Lizzie smiled slightly then turned things back to Tasha. “And you. He hates guys thinking of you that way?”
“Yes, and me, but because he knows me in a different way to you and in his mind you are still his little girl he hates men thinking that way about you a little more than he hates it about me.”
“What did you mean, Daddy was a little mad with himself over Mickie?”
Tasha adjusted her hold on Connor, partly to find a more comfortable position but more to buy herself a few extra seconds to think about what she was going to say to Lizzie.
“He knows she never saw him as a friend. She always wanted more and he feels a little guilty for having let her remain close and become the danger she did. He also feels bad for setting up the trap that Mickie entered undetected, although he also holds the police department responsible for that too. I believe he threatened all kinds of repercussions if anything happened to any of us,” Tasha explained with a small smile.
“Philip did mention how angry he was. I am so glad my dad met you, and made you move out here and marry him.” Lizzie hugged Tasha until Connor cried and she added, “I am really glad you had Connor too.”
“So am I, to all of the things you said.” Smiled Tasha, knowing that glad didn't even come close to how she felt about the things Lizzie had referred to.
****
By the time Jim arrived home, Tasha had already bathed and fed Connor and was just lying the sleeping infant in his cot.
“Night, night baby,” she whispered as she leaned over to kiss him before switching on the baby monitor and heading downstairs where Jim was just placing his phone on the kitchen counter.
“Are you okay?” Tasha looked concerned at her husband's expression.
“Mmm, a long day just got longer,” he said, causing her to frown in confusion. “That was Bobby,” he told her with a glance down at his phone. “He's coming over.”
“Oh, is everything okay?” Tasha wondered why her brother-in-law was coming over tonight and couldn’t hide her nervousness.
“I guess we'll find out soon enough. I missed bedtime then?” He looked sad.
“Yeah, just, but you should go up and see him while he's all clean, sleeping and squidgy,” replied Tasha with a soppy smile.
“Squidgy, huh?” He smiled back.
“Yeah, squidgy. You got a problem with my squidgy baby?” She giggled.
“No, no problem, withoursquidgy baby, now get your sexy, on birth control ass over here and kiss me,” he said, already reaching for Tasha’s arm with an arched brow.
“Yes, sir,” she replied and soon found herself wrapping her arms around his neck.
“I've invited Bobby, Abby and Alexi to stay and have dinner with us,” announced Jim making Tasha laugh.
“That's fine except I only got two pieces of fish out.”
“That is what take out is for, so...” He picked his phone up and dialled a local Italian restaurant that also offered a delivery and collection service. “Dinner will be here in just under two hours, so that leaves enough time for me to go up and see our squidgy son and for you to share a bath with me.”
“Was that an invitation, James?” She smiled up at him as she fingered the hair in the nape of his neck.
“James? Ready so soon, Tasha, but I thought of it as being an order more than an invitation, honey.”
“Then I guess that's a date, oh, and you may want to get a haircut, unless you're growing it.” She smirked as she teased the strands curling into his neck.
“Whatever makes you happy, Natasha, and you should know that there is only one thing I'm growing right now.” He placed her hand against his groin that was sporting a rather large erection he flexed before picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder.
Chapter 21
Tasha sat in the nursing chair in Connor's nursery at four o'clock the following morning watching her sleeping son, trying to order the muddle of confused thoughts in her head, all of which had only been there since Bobby and Abby's visit the previous evening. She thought when Bobby had warned her that her father may be sent back to the U.K. to serve his sentence it had been a shock, a shock she thought she was okay with it. She had been until Bobby told her and Jim the deal had been done and now her head was swimming with a million and one thoughts about her father and all the things he'd done which included attempting to kill her whilst on Mickie's payroll. That thought alone prevented her from doing anything other than stew about all things Mickie, from their first meeting to their final one. She was unsure just how long she'd been sitting in the chair watching her baby son sleeping contentedly without a single care in the world and for that Tasha was beyond grateful. She only wished she could manage to sleep herself, but was then relieved she couldn't sleep because she was petrified that sleep would permit her mind to create dreams, nightmares that would conjure images of Liam, Mickie, her parents and all the bad things that had ever befallen her.
“How long have you been sitting there?” Jim startled her from her increasingly dark thoughts.
“I dunno. How long ago did you go to sleep?” She replied in a whisper as Connor moved and made a low mewl in his sleep.
