After cake and two rounds of coffee for the adults, more paper for the kids to doodle on, Bess and Gio walked with Saffy and the kids to the local park so they could run off some energy. They didn’t seem to care that it was freezing cold and it also gave Marco and Marianne a chance to have some time alone.
As the kids played and Saffy policed their time on the seesaw, Gio sat at the picnic bench next to Bess.
‘Today has gone really well,’ said Bess. To onlookers, they might have seemed like one big, happy family despite the trust that needed to be re-established. And Bess loved that she was a part of it all.
‘It has. Starting with your good news.’ He leaned across and placed a kiss on her temple, his lips warming her up. ‘And the kids love Mum as much as they ever did; I don’t think they’re too scarred from her past behaviour.’
‘I’m glad.’
Marco, Saffy and the kids were staying in a hotel for a couple of days but Marianne hadn’t mentioned what she wanted to happen later. Perhaps she was waiting for the right moment.
Gio had his elbows resting on the tabletop behind them as they watched Billy and Matilda. Soon after he and Bess had got together, they’d talked about kids, whether either of them saw children in their future. Bess had admitted that when she was still in her thirties, she’d realised that every birthday, every time she turned another year older, the possibility was slipping further away. And she’d said that now she was in her forties, it was even more unlikely to happen.
‘I love these two,’ Gio admitted as they watched the kids play now.
‘They’re pretty amazing.’
He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close. ‘We could give it a try. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t then it’ll be just us two.’
She loved that he’d whispered those words in her ear. It showed her even more – not that he hadn’t told her umpteen times how much he loved her and was glad they’d found their way to each other as more than friends – that he was all in when it came to their relationship.
‘We might be too old, Gio.’
‘Yeah, geriatrics, me and you.’
She grinned. ‘It might be too soon. We only just started dating.’
‘But we’ve known each other for years.’
‘True.’ She loved that she was discovering a new side to this man she’d always valued being in her life. ‘How about we think about it?’
‘I’m okay with that. And the practice we’ll need to do, obviously.’
‘Obviously.’ She grinned.
‘Uncle Gio, come on the roundabout!’ Matilda called over.
‘Auntie Bess, can you push me on the swings?’ Billy shouted.
Gio and Bess looked at each other and as they went to their respective duties, Gio climbing on to the roundabout, Bess laughed, ‘Maybe these two will be plenty.’
She went to the swings and Gio bellowed over to her in reply, ‘I think you’ve got a point.’ He looked like he was feeling a bit rough already, whatever he’d eaten and drunk likely churning around as his niece pushed the roundabout, her little legs going as fast as they could as she gave her uncle an experience he wasn’t likely to forget in a hurry.
Marco, Saffy, Matilda and Billy came back to Bess’s place. Marianne had made chocolate chip cookies for the kids and when she revealed that she wanted to cook a Christmas dinner for them all this evening despite it being well and truly past the festive season, the suggestion was met with a resounding yes. Billy and Matilda wanted to help with the preparations, Bess assured Marianne she was on hand if needed, Saffy said she’d do anything she could to help out too.
As Bess and Gio left the others in the kitchen, they overheard Marco invite Marianne down to their house in a couple of weeks.
Bess snuggled next to Gio on the sofa. ‘This is nice, all of you together.’
‘Yeah, it really is.’ She heard a catch in his voice, the sign of emotion she wasn’t going to push him to explain because she knew how big this moment had been for all of them.
The kitchen door opened, Marianne came through briefly, ran upstairs and returned with an inky-blue woollen dress.
‘What’s going on?’ Gio asked.
‘Never you mind, I want to show this to Saffy.’ She disappeared with the dress and closed the door behind her.
‘She’s hiding something,’ said Gio but for once, his voice didn’t imply he was worried at all.
