“Well?” He hadn’t meant to mention it so soon.
Her hand cupped his jaw. “Jonny, it will happen, just let it. This is the first night your kids have known me stay in your room. Let’s all adjust.”
He kissed her hand. “I know. But just so you’re aware.”
“I’m aware. I’m very aware of all of you.”
He kissed her, hoping that it could communicate the language that bubbled in his heart.
Epilogue
Six months later
Something wasn’t quite right.
The day in itself was running according to plan. Swimming lessons for Sadie and Harry, followed by picking Charlie up from karate and then going for lunch at the Tipsy Toad, where they did a mean all day fry up which did nothing for her hips but everything for her stomach. Jonny was about to come home after football training for Severton Town, some inspirational idea of Jake’s now he was the only single Maynard left and then they were going to spend Saturday afternoon playing games, doing craft activities with Sadie and teasing Charlie about having a girlfriend.
But something wasn’t right.
“Where’s your dad?” Rayah narrowed her eyes at Charlie who was the picture of innocence as he tucked into a ham sandwich he’d made himself. He wouldn’t have tidied up – they were building up to that and may have to pass it over to his future wife.
He shrugged, mouth full.
“Mum, can I have a bath?”
Rayah grabbed Sadie’s waist and pulled her onto her knee, enjoying the squeals. The title had been given two months ago with no conversation or discussion. It had slipped out one Sunday morning when she’d wanted her hair braiding into a fish plait.
No one had said anything until she’d brought it up with Jonny that night. She got it. In Sadie’s eyes, she was mum: she helped cook and clean as much as their dad; she gave baths, tucked them in bed and read them stories. She was the confidante, the nagger, the storyteller, the homework helper, their champion.
“I’ll come and help you run it in a minute.” She just wanted to finish this cup of tea before it went cold.
“Okay. I’ll play with my ponies.”
Rayah breathed a sigh of relief. She could drink two cups of tea while Sadie forgot about the bath. Harry was preoccupied with his dinosaur collection and wouldn’t be distracted until someone deliberately distracted him.
“How’s the sandwich?”
Charlie nodded because his mouth was too full to do anything else.
She yawned and leaned back against the sofa, letting the soft cushions swallow her.
Charlie swallowed. It looked quite painful.
“What?”
He put his plate down. A plate she’d probably be tidying up in a few hours.
He coughed. It was a nervous habit, not one she liked to point out, not too often anyway.
“Can I call you mum?”
She nearly choked.
That was not what she’d been expecting. Sadie called her mum all the time, but she was the youngest with no memory of Grace. Harry called her mum when he didn’t think, which was most of the time because his head was encased in the Palaeolithic era. Charlie called her Rayah.
“Yes. But why?” It was the best she could do.
Charlie smiled, looking more and more like his dad. He would be a heartbreaker if he wasn’t such a nice lad.
