Chapter Nine
The freezing rain tacked at the glass while Will sat at the window and looked out to the garden. The silence of the annex during Alec' naptime and Louisa being at a lecture caused his depression to return and he leaned his head back against the headrest.
"Want me to put on a DVD for you, Mate?" Nathan asked after he had walked closer and knelt next to the wheelchair.
"No," Will said and Nathan stood up.
"I need to move you back a bit or you might…"
"I know what will happen," he snapped, flicked the joystick with his thumb and the wheelchair backed up. Nathan watched him head for the den as he followed and Will parked the wheelchair in front of the desk. "I'm sorry."
"I'm used to it," Nathan said while walking to the couch and sat down. "Mind telling me what's wrong?"
"I'm just in one of my moods."
"Have you called your sister and told her about Alec?" he asked, trying to get his mind off what was bothering him and Will turned the wheelchair to face him.
"Yes. She wants to come see him."
"What about your dad? Have you told him?"
"No," Will said while barely shaking his head when Alec appeared in the doorway and was wearing underpants with cartoon dinosaurs on them and a blue flannel pajamas top. "Hello."
"Hi," Alec said as he walked to the wheelchair and Nathan got up to put Alec on Will's lap. Alec carefully snuggled against Will when he placed his head against Will's chest and Will smiled, glancing down at him.
"Did you have a good kip?" Nathan asked and Alec nodded.
"Where's Lou?"
"She's still at school," Will said.
"Can we go watch cartoons?" he asked, looking up at Will.
"Sure, but let's get you dressed. It's a little chilly in here," Nathan said as Will flicked the joystick with his finger and they headed for the bedroom.
"I'm home!" Louisa said as she closed the door then took her coat, scarf and wool hat off, placed them on the pegs near the door and Alec came running out of the kitchen. Nathan had helped him get on a pair of jeans, a green jumper, white socks and trainers and Louisa knelt down, holding her arms out. Alec ran into her arms when she stood up, wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug. "Were you a good boy?"
"Yeah!" Alec said while Will came out of the kitchen and Louisa noticed the blue apron he was wearing over his jeans and jumper.
"Uh…"
"Welcome home," Will said as the wheelchair came to a stop and she admitted he looked adorable.
"What's with the apron?" she asked, placing Alec on his lap.
"We're making dinner."
"You, Nathan and Alec are making dinner?"
"No," he said, elongating the "o". "Alec, my mother and I are making dinner."
"Your mother…?"
"She does know how to cook, Clark," Will said with a smug look and Louisa lightly laughed. "So, why don't you go get changed then you can come help us."
"Yes, Sir," Louisa said as she saluted him while rolling her eyes and headed for the bedroom. After changing into a green jumper and jeans, she came into the kitchen to see Camilla near the stove and Will and Alec sitting near the kitchen island.
"Hello, Dear," Camilla said.
"Hello," Louisa said, walking to the wheelchair and placed her hand on Will's right shoulder. "What are we having for dinner?"
"We are having roast beef, oven roasted potatoes and carrots."
"Did you help?" Louisa asked, looking at Alec.
"He helped me season the potatoes."
"I just watched," Will said and Louisa carded the back of his head.
"No, you closed the oven door," Camila corrected, pointing the slotted spoon at him. Louisa softly laughed when the timer went off and Camilla carefully opened the oven door. "Now go set the table."
After the table was set, the roast beef was cut, the food was placed on the plates and Alec was sitting in the booster seat, Louisa told them about her classes and Will and Camilla felt so proud of her.
"Mother, I was wondering if you had told Father about Alec," Will said after Louisa helped him drink some water and Camilla placed her fork down.
"I haven't really thought about it," Camilla said, looking at Alec.
"He is his grandson."
"Yes, he is, but…," Camila said when a sense of guilt moved through her and she leaned back in the chair. "Do you want me to tell him?"
"Yes," Will said with a small nod.
"I will tell him tomorrow," she said then went back to eating her meal. Will glanced at Louisa as she lightly shrugged and Will half lowered his eyelids.
"Will," Alec said as he looked at his son and Alec smiled. Seeing Alec smile made him feel better as he smiled then crossed his eye, sticking out his tongue, and Alec giggled.
"William, you know that is not proper dinner table behavior," Camilla said, glancing at him then at Alec.
"Sorry," Will said.
"Sorry." Alec said and Camilla nodded, but covered her amusement behind her wine glass.
"What is this, Clark?" Will asked as she came in the bedroom and she saw a notepad sitting on his lap.
"Where did you find that?" she asked as she walked to the bed and sat next to him.
"Nathan found it in the drawer where he keeps my medical equipment."
"Oh, I thought I put it in the other drawer," she said and moved closer. She picked up the notepad as he looked at the notes she had jotted down and the date of her birthday was circled in red with a question mark next to it.
"Why is that circled in red?"
"It's because I'm not sure about the date. I know we agreed on it, but, with your job, my classes and Alec, I don't think we have time."
"Which is why I thought getting married in August would be better."
"I'm starting to agree with you," she said while he looked at the list of honeymoon destinations when something clicked in his mind and he half closed his eyes.
"Did I ever tell you about this wedding I was in?"
"No."
"It was nine years ago. My friend, Logan, was getting married and his wedding was in Hawaii. The wedding was on the beach. The men were dressed in these white linen suits and the women were in these white linen dresses. They had crowns of flowers on their heads and we were wearing lei flower necklaces."
"Were you barefoot?"
"Yes," he said with a grin and the dimples made deep dents in his cheeks. Louisa looked at the notepad while strumming her fingers on the side and he wondered what she was thinking. "Clark?"
"Would you be really angry with me if I wanted to do something special for the wedding?"
"It would depend on what it is."
"I can't tell you. Not until I can figure out how to do it."
"This sounds like when you were planning an outing or a holiday."
"And you like it when I do that, right?"
"Yes, I do," he said with a slightly smug look and she kissed his lips. He sighed through his nose as thoughts of what he wanted to do to her moved across his mind and he sighed again. She moved back while he looked at her with half closed eyes and she saw the dreamy look on his face.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes."
"Then why are you looking like that?"
"I'm just thinking about what I want to do to you right now," he said and she felt the heat of the blush moving across her cheeks.
"Do you want me to ask Nathan to call your specialist and discuss options for how we can be intimate with each other?"
"Yes," he said then made a little moan and half closed his eyes. Placing the notepad in the night table drawer, she got out of bed then moved the blankets up when she went into the bathroom and came out wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of blue flannel pajamas bottoms. She crawled under the covers as she turned the lights off, snuggled next to him and placed her head against his shoulder. He glanced at her as he smiled and she slid her hand under the covers. She unbuttoned two buttons of the white flannel pajamas top he was wearing when she slid her hand across his chest and moved her fingers through the soft chest hair. Even though he couldn't feel what she was doing, his mind started to drift as his eyes closed and he made a content sigh. His soft even breathing told her he was asleep while she watched him sleep and smiled, placing the palm of her hand against the spot over his heart.
A light snow fell as Louisa opened the door to the castle and Will moved the wheelchair inside. She knew he didn't like the idea of being bundled up in layers, or wearing a flannel blanket over his waist, legs and feet, but she did admit he looked cute wearing a red woolen knit cap under the hood of the white parka. Alec was dressed the same as Will and she moved the parka hoods down and took the woolen knit caps off their head, smoothing their hair down.
"Hello, you three!" Bernard said as he walked closer. "What brings you here?"
"My father called and said he wanted to see us," Will said and Alec looked at Louisa.
"I want down," Alec said.
"What's the special word?" Louisa said and Bernard smiled.
"Please."
"I'll go tell your father you're here," Bernard said as he walked away and Louisa carefully lifted Alec off Will's lap and placed Alec to stand next to the wheelchair. He placed his hand on Will's knee as he looked around and Will smiled at Louisa. Alec started walking toward the suits of armor standing in front of the wall while Will moved the joystick and Louisa followed behind him. Alec looked up at the armor then walked to the other suit of armor, but he didn't notice Louisa was using her phone to film him and she smiled. Will flicked the joystick with his finger as the wheelchair moved to catch up with them and they went into the next room. Will noticed they were in the armory as he smiled and stopped the wheelchair in front of the swords he had accidentally removed from the wall when he was a kid.
"What are you looking at?" Louisa asked as she led Alec to the wheelchair and Will glanced at her then at the swords. She looked up at the swords when she remembered the story, smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"I want to see," Alec said as he held his arms up and Louisa lifted him off the floor.
"Want to tell him the story about those swords?!" she asked and Will rolled his eyes.
"Alec," Will said and Alec looked at him. "Did you know I was able to play in this castle?"
"No," Alec said with a shake of his head.
"I was. And that was because my family owns it," he said and Alec' eyes widened. "Now, one day, I was bored and decided I wanted to pretend I was a knight. So, I came in here, saw the swords and climbed up to take one of them. What I didn't know was the swords were stuck together and both of the swords fell onto the floor after I tried to pull them apart."
"Uh-oh."
"Can you guess what happened next?" he asked with wide eyes.
"You got caught while trying to find a place to hide them," Louisa said and Will gave her a smile.
"That was silly," Alec said then giggled.
The sound of footsteps coming closer made Will flicked the joystick with his finger to turn the wheelchair around and Steven walked toward them. As he came closer, he noticed how much Alec looked like Will and the anger he felt toward Alicia boiled in his chest.
"Hello," Steven said, as he stopped in front of the wheelchair and placed his hands behind his back.
"Hello," Will said.
"Alec, can you say hello to Mister Traynor?" Louisa asked and Alec shook his head, placing his cheek against her shoulder.
"That's alright," Steven said and looked at Will. "He looks just like you."
"I've noticed," Will said while Louisa placed Alec on Will's lap and moved his arms so he was holding Alec.
"Would you like Mister Traynor show us the castle?" Louisa asked as she looked at Alec and Alec nodded. Smiling, Steven pointed with his hand toward the doorway then they left the room. While they were walking down the hallway, Louisa saw the coffee shop as she thought back to the Buttered Bun and Will noticed the sadness in her eyes.
"Lou!" made her stop when she saw Nina and Cherie as they ran toward her and her grin nearly cut her face in half. They hugged and giggled as Will glanced at his father and Mister Traynor gave him a small shrug. Louisa led Nina and Cherie toward them as she smiled and placed her hand on Will's shoulder.
"Nina, Cherie, I would like you to meet my fiancé, Will Traynor….," Louisa said and their eyes widened.
"You're getting married?!" Cherie gasped and Louisa showed them her engagement ring then smiled after they gave her a hug.
"Oh, before I forget, this is Will's father, Steven, and this is Alec," she said as they looked at Will then at the wheelchair and Will felt a lump in his throat. He knew they were feeling uncomfortable as he sighed and Louisa noticed he was getting upset.
"Lou," Nina said as Louisa walked to her and she moved closer, not taking her eyes off of Will. "Where did you find him?"
"Why?" Louisa asked.
"He's gorgeous," Nina whispered and Louisa laughed.
"Yeah, he is," she whispered and Nina smiled.
"Will," Cherie asked and he looked at her. "How did you and Lou meet?"
"My mother placed an advertisement on job websites for a companion for me and Louisa applied for the position," Will said.
"What does a companion do?" Nina asked, looking at Louisa.
"Mostly, I feed him, give him something to drink, shave him, brush his hair and teeth, put him to bed and make sure he doesn't get bored," Louisa said.
"Don't make it sound so boring, Clark," Will said while rolling his eyes. "You know I wouldn't do anything if you weren't there to give me a reason to get up in the morning."
"Aw….," both Cherie and Nina said as Louisa blushed and Steven smiled.
"Um, if you don't mind," Cherie said. "How did it happen?"
"How did I end up in this chair?" Will asked and she nodded. Louisa knew he didn't like talking about his accident as he sighed and Alec looked up at him.
"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to," Nina said.
"No, it's alright."
"Lou?" Alec asked and Louisa knelt down next to the wheelchair.
"Yes, Sweetie," Louisa said.
"I gotta go potty."
"You have to go potty?"
"Yeah."
"Excuse us," Louisa said as she stood up then picked Alec off Will's lap. They watched her head down the hallway then Will looked at Nina and Cherie.
"I was in an accident," Will said when he paused and pressed his lips into a thin line. "It was raining and I decided not to ride my motorbike to work."
"You had a motorbike!?" Nina asked and he barely nodded.
"I had gone down to the junction when I spotted a cab and headed across the street. I nearly got hit by cars a few times and was about to get in the cab when I heard this noise. Imagine my surprise when I turned and saw a man on a motorbike coming right at me. I didn't have enough time to move and the motorbike hit me."
"Shit," Nina said and Cherie nodded.
"When I woke up in the hospital a few weeks later, I found out I'm paralyzed from the upper chest down."
"What does that mean?" Cherie asked.
"It means I can move my head a little and move two fingers of my right hand, but that's it."
"What did you do before the accident?" Nina asked.
"I was a financial consultant," he said and the girls smiled.
"Wow," Nina said as she looked at her watch then at Cherie. "Shit, we have to go."
"Is it alright to give you a hug?" Cherie asked.
"Sure," Will said with a grin and she carefully slid her arms around his shoulders. He leaned his head against hers as she smiled, moved back and Nina came over to hug him.
"Tell Lou we'll call her later," Nina said as they walked away and Steven glanced down at Will.
"That went well," Steven said while Louisa and Alec came closer and she placed Alec on Will's lap.
"Where did Nina and Cherie go?" Louisa asked.
"They had to leave," Steven said.
"Oh," she said and Will noticed the hurt look in her eyes.
"Nina did say they'll call you later," Will said and she nodded.
"Shall we get going?" Steven asked and they headed down the hallway.
The cold air moved through them as Louisa watched Will move the wheelchair to the spot where they talked about Paris and Alec smiled as he looked at the view. She walked closer when she saw the hedge maze and the chill moving through her wasn't from the cold.
"Clark?" Will asked. She saw the concern in her eyes, but she didn't know how to tell him about what happened in the hedge maze and folded her arms around her stomach.
"I think we better go inside," she said and he barely nodded his head then followed her back to the castle. He wasn't sure what was wrong as he watched her walked faster and moved the joystick to make the wheelchair go faster.
Steven watched while Louisa got into the van and secured the wheelchair. She pushed the knit cap out of Will's eyes when she got out of the van and Steven adjusted his hold on Alec. She walked to Steven as Will noticed the sad look on his father's face and Louisa took Alec out of Steven's arms. Steven sighed while Louisa gently pushed the knit cap out of Alec' eyes and Alec placed his cheek against her shoulder.
"Alright, it's time to go. Say goodbye to Mister Traynor," Louisa said.
"Bye," Alec said as he gave Steven a little wave and Louisa swore she saw tears in the corners of Steven's eyes. Steven smiled as she walked to the passenger side door and Steven walked to the back of the van, looking at Will.
"Thank you," he said and Will barely nodded his head. Steven closed and locked the doors then stood back and the van started. He waved as the van moved away then he wiped his eyes with the handkerchief he got out of his suit jacket pocket and smiled.
"Well, how did it go?" Camilla's voice asked as Steven stood by the window and looked out at the castle grounds.
"It went very well," Steven said.
"Steven, is there something wrong?"
"Other than the fact I want to strangle the mother of my grandson, no."
"I feel the same way."
"Have you spoken with Miss Sharpe lately?"
"I have. She still can't tell me everything about the abuse case against Alicia and Rupert, but she is very impressed with how quickly Alec has adjusted to being with William and Louisa."
"They do look happy."
"Louisa did tell me something rather amusing the other day. Apparently, Alec decided to climb one of the smaller garden walls after they told him not to and almost scared her half to death when he nearly fell off."
"What happened afterwards?" Steven asked with a small smile.
"It was the first time they had to put him in a time out."
"I have a feeling that didn't go well."
"No, he didn't fuss, but William was very upset about it. According to Louisa, Alec climbed onto William's lap and told him not to be sad."
"He is such a sweet boy," Steven said with a sigh.
"Steven?"
"I'm sorry," he said then sat on the high back chair in front of his desk. "I just wish I could… I want to come home."
"You do?"
"Yes, but, like I told you before William announced his engagement, it's too late."
"I told you it wasn't."
"You also said you'd like to try marriage counseling, but I wasn't sure if I was ready."
"Are you ready now? I want an honest answer. Do you really want to work things out between us or do you want to do this because of our grandson?"
"I have to say both. I miss you, Cammie."
"Now there is a name I haven't heard in years," she said and he heard a small laugh in her voice.
"Do you miss me?"
"Yes. So, when do you want to start looking for a marriage counselor?"
"Is today good for you?" he asked and she laughed, making him smile.
