“Everybody makes mistakes, Nicholas, some big and some small but it’s how you put things right that counts and I’m proud of you and how much effort you have put into getting your family back together.” He kisses me on the temple whispering he loves me.
A few tears escape my eyes but I pull myself together wiping them away. Of all the things he could have said to me, that is what I needed to hear the most. What will he have to say when I tell him about the accident which I’ve been keeping from them all for so long? Will he still be proud?
Alannah comes out of the room looking for me. My dad gives me another pat on the back and leaves the two of us alone. She wraps her arms around my waist frowning at my red rimmed eyes.
“Is everything alright?” She asks worriedly
“Perfect.” I smile at her. “Ready to go?”
On the way back to the apartment Charlie is talking non-stop about Christmas and the new baby in between her yawns. Once home I get her ready for bed, while Alannah heads for the shower. As I’m tucking her in she asks me a question I really am not prepared for.
“Daddy, where does the baby come from? I know they grow in the mummy’s tummy but how does it get in there?”
Shit, I need Alannah. I’m not equipped to answer this. What do I say? I don’t think Alannah would want me lying to her and telling her outlandish lies. Think Nicholas.
“Well… you’ll understand when you’re older but the mummy has a special egg in her tummy and the daddy also has something special in his body and when they’re put together it makes a baby.” She’s gives me a funny look.
“Oh, but how?”
“The doctor helps them.”
“Oh, okay.” She appears as if she doesn’t quite believe me. “So if you need both a dad and mum, now that you are here do I get to be a big sister like Lizzie? Am I going to have a baby brother or sister?” I rub my hands over my face.
“I don’t know, it’s not that easy and you’ll have to ask mummy, she’s the one who has to grow the baby.”
“Good point. I’ll ask her tomorrow.” That was a close escape. I kiss her goodnight and rush out of there before another question pops into her head.
Chapter 27
Alannah
I’m in the kitchen frying Charlotte eggs for breakfast as she waits seated at the breakfast bar colouring in. Nick went downstairs to the gym for a run on the treadmill an hour ago and should be returning soon.
Charlotte looks up and her head moves back and forth between the frypan and me. She’s staring at my stomach strangely.
“Charlie, what are you looking at?”
“I’m just trying to figure out where your eggs are.”
“My what?” What on earth is she talking about?
“Your eggs. Daddy told me that mummies have eggs that they make babies with, are they as big as a chicken’s egg, where do they come from?”
Nicholas Moore! What have you been telling this child?
I hear the door open and in walks the man himself. Overhearing his daughter’s question he quickly spins around walking away. I’ll get to you later mister.
“What else did he tell you?”
“Not much, I don’t think daddy knows where the baby comes from.” I plate up her eggs and toast, placing them in front of her and take a seat next to her.
“No, my eggs are really tiny and are in a part of my body called ovaries. It’s a special part of the body that only girls have. You have them too, but they don’t start doing anything until you became a teenager and when you are old enough to understand I will explain exactly how they work. Okay?”
“Okay.” She shrugs dipping her toast into the yolk.
“Why were you talking about babies?”
“I was asking daddy if I was going to be a big sister now like Lizzie.”
“Do you want to be a big sister?”
“Yes. I can help you look after it.”
“It’s not that simple sweetheart.”
“Why not?”
“Because first of all the daddy and mummy have to be in love and get married.”
“So get married.” The love part she doesn’t even question.
“Oh, Charlotte, it’s not that easy.”
“Don’t you love daddy?”
“It’s not that, but remember we don’t live here, we live somewhere else and married people need to live in the same house.”
“Let’s stay here then, please.” She pleads sounding like her father. Don’t break my heart kiddo.
“Charlotte sometimes grown-ups need to make difficult decisions, think about what’s best for their family because they have responsibilities, you may not like it but it’s the right thing to do and for now we live in Perth. One day we’ll be here with daddy forever and maybe have more babies but for right now we have to go home in a few days. Mummy has to go back to work and don’t you want to see your school friends and grandma.”
“But if we leave, daddy he will be all by himself.”
“He will come and visit us like he has before.”
“It’s not the same.” She pouts.
“Eat your breakfast, it’s getting cold.” I put a stop to the conversation.
As much as she wants to stay here with Nick it’s too soon, we still have so much to work out between us but we are getting there slowly.
I leave Charlotte eating and go in search of the man himself to find out exactly what occurred last night. I knock on his bedroom door and push it open. Sticking my head in I see him bent over his bed, he’s shirtless and his hands are leaning on the mattress with his eyes squeezed shut in pain. I quickly move across to him.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, my back muscles are cramping, I’ll be fine in a minute.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” He shakes his head but I need to try and do something. “Here turn around and sit on the bed.”
I help him twist and lower his body, he lets out a little groan, before climbing up on the bed behind him. I sit on my knees, my legs spread on either side of his thighs. I’m up close with the long scars on his back and I take a moment to really look at them. I use my index finger to trace one of them from top to bottom. He always had a beautiful body and his back was one body part of his I loved and that hasn’t changed, if anything I admire it even more. It reflects his strength and determination. I let out a deep breath and move my hands to his lower back and start to push and manipulate the muscles beneath. His skin feels cold.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.”
“Does this happen often?”
“Not really but at times I feel it more in the cold weather or if I work out too hard.” Five minutes later my fingers are beginning to hurt so I let up. “Is that better?”
“Much, thank you.”
“We can reschedule tonight if you don’t feel up to it,” I let him know.
“No, we’re going,” he insists.
I rise up on my knees, kiss his shoulder blade and wrap my arms around his neck.
“Do you want to tell me why Charlotte was asking about babies and my eggs?” He chuckles.