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Sam leans in and kisses her, still half laughing, shaking his head at the miracle. ‘My heart feels like I’ve sprinted a mile,’ he says, taking her hand. ‘To think, I might not have seen him grow up if we hadn’t… and today I’ve seen him walk for the first time. And just in time for the wedding. Oh God, I think I’m going to burst!’
But the swell of joy is short-lived, replaced with a blow of grief so strong and so sudden it almost takes his breath away. He closes his eyes, opens them again. Finds himself in his future home with his future wife and his son.
‘I just wish she could see him,’ he whispers. ‘Us. She would have loved… She’s missing so much.’
After Sam has bathed Tommy and watched him walk another three times, read himThe Gruffalotwice and put him to bed, he rejoins Naomi downstairs and together they watch a crime drama on Netflix, the pasta carbonara Naomi has prepared on trays on their knees. Since they slept together after Joyce’s funeral, he has been careful not to presume it will happen again, but after dinner, when they start to kiss, he pulls back and asks if they should go upstairs.
She smiles, squeezing his hand. ‘Isowant to. And I know we haven’t exactly waited… but we were emotional after the funeral, weren’t we? Now I’m thinking we only have to wait till Monday… and I haven’t told you my other news.’ Her eyes widen, the irises dancing.
‘What other news?’
‘Well, two things actually. One is that we’ve exchanged on the house!’
‘What? Why didn’t you tell me?’
She laughs. ‘I’m telling you now! I wanted it to be a surprise! I was going to tell you on honeymoon actually… Oops!’ She claps her hand to her mouth, her eyes creasing with laughter.
‘Hang on, hang on.’ Their fingers intertwine in a kind of wrestlers’ grip, sending their hands off in all directions. ‘Honeymoon?’ he says. ‘What have you been up to?’
Naomi throws her head back and laughs again. When she returns her gaze to his, he lets go of her hand and she pushes her fingertips to her eyes, clearly moved. ‘I hope you like what I’ve done.’
‘I’m all ears.’
‘So. OK. So. The buyer has to come down from London, right?’ She smirks. ‘Anyway, he’s due to pick up the keys next Thursday, which is when we complete, but don’t worry, I’ll have it all nailed down by Monday. So I thought it best to have the cash go into the joint account for now. We’ll need to transfer it into an instant-access ISA or something as soon as we get back, because it’s a waste just having it sitting there.’ She chuckles, shakes her head. ‘This is the other surprise. So there’s going to be over three quarters of a million sitting in our account. That’s just from the house, without counting Joyce’s other savings. Now, I know I shouldn’t have done this without asking, because it’s your money…’
‘Our money. It’s ours.’ He lifts her hand and kisses it.
She closes her eyes, momentarily flustered, opens them again. ‘Sorry, can’t get my head round it. Anyway, yes, so I just thought, sod it, you know? Let’s have ourselves a proper honeymoon, yeah? I’ve booked us thisamazingplace in Devon. It’s not far; it’s just for a few nights – we’ll get back on the Thursday in time for a long weekend with Tommy. It’s really luxurious and it’s overlooking the sea and it’s so, so beautiful and I got a really good deal on the honeymoon suite and Imighthave booked us some water-skiing andmaybea couples’ spa day, and we can go hiking too if you like, and honestly, Sam, it’s not like the wedding’s costing us anything and you deserve it after everything you’ve been through—’
He pushes his finger to her lips. ‘Nomes. Shh. Relax! Of course it’s OK! It’s a great idea. I just feel bad because I should’ve done it. I didn’t think you wanted a honeymoon, I thought keeping it super low-key was what you wanted, otherwise I’d have—’
Her finger presses against his lips in return. ‘I want us to have the honeymoon of our dreams, babe. It’s the one thing we can do, isn’t it?’
They sit staring into each other’s eyes, tacitly daring the other to lift their finger first, like a lovers’ game of chicken. It is Sam who moves, leaning in to kiss her.
‘You. Are amazing,’ he says. ‘You are the queen of organise.’
She shrugs. ‘Well, you’ve been grieving. It was the least I could do. And anyway, you can… you can spot grammatical mistakes in nursery rhymes.’
‘No, but you’re clever. You’re such a whizz with financial stuff and such an amazing mum. I’d say we’re a great team… except that you’re better. I’m really only good with my hands.’
‘I’ve just had to stand on my own two feet for longer, that’s all. You would’ve taken care of the house sale and Joyce’s estate and all that, but you’ve never done it before, have you? I’ve sold my place and sorted all the stuff after both parents, so I know the ropes. You would’ve booked something for us if you’d been in charge of the money. And after your payments for little Toms, plus all the stuff you’ve bought for him, I can’t imagine you’ve got much saved.’
He shakes his head. ‘I am skint, it’s true. Well, not now obviously.’
‘Not any more, no. We iswell rich!’ She laughs, loudly and for longer than the joke strictly deserves.
Trying not to let her hysterics irritate him, he lets go of her hands. Immediately he feels his shoulders slump, his eyes fill. ‘I just wish Joyce hadn’t…’
She stops laughing, to his immense relief, and pulls him to her. Her hand cradles the back of his head, a gesture so tender he feels himself slacken, his forehead fall onto her shoulder. ‘I know you’d rather have Joyce than all the money in the world, I know that, I do. And I know we’re having a super-quiet wedding because that’s what’s right under the circumstances, even without bloody COVID, so that’s why I wanted to do something special. Special but private, just for us, away from it all. And it didn’t cost too much. It’s just a few days, without Tommy, just for us.’
‘WithoutTommy?’
‘Of course without Tommy! It’s ourhoneymoon. Jo’s gonna take him home after the wedding while we drive off into the sunset. We can go in Joyce’s MG. Honestly, Toms’ll be as happy as Larry with his auntie, don’t you worry. It’ll be just us two – not very romantic if we’re changing nappies and trying to find baby-friendly cafés the whole time, is it? So that’s why I thought it might be nice to, you know,wait,even though we want to tear each other’s clothes off.’ She giggles. ‘That way, when we spend our first proper night together, it’ll be in a beautiful suite in a beautiful hotel and it’ll be really special and romantic. And really exciting too hopefully. We’ll be desperate for each other!’
‘It’ll be perfect. Like you.’ He takes her hands, kisses her knuckles one by one. He kisses her on the mouth again, then, tapping his watch, stands up. ‘Now, it’s almost ten o’clock, and I for one honour your bedtime, just as I’ll be honouring our vows come Monday, milady.’ He lifts her hand and presses his lips against it. ‘Goodnight, fair princess.’
‘Idiot.’
