Apologies for delay, week has been busy. Long chapter but hope you like.

Chapter 7

June

"Jay? Jaaaay? Jackson!"

Jackson's groggy eyelids flickered open as he heard his name being called at what sounded like a distance. He heard the voice again only closer this time; "Hey Jay, wake up."

The voice was demanding but soft. As the worst of the sleepiness passed Jackson noticed he was lying with his head on Aaron's chest and arms and legs wrapped around him like a monkey. He felt a hand resting on the small of his back, stroking the end of the long scar that ran along his spine "You awake, baby?"

Jackson looked up to see the face of his husband gazing down at him tenderly "I am now, what's wrong?"

"I just need you to budge over a bit; your right knee is coming too close for comfort against the general and the colonels!"

"Oh right, sorry." Jackson slid off his husband. He was never usually this clingy in his sleep but since his little scuffle a few weeks earlier he had been experiencing a lot of flashbacks and nightmares and instinctively tended to cling to whatever made him feel safest. Aaron had been brilliant and helped get him through them all, holding him when they occurred and soothing him back to sleep no matter how many times he woke him up. Of course Aaron wouldn't admit that he also found some comfort in cradling his husband; it reassured him to know that his partner was safe, secure and alive in his arms.

His move to his own side of the bed was made pointless as Aaron scooted over and placed his arms around him once more "I didn't say you had to move completely." He snuggled his head into the crook of Jay's neck "I was comfy there."

Jackson grinned as he wrapped his own arms around his husband "Just thought I was making you too warm; you spent most of last night bitching about the heat."

Aaron shrugged "It's never too warm for this." All the same he lazily kicked the duvet off the pair of them before tangling his legs once again with his husband's. Jackson shook his head fondly; only Aaron would spend half the night tossing and turning and grumbling about the hot weather and then in the morning want to cuddle. Awkward sod that he was.

Still Jackson would never be one to complain about this. Tightening his arms around him and placing a kiss on his forehead he muttered "Your army troops still okay down there?"

"Hmm I dunno, maybe later on you should give them an inspection. Put them through their boot camp stages to make sure they're still fit for action." Aaron smirked mischievously. Jackson chuckled with a raised eyebrow "Do I need to be in full uniform for it?"

"Most definitely. In fact I think we still have that old costume lying around." Jackson could practically see a spark dancing in the centre of Aaron's eyes as the memory of his partner dressed as a soldier one New Year's Eve passed through his mind.

Jackson smirked "Sir, yes, sir!" he playfully rubbed noses with his smiling husband. "You even have the haircut to match now." Aaron muttered fondly, running a hand gently over the prickly hairs of his husband's army cut.

Jackson had healed extraordinarily well over the course of weeks; his ribs were fine and most of his minor cuts and bruises were now gone. His worst bruises had gradually lost their darkness and most were now a shade of red or yellow. His stitches had been removed and the swelling had gone down completely. As suspected a few little scars had been left on his face and in places on his chest, back and scalp but the doctors had done such a great job they were barely noticeable. Of course his hair was taking it's time growing back to its original state but this couldn't be helped. Besides Aaron was finding glee in the belief that once it did grow back it would bring some greys with it, so Jay figured maybe the delay wasn't such a bad thing.

This reminded Aaron "Her trial's on today."

Jackson froze. Aaron snuggled closer to him comfortingly "You sure you don't want to go?" he asked gently. Jackson nodded; he'd seen more of this woman in both reality and in his dreams than he'd ever need to see again. Though he wouldn't say it out loud the thought of seeing her again in the flesh turned his very senses numb and his insides to water; it took a lot to scare Jackson Walsh and it made him feel ashamed to think that his deepest fear was of a woman.

Aaron nodded understandingly "Okay." Jackson had already given a statement, photographs had been taken of the damage and all the evidence was there so there wasn't a snowman's chance in hell that that bitch would get off anyway. As much as he wished he could be there to see her face when she got sent down he respected Jackson's wishes; his happiness was more important to Aaron than anything else.

Jackson gratefully gave him a kiss "Besides, we have bigger fish to fry. We have a guest coming over tonight, remember?"

Aaron nodded reverently "Oh yes, and an even bigger trial to face!"

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Later on that day they were out picking up bits and pieces for dinner. Normally on a Saturday night they'd just bang something in from the freezer or order a take-away but as they had rather important company that night they had to make a good first impression, and both mutually agreed that frozen shepherd's pie wasn't the way to go about it.

Aaron noticed on the drive home Jay was rather quiet in himself; saying little and gazing off into space. He hoped he wasn't coming down with something or having another crisis of confidence; the number of nosy-parkers who'd stared at him whenever he went out had lessened since the bruising had begun to fade but there was still the occasional child who wanted to know why his eyes were black and his head shaved.

Finally Jay muttered softly "What time is it?"

"Four seventeen, why?"

Jay remained silent momentarily before grunting "Would we have time to make a detour before we head home?"

"….Where?"

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"Your house is really nice!"

Kay smiled as Rosaleigh considerately looked around his living room. Despite being together almost three months now she had never been to his house before. There wasn't any real reason for that other than convenience; her house had simply been closer than his.

"It does ok; keeps the rain off doesn't it?"

She was dressed really nice for the occasion; not too casual but not too smart either. Despite his protests that his parents wouldn't care if she turned up in a potato sack she had tormented him for hours on end with endless questions of "Does this look alright? Is this too formal? Does this make me look like I'm trying too hard?" Finally just before Kay had started to have dark thoughts of whether it was acceptable to split up with someone on the day they were meant to meet the parents she had made her mind up once and for all.

"Awww how cute were you?"

Kay saw that she had now noticed the many photos on the cabinet and mantelpiece and was studying them with a smile. A particular photo of a five year-old Kalum had caught her attention; in the image he had a saucepan on his head, two wooden spoons in his hands and was surrounded by other pots and pans, beaming proudly at the camera.

He scoffed "What do you mean were? I'm still cute!"

She rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's humour as she continued looking at the photos. There was all the milestone photos of Kalum on his own; birthdays, first day at primary and secondary school, first basketball match and such. All were adorable but the photos that really stood out for her were the ones including his parents, from those she could conclude that they were indeed a close family. It helped settle her a bit; whether Kay knew it or not she was rather nervous about meeting them for the first time.

She heard him clear his throat behind her "I don't mean this in a creepy sense but do you want to head into my room?"

She chuckled as she turned to face him "Are you trying to seduce me, Kalum Walsh?"

Kay's face reddened as he tried to play it cool "No, but if I was it'd hardly take much trying; I mean look at this face!"

She snorted as she made her way into his room, affectionately pulling his beanie down over his eyes as she passed. Kalum grinned "Want anything to drink?"

"Coke, please!" she called back. While Kay worked away in the kitchen she observed the surroundings of his room; messy in places like most teenage boys' rooms but not as bad as expected. She let her eyes wander over the posters donning the walls and the various objects and awards scattered over the shelves until they finally came to rest on the photos on his locker.

She caught sight of the most aged-looking one and smiled fondly; that had to be his mum. She was the very double of Kalum with the exact same eyes, nose and mouth twisted in the very same smile. Her hair was a little darker and obviously her features more feminine but there could be no denying Kay was hers.

She noticed there wasn't a photo of his biological father to be found anywhere and couldn't help but wonder why that was. Kalum had never brought his real father up in conversation nor said anything about his fate so she presumed him to be also dead. Maybe it simply hurt Kay too much to talk about him.

She felt warmth rise in her as she noticed a photo of the pair of them also decorating the locker. It was a cute one; Kalum had fallen asleep while watching a film at hers and she had drawn on his face, including a dark moustache and beard to make up for his then lack of facial hair. Once he'd woken up Kay had gotten his own back by pulling her into an unexpected kiss, Rosaleigh realising too late that this caused imprints of her handiwork to be left on her own face. Both had seen the funny side and Kay had captured the moment on his phone camera, the pair of them covered in ink and smiling.

As she went to pick up the photo for a better look she accidently knocked something off the locker on to the floor. Bending hurriedly she picked up what appeared to be a black, leather-backed book. As she went to put it back it fell open onto a page and its contents took her breath away.

She was still dazedly flicking through the book when she heard a stern "What are you doing?"

Her head flicked up and she felt a flicker of guilt as Kalum stared at her with wide eyes, looking somewhere between stunned and annoyed.

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"You don't have to do this you know."

Jackson hesitated as though considering this but forced himself to shake his head "I need to. It's the only way of putting this to bed once and for all."

Aaron wasn't sure about that but he knew better than to try and dissuade Jay once his mind was made up. "Alright." He sighed "But if it all gets too much for you just let me know and we'll leave right away, ok? Nobody will judge you."

Jackson smiled weakly "Ok."

As they ascended the staircase Aaron took hold of Jay's hand, squeezing it comfortingly. Jackson was grateful; he'd wanted to grip hold of his husband's hand the second they'd passed through those big, heavy doors but was worried Aaron would think him a wuss. He was also thankful for Aaron's support if he felt like backing out; right now there was nothing he would like to do more but if he ran away from this now, he'd always be running from it.

A number of eyes fixed on them as they entered the upper gallery, some staring out of curiosity, some popping with realisation. This frustrated Aaron as this was tough enough already for Jay without a load of speculative prats gawping at him. They sat in the front row, Aaron deliberately taking the outer seat to shield Jay from his over-curious audience, and listened in for the final few minutes

"…. to summarise; the defendant has pleaded guilty to one count of grievous bodily harm to the plaintiff and neglect of taking prescribed medication while operating in the work environment, not guilty to one count of attempted murder, and has made a plea for temporary insanity."

Aaron barely heard the next few words as his hackles rose dangerously and his blood boiled. That bitch actually had the gall to make an insanity plea as part of her defence! Jackson appeared to have been hit hard by these words too, hands involuntarily beginning to tremble as they gripped the rail. Aaron wordlessly laid a hand over one of them, stroking it soothingly though part of himself worried. There was no way she could be let off with an insanity plea, it just couldn't happen, not after everything. Life wasn't that cruel.

As the judge finished speaking he caught sight of the pair in the gallery. With an acknowledging nod he returned to his melancholic defendant "The plaintiff is here. Is there anything you wish to say before we pass sentence, Ms Sanders?"

As Vanessa Sanders' cold, emotionless eyes met Jackson's for the first time in weeks Jackson started to feel cold sweat break out over him and his breathing start to dip as he began suffering a flashback. The courtroom and people in it all disappeared as all he could see was those icy eyes glaring down at him as blow after blow connected with his flesh…

Jackson was pulled back out from that distressing scene by the feel of a hand gripping his own tightly but lovingly, fingers lacing with his. He opened his eyes just in time to see her shake her blond head "No, your Honour."

"Very well." He gave Jackson a sympathetic look "Do you have any comment, Mr Walsh?"

Jackson simply shook his head, unable to bring himself to speak in case he broke down. Only for Aaron he would have turned and left already but his partner kept him strong, he had to see the rest of this through lest it haunt him forever.

The jury didn't take too long to make a decision "Ms Sanders this court of law finds you guilty on counts of grievous bodily harm and attempted murder and your plea for temporary insanity is dismissed based on your own admission of knowingly failing to administer your prescribed medication for high level bipolar disorder. Based on this I hereby sentence you to seven years. Taking your mental condition into account I shall lower it to five, with regular psychiatric analysis every six months. Your careless and selfish actions put an entire workforce at risk and almost cost the life of one of your co-workers. I'm afraid I can offer you no sympathy." With that he banged the gavel "Case closed."

Vanessa showed no emotion as she was escorted down the aisle; face blank as a canvas as she tried to retain what little dignity she had left. Just before she left she directed her gaze towards the gallery, towards the two people who had just torn her life to shreds.

This time Jackson didn't flinch; instead he calmly held her gaze, face betraying none of the mess of nerves he felt inside of him. This was it, he'd done it. No more fear.

Aaron glared hatefully back at her and slowly, deliberately gripped Jackson's hand tighter on the rail just to see the annoyance on her face before she was led out of sight. He wanted her to see that her plan had failed miserably, that Jackson still was more loved and wanted than she could ever hope to be and that there was nothing she could've done to tear them apart. She had now seen that she was left with nothing while Jay still had everything.

He mused over this with grim satisfaction as they made their way silently back to the car; despite the courts findings he somehow doubted that Sanders had gone for full-on murder. Based on what Jackson said it seemed more that she wanted to keep Jackson alive just for the pleasure of hopefully driving a wedge between him and Aaron over Aaron's disgust of Jay's appearance. However Aaron certainly wasn't going to lose sleep over this little piece of untold information; as far as he was concerned she had gotten off lightly enough as it was.

Once they got back in the car Aaron turned to say something before slowly shutting his mouth as he saw Jackson almost furiously wiping away relieved, grateful tears.

Deciding it was better to leave the court discussion until later Aaron leaned across to pull his husband into a hug, massaging his neck. "I'm so proud of you." He mumbled against Jackson's shoulder, to which Jackson replied with a sniff "I love you, Aaron."

"I love you too."

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Kalum had been silent for a bit. Once Rosaleigh had briskly placed the book back on his locker he had wordlessly hauled himself up on his bed, looking more embarrassed than angry though Rosaleigh couldn't be too sure.

She herself was perched on the other end of the bed, picking at the duvet anxiously with eyes averted, not sure what she should say. She could clearly see that Kay wasn't too happy with her prying through his personal belongings but she still couldn't understand why he had kept something like this from her.

Finally she brought herself to speak "You mad at me?"

Kalum sighed "No. I probably would've shown you anyway eventually so I guess you might as well have seen it now."

"I should hope you'd want to share something like this with me!" she chided gently, trying to lighten the mood once more.

It worked as Kay smiled "I kind of haven't shown it to anyone else either. Thought it might seem a bit naff."

"A bit naff? Kay, how on earth can you think any of that is naff?" she was honestly shocked at his modest reaction. He on the other hand seemed shocked by her incredulous reaction. Nevertheless he gave a small, shy grin and asked "Do you want to see some more?"

Almost immediately she had crawled up to his end of the bed and settled her head on his left collarbone, left arm wrapped around his waist. With a fond roll of his eyes Kay reached out to take hold of the book once more and almost carelessly let it fall open on a random page.

Still it mattered little what page it landed on as nearly every corner of each page was filled with the most incredible sketches and drawings, done with every type of medium from pencil and ink to charcoal and oil. Some depicted people; Rosaleigh was able to pick out portraits done of his parents, his friends, some famous people and even herself. That one stunned her completely; the careful detail and almost perfect tones were so accurate that it was nearly like looking at a photograph.

There was also a charcoal drawing of his gorgeous collie, Koda. She saw another picture of a rabbit, some drawings of sheep and horses. There were millions of other bits and pieces that had simply caught Kay's interest but what struck her the most was his landscape sketches which included buildings like his house, his school and even a full scape drawing of the whole village which he must have drawn from a distance. The scale was almost completely spot on and the detail infallible yet judging by the lack of smudges and eraser marks it didn't seem to have taken much effort.

"Why the hell haven't you become a millionaire by selling these yet?" she blurted, awed.

Her admiration touched him "Thanks but they're nothing big. Anybody can pick up a pen and draw, especially a left-handed person."

She stared at him in disbelief "Kalum, I have seen big spenders pay out huge amounts of cash for stuff that looks like thrash compared to this! You're seriously talented!"

He scoffed at this "Most so-called art enthusiasts these days would shell out thousands for a canvas that's had a spider run across it with its feet painted just to keep up appearances! There's no appreciation, I mean look at Van Gogh he only sold two paintings in his whole lifetime and the man was a god! I could never be like that."

"Stephen King syndrome."

He cocked a confused eyebrow "Sorry?"

"You're like Stephen King." At his blank expression she groaned "You've never heard of him?"

"I've heard his name before." He admitted guiltily "But I can't remember where."

She shook her head in disgust before explaining "He was a horror book writer, probably one of the most famous and celebrated authors in the world. He didn't think he was much cop either when it came to his talent; one day he got so frustrated while trying to write a novel that he threw all his work into the bin only for it to be fished out by his wife later on. After reading it she showed them to his publisher…." She paused for emphasis "Those bits of paper he considered rubbish became Carrie, his first and to this day most successful novel."

Kalum found the story interesting but failed to see how it related to him "But what…"

"The point is what you might consider rubbish might be amazing in other people's eyes." She elaborated calmly, hand stroking his stomach gently through the fabric of his shirt "You just take it for granted. And believe me what you have is amazing, Kay. Don't let anyone tell you different, even if that anyone is yourself."

He gazed at her fondly and laid a tender kiss on her forehead "Thanks." She nuzzled her face closer into his shoulder "Have you ever thought of doing it as a career?"

"Art? No, it's more of just a hobby. Besides I usually do it as a way to unwind, I'd be afraid I'd end up hating it if I did it as a job."

She could certainly see his point in this "Ok. Just out of interest, now the exams are nearly finished have you given any thought to what you'd like to do career-wise or are you still unsure?"

He sighed and shook his head "Still got nothing. To be honest the past few weeks have been so chaotic I've barely had time to give it any thought."

"Did anything ever cross your mind at all? Anything you'd like to be?"

He drummed his fingers on his sketchpad "In all seriousness I think the last time I was thinking about a career I was about eight and determined I was going to be a builder like my da." He grinned a little sadly "Talk about the impossible dream, eh?"

She could hear the tone of regret in his voice and she turned her face to look at his concernedly as he went on "Just think of how fewer problems I'd have trying to pick a career if I didn't have to worry about this. Employee material at its best!" the bitter sarcasm in his voice was obvious.

Rosaleigh placed a hand on his face and stroked the stubble beneath her fingers "You are amazing in every possible way." She muttered softly "And if an employer can't see that then he's not worth working for."

He didn't really know what to say. Leaning his head in he thanked her with a soft, slow kiss. Once they parted he leaned his head against hers "You're incredible." He smiled as he brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

"I know." She smirked before giving him another small kiss as they heard the front door open

"Kay, we're back!"

"Bloody well took their time shopping didn't they?" Kay muttered.

"Now, now, be nice." She scolded before sitting up and straightening her clothes and hair anxiously "Do I look ok?"

"Yes, like a flipping Venus." Kay rolled his eyes good-humouredly "If I wasn't dating you already I'd ask you out!"

"You're a moron." She huffed, giving him a dig. He chuckled "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

As they came through the doorway they could hear Aaron calling from the kitchen "Do us a favour Kay and text Rosaleigh, ask if she prefers carrots or parsn-"

He stopped abruptly as he caught sight of the two teenagers in the living room, one looking rather awkward and the other looking nervous "Um, hope you don't mind but I kind of got lonely so I asked her to come around early." Kay explained lamely.

Before Aaron had time to reply Rosaleigh quickly put on a smile and held a hand out "I'm Rosaleigh, pleased to meet you! I like both by the way so I don't mind which one."

While Kay marvelled at her ability to do what he'd failed at with her mother Aaron's face broke into a smile and he shook her outstretched hand "Pleasure is all mine, Rosaleigh. Just happy to meet you at last, we've heard a lot about you!"

"All good I hope, Mr Walsh?"

"Please, it's Aaron! And yes, his eyes practically light up whenever he talks about you."

"Daaad!" Kalum shot a glare at his father who innocently gazed back as though totally forgetting their agreement to not try to embarrass him.

She however laughed "Funny, could've fooled me the amount he complains whenever I'm around!"

"Pay no heed; he's just a drama queen like his da." Aaron cast his eyes up, evoking another death stare off his unimpressed son.

"Is his da around?" she asked eagerly, figuring that if one of his dads was this friendly the other couldn't possibly be bad either.

"Jackson's just out back taking a phone call; he'll be along in a minute. Come into the kitchen and I'll fix you a drink, I'm sure mardy-arse over there didn't offer you anything!"

Kalum started to splutter indignantly as she giggled "No, to be fair he did."

"Miracles happen every day I suppose." He grinned "Anyway come in and have a seat."

While she walked ahead Kalum muttered in a hushed, vexed tone to his father "What did we agree?"

"Yeah, well maybe next time you have your girlfriend around early you'll drop a warning so I won't have to great her dressed like a tramp, you little shit."

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Still as the night went on Kalum let himself relax as things ran smoothly, conversation flowed freely and Aaron refrained from any more embarrassing comments. He was particularly happy with Rosaleigh's reaction to his da; while she knew of course of his attack and Kay had warned her that some of the damage still remained she greeted him just as warmly as she did Aaron, not batting an eyelid at his injuries. For someone who had been so nervous beforehand she was all chat once the ice had been broken over dinner

"What do you fancy doing in college, Rosaleigh?" Aaron asked as he topped up her glass. She thanked him and replied "Hopefully midwifery; I think there's something really nice about the idea of bringing someone's child into the world."

"What, kicking and screaming and covered in goo?" Kalum smirked.

"Hush up you!" Aaron snorted "She's thinking of the positive side. Mind you, I can't see myself down that line of work so fair play to you."

"Thanks but in fairness I couldn't see myself having the patience to work with cars! I really couldn't tell the difference between a Ferrari and a Volkswagen!"

"Seriously?" Aaron laughed, secretly hoping she was joking!

She directed her next question to Jackson "Kay tells me you're a builder, Jackson?"

"That's me." He grinned "Could've been something useful if I wanted to but no, I became a brickie!"

"Don't be like that, where would any of us be without builders? Besides, Kay was just telling me earlier about how he only ever wanted to be a builder when he was little, weren't you Kay?"

"Hmm?" Kalum snapped out of his trance. It wasn't that he was being rude or found the conversation uninteresting, but this talk of professions had him pondering and an idea had just hit him out of nowhere and the more he thought about it the more he liked it. It was something that had both his interests and skills combined and for once in all the time he'd spent melting his brain over possible career choices this one felt right, somehow.

Quickly re-capping what had been said to avoid accusations of ignorance he replied "Oh yeah, I did! And that actually got me thinking…"

"Is that what that noise was?" Jackson chuckled.

"Har de har har! No, I was thinking that maybe a good career choice for me would be an architect."

All three around the table stared at him, Rosaleigh starting to smile. Aaron was the first to talk "Well I don't see why not, you always wanted to do something in construction and you're good at maths and art- so I hear anyway!" From the exasperated tone Rosaleigh guessed with a touch of guilt that when Kay had said no one else had seen his sketchpad he'd quite literally meant no one else.

"Plus you've already done your maths exam last week and you still have art, art history and French left to go so you've got the right subjects lined up!" Jackson added "Is it something you think you'd be happy doing, mate?"

"Yeah, I think so." For the first time Kay both sounded and felt certain.

"Then that's what matters!" Aaron grinned, relieved that Kay could finally strike this worry off his list. "How the hell did this epiphany happen?"

"With a little help from Stephen King." Rosaleigh laughed, giving a pleased Kay's hand a squeeze under the table, not minding that his parents might have just been convinced she had lost the plot completely.

Jackson looked astonished "You've read Stephen King?"

Rosaleigh nodded enthusiastically "I've always liked horror books and one time when we were on holidays in Spain I'd forgotten to buy a book and the only horror book they had in English was an old copy of Salem's Lot. I was kind of sceptical but once I started I couldn't put it down, so I pretty much became a fan."

"No kidding! My favourite one is Dreamcatcher, have you read it?"

Aaron and Kay eyed each other in amusement as the two bookworms discussed the novelist. Aaron had only ever attempted one King book and though he wouldn't admit it it had kept him awake for days. Kay's knowledge extended to the film Shawshank Redemption and that was only because they were made to watch it in English class. He was just so grateful to have an ally in his dad regarding this.

Famous last words "You haven't read Clive Barker have you, Aaron?"

Aaron's face lit up "I did funny enough just a few years ago! See my foster father used to keep some books in the bog…"

Kalum groaned, making a mental note in his head to read more horror material. Still he couldn't deny how pleased he was to see his parents get on so well with Rosaleigh so he'd be content with being the spare wheel just this once.

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Jackson began washing the dishes while Kalum waited outside with Rosaleigh for her lift; Aaron or Jackson would've offered her a lift only they'd have a couple of glasses at dinner and her mum was passing on her way home from work anyway.

Jay smiled as he felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around his waist from behind and a chin resting on his shoulder "Oh you're still here then? I was half-worried you'd run off with your new interest!"

"Get stuffed!" Aaron snorted "She's a nice girl though, isn't she?"

Jackson agreed "Our Kay did well there, I must say."

Aaron gently squeezed his waist and kissed his neck "And what was all that talk before about a brickie not being anything special? Come off it! Do you think I fancy you more in a suit than your dirty, ragged-up builder's gear?"

"You may just have to get used to that, darling." Jackson's face suddenly split into a beaming smile. Aaron frowned "What do you mean?"

Jay turned around in his arms to face him, looking excited "I didn't want to say anything at dinner but that call I got earlier was from Declan. He says that the trial today made him realise that he can't afford another mistake like that again so he's fired Megan!"

Aaron was still confused; sure it was great news and everything that cow deserved but he didn't see what the excitement was all about. He was sure Declan would be more than capable of finding someone just as bitter and cold-blooded to fill her posi-

He froze as it dawned on him "You…"

"The job's mine if I want it." Jackson's eyes sparkled "Co- managing director! What do you think?"

Aaron's arms tightened around his waist as he brought his head in for a kiss "I think…" he muttered huskily "… that once Kay's settled I want to take a co-managing director to bed."

Jackson smirked "Thought you wanted a soldier this morning?"

"I still do, plus my usual brickie."

Jackson's eyes widened in mock amusement "What, all tonight?"

Aaron shrugged "Why not, the night's still young."

Jackson simply shook his head with an impish grin "You won't be able to sit down tomorrow, just hope you know."

"Is that a promise?"

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Kay and Rosaleigh waited at the front gate for her mum to arrive. She was running a little late but it didn't matter; the night air was warm and it gave them a chance to talk about the evening

"Sorry if they're a bit eccentric, my folks."

She shot him a look of surprise "Don't apologise, I loved your parents! I honestly could talk to them all night!"

"I've noticed!" he laughed.

"Aww, is someone jealous?" she teased.

He snorted "Do I need to be?"

"Oh definitely." She grinned "Your father's hot."

"Which one?"

"Both!" she chuckled "I might have picked the wrong Walsh."

"Grave digger."

She smiled "Seriously though, your family's really nice. You seem really close."

Kalum nodded almost bashfully "We are."

Just then they saw the headlights of her mum's car in the distance "Thanks for coming tonight, I don't think they could've waited any longer!"

"Tell them not to worry; if I have my way I'll be over every second day!"

"Fancy coming round on Tuesday then?"

"Love to." She nodded before placing a hand on his neck and going in for a goodbye kiss, settling herself temporarily down on his lap. It was nice until they heard a gruff male voice calling "Rosaleigh, could you please put your tongue back in your own mouth and get in the car so we can go home?"

She broke off the kiss with a furious expression at her brother's unimpressed tone "You think your family's eccentric?" Kay chuckled at this before she parted from him "I'll see you during the week then."

"You will." She smiled before giving him another quick kiss "Bye. Lo-"

She stopped abruptly, a stunned Kay staring at her as she quickly finished "Lovely time tonight, thanks!"

With that she hopped into the car and gave a still stunned Kay a wave as they drove out of sight. Kay watched them go and remained there for what felt like ages in shock; somehow he doubted that had been what she had originally intended to say.

And yet, the thought of what she might've originally meant didn't scare him half as much as he would've expected.

…..TBC