Read Online Sexy Beast by Georgia le Carre - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Georgia le Carre
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tutting away. I turn my head towards my mother’s upside down face.
‘I thought you were going to wake me up and let me help you with lunch.’
‘I heard you stumbling around at two in the morning. I wanted you to have a good rest. You look better for it. Anyway, everything is done. Go and make yourself presentable. Lunch is in an hour.’
‘Thanks, Ma.’ I grin at her, then I turn my head back towards Jake. ‘Where is Lily?’
‘She was feeling a bit tired. She’s lying down in Ma’s room.’
I frown. I really like Lily. There is something so delicate and sweet about her. ‘She’s okay, right?’
‘Yeah, she fine.’
I sit up. ‘OK, I’m going to go say hello. See you guys after I have peed.’
I run up the stairs towards my mother’s room. Outside her door I knock softly and call, ‘Lily?’
‘Come in,’ she says instantly.
I open the door and she is trying to sit up. She is already eight months pregnant and her belly is quite big for her tiny frame.
‘Don’t sit up,’ I tell her and she lies back down.
I go up to her. ‘Can I listen?’
She smiles.
I crouch next to the bed, put my ear against her stomach, and listen to my niece. For a few seconds everything is quiet. Then I distinctively hear a noise.
‘What can you hear?’ Lily asks.
‘I think she just hiccupped,’ I tell her.
Lily laughs. ‘You’re as bad as your brother. He swears he can hear her laugh.’
I look at her incredulously. ‘Really?’
She looks at me and shakes her head. ‘Through amniotic fluid? Very doubtful. But, to be fair, when he puts his head on my stomach she will shift around excitedly and kick hard. As if she recognizes her father.’
I look at her in wonder. ‘Wow, how amazing is that?’
She chuckles softly. ‘It is when you think about it.’
I sit cross-legged on the floor with an elbow resting at the edge of my right knee and my chin in my palm. ‘Tell me about the day when you found out you were pregnant. I want to know everything. How you told Jake. And then what he said and did.’
She smiles with the memory. ‘Well, I guess I knew I was pregnant two days after I missed my period. I’m like clockwork. So I bought a couple of pregnancy tests and both were positive. The funny thing is, it was one day before the first anniversary of the day we met, so I decided not to tell him until our anniversary night. We were going to spend it in Paris and I wanted to tell him at the hotel before we went to dinner.’
She looks away from me, a dreamy, far-away look in her eyes.
‘He had booked us this beautiful hotel suite in Paris. It had one of those impossibly glamorous interiors, you know, the ones you see in movies. With tall, gilded ceilings, wall paneling, antique wooden floors, and a massive, intricately-carved gold bed. It had a three balconies and palm trees in Chinese pots. That’s where I told him.’
She pauses and there are tears in her eyes.
‘Oh Lily, you are crying.’
She shakes his head. ‘It was just so beautiful. I had bought these little yellow shoes. They were the tiniest pair of knitted shoes you ever saw. They came in a white cardboard box and I had asked the girl in the shop to gift-wrap them. I still remember the wrapping. Yellow with red balloons. So just before we left for dinner I put the box into his hand. “For you,” I said. He frowned, holding the small box in his hand as if it was the most precious thing in the world. “For me?” he asked as he did not quite believe it. You see, until then I had never given him anything. What could I give him? He was the man who had everything.’
She smiles, a glowing secret smile.
‘He opened the box. For a while he simply stared at them incredulously and then he fished them out between his thumb and forefinger and looked at me. Oh Layla, you should have seen the expression on his face. It gives me goosebumps even now. He was so happy, but he didn’t dare believe it, just in case it was a stupid joke or it meant
‘I thought you were going to wake me up and let me help you with lunch.’
‘I heard you stumbling around at two in the morning. I wanted you to have a good rest. You look better for it. Anyway, everything is done. Go and make yourself presentable. Lunch is in an hour.’
‘Thanks, Ma.’ I grin at her, then I turn my head back towards Jake. ‘Where is Lily?’
‘She was feeling a bit tired. She’s lying down in Ma’s room.’
I frown. I really like Lily. There is something so delicate and sweet about her. ‘She’s okay, right?’
‘Yeah, she fine.’
I sit up. ‘OK, I’m going to go say hello. See you guys after I have peed.’
I run up the stairs towards my mother’s room. Outside her door I knock softly and call, ‘Lily?’
‘Come in,’ she says instantly.
I open the door and she is trying to sit up. She is already eight months pregnant and her belly is quite big for her tiny frame.
‘Don’t sit up,’ I tell her and she lies back down.
I go up to her. ‘Can I listen?’
She smiles.
I crouch next to the bed, put my ear against her stomach, and listen to my niece. For a few seconds everything is quiet. Then I distinctively hear a noise.
‘What can you hear?’ Lily asks.
‘I think she just hiccupped,’ I tell her.
Lily laughs. ‘You’re as bad as your brother. He swears he can hear her laugh.’
I look at her incredulously. ‘Really?’
She looks at me and shakes her head. ‘Through amniotic fluid? Very doubtful. But, to be fair, when he puts his head on my stomach she will shift around excitedly and kick hard. As if she recognizes her father.’
I look at her in wonder. ‘Wow, how amazing is that?’
She chuckles softly. ‘It is when you think about it.’
I sit cross-legged on the floor with an elbow resting at the edge of my right knee and my chin in my palm. ‘Tell me about the day when you found out you were pregnant. I want to know everything. How you told Jake. And then what he said and did.’
She smiles with the memory. ‘Well, I guess I knew I was pregnant two days after I missed my period. I’m like clockwork. So I bought a couple of pregnancy tests and both were positive. The funny thing is, it was one day before the first anniversary of the day we met, so I decided not to tell him until our anniversary night. We were going to spend it in Paris and I wanted to tell him at the hotel before we went to dinner.’
She looks away from me, a dreamy, far-away look in her eyes.
‘He had booked us this beautiful hotel suite in Paris. It had one of those impossibly glamorous interiors, you know, the ones you see in movies. With tall, gilded ceilings, wall paneling, antique wooden floors, and a massive, intricately-carved gold bed. It had a three balconies and palm trees in Chinese pots. That’s where I told him.’
She pauses and there are tears in her eyes.
‘Oh Lily, you are crying.’
She shakes his head. ‘It was just so beautiful. I had bought these little yellow shoes. They were the tiniest pair of knitted shoes you ever saw. They came in a white cardboard box and I had asked the girl in the shop to gift-wrap them. I still remember the wrapping. Yellow with red balloons. So just before we left for dinner I put the box into his hand. “For you,” I said. He frowned, holding the small box in his hand as if it was the most precious thing in the world. “For me?” he asked as he did not quite believe it. You see, until then I had never given him anything. What could I give him? He was the man who had everything.’
She smiles, a glowing secret smile.
‘He opened the box. For a while he simply stared at them incredulously and then he fished them out between his thumb and forefinger and looked at me. Oh Layla, you should have seen the expression on his face. It gives me goosebumps even now. He was so happy, but he didn’t dare believe it, just in case it was a stupid joke or it meant
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