Ruth had been waiting hours for this moment, when they'd end their day as they always did gravitating to the sofa as a family. They'd had a wonderful family day and now at the end of it, Thomas was sitting on her lap and enjoying a cuddle before he went to bed. Harry had been phenomenal in getting them home early and in a million years she'd never know how he'd managed it without help. Dealing with their luggage, her in a state that left her unable to do anything and still managing to keep an eye on Thomas. Every fibre of her body was alive with her love of him and the child that she was holding, her face buried in his hair.
'No puppies and no silly names, I'm not walking around the coastal path shouting Fluffy,' said Harry, bringing her out from her daydreaming, 'I've had a word with Michael and there's a reputable unwanted dog's home just north of Stornoway.
'Definitely not Fluffy then,' she responded, continuing to run her fingers through Thomas's hair and looking at Harry with a who the hell calls a dog Fluffy look.
He looked so bloody serious when in reality it wasn't. They were going to choose a dog how difficult could it be?
'Right bedtime,' she told the birthday boy who had been listening to the discussion about the dogs home and had already made up his mind as to what sort of dog he would like. It had to be brown or white because he'd asked Harry to tell him about Scarlet and he'd shown him a photograph. She was an old dog Harry had told him and couldn't walk very far, but their new dog would be much younger and would need lots of exercise. It would be fun choosing it as well and giving it a name, but definitely not Fluffy that was a cat's name, Harry had said so.
'Can we forget Fluffy for a moment and talk about how much I love you?' Ruth asked him when an hour later when they were finally in bed, having tided up the kitchen after the party and piled Thomas's accumulated toys into a basket in the corner. Both awake unlike the previous night, they'd drawn back the curtains to let the moonlight stream in and had opened the window just a tiny crack sufficient that they could hear the sea crashing against the rocks as the tide came in.
Unusually for Harry he didn't respond to what was Ruth's less than subtle suggestion that they make love, but told her that he had an idea and if he didn't tell her tonight that he'd never get to sleep, pulling her up so that she was lying with her back against him and with her head resting on his chest.
'Look at that vista Ruth, even at night it's beautiful. I know that it's your favourite view and all that's stopping us having it all the time is the side wall of the house. I've been chatting to Malcolm and he's got a friend who's an architect. Apparently with the right planning and some good builders, we could demolish the end of the house and build out.'
Ruth hadn't thought beyond them moving but Harry obviously had and the careworn years that had haunted him appeared to have been rolled away. In the moonlight he looked almost childlike such was his enthusiasm.
'There aren't any buts to this Ruth, times move on,' he continued, 'I've researched it down to the finest detail. Modern shutters would solve the problem of the prevailing wind and can you just imagine us sitting in a new kitchen with a view overlooking the sea?'
Ruth could, but she could also see months of upheaval on an island that even in the summer was prone to bad weather.
'What did you once say to me Ruth, where's your sense of adventure, well I've found mine. We could really make this house our own and just think how much fun we'd have doing it.'
'Make me a hot chocolate and I might just listen,' had Harry giving her a kiss that said I knew that I'd win you round and then heading downstairs to the kitchen, before coming back with his computer.
'Twelve hours on a plane with no one to talk to Ruth, I had to do something,' had produced drawings of exactly what Harry envisaged, although he couldn't put claim to having done it without help, 'Malcolm and his friend are packed and ready if we're interested,' and Ruth was sold on the idea, if only to see Malcolm again. She'd spent years watching Harry repressed, with nothing more in his life than his work and yet here he was as animated about something that could change their lives forever. Despite this they did need to try and get to sleep even with the adrenalin that was now coursing. They'd promised Thomas that they'd go to the dog's home tomorrow and a promise was just that.
'I still like the idea of Fluffy,' Ruth kidded him as he turned off his computer and curled in beside her.
The selection of dogs and cats that greeted them on their arrival was far larger than they had been led to believe. The manager who announced herself to be Sharon assured them that every animal was in good health had all the vaccination certificates that were required by law. She needed to know about them she told them, a dog was for life and it was important that whoever took one of their animals would guarantee to look after it.
'Forms first,' she told them in a broad island accent, 'and then have a look around and see what you think.'
'How is it possible,' Ruth whispered once they were out of Sharon's hearing, 'that on a small island there could be so many animals in need of a home,' as they walked the rows between the pens, being encouraged by the occupants that they were the one that should be leaving with them. It was heart breaking to anyone who liked animals and they both fell into that category and they were on the point of quitting and going outside to catch their breath when Thomas stopped and pointed. It is quite often said that a dog chooses you rather than the other way round and rather than call him to get a move on, Ruth walked back to where Thomas was standing. A small black and tan dog of no particular breed had wandered quietly forward with what Ruth later described as an irresistible face. It or as they later found out he, wasn't barking at them he was just wagging his tail and had put his head on one side as much as if to say it's me you're looking for. Leaving the other beleaguered faces behind some of which would have been impossible to love, Harry gave Sharon a donation and said that they'd made a decision and that they'd take Whisky. According to the records he was four years old and had been with them only a few short weeks. He was housetrained and was good with children but that his owners had moved to the mainland and hadn't been able to take him, for what reason they couldn't be told.
'You can bring him back any time up until a month if he doesn't suit,' Sharon told Harry shaking his hand as Thomas took the other end of the rope that Whisky was tied to and led the way to the car. Ruth was pretty sure that a fate that she didn't want to think about would be met by dogs that were brought back and tried not to think about the others that they'd left behind, she just wanted to go home. Harry had made a provisional appointment at the vets for the next day, but in the meantime they needed to find the nearest pet shop and buy him or precisely Whisky a bed and some bowls for his food. Armed with far more than Scarlet had ever had in her lifetime, they set off for home.
Leaving Harry and Whisky behind the following morning and climbing the hill to school proved to be a far more emotional experience for Ruth than for Thomas. She'd imagined having to drag him out of bed with lots of protests about wanting to stay at home, when in fact it was her that felt strangely bereft at having to leave Harry. He had a busy morning ahead of him she knew that, with a visit to the vet to get Whisky checked over and then he planned to visit the Town Hall and see if he could arrange an early meeting with the planning officer. She on the other hand had a class full of what turned out to be eager to be back with their friends six year olds and upwards to deal with, one of which was new. First and foremost she had to call the register and deal with assembly which Michael always attended. The last time she had seen Michael or precisely he had seen her, she'd been drugged up to the eyeballs and he'd apparently helped Harry get her into the house. She still felt embarrassed but Michael being Michael as calm as ever just said good morning Ruth and had she had a good holiday. The new boy that was starting school that day was called Liam and according to his records lived with his Mum. What if anything had happened to his father was quite rightly confidential, but in the short term until he got his feet under the table and made friends, Ruth decided to partner him up with Thomas. She hoped that it would also have the desired effect of making Thomas concentrate on his lessons which didn't always happen when he was sitting next to Rory something that she still needed to discuss with Harry. By mid- morning when the bell went for break and they assembled in the playground for their milk and biscuits, two had become three and it very much looked as though her efforts had had the opposite effect.
By lunchtime Ruth was home grateful that she'd got through her first half day. The holiday seemed like a lifetime ago and this was reality. Except it wasn't how it had been. There was a message on the table from Harry to say that Malcolm and his friend would be arriving later that evening, that Whisky had passed his medical with flying colours and that he'd gone back to Stornoway for a meeting with the planning officer. See you about three, I love you, H x and that was it. Making herself a sandwich and cup of tea, she wandered outside and to the back porch and sat down. If Harry got his way then the wall behind her would be gone, she was in effect sitting in their new kitchen with an extra bedroom above it that would be theirs. The sitting room would become half as big again as it was now and there might even be enough space for Thomas to have a playroom. Not having to put his drawings away each evening to ensure that they didn't get torn would be a real bonus and when it got to the stage where he had homework it would be somewhere away from the television where he could concentrate. All in all Harry had thought it through and in the blink of an eye she'd jumped onto the bandwagon of his expectation. Harry was right it was the most idyllic of settings and they were so lucky. She'd just closed her eyes and was dreaming of the warm summer days that were to come and was half asleep when Harry arrived home.
'July,' he said kissing her, 'for the wedding, I fancy July and here for the reception, what do you think?'
'You've been thinking again,'
'I always think best in bed.'
He did Ruth knew that, but this was an invitation and albeit via the back door one that was very tempting. It had been over a week since they'd been alone and she'd missed that side of their relationship as much as Harry had. One of them had to collect Thomas in less than an hour and it seemed clinical going to bed and timing what you did. Still every second she thought about it time was ticking away so she just nodded and followed Harry back indoors. Just as he'd done twelve hours ago, Harry opened the window but this time they were naked. That Harry loved her with every breath in his body had never been in doubt and the gentleness and consideration he had always shown her when he made love had never wavered. The words honeyed and with hesitation at the start of their relationship had grown to be confident and with a sincerity that kept Ruth warm at night and with a smile on her face during her days. It amounted to cheating to ask someone questions when they were barely breathing and you'd just taken their hand and joined it with yours that was working you both up to another orgasm as Harry was doing, whilst the waves crashed onto the rocks in time with the music that was playing in the background. But Harry needed this to relax and overcome the million and one things that he'd coped with in the last twenty four hours and so did she. The release was exquisite albeit far too soon as Harry rolled away and fell asleep. Ruth would have liked nothing more than to have joined him but duty called. Completely sated, she grabbed a quick shower, dragged on her jeans and a heavy sweater and prepared to walk back up the hill to collect Thomas. There was a note for Harry when he woke up.
'July it is. x'
Whisky had walked well on his new lead without pulling and his reputation as being good with children was proven as a collection of small hands took it in turns to pat him. Ruth was sitting on the church wall taking a short breather before she and Thomas headed home when Rose appeared from nowhere and with her a woman that Ruth didn't recognise. Introducing her as Mary, she was Liam's mother new to the village and wanting some advice as to how best to help Liam to integrate when she was a single Mum. She said it as though it was some sort of stigma that would set Liam apart from the other children when in fact the village was diverse to the point where the mishmash of relationships amongst the parents accepted anything.
'Have you got time for a cuppa,' Rose suggested, with a look that said I could do with some help here please.
Ruth hadn't been in Rose's kitchen since before Christmas and it felt good to be back as Rose produced the inevitable plate of home-made biscuits and made the tea. Quite what Rose was expecting her to say to Mary she wasn't sure, but whatever Mary's circumstances, nothing could match what she had faced when she'd first arrived there. Would it be disloyal to tell Mary what had happened to Thomas, Ruth thought not, all the adults on the island knew and had accepted that she and Harry weren't married and were fostering.
'We'll be going for a walk on the coastal path on Sunday if you'd like to come,' Ruth heard herself saying, before telling Rose that they needed to get home because they had visitors arriving.
Harry was standing in the kitchen peeling the veggies for dinner, the trout that he'd be wrestling with sitting on the side topped and tailed and ready to be introduced to the oven. Ruth saw none of this, all she saw was Malcolm with his lopsided grin sitting on the bench next to Harry as though he belonged there. It had been almost three years since she'd last seen him and he didn't look a day older.
'Is it really you,' she said giving him an almighty hug almost unbelieving that he was actually sitting in their kitchen.
'I don't know what you've been doing to Harry, he's a changed man,' Malcolm whispered after Brian had been introduced and had gone up to his room to unpack, 'it's just so good to be here with you both.'
A small voice that had so far remained silent but whose owner had been watching the proceedings with interest spoke up. He knew that someone called Malcolm was coming to stay with them and that he'd known Harry and Ruth for a long time. What they hadn't reckoned on and caused the room on mass to hold its breath, was how Thomas would perceive Malcolm and what he might say.
'I'm Thomas,' he said holding out his hand like a grown up, copying what had preceded Brian disappearing upstairs, 'are you a friend of Daddy's?'
Momentarily thrown by Thomas's behaviour but unaware that this was the first time that Thomas had called Harry Daddy, Malcolm stepped forward, shook his hand and said yes he was.
By now Ruth had put both hands in front of her mouth and was staring at Harry as much as if to say did you hear what he said, as Harry standing on the other side of the counter with his mouth open stared back.
'I'm going to feed Whisky now,' said the star of the show, stirring the now stationary puppets back into action as Ruth poured herself a glass of wine and told him that he was a good boy and not to give Whisky too much.
Over dinner after Thomas had gone through his usual before going to bed routine which tonight fell to Ruth, the serious business of talking about the possibilities of altering the house inevitably came to the fore. Several bottles of wine later having decided that it would be best left until the morning, Malcolm who was helping Ruth wash up, raised the subject of Thomas and how in a month of Sunday's he'd never pictured Harry wanting another child.
'Neither did he or I for that matter, but then as we know not everything's mapped out for us is it Malcolm and we really do love him,' made Malcolm smile.
'What?' she asked him.
'It's just hearing you say we about everything, I think it's lovely.'