unadulterated happiness of his – tinged, as they were, with the deepest regret.
Of course I didn’t regret having Will, not ever, not even for one moment, but I did regret the question mark that hung over his paternity. If only I could be certain that Will had definitely been born of the love that Jon and I shared, I knew I would be the happiest woman in the world.
Sheer weight of traffic meant it was early evening when we arrived and we could persuade William to take little more than a sip of his favourite tomato soup – made especially for him by his Auntie Tina – before he was tucked up in bed and sound asleep once more.
‘He slept all the way here,’ I commented with a frown, ‘I hope he’s not sickening or something.’
I wished I hadn’t voiced my concerns out loud when the four of us stared at each other.
‘I know what you’re thinking,’ said a voice from the doorway, ‘but I’ve just been up and peeped in on Will – and hasn’t he grown? – and he’s peacefully asleep, no temperature, no restless tossing and turning that would indicate a problem. You can all stop worrying.’
I jumped up and rushed across to throw my arms around Leanne, grateful for the reassurance and understanding of Tina and Calum’s beautiful daughter who would know, having suffered from viral meningitis as a teenager, that we would all still be terrified of history repeating itself with William contracting the disease, even after all this time.
‘Look at you,’ I beamed up at her, and then stood back to take in the complete picture, ‘every inch the business woman.’
She wore a sleek, silver grey skirt suit over a crisp white blouse and the sort of towering stilettos that would render me unable to take a step. The laptop bag that was slung over one shoulder was quickly discarded, as was the briefcase she carried.
Unfettered, she returned the hug and grinning down at me, she teased, ‘You don’t get any taller, do you, Auntie Wendy.’
‘Just as well that William gets his height from me,’ Jon laughed easily, but I slid an uneasy glance in Tina’s direction and, to her credit, her own smile didn’t even slip.
‘I get everything from my Dad, too,’ Leanne grinned at Calum. He smiled back so proudly that I felt like bursting into tears and couldn’t stop myself from wishing futilely that William could have Jon’s blue eyes, fair hair and medium height – or anything really that could convince me, once and for all, that he was Jon’s son.
Chapter 6
‘You were a bit quiet over dinner,’ Jon remarked as we got ready for bed, ‘and you couldn’t seem to take your eyes off Leanne.’
That was easily explained away, and I said simply and with great truth, ‘Well, she’s turned into quite a stunner, hasn’t she?’
He nodded, and went on, ‘Certainly a chip of the old block. She’s the image of Calum – but in a feminine way of course.’
I tensed at the observation I thought only I had made, and it was all I could do not to ask if it bothered Jon that William wasn’t the image of him. Leave it, I ordered myself, just leave it.
‘I reckon you were looking at her and thinking that having a daughter of our own would be nice,’ Jon added with a sly look in my direction.
‘I’m perfectly happy with William, aren’t you?’ my tone came out a lot sharper than I had intended but, luckily, Jon didn’t appear to notice.
‘Oh, so am I,’ he nodded hastily, ‘more than happy, but another baby in the family would be great, wouldn’t it? And it could happen yet. It took us a while to conceive Will, but we’re still young enough to be parents again.’
I forced myself to stop freaking out about the very idea of us even considering another child and instead looked seriously at what I considered even a remote chance of that happening. Yes, we were still young enough to be parents again. Jon was right. We were only in our early forties, no age at all really. Lots of people were having
Of course I didn’t regret having Will, not ever, not even for one moment, but I did regret the question mark that hung over his paternity. If only I could be certain that Will had definitely been born of the love that Jon and I shared, I knew I would be the happiest woman in the world.
Sheer weight of traffic meant it was early evening when we arrived and we could persuade William to take little more than a sip of his favourite tomato soup – made especially for him by his Auntie Tina – before he was tucked up in bed and sound asleep once more.
‘He slept all the way here,’ I commented with a frown, ‘I hope he’s not sickening or something.’
I wished I hadn’t voiced my concerns out loud when the four of us stared at each other.
‘I know what you’re thinking,’ said a voice from the doorway, ‘but I’ve just been up and peeped in on Will – and hasn’t he grown? – and he’s peacefully asleep, no temperature, no restless tossing and turning that would indicate a problem. You can all stop worrying.’
I jumped up and rushed across to throw my arms around Leanne, grateful for the reassurance and understanding of Tina and Calum’s beautiful daughter who would know, having suffered from viral meningitis as a teenager, that we would all still be terrified of history repeating itself with William contracting the disease, even after all this time.
‘Look at you,’ I beamed up at her, and then stood back to take in the complete picture, ‘every inch the business woman.’
She wore a sleek, silver grey skirt suit over a crisp white blouse and the sort of towering stilettos that would render me unable to take a step. The laptop bag that was slung over one shoulder was quickly discarded, as was the briefcase she carried.
Unfettered, she returned the hug and grinning down at me, she teased, ‘You don’t get any taller, do you, Auntie Wendy.’
‘Just as well that William gets his height from me,’ Jon laughed easily, but I slid an uneasy glance in Tina’s direction and, to her credit, her own smile didn’t even slip.
‘I get everything from my Dad, too,’ Leanne grinned at Calum. He smiled back so proudly that I felt like bursting into tears and couldn’t stop myself from wishing futilely that William could have Jon’s blue eyes, fair hair and medium height – or anything really that could convince me, once and for all, that he was Jon’s son.
Chapter 6
‘You were a bit quiet over dinner,’ Jon remarked as we got ready for bed, ‘and you couldn’t seem to take your eyes off Leanne.’
That was easily explained away, and I said simply and with great truth, ‘Well, she’s turned into quite a stunner, hasn’t she?’
He nodded, and went on, ‘Certainly a chip of the old block. She’s the image of Calum – but in a feminine way of course.’
I tensed at the observation I thought only I had made, and it was all I could do not to ask if it bothered Jon that William wasn’t the image of him. Leave it, I ordered myself, just leave it.
‘I reckon you were looking at her and thinking that having a daughter of our own would be nice,’ Jon added with a sly look in my direction.
‘I’m perfectly happy with William, aren’t you?’ my tone came out a lot sharper than I had intended but, luckily, Jon didn’t appear to notice.
‘Oh, so am I,’ he nodded hastily, ‘more than happy, but another baby in the family would be great, wouldn’t it? And it could happen yet. It took us a while to conceive Will, but we’re still young enough to be parents again.’
I forced myself to stop freaking out about the very idea of us even considering another child and instead looked seriously at what I considered even a remote chance of that happening. Yes, we were still young enough to be parents again. Jon was right. We were only in our early forties, no age at all really. Lots of people were having
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