Hello! Apologies for a few days hiatus in updating. It's tricky to find the time during the week, but I wanted to get this quick chapter up as I left things on a bit of a hanger last time. Enjoy!
FIVE YEARS
Chapter 11
She's enthusiastically returning his kisses when they are abruptly interrupted by the piercing sound of the smoke alarm going off.
He jumps up, immediately realising his error.
"Fuck….. dinner …."
She laughs, partly due to the look of abject horror on his face and partly due to relief that the disruption to their snogging has not been caused by her this time.
"Bleeding hell… not again….go!"
He's out the door and down the stairs before she has even finished her sentence.
-OG-
She sits down at the kitchen island, surveying the carnage accompanying his dinner preparation. It's not quite as bad as the Dawes family kitchen, but she wonders how he has managed to create so much mess preparing a meal for two.
"What's the damage then?"
He grins, holding up a still smoking pan.
"Well, I'm not sure this pan is going to survive, but the rest is definitely salvageable."
"Good, because I am starving…. What's on the menu?"
He passes her a well-used, food splattered, recipe book. She looks at the cover which immediately sparks a memory of being in a book shop, of choosing and buying the book. She remembers carefully writing a message to him inside the front cover and wrapping it up with red ribbon. She opens the book, reading the inscription, written in her own unmistakeable handwriting, 'Charles, come dine with me…. every night. All my love, Molly p.s. starting with page 51'. She remembers giving him the book, his delighted reaction when he'd cautiously confirmed that it meant what he was hoping it meant, that she was suggesting they move in together. She remembers him gathering her in his arms and kissing her, she has a vision of them doing more than just kissing.
"One of your favourites – Jamie's toad in the hole, mash, peas but sadly no caramelised onion gravy. Brown sauce will have to do."
"Sounds wonderful, but you don't like brown sauce."
She watches him stop what he is doing, come over and sit down on the stool next to her. He leans in, gaining her full attention.
"Molly, do you realise what you just said?"
"Yes…. that you don't like brown sauce."
"Which is true…. but I haven't told you that…. that's another memory."
She can hear hope and excitement in his voice.
"Yes and I remember this book. I remember choosing it and giving it to you…. suggesting we move in together."
He smiles at her.
"See you're remembering…."
She nods, then shakes and lowers her head.
"It doesn't make any sense - how the bleeding hell do I know that you don't like brown sauce but can't remember that you have a son?"
He carefully swings her stool round to face him as he moves closer. He gently places his knuckle under her chin and tilts her face up towards his.
"I don't know Molly, but it doesn't matter…. I'll take any memories you have at this point as a positive thing. I guess the mind works in strange ways."
He gives her a light, encouraging kiss.
"Suppose you're right."
He gives her a confident smile.
"I am right. This is amazing news."
He kisses her again, a little harder, as if to reinforce his point. She's about to respond to the kiss when he abruptly stands up, leaving her wanting more, which she suspects is exactly what he intended.
"Right, where do you want to eat? Island, table or trays on laps on the sofa?"
She doesn't miss the smirk on his face, confirming her suspicion. There is something deeply familiar and comforting about the fact he is teasing her, rather than treating her as though she will break.
"Trays on laps on the sofa sounds good."
He smiles triumphantly, knowing which option she'd choose. He's incredibly relieved that she's remembering things and how 'normal' it is just being with her; messing about, teasing, unashamedly enjoying each other's company. There is no doubt to him that the chemistry between them is unchanged, even if it feels new to her. He reminds himself that despite displaying her amazing, trade-mark, resilience, she is recovering from a major trauma and in a vulnerable position. He needs to take things gradually.
"Thought you might say that. Why don't you go and make yourself comfortable and I'll bring it through in a couple of minutes?"
He watches as she wanders over to the fridge.
"Might just grab a drink first. What can I get you? Another beer, glass of wine?"
He's thrown by her question and curses himself that he hasn't foreseen this situation. He of-course knows he has to tell her that she's pregnant, but he hasn't yet figured out how he's going to break this news to her. He'd thought, given the very early stages of her pregnancy, that he might have a couple of weeks to prepare the ground, but if her earlier turn was, as he fears, morning sickness, then he knows he's going to have to find a way to tell her soon. Whilst she's accepted everything he's revealed about their past incredibly well up to this point, there is still more she needs to know. In truth, everything is moving far quicker between them than he ever envisaged, but the baby is their future and he needs for her to believe in and be committed to their relationship before telling her. He can't afford to get it wrong.
"Er….. I'll just have some water thanks."
She looks at him in surprise.
"Are you sure mate?"
He watches her suspiciously clock an empty beer bottle next to the sink.
"Yes, Colonel Thomas advised that you should avoid alcohol for a couple of weeks… I'll keep you company."
She gives this consideration, seemingly accepting with a quick shrug of her shoulders.
"Really? That's a bit shit. Mind you, probably for the best as I've still got a bit of a headache."
He turns away, ostensibly, to get a couple of glasses from one of the cupboards, but also to let out a deep, calming breath before turning back to her and handing her the glasses.
"Right then. Two pints of Surrey's finest tap water it is then. Crack-on Dawsey."
-OG-
I hear the reviewers who think he needs to tell her... I agree and can't believe he's bottled it when he had a perfect opportunity!