‘Well, we did agree that we were going to go public so it seems like as good a time as any, don’t you think?’ She didn’t add a comment other than a pink heart emoji before posting it. His phone vibrated again so she must’ve tagged him in the image.
And again as the first comment arrived. It was from Chloe and there were no words, just a long string of question and exclamation marks.
‘No hiding it now,’ Kat said as she closed her phone and put it back in her pocket.
Against his hip, Harry’s phone was doing a non-stop dance as word of the photo was no doubt spreading through the rest of the family at lightning speed.
‘I guess we’d better go and face the music,’ he agreed. He stood and held out his hand to help her up. She was biting her lip, no sign of that sunny smile he adored. ‘Hey, you okay about this?’
She nodded. ‘Absolutely. I never wanted to hide this from anyone, but I liked it when it was just the two of us, you know? Things will be different now everyone knows.’
‘Yeah, it was nice.’ He hugged her tight for a moment. ‘But I have a feeling this is only the start for us and it’s only going to get better from here on in.’
Their return walk didn’t take long and they soon reached Issy’s café. Harry ushered Kat quickly inside, closing the door behind them so as not to let too much heat out. The temperature inside was practically tropical and he could already feel a hint of dampness at the base of his spine. Harry whipped off his jacket then turned to help Kat out of hers. He hung their things up and turned to find Liam watching the pair of them with a knowing grin. ‘Like that, is it?’ he asked.
‘Yup,’ Harry replied.
Liam nodded as though that was all that needed to be said.
Issy was much less circumspect. The moment she spotted them she dashed out from behind the counter and ran over to grab Kat by the hand, dragging her away to the privacy of the kitchen for a full debrief, no doubt.
While they waited for them to return, Harry and Liam rearranged a group of tables next to the window overlooking the road and close enough to the counter that Issy could stop by whenever she had a free moment. Sitting there meant they could also see both the empty shop and the restaurant and weren’t hogging any of the prime tables that overlooked the beach and the ocean beyond.
Rick and Anya arrived not long after with Anya’s daughter, Freya, nestled in Rick’s arms. At one look at the expression on Anya’s face, Harry pointed towards the kitchen door. ‘They’re in there.’
She took off without a word, leaving Harry and Rick to exchange a look. ‘Was it like this when you and Anya got together?’ Harry asked him.
Rick nodded. ‘Pretty much. They come as a job lot.’ He glanced over at Liam. ‘How was it when you and Issy got together?’
‘Same.’ He turned to Freya who was still nestled in Rick’s arms. ‘Hello, poppet, how are you?’
‘Uncle Liam!’ Freya reached for him, almost tipping out of Rick’s hold as she tried to get to him.
Luckily Liam was ready to catch her and he swung her up over his head. ‘Oof! You’re getting so big and strong,’ he said, lowering her with a laugh. ‘Has Ma been feeding you up?’
‘We did caking yesterday!’ Freya exclaimed as she pressed a kiss to Liam’s cheek. ‘We made rocks.’
‘You made cakes out of rocks?’ Liam asked her, eyes shining with amusement as he glanced over Freya’s shoulder towards Harry.
Harry grinned back at his gentle teasing of the girl. His brothers were both so natural with her and Harry suspected it wouldn’t be too long before his parents had some more grandchildren to play with. Freya might not be of their blood, but she was as much a part of their family as the rest of them. Assuming Anya and Issy were on board with the idea, of course. Thinking about them made him wonder if Kat might want kids of her own one day. It wasn’t a question Harry had ever thought that deeply about but he supposed he should at some point. It was mad, really, that those kind of long-term possibilities were now something he would have to consider. He hadn’t expected to fall into a relationship with anyone, never mind Kat of all people. She’d always been special, though, and perhaps a bit of his brain had kept him from recognising what she might mean to him until he was in the right place in his life for him to appreciate her fully.
‘No, silly! That’s their name,’ Freya giggled.
Liam smacked a hand to his forehead. ‘Oh, of course, silly me. And how many did you eat?’
Freya held up three fingers.
‘Three? Oh wow, they must’ve been good!’
‘Ma’s rock cakes are the best in the world,’ Harry said. He reached out to chuck Freya’s cheek. ‘Hello, Munchkin.’
‘Uncle Harry!’ Freya held out her arms and Harry took his turn at holding her. ‘Mummy says she has to help you today.’
‘She certainly does because she’s very clever, just like you.’ He hoisted her up so their eyes were level. ‘Have you come to help me today, too?’
Freya shook her head. ‘I’m going to draw Ma and Pa a picture.’ She tilted her head to one side and gave him a considering look that was older than her years. ‘I could draw you a picture too.’
‘I’d love that.’ Harry carried her over to where they’d pushed the tables together. ‘Where do you want to sit? By the window?’
