Chapter four

Charlie sighed as he watched Amelia give Georgie a huge goodbye hug. It was his least favourite time, having to say goodbye to her. He was very grateful that Molly allowed her to stay so often, but it was still hard. When she was gone it was like there was a piece of their family missing. They worked well the three of them, and four when Sam stayed. He hoped that it wouldn't be long before he and Georgie had a baby of their own to complete their family.

'Bye, Georgie.' Amelia said as she pulled out of her embrace. 'See you next weekend.'

'Yeah see you then poppet.' She said, ruffling her hair. 'Don't forget to bring that princess costume you were telling me about.'

'I won't!' Amelia grinned, and then turned to Charlie. 'Time to go now daddy?'

'Yes, time to go.' Charlie smiled, taking her hand in his. 'See you soon.' He said to Georgie, kissing her.

'Drive carefully.' Georgie replied. 'I'll get the dinner on.'

'Thanks.' He said, and then he left with Amelia.

As soon as his car was gone down the street, Georgie slipped her shoes on and grabbed her purse. She wanted to make tonight perfect, and that meant getting Charlie's favourite dinner. It didn't take long to get to the shop and she picked up his favourite steak, some potatoes to make chips and salad. She felt sick with excitement as she paid for the food and a bottle of his favourite wine, then headed back home.

As she prepared the food she ran through the conversation they would have in her head. She couldn't wait to see his face. This was something they had both wanted for so long, and she couldn't wait to tell Amelia that she was going to be a big sister. Georgie smiled as she peeled the potatoes and imagined what Amelia would say. She pictured the three of them snuggled up on the sofa, cuddling up to her growing bump. She stopped peeling and held a hand to her stomach. The baby would only be as big as a poppy seed at the moment but she couldn't wait until it was big enough to make a bump.

...

As Charlie pulled up outside Molly's house he glanced at Amelia in the rear view mirror. She was sleeping peacefully again, still exhausted after the busy day they'd had. He turned off the car and gently pulled her out of her car seat before carrying her up the path to the front door.

It wasn't Molly who answered.

'Oh. Hi, Rob.' Charlie said as he opened the door.

Rob was Molly's fiancé. They had been together for eighteen months now, and thankfully he seemed to be taking care of her. And even though he didn't like to admit it, far better than Charlie himself ever had.

'Hi.' Rob replied, stepping forward to take Amelia from him. Charlie clenched his jaw, he didn't like handing over his daughter to another man. But as much as he found it difficult he knew that it was no different than Molly seeing her daughter with Georgie, and as Rob had never done anything wrong he had no right to say anything.

'Out for the count.' Rob grinned, and Charlie smiled back, although it was forced. 'Oh, Molly wanted to have a quick chat before you go - come in, she's just upstairs in the bathroom.'

'Oh.' Charlie said. 'Ok, no problem.'

He stepped across the threshold and in to their hallway, closing the front door behind him. Charlie glanced around at the expensive furnishings and feature glass balustrades which framed the stairs and dominated the hallway. It was as grand as his parents' house in Bath. Charlie didn't like the way it made him feel inferior. His own home was a lovely house full of love, but it was compact and basic. He had lost a lot of his assets to Molly in their divorce settlement, and a lot of what he had retained had been spent on his treatment for PTSD. It was kind of nice in a way that what he and Georgie now had, they had built up together. He had, to all intents and purposes, had to start again after selling his former home with Molly. He now paid a lot of maintenance to Molly and to Rebecca, out of choice, and that together with his modest teacher's wage meant that he was not as well off as he had been as an officer in the army. However he was far happier now, and he loved Georgie with the bottom of his heart, and that to him was worth far more than money.

'I'll take her up to bed.' Rob said. 'Make yourself at home in the living room, Molly will be right down.'

'Right.' Charlie nodded, and strode in to the living room. While he waited he looked at the photographs which littered the walls in expensive frames. They were mostly of Amelia and Molly but there were also some of Rob and Molly. She looked so happy in their photographs, and almost care free. He felt a little guilty. He had put her through so much in the last year of their marriage with his PTSD, and even for some time afterwards. He hadn't realised how much it had affected Molly until he saw her afterwards, happy with Rob and her new life. He almost couldn't remember ever seeing her look like that during their marriage.

'Hi.' Molly said as she walked through the living room door, distracting him from his thoughts. 'Do you want a drink?'

'No thanks.' Charlie replied. 'Georgie's got the dinner on, I'd better get back.'

Molly nodded. Charlie noticed her hands. She couldn't keep them still. She looked nervous.

'Is everything ok?' He asked, raising one eyebrow. 'Rob said you wanted to talk about something?'

'Yeah.' Molly exhaled, not maintaining eye contact. 'Look... Charles...'

Her voice trailed off and Charlie's heart rate raised slightly. What was she about to tell him?

'Whatever it is, just tell me.' He said.

Molly pursed her lips together and then looked him right in the eyes. 'I should have told you before, I'm sorry.' She said. 'But I didn't know how.'