He stands and takes my hand in his. “Congratulations, bella, you deserve to be happy.”
I smile up at him as I hold his hand in mine. “So do you.”
He exhales heavily. “Maybe one day.”
“You hate that you like Gracie that way, don’t you?”
“I hate meddling friends more.” He kisses my cheek. “Call me when you can have lunch.”
“Thank you for coming, it means a lot.”
He disappears out the door and I turn back to my full-time position of Summer staring.
Sigh… She’s so perfect.
“Here we are. Home sweet home.” Tristan smiles as he pulls into the driveway.
The boys are all lined up on the veranda waiting with a bunch of flowers each, I giggle. “How long have they been waiting there?”
Tristan throws me a sexy wink and comes around and helps me out of the car, the boys come rushing out and clamber around us.
“Thank god you’re finally home,” Patrick moans. “It’s been so long.”
Tristan goes to the back seat and unlatches Summer’s little carrier; he carefully carries her inside to hushed excitement of the boys.
Fletcher opens the door and Tristan carefully walks into the house with Summer, he stumbles and trips on a football boot, he goes careering toward a wall and just stops himself in time.
“Shoes in the foyer,” he hisses through gritted teeth as he looks around to the boys.
“Sorry,” Patrick whispers, he picks up the boots and opens the door and hurls them out the front door.
“Quite sure they don’t go there either.” Tristan widens his eyes.
“I’ll get them later,” Patrick replies. “Can I hold her now?”
“Let’s show Summer her bedroom first.” I smile.
To the excited whispers of the boys, Tristan carries the carrier upstairs and down to her bedroom. “So help me god,” he whispers angrily. “I’m going to kill that fucking cat.”
“Don’t swear in front of her,” Patrick cries.
We’ve been drilling into the boys about using appropriate language in front of the baby.
“What are you talking about?” I look around the room and then I see it and burst out laughing.
Muff the cat is curled up asleep in Summer’s cot.
Tristan passes me the carrier. “Hold this, darling,” he says a little too sweetly.
“Don’t…”
He picks Muff up and pretends to whisper in her ear. “You are going to meet a grisly end, my friend. Mark my words.” He puts her outside the room and closes the door. “Where were we?” He looks around the room at the boys all gathered around Summer on the floor.
“I believe we were in heaven,” I say as I watch the four of them together.
He smiles and kisses me softly. “I know we are.”
I look at the empty cradle and roll my eyes. “Where is my baby?” Not in her cradle as usual, I walk downstairs to find Tristan lying on the couch with Summer bundled up and sleeping in his arms. He cannot leave her alone, he wants to hold her all the time. Between him and the boys she is never left alone for even a second.
They are obsessed.
“What are you doing?” I ask him.
“Watching television, what does it look like?”
“Why is Summer not in her crib?”
“She was lonely.”
“She was asleep, Tristan. You don’t get lonely when you are asleep.”
“She’s so little, she hates being up there by herself. She said she likes to be down here with me.”
“She said that?” I look at him deadpan.
“Uh-huh.”
“She’s ten days old, she can’t speak.”
“Telepathically, Claire, telepathically.” He taps his temple and then looks down at his daughter. “You like sleeping on me, don’t you, baby? I’m the ultimate mattress.”
I smirk because they really are so cute together. “This is all great for when you are home, Tris, but you are creating a monster here. When you go back to work, I can’t sit still all day while she sleeps in my arms, I have a household to run. You are only making it harder for her.”
He looks up at me unimpressed.
“She needs to go back to her crib.”
“Maybe you should go back to work, then, and I’ll stay home,” he mumbles as he kisses her tiny head. “You can sleep on me all day long,” he says in a baby voice.
I point to the stairs. “Crib.”
“Five more minutes.” He turns back to the television.
“I’m going to the shops quickly with Mom to pick up some things, are you okay to watch her for half an hour?”
“Uh-huh,” He smiles as if glad that I’m leaving.
I smile back. “You’re not going to put her back in her crib, are you?”
“Not a chance.”
Five years later.
“I’m going, Mom,” Fletcher calls.
“Hang on, I’m coming.”
I swaddle Billy up in his blanket and make my way downstairs, Fletcher is going back to his place after staying here last night.
He lives in Tristan’s penthouse in Tribeca now, all grown up and not my little baby anymore. He’s got new friends that are more suited to him and the stage of life he is in. Some of them are stockbrokers, a doctor, a law student… All playboys I bet, not that I want to know anything about that.
We have six children now, our three older boys and then we had two little girls, Summer and Poppy, and then another little boy, William, who we call Billy.
We walk Fletcher out the front, Tristan has a daughter on each hip and Patrick takes Billy from me and holds him.
Harry is staying with Elliot and Kate, he’s doing work experience in the London office, he’s been with them for six weeks now and seems to be having the time of his life. He’s doing an internship with Miles Media just like Fletcher did at his age and loving every second of it…I’m not quite sure Jameson knew what he was getting himself into there.
Fletcher throws his basket of washing into the passenger seat of his Porsche. “You know you have a washing machine at your place, right?” Tristan mutters dryly.
“Yeah.”
I giggle. “He doesn’t know how to use it.”
Tristan walks around the car inspecting it. “You need to wash your car.”
“I know, Dad.” He rolls his eyes.
“I still can’t believe you bought a Porsche.” I sigh as I look it over, I hardly recognize my little boy anymore. Power suit, power car, penthouse, and player friends.
A Miles man through and through.
“He worked hard for it,” Tristan scoffs. “What’s the point of waiting until you are sixty to buy the car of your dreams? Life is short, Claire; you’ve got to play hard.”
Fletcher kisses us all and hugs me extra tight.
“I hate it when you leave.”
“He’ll be back tomorrow.” Tristan rolls his eyes.
Tristan doesn’t miss him as much as I do because he sees him every day at work.
Anderson Media is booming and they are busier than ever.
Fletcher gets into the car and we watch it disappear down the road as we wave.
Life is different now, quieter but louder. Busier but calmer. Grown up but then still just babies.