Chapter twenty five

Charlie jogged up the front steps of the house and stood on the top step for a minute before opening the door. He reached in to his jacket pocket, checking that its precious contents was still safely inside. His fingers skimmed over the hard edges of the box and he smiled, his heart pumping faster than usual.

He zipped his jacket pocket back up and pulled his keys out of the back pocket of his jeans, before turning it in the lock. As soon as he opened the door he could hear that Georgie wasn't alone.

'Hi.' He called, closing the door behind him and then slipping his shoes off. Nobody seemed to hear him. He took his jacket off and hung it on one of the empty pegs.

When he got to the living room door he stood back for a moment, silently observing. Amelia was happily playing on the floor with Georgie, every time Georgie built up a tower of blocks she pushed it over with a cheeky grin and roared with laughter at Georgie's reaction. Molly was sat beside them on the sofa, a big smile on her face. Charlie's heart swelled watching how effortlessly Georgie made Amelia laugh. Every time he saw them together he knew that this was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

Georgie sensed that he was there and turned round, a big smile still on her face.

'Hi.' She said.

'Having fun?' He grinned.

'Of course.' She replied, then got up to greet him. 'How did it go?' She looked more serious now.

'Fine.' He replied. 'More than fine, actually. It was my last regular session today.'

'That's brilliant!' Georgie said, throwing her arms around him.

'That's great.' Molly said, and Georgie stepped back, remembering that she was still in the room. She tried not to show too much affection to Charlie when Molly was around - it just seemed a bit disrespectful. Although there was nothing between Molly and Charlie anymore and they both wanted to move on but get along for Amelia's sake, Georgie wasn't going to rub her nose in it. Molly had been grown up enough to bury any negative feelings she might have towards Georgie, and Georgie didn't want to upset the balance they had.

'Thanks Molly.' Charlie replied, then produced the bottle of champagne he had bought on the way back . 'I brought this back with me. Thought it might be nice to celebrate. Shall I get some glasses?'

'Yeah sounds great.' Georgie replied, but Molly stood up.

'Actually I'd better be going soon.' She said. 'I'll need to get Amelia's tea.'

'Why don't you stay?' Charlie asked. 'We could get a takeaway, I've only just got back it would be nice to spend some time with my girl.' He leant down and picked up Amelia who was now at his feet, tugging on his trousers.

Molly hesitated, but then seeing how happy her daughter looked in her dad's arms, she nodded. 'Alright then. Sounds good.'

...

After dinner, Charlie offered Molly a lift back home. They sat in silence for most of the journey. Every time Charlie moved in his seat he felt the box in his pocket, rubbing against his leg. As they pulled up outside her house he cleared his throat and turned the key, cutting the engine.

'Molly.' He said, and she looked up at him. 'I need to tell you something.'

She raised one eyebrow, intrigued. 'What?'

He didn't really know what to say. He had run this conversation over in his mind for weeks, ever since he went and ordered the ring. He knew that he had to tell Molly first, it wouldn't be fair otherwise.

'I uh... I need to run something by you.'

'What is it?' Molly asked.

He decided to come straight out with it. 'I want to ask Georgie to marry me.' He said.

Molly said nothing for a few moments, she just pulled her gaze away and then nodded slowly. 'Well congratulations. It's none of my business really though.'

'Of course it is.' He said. 'Look this doesn't change anything, I'll still be there for you and for Amelia. I didn't want to ask her without telling you first.'

Molly sighed. 'Ok.' She said. 'Let's just hope you put a bit more effort in to this marriage than you did with ours or it might be divorce number 3.'

She could tell from his reaction that she had hurt him, and she sighed. 'Look I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. It wasn't just your fault, neither of us were blameless in what happened. I hope you'll be happy together.'

Charlie nodded, and then glanced in his mirror at Amelia who was now sleeping soundly in the back seat.

'It wasn't all bad though, was it?' He said.

'No.' Molly shook her head. 'No, it wasn't.'

He leant across and put his arms around her and held her tightly.

'Thank you.' He said. 'For helping me get out of that place. If it wasn't for you... I wouldn't be here now. I wouldn't have this.'

Molly smiled and then got out of the car, before lifting Amelia's car seat out of the back seat.

'See you next weekend.' She said. 'And I'll keep in touch about the tour dates.'

'Sure.' Charlie said, as he watched her walk down the path to her house.