Chapter Twenty-Two
Nathan, Pete and the children arrived as the blue sky of earlier in the day was replaced by grey clouds threatening rain. While it was still warm, the crickets had fallen silent and thunder rumbled over the mountains. Lisa welcomed Nathan’s hug. His lips upon hers made all thoughts of their tense parting disappear. She watched as he greeted Dom with a smile, and the happyacceptance of the beer he offered. Having not cleared the air before she left, Lisa had been dreading an atmosphere and was pleased to see Nathan wasn’t going to let his feelings about Dom knowing about Pip spoil the holiday.
As they brought their luggage from the car to the chalet, the quiet of the past two days was replaced by an array of voices all talking at the same time. While Lisa hadenjoyed her weekend with Felicity, she welcomed the new chaos. Compared to the loneliness she had felt a year ago, she was aware how lucky she was to have Nathan and her friends around her. In the back of her mind she knew she had to speak to Nathan about the engagement ring, but that all seemed so irrelevant in the happy holiday atmosphere.
Felicity was beaming at the sight of children andswooped them into an embrace. ‘Oh, I’ve missed you. You know I love you bigger than the world!’
‘I love you this much!’ Fred splayed his little arms as far open as he could.
‘I love you to the moon and back,’ shouted Callum.
‘I love you to infinity.’ Megan smiled, having trumped her brothers.
‘I love you bigger than a tapeworm!’ Alice declared.
As they all laughed and Alicebegan an indignant explanation as to why that wasn’t funny, Lisa knew she had a wonderful week ahead.Let the madness begin.
Friday came around too quickly. They had spent whole days at Lac Bleu in nearby Morillon enjoying the mountain lake, quiet beach, ice cream and stunning views. Nathan had been parapenting and encouraged Dom and Pete to go white-water rafting with him. Lisa was pleasedFelicity had found time to run most mornings before the heat of the day took hold. Flick and Pete had also taken a helicopter ride over the mountains in celebration of her thirtieth birthday, before having a meal in a local restaurant, making the most of the fact that holidaying with friends meant holidaying with babysitter benefits.
Lisa opened her eyes and stretched. The sun was coming throughthe curtains. She could hear the children playing, the kettle boiling, and Flick and Pete chatting in the kitchen.
‘Happy thirtieth birthday.’ Nathan’s voice was thick with sleep as he leaned up on his pillow.
Lisa turned to look at him and smiled, enjoying the warmth of his firm chest as she leaned into him. ‘Thank you.’
‘I am looking forward to today—’ he kissed her nose ‘—and gettingyou all to my—’
A knock at the door interrupted Nathan’s words and the trail his hand was making down Lisa’s side. He rolled back on to his own pillow with a mock exaggerated sigh.
Lisa giggled as she sat up, pulling the sheet over herself. Time alone wasn’t easy in a chalet full of people. ‘Come in.’
Flick stuck her head round the door. ‘Happy birthday! I’ve contained them for anhour, so when I heard voices, I thought you wouldn’t mind—’
Before Felicity could finish her sentence, Fred pushed past her. ‘Happy birthday, Lisa!’
The rest of Felicity’s children – who were holding handfuls of wild flowers, homemade cards and pastries on a plate – followed. Felicity held out a cup of coffee for Nathan and a glass of squash for Lisa. ‘Hope we’re not interrupting.’
‘I told her she’d be interrupting.’ Pete’s voice came from the hallway.
‘She is definitely interrupting!’ Nathan called back, with laughter in his tone.
‘Not at all.’ Lisa took the flowers and set the pastries aside before encouraging the children on to the bed and reading her cards enthusiastically. As her phone began to ring, Lisa saw that her mum was FaceTiming. ‘Who wants to speak tomy mummy?’
The chaos in the room increasing, Nathan slipped out of bed in his black boxer briefs. Felicity teasingly averted her eyes as he put on a T-shirt before she passed him his coffee and he went to find Pete. Lisa and the children watched as her mum and dad sang to her and offered birthday wishes. The children took it in turns to say hello and to share what their favourite part of theholiday had been. Felicity chatted to Lisa’s parents about how grateful she was to have had the week in their beautiful chalet. Once the call was over, the children ran to get ready for their day of adventure tree climbing.
As Lisa sat back in bed, watching and feeling her baby move, Dom knocked.
‘I hear the birthday girl is awake.’
Lisa smiled as he entered the room. ‘Awake and spoiltalready.’
‘So you don’t want this, then?’ Dom held out a present.
‘It would be rude of me not to take it after you’ve gone to the trouble—’
Dom passed the gift and Lisa opened it.
‘It’s from me and Gran.’
