“Next year. On the anniversary.” She smiled, her smile growing bigger. “It’s not morbid, but I want to replace how we remember that date each year. I don’t want to forget – I’ll never forget – but I want the day to have a different feel and I think Ivy would like that.”
I nodded. “I agree. When do you want to tell everyone that I’ve finally bribed you to be my wife?”
“When we find out how Mavis is.”
I kissed her then, the yellows and pinks and baby blues of the new day colouring the sky, dark silhouettes of seagulls bringing it to life and the lapping of the waves gently nudging against the jetty.
Another first kiss. Maybe we could make a lifetime of them.
Dear Gully,
I’m writing this because I’m too embarrassed to actually put it into words. Had I known your twin was up and awake, I would never have done that without making sure our bedroom door was locked. I am utterly mortified that your brother saw me giving you a blow job, or at least, the back of my head while I was giving you said blow job.
Not going to lie: it wasn’t easy to know someone had walked into the bedroom given you had hold of my head and were telling me exactly how good I was.
At least it was your brother.
Please pass on my apologies to your family and tell them I hope to see them in another few years when my mortification levels have dropped so I’m able to show my face again and not just the back of my head while your cock is in my mouth.
Love you,
Iris
I re read the note while ignoring Roe’s laughter, the coffee steaming on the kitchen island and the kids playing outside with Finn and Ruby.
“Shall I go and speak to her?” Roe tapped his fingers on the top of the island. “I shouldn’t have just walked in like that, but I wanted to let you know about Mavis.”
“We should’ve locked the door. I just didn’t think to.” Because I was still drunk on the bathroom sex we’d just had, brought on by showing Iris the engagement ring, which she’d thankfully loved.
Loved enough to decide we needed to leave the bathroom so she could get on her knees and thank me properly, which was how she’d put it, so I’d been standing – trying to stand – while resting a hand on a bedside table, with Iris in front of me, my other hand in her hair, the start of my orgasm just there when Roe walked straight into the bedroom.
It wasn’t the first time Roe had caught me with a girl, not that Iris needed to know about that. And I’d still witnessed him on the receiving end of some otherworldly pleasure more times,including him and Freya in their garden before they moved house, but Freya didn’t know about that.
I would tell Iris though.
“I’ll go and speak through the door.” Roe stretched. “Wait till you’ve got a toddler. Then you get really creative with playing hide and seek. Ask Finn for horror stories.”
“What horror stories?” Our bigger brother entered, full of what looked and smelled like fox shit.
“When Elias walked in on you and Ruby.” Roe shook his head. “I just caught Iris doing a favour for Gul.”
“Oh. Lock doors. Wake up early. Set an alarm for three am. Get your brother to babysit through the night. But don’t do any of that until your first is at least two years old. That’s my top tip for the day.” He grabbed some kitchen roll and started to wipe off the shit on his T-shirt. “Does Iris know how many times you interrupted me and Ruby?”
“She might by the end of today.” She definitely would.
Finn shrugged again, losing his T-shirt and throwing it in the bin. “No point saving that.” He stopped, taking his phone out of his pocket. “We have an update from Gray – Mavis is stable and talking, wanting to know when she can go home.”
I felt the last bit of worry leave. “Thank fuck for that. She won’t be released today, will she?”
“She’ll be lucky if it’s a week today.” Roe opened the fridge. “Should I take Iris chocolate?”
“Always a good idea.” I took a good mouthful of my coffee. “I’ll go and see Mavis later.”
Finn nodded. “She’ll want to see you. Shall we barbecue breakfast?” He sniffed the air.
“Sounds like a plan.”
Roe came back downstairs a few minutes later, looking relieved. “She’s okay. It was my fault, so I grovelled. Told her how lucky you were.” He frowned at me. “New jewellery?”
