A few minutes later, Heather tilted her head towards the hallway. ‘Come on, Mr App Developer. Time to talk.’
Kieran followed, braced for interrogation. Heather had perfected thedon’t mess with mestare years ago.
‘Level with me,’ she said. ‘Lisa’s history – hallelujah – but something’s going on. Spill.’
Where to start? He’d moved to Cranley broken-hearted, met Beth, laughed again for the first time in months, and somehow, started to…
He realised too late that he’d said it out loud.
‘You’re in love with Beth?’ Heather blinked. ‘Oh, Kieran. You’re a cliché with Wi-Fi.’
‘No, I said “the best” – like, life is the best?—’
‘Nope. You said Beth. Don’t try to fool me: I’ve had two pregnancies and a husband who hides biscuits in the car.’
He opened his mouth to reply, but Jacob yelled from the living room. ‘Kieran! My spaceman’s head’s gone!’
‘Go,’ said Heather, smiling now. ‘For the record, Lisa’s fine. Saw her yesterday. She did a little fake cry about you dumping her, mascara untouched. She’s already latched on to a guy who looks like Yoda.’
Kieran blinked. ‘Well, that’s … oddly comforting?’
‘You’ve had a lucky escape,’ Heather said. Then, more softly, ‘Beth sounds like the real deal, you know. You’d be good together.’
He didn’t answer, because he already knew she was right.
By late afternoon, the cottage looked like a Lego bomb site. They packed it away, and Kieran found a box to carry the rocket in.
‘We’ll build another when we visit next time,’ Jacob declared, wrapping his small arms around Kieran’s neck.
‘Deal,’ said Kieran, throat tight.
‘You’ve got a friend for life,’ said Charlie. ‘Two, actually. Four, if you count this one.’ He nodded at Ellie, now burbling in Heather’s arms.
‘We’re always here,’ said Heather. ‘Through thick and thin. Though right now I’m more thick than thin.’
‘You’re beautiful,’ chorused Kieran and Charlie.
‘Fuck off,’ said Heather. Then, hastily, ‘Jacob, don’t?—’
‘Fuck off, fuck off, fuck off!’ sang Jacob as they waved goodbye.
Kieran leaned against the door, laughing until the sound caught in his chest. The house felt quiet again: almost too quiet.
You’d make a great daddy.
He froze. Not from fear this time, but from the truth of it.
He sat on the sofa, picking up a single red Lego brick. Fatherhood had never seemed real: not with Lisa, not even in daydreams. But with Beth…
He could imagine it. A home that smelled of soup and joy, of laughter and life.
It takes only the right coupling. Trust me.
‘Not helping,’ he muttered, but he smiled all the same.
He cleared the plates, stepped squarely on a Lego brick, and yelped. ‘Ow! Bloody?—’
Language,the voice teased.
