“Anita, Cupcake, marry me, please.”
Okay, so yes, he is doing this.
“Declan, we can talk.”
He grins up at me.
“But I am heading for Greece right now…”
“Then so am I,” he declares.
“Not without a ticket you’re not,” one of the cabin crew says, coming alongside Dec.
“I have a ticket!” he snaps, holding up his boarding pass.
“Declan…why do you have a ticket?”
“Where you go, I go.”
I have no words. He has no luggage as far as I know and is standing here in the clothes he is wearing, a very dishevelled outfit of jeans and a t-shirt, planning on coming to Greece with me! He has thrown all of my plans up in the air. I love Dec, of that there is no doubt, never was and as much as I want his pledge to not judge me to be true, what if it isn’t?
“Cupcake, marry me?”
With no thought and very little co-ordination, I am climbing over the two ladies next to me and leaning down to kiss Dec.
“We need to talk first,” I whisper as he gets to his feet and pulls me in, preparing to kiss me.
Looking down, I see blood on his top.
“What happened, are you hurt?” Panic grips me as I wonder what happened after I left him with Liv.
“What? No. Why?” He looks down to where my eyes have settled. “Ah, no. I should have told you…this is baby blood.”
A couple of people nearby gasp at his phrasing.
He looks around. “Not like injured baby. I delivered a baby…my niece,” he explains then turns to me. “Long story, but me and Liv got stuck in a lift and she went into labour. I delivered the baby just as Mase and the paramedics got to us…I should probably have told you that. Oh, I told the baby I was going back for cuddles and bringing Auntie Anita with me, so, are we doing that now or after Greece?”
This is unbelievable. For whatever reason, Dec wants us to try again. He has just slipped my engagement ring back on my finger which is something we need to talk about, but not with a whole plane as an audience. I now discover he delivered our niece in a lift and that one way or another we are going for cuddles. Even with the whirring of my mind and the chaotic thoughts of what this might mean long term, there is no way I am going anywhere besides off this plane.
“Now. Let’s go.” I reach for my hand luggage while Dec grabs my free hand and with a smile for the cabin crew we are passing, we’re heading for the plane door that is thankfully still open.
By the time we are back in the airport, we are giggling like naughty schoolchildren until I stumble up a small flight of stairs. Dec pulls me back, preventing my fall and somehow, I end up pressed against a wall with his hands lacing through my hair.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers as his face moves closer to mine.
I know that he is going to kiss me and although it’s not our first kiss, it’s a kiss I never thought I’d feel again. The softness of his lips as they gently find mine shocks me. His kiss is tender rather than frantic, cherishing me and this moment. I feel as though I am trembling, but not from arousal or anything that basic. This is love, real, honest, true love, coursing through me, telling me everything about how Dec feels as much as how I feel. In this kiss, I know that Dec is the one. The only one for me and I could live a thousand lives and never find this again and having had and lost it, but lucky enough to have a second chance, I will not waste it or throw it away.
Epilogue – One Year Later
Declan
Tonight is a big night and I am nervous, which is not something I am overly accustomed to.
After a few delays with planning permission and building work, not to mention Liv doing the design on the place, my new club in the old cinema is opening. It’s not a full opening with customers, but a launch night for local businesses, friends, family, the press and a few local influencers.
My other business venture that I originally thought of as being a coffee shop come bistro, opened a few months ago. It is a coffee shop primarily, but from lunch time onwards we serve cocktails and wine. Due to its location on a High Street and being surrounded by nine til five shops, we opted not to open late nights, so it’s now a nine til nine business. Anita is the manager and although she’s not there full time, she keeps it stocked with her own cakes which are ridiculously popular, but she tends not to do the evenings.
I am going to maintain my role at Dazzler but as the new place, Jubilation, the name of another comic book heroine, opens, I will need to have managers too. In fact, Liv’s brother, Scott has been working at Dazzler for about nine months now and has agreed to be the manager at the new place.
