“I wanted to have you all here as I have an announcement. We have an announcement.” She takes hold of Oliver’s hand and pulls him close, giving him a big smile before turning back to us. “We’re pregnant.”
I stare at them both; this is unexpected but great news. For them but also for me.
Oscar reaches them first to hug them both and congratulate them. I glance over at Mother who is sitting quietly with a serene smile on her face. It’s no surprise she already knew. Immy would have told her first.
Charley goes over to them and gets pulled into a hug, first from Immy and then Oliver. I hang back a little, shaking Oliver’s hand first. Then I draw Immy away a little before hugging her.
“Thank you, little sis,” I whisper. At the back of my mind had been the knowledge that Monkswood needs an heir.
“I’m not doing it for you. I’ve always wanted children,” she admonishes me slightly.
“I know, but thank you anyway. You’re doing more for me than you realise.”
I look over at Charley who is talking to my mother. He looks up at me, a soft expression on his face. He’s beautiful and I want to see that face for the rest of my life. Suddenly I feel so much lighter, like the weight of my ancestors has been lifted. Immy has given me the chance to truly live the future I choose, and I choose Charley.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHARLEY
I turn at the sound of two UTVs driving along the track to the cottages.
“Hello, who’s this?” Alexa asks. I’m helping her unload shopping from the back of her car. She’d fetched a few things for me as well, essentials like bread for toast and of course butter to spread on it.
The first vehicle holds Kirsty and Andrés, and the second one Gabriel, Linden, and Austin. It’s Saturday and we’ve been practicing as a team, ready for our first tournament next weekend as part of the opening. Linden and Austin had brought their horses over this morning and we’ve spent several hours trying different positions, as well as tactics, with Austin and Kirsty playing as the opposition. I felt it was a good session, and even Andrés seemed pleased, though I heard a few Spanish words that didn’t sound complimentary when I missed a goal shot.
“His lordship never visits, it must be your influence.” Alexa laughs as the vehicles come to a stop. I can’t argue with that as it’s probably true, and I don’t care. I might have been in Gabriel’s company all day, but playing is not the same as spending down time with him. The week has been busy. I’ve barely seen him since our lunch out a few days ago and then dinner at the house. Since then he’s been spending more time in the estate office, so we haven’t had much time together. I hope we will this weekend, though. I really hope he wants to stay the night. I know I agreed we’d go at whatever pace he wanted, but ever since we shared our negative test results two days ago, I can’t stop thinking about doing more than a bit of frotting with him.
“Hey, what’s going on?” I ask, walking up to where he and Linden are unloading boxes from the back of the UTV.
“Hey, baby.” He kisses me in greeting. “I brought a fire pit, some wood, and beers. I thought it’d be nice for us to have a get-together.”
“Awesome, do you need a hand?” I look over to where Austin and Linden have dropped the tailgate of the UTV and are pulling the fire pit out.
“Just with these boxes.” Gabriel nods to the last few, and I pick one up and carry it over to where they’re setting up the pit. Each of the four cottages has its own small back garden, but in front of them all is a communal space where there are already a couple of picnic tables set out.
“Tell me you brought food as well,” Alexa says, coming over to help.
“Yes, just some burgers and wings. We can set up our barbecue.” Kirsty drapes an arm over her wife’s shoulder.
“You could’ve sent me a text to let me know. I would’ve got something from the supermarket.” Alexa leans against Kirsty.
“It was all last minute, Gabriel’s idea.”
“Burgers and wings. What will Simon think of having to slum it?” I ask and Andrés snorts.
“He might cook all fancy, but for our first date he insisted on going to a burger place.”
“It was a reputable bar that served their own homemade burgers, not a fast-food place. But yes, I canslumit,” Simon says, appearing by Andrés’s side, obviously hearing the whole conversation. He looks into a couple of the boxes of food and pulls a little face. “I might just go and make a couple of sauces, and maybe a marinade for those wings, though.”
He disappears towards his cottage and Andrés gives us a feral grin before following.
“Right, we’ll get the barbecue going,” Kirsty says and tows Alexa with her. Linden and Austin are still sorting out the fire pit, and having decided on the right place for it are attempting to light it. I turn to Gabriel and encircle his waist with my arms.
“This is really nice. Alexa said you don’t come over and spend time with them.”
“I haven’t. Until this year it was just them, then when Andrés and Simon moved in I would have felt like the odd one out. But it’s different now.” He plants a soft kiss on my nose.
“Will you stay tonight? If you want to of course,” I ask and he smiles.
