Hello my lovely readers! I am truly sorry that I waited practically a year to update! I hope you don't hate me too much!
Also, I apologize that chapter one is past tense, chapter two is mostly present tense, and this chapter is back to past tense. I'm usually very careful about grammar, but I obviously let this story slip. I'm too lazy right now to fix it, but I may get around to that in the future.
Alex and Sabina belong to the always spectacular Anthony Horowitz!
Please enjoy my newest installment!
Hardening
Alex and Sabina were throwing Mr. and Mrs. Pleasure a party for their thirtieth wedding anniversary.
Sabina had recently taken up baking, she had multiple cookbooks on her e-reader and she'd been buying all kinds of kitchen equipment. Her new hobby was taking over their small kitchen, but Alex didn't mind too much, as he was able to sample amazing new desserts almost every day.
Alex looked up from the police file he'd been reading at the kitchen table. He watched as his wife's long, silky hair fell over her face as she used a frosting pen to write out the words "Congratulations Edward and Elizabeth, Cheers to Thirty MORE Years of Married Bliss" in a green frosting. The two tiered cake with floral accents looked lovely and Alex was a bit disappointed that he'd have to wait until the next day at the surprise party to sample some of the delicious-sounding chocolate mousse cake.
Alex walked around the counter and came up behind Sabina. He embraced her and whispered into her ear, "Any way I could try some early?"
Sabina pulled away from him and dropped the frosting tool back into the bowl. "You can eat the whole damn cake!" She then stomped out of the kitchen.
Alex followed her to the dining room perplexed as to what had triggered her baking breakdown.
He pulled up a chair beside her and pulled one of her tear-stained hands away from her face. "What's wrong, baby?"
"Everything! The frosting started hardening in the pen so all the writing looks like chicken scratch. The bottom of the cake is slightly burnt, but I decided to use it anyway because we're out of eggs now. The party is tomorrow at noon and I haven't even had time to start decorating!" She gestured to the shopping bags from the party store that cluttered the hallway.
Alex began to laugh, he figured it was 'that time of the month', so he gently attempted to lift Sabina's spirits. "What can I do to help?"
"I don't need any help; I need an extra day to get everything done!"
"Which is why I'm going to help you! We'll get everything done quicker with two people instead of just you."
"But your part is tomorrow. You have to grill all the food before everyone arrives."
"I know that. But I'm not busy today and I want to help you. It'll be fun, come on!" He lifted her out of the chair like he was carrying a child, something guaranteed to make Sabina smile. "Scrap the cake, clean up the bowls, mixers, and pans. I'll head to the store; just tell me what you need."
"Oh Mr. Rider! Whatever would I do without you?" Sabina giggled. "I'm sorry about freaking out like that."
"Should I pick up some feminine hygiene products at the store?"
"Ugh, is it that obvious?" asked Sabina as she blushed.
Alex silently nodded, he knew that period jokes were the quickest way to put her in a foul mood. "By the way MRS. Rider, scrap that 'scrap the cake'. We'll eat it after we finish making the new cake together."
"I like the way you think!" Sabina smiled.
Midday
Alex came home from his 2 a.m. to noon shift exhausted. He walked through the house, "Sabina?"
"Where are you honey?"
"Hello?"
Her SUV was in the garage, but he didn't see her in the kitchen, dining room, living room, and he'd even checked the spare bedroom (currently in the process of being remodeled) and the hallway bathroom. Anxiously, he ran up the staircase to the master suite.
"There you are." He whispered to himself with a sigh of relief.
Alex quietly removed his police uniform and slipped into the bathroom. A few minutes into his shower, he heard the unmistakable squeak of the bathroom door.
"Hey babe," Sabina greeted her husband sleepily.
"I wish I had the luxury to sleep until midday!" He raised his voice to be heard over the water and through the shower curtain.
"Well I wish I didn't have an eight pound baby inside me, sapping all my energy." Sabina giggled as she applied toothpaste to her toothbrush. After she finished brushing her teeth she continued, "How was work?"
"Night shift as usual. Nothing remarkable." Alex turned off the water and wrapped himself in his towel.
"So when you wake up we'll finish painting the nursery, right?" Sabina had been pushing to get that project done, but Alex had been scheduled mostly night or early morning shifts for the past month or so. "We're less than three weeks away."
"I'm aware, beautiful." Alex stooped to kiss his very pregnant wife and he smiled. He saw now that the whole 'pregnant women glow' thing was not just a stereotype, she looked so sexy in her low cut baggy tank top and a pair of his boxers that she slept in. "I promise we'll finish up painting tonight, and then we'll assemble the crib and changing table."
Cursor
"And this is the street that I grew up on." Alex moved the cursor over the online street view of the Chelsea house he'd lived in with his uncle Ian and housekeeper/guardian Jack Starbright. Alex was sitting on the couch with his ten year old son Jackson beside him and his six year old daughter Gianna in his lap.
He and Sabina were planning to take the kids to London and give them a tour of their early lives.
Alex had not yet told his children about his involvement with MI6 in his teen years. He wanted to, but he didn't want to scare them. Sabina had brought up the issue when Jackson had been only a few months old, she didn't want their children to go around telling other people about it. He hadn't yet discussed it with Sabina, but Alex intended to tell his whole story when they were in London.
Thank you for being such a loyal reader! I think I'm going to write one more chapter, then this story will be a wrap!
Little note for you, Jackson is an ode to Jack, and Gianna is a female version of John (I also learned that Ian translates to John, interesting!).
Please review!
