Page 51 of Stolen Salvation

She placed a hand over her tummy at the noise and laughed as everyone focused on her.

“You want me to make you a crumpet?” Lotus offered and Charlie knew behind the bolshy attitude was a kind person who’d taken some wrong paths and didn’t know how to right those wrongs or deal with her own guilt. Like always recognised like.

“Thank you, that would be nice.”

“So, um, what’s wrong with you?” Snow asked from her seat at the table where she was munching on a bag of cheese and onion crisps.

Charlie had wished for someone to talk to and now she had three women, but could she open up and take that chance on these women when she hardly knew them?

“You don’t have to say, I’m just being nosey.”

Charlie waved her hand at Snow and smiled to reassure the woman. “It’s fine, but I’d prefer anything shared in here to be kept between us if you don’t mind?”

“Of course. We’re here for you. We love Bishop like a brother, but us girls have to stick together and you’re one of us now.”

Her throat closed at Snow’s words, and she tried to fight back tears to respond. “So Noah and I had, um, relations.”

Lotus placed the buttered crumpet in front of her. “Sex. You had wild monkey sex.”

Charlie glanced up to see the grin on the woman’s face. “Uh, yeah, we did that, and the first time was kind of a hate fuck situation and it got out of control and we didn’t use protection.”

“Oh, I love hate sex. It’s the best.”

“Oh, yeah. I pick arguments with Seb just to rattle him up so we can have hate sex.”

“Don’t you get bored of that, though?”

Snow and Lotus both looked at Duchess, who looked like she wanted to snatch the words back.

Lotus pointed at her. “We’re going to circle back to that.” Zeroing in on Charlie again, Lotus continued. “So this little tummy bug is actually going to grow into a big tummy bug with arms and legs and cute little fingers and toes?”

Charlie bit into the crumpet and sighed as the buttery taste filled her mouth. She chewed and swallowed then nodded. “Possibly. I haven’t taken a test and Noah has no idea.”

“You’re worried how he’ll react? ’Cos let me tell you, that man will make a fine father.”

Snow’s confidence in Noah touched Charlie. “He was. For twelve hours he was the best daddy any child could ask for.”

“What?” Lotus shrieked.

Duchess shushed her. “Keep it down.”

“What? The guys aren’t here. They won’t be back for hours yet.”

They’d split the jobs up and this turn around the girls had all ended up at home together.

“I know but not everyone is used to your over-exuberance.”

Lotus waved it off and focused on Charlie. “Bishop is a dad?”

“We had a son. He only lived for twelve hours but Noah was the best. He held him in his arms and protected him as best he could, talking to him, telling him how much he loved him and then he held us both as Freddie slipped away.”

She was so lost in her memories it took a second for her to realise both Lotus and Snow were sniffing as tears ran down their cheeks. “Oh gosh. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

Charlie reached for Lotus and Snow and they both descended on her and held her tight as Duchess smiled like a loving parent.

“We’re so sorry, Charlie.”

“It’s okay. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. I went into labour at twenty-seven weeks and he didn’t survive.”