tease him as he threw it.
‘Are you sure this is all going to be worth it?’ cried Amy. ‘These wellies aren’t really made for rough terrain.’
‘I told you to buy walking boots.’ Paul held out his hand for her but she didn’t take it. She pushed him gently with her arm as she passed.
‘Believe me, it’s worth it,’ beckoned Caz.
She and Nick were already up there. Mainly as the twins had charged ahead, and they wanted to keep an eye on them in whatever tree they were climbing.
They were in their daredevil stage, big enough to do most things at six, but still young enough to not do the most thorough of risk assessments.
When I reached the top of the hill, I looked down at the view below and I gasped. We’d lived in our little town in the South Downs for nearly two years and we still hadn’t fully explored the area.
‘Are you OK?’ asked Noah, putting his hand on my back.
‘I’m fine. We’ve only walked a mile at most.’
‘I was talking to this one,’ he said, pulling down at Mia’s little hat. I shot him a look and he laughed. ‘Alright, I was asking about you. But only because she’s heavy now. I don’t want you wrecking your back.’
‘It’s fine, we’re both fine.’
‘And no, she’s not too hot or too cold,’ said Amy, peering in at her and cooing.
‘Don’t you be getting any ideas.’ Paul gave her a stern look, hands on his hips as he caught his breath.
‘Yes, I can get signal,’ muttered Patrick, fingers moving like lightning across his phone screen.
‘What? Mum, you said no phones. Why has Pat got one? That’s not fair. That counts as screen time.’ Oscar went off following Patrick, protesting the unjust nature of it.
‘Believe me, I’ve got no ideas on that front. If they could stay this size forever … ’ she said, still cooing.
‘Really? This stage?’ said Noah, running his hand through his hair. ‘Do you see the bags under our eyes?’
I stroked at Mia’s feet, laughing as the group descended in, discussing the optimum age of parenting, each thinking the others had the best age.
I looked around my group of friends, all of us in such different stages of our lives.
Paul and Amy had teenagers, actual real-life ones that grunted and everything.
But still, no matter what was going on, we still found time to get together.
‘Hey look, there’s the Fox and Hounds,’ said Noah, pointing down the valley. ‘You have to squint a bit.’
‘Oh yeah.’ I could see the thatch of the roof of the pub restaurant I had helped to rebrand last year.
They were one of my first clients when I set up my small marketing agency.
I might not have the drive of Mags who sold her first business for multiple millions and was onto her next one, but it felt good to be working for myself.
After Mum had died, we made the move to the South Downs to be nearer Noah’s parents. We bought a bungalow that needed more than a little work, but it was now just about habitable and there was even a small veggie patch out the back of the garden that we were slowly bringing back to life.
Noah had settled into the area as if he’d never left.
He loved, like I did, that we were close to his parents, and they in turn were excited to be living so close to their first grandchild.
He’d got a job as a development officer at a youth charity, and he finally had a job that he looked forward to getting up in the morning for.
Even if he wished Mia would let him have a little more sleep in the night.
And of course there was Mia. Mia Jane Matthews, her middle name after her grandma, who’d she’d never meet. Having Mia had been bittersweet. It made me miss my mum in ways I’d never imagined, but at the same time, it spurred me on to be the kind of mum she was to me.
‘Another leap year,’ said Noah.
‘I’ve almost lost count of how many we’ve spent together,’ said Paul. ‘Although you do realise that you missed a trick with not getting Mia to share the birthday too.’
‘Bloody hell,’ said Caz. ‘What would the chances be of that? The two of you is freaky enough.’
‘I’m just glad that she gets to have her birthday when it’s warm. Picnics, day trips to the beach, I’m jealous of the stuff she and her friends will be able to do for it.’
‘What are you saying?’ said Noah, slipping an arm around me. ‘That you don’t like the fact it’s always Baltic on our birthday? Or that it often rains?’
‘Speaking of Baltic, how far is that pub that we’re going to?’ Amy rubbed her hands together. ‘And shall we start walking? These wellies are freezing.’
‘Should have brought walking boots,’ Paul said, smugly, walking off.
‘That man,’ said Amy.
Noah laughed and kissed me and Mia. Barney, never wanting to miss out, jumped up my legs.
‘I haven’t forgotten about you either,’ I said, tickling him behind his ears in the exact spot he liked.
I went to follow the others, who had descended down the hill, but Noah held me back.
‘What?’
‘Just taking a moment.’
‘Taking a moment?’ I raised an eyebrow.
‘Yeah. I know we always think about where we’ve come from and where we’re going on our birthday. But today, I just want to take it in. Where I am … ’ he said, squeezing us all a little tighter ‘ … is exactly where I want to be.’
‘Oh Noah, now that’s cheesy.’
‘And I don’t bloody care.’ He leaned over and kissed me. I kissed him back, only pulling away when Amy hollered.
‘Come on, the teenagers will eat us if we don’t feed them soon.’
‘We’d better go. Mia’s starting to stir anyway; I’ve stopped for too long.’
We headed off, holding hands, following our friends down the path.
‘You do realise, you’re going to be that embarrassing dad that’ll be all, “Mia, once upon a leap year—”’
‘Oi,’ he said, pulling his hat further down on his head, ‘my voice doesn’t sound anything like that.’
‘I was more trying to capture the corny radio voice that you do when you’re being cheesy.’
‘OK, well, in that case,’ he said, going full-on cheese voice. ‘Once upon a leap year, I met the love of my life, and it changed me forever.’ He started to laugh as he heard the words out loud. ‘Please don’t let me be that cringey a dad.’
‘Oh believe me, you will be. She’ll hate it, but I’ll love it. Just like I love everything about you.’
He stopped again and pulled me in tight.
‘Everything, huh? Even the way I make the tea?’
I wrinkled up my nose. Milk before hot water was never going to be the right way.
‘Almost everything,’ I corrected and he broke out into a smile.
‘And I love almost everything about you too.’
He leaned down and he kissed me, and this time as my hand slipped into his open jacket to pull him in closer towards me, I didn’t care that we were in danger of a mutiny from hangry teenagers. I wanted to kiss my husband properly and take it all in, because he was right about every single thing.
Once upon a leap year, I met the love of my life, and I count my lucky stars every single day that I did.