“Three?”
“Yeah. And some strawbies. Can I get down, please?”
“Sure,” Harper said, letting him slide down, and we watched as he ran over to see Danny and Charlie, no doubt to tell Danny how fast he was. Danny looked delighted, though, and it always surprised me how good he was with kids. Maybe because he was a big one himself.
“How’re you feeling?” Harper asked, putting his arm around my waist and letting me lean against him.
“Bloody knackered.” I chuckled. “Bloody happy, though.”
“I’m so proud of you.” Harper kissed my cheek. “And I love you so much.”
“Love you too, sunshine.” I sighed happily, the deep ache in my muscles starting to set in as I looked at the scene around me.
If there was a luckier man on the planet, I didn’t know him.
I didn’t think there was one.
There certainly wasn’t a happier one.
EPILOGUE
THREE YEARS LATER
Harper
“Daddy! Puddle! It’s my birthday!”Jack yelled as he flung himself onto our bed, giggling and wriggling into the space between Matty and me. His flame red hair was sticking up at odd angles where he’d emerged from the cocoon he tended to sleep in.
“Happy birthday,” I said, my voice still thick with sleep as I put my arm out to give Jack a cuddle.
“Happy birthday, pumpkin,” Matty said without really opening his eyes as he rolled over and enveloped the two of us in his embrace, making Jack laugh. “How long have you been awake?”
“Er, not long,” Jack said. “About five minutes.” He held out his hand, fingers splayed, his freshly painted birthday nails looking as good as they had last night. He’d hate having to take them off in the morning for school, but it was the same thing we did every weekend.
“Not sure I believe that,” Matty said roughly, kissing Jack’s temple loudly. “Puddle and I could hear you moving around ages ago.”
“I went to the toilet,” Jack said indignantly. “Then I read Doctor Doctor and Giraffe a story because they couldn’t sleep and you said we had to stay in bed until the clock went yellow and the little hand was on the seven. Which it is!”
“And now, I suppose, you would like birthday pancakes?” Matty asked. His arm was still thrown over us, gently squeezing us all together.
“Yes, please! With chocolate chips and strawberries!”
“Okay then,” Matty said, not really making any attempt to move. “Let’s go downstairs. There might even be some presents for you too.”
Jack squealed happily and clapped his hands. “Get up then, Daddy!”
“One more minute,” Matty said and pretended to snore very loudly. It wasn’t a bad imitation of his normal snoring, which was the result of having broken his nose multiple times throughout his life, some of which hadn’t been set properly. I’d eventually learned how to sleep through it, but it had been touch and go a few times. And sometimes when it was really bad in the winter, usually when Matty had a cold, one of us tended to move into one of the spare rooms so we both got enough sleep.
“No,” Jack said with a laugh as Matty squeezed us harder. “Puddle, make him stop it.”
“Come on, grumble bum,” I said, pushing my fiancé off us and laughing at the face he pulled. He looked gorgeously rumpled, his mane of hair making him look more like a lion than ever. “Breakfast time.”
Matty grinned and shot me a wink. “Fine, you win, but I want a kiss first.”
“Yuck! You two are gross!” Jack said as he climbed out from between us and slid off the bed, heading towards the door at full speed. Which was pretty much how he went through most of life, accompanied by a lot of laughter and sass. The only time he was really focused was when he was at gymnastics, which he absolutely adored doing.
“Good morning, sunshine,” Matty said, cupping my jaw and drawing me in for a kiss. “Ready for the chaos?”
“I think so,” I said, humming happily as he kissed me slowly. “As long as there’s tea, we’ll be okay.”
