2 days later
I hated it. I was stuck in bed for two whole flipping days.
"Zach! We are going out tomorrow! I am so sick of seeing these walls! We are going to leave the girls with mum and just go out! I don't care where, I don't care how we just are." I wasn't on official bed rest anymore Zach just wasn't letting me go to work until next week. No reply. It wouldn't surprise me if he was asleep on the sofa or I was home alone. It was lunch time and I was kinda hungry so I got of the bath and headed downstairs. I wasn't really paying attention as I went down and I walked into something. Or should I say someone. I would like to point out right now I was just in a towel. Assuming it was Zach I wasn't that bother the towel slipped off me. Then I looked up.
"Shit you're not Zach!" It had completely slipped my mind that Nicholas was starting today and now I was standing naked in front of my new bodyguard.
"Sorry Mrs Goode, Zach sent me to go and grab some of the stuff I brought with me. I'm so sorry. Here you go." He was talking to the wall as he passed me my towel. At least I knew he was going to be a gentleman. Once I was wrapped up again, I went into the kitchen.
"Afternoon baby, you might want to get changed Nick's here." Zach glanced up quickly from the laptop then looked back at the screen. He was probably still running checks in Nick making sure we could trust him. I went and sat on his lap and started eating his pasta, getting in his way.
"Sorry babe but I don't think it will a difference if I get changed because he's already seen it all. I just walked into him and this here slipped." I cringed into Zach as Nick walked back in. Nick went bright red when he saw me sat on Zach.
"Again I am so sorry Mrs Goode!" I laughed as did Zach.
"Honestly it's my own fault for not looking where I was walking and please call me Cammie or Cam. Mrs Goode sounds far to posh!"
"Nick I somewhat think this isn't going to be the only time that this will happen so I would get used to it!" Zach started bawling with laughter when Nick stood with his jaw dropped. I took this as my time to leave.
"I'm going to see Jack and Macey." I slid off Zach to see a massive wet patch I had left on his lap. He now had a dark patch the shape of my bum on his legs. "Sorry baby." I have him a quick kiss on the cheek and went towards my bedroom.
"Gallagher girl tomorrow night is already planned. Make you dress nice for it." Zach called after I left.
I went to Macey's in a long jumper and a pair of leggings and my 'cat' boots. Zach always calls them that because I wear them with my cat suit when we are on missions.
"Mace?" I called as I walked after two body checks and a retinal scan.
"We are upstairs. I'm just putting Jack down." I went up to her room to see Jack sleeping soundly and Macey completely tired out.
"That security is so crazy! I come by every day and they still check me. I have a feeling those guards have something for me and like to feel my boobs!" We both lay on the bed laughing.
"So Nick called." We had both stopped laughing and were just lying up looking at the ceiling.
"As in your half-brother Nick? The one your dad kept hidden from you and the media because it would ruin his reputation?"
"Yeah that Nick. He said he had work in Roseville and that he started today and would love to meet up."
"This so strange my new bodyguard is called Nicholas and he started today. Wait you don't think that my Nick and your Nick are the same Nick do you?" Oh god! Imagine if Macey's half-brother is my new bodyguard and he saw me naked!
"I mean I've only ever meant him once and you haven't ever met him so it could be. I mean he does work for the CIA as well. Plus he's a year older than us. I think he said something about going to Blackthorne."
"Oh shit! That's the same Nick! Mace that means your brother has seen me naked!" Macey jolted upright to look down at me.
"You what?!"
We spent an hour or two gossiping about nothing before Jack woke up.
"Hey baby boy, I think we need to go on a walk and visit Uncle Zach."
As we walked back to mine, we had three people walking behind us, three in front of us, one either side of us and a car driving alongside.
"I should be used to this but for some reason I'm scared more now than I was back in Gallagher."
"Mace it's cause you have kids. Trust me I'm freaking out but I know the twins are safe at school with Joe and Ed, Lucy is safe with Bex, Morgan is safe at Blackthorne and they are all going to be safe at home with Nick around. It will all be over soon Macey I promise." I said as we walked in the door.
ZPOV:
I was running checks on Nick now he was here. I had been running them all day. My wet chinos were half way dry now. Nick seemed okay. He was amazing on the CIA records and he looked clean. It was now just a case of watching him for a while and understanding him but if Rachel trusts him then so would I. I heard Cammie come back in with Macey. Perfect timing I was just leaving to pick up the girls from school.
"Sorry Zach but did Cammie just say something about a Macey earlier? Would that be Macey McHenery-Winters? I researched the town first to get a feel and know the people who live here and that is the only Macey in record around here." I looked up at Nick as his eye gleamed a bit as he spoke about Macey. Before I had a chance to reply they both walked in. Macey stopped mid step but she knew what she was looking for and Nick just stopped. He dropped the cup he was holding. Before long they were both hugging and saying how great it was.
"Anyone care to explain? I'm lost and running late. Baby will you pick up the girls?"
"If it gets me out the house sure thing! I will be back in a bit. Do you want me to grab Lilli?"
"Pres, is getting her. They are going on a father-daughter trip. I think he said something about taking
her to the fair. He had to get about 50 guards just to go on this one trip."
"Coolio, I guess I will see him at school. Sorry Nick but you're going to have to come with me. I'm not allowed without a guard and Macey's freak me out and then you can meet your brother-in-law." She was smirking. Damn that girl. He nodded reluctantly and left with Cammie.
"So?" Macey passed me Jack and then sat beside me.
"He's my half-brother. Dad had an affair, well dad had a few affairs but this one the woman got pregnant. He never told me or him about it until we were 25. Mum knew of course but never thought to share. All it really does is gives me another reason to hate them but I get a new sibling. We only met once about two years back but we talk like all the time." Macey had a gleam in her eye as she spoke about her brother.
"Looks like you'll get to know him better now he's going to be here 24/7 until these drug dealers are gone." Me and Macey continued talking about Nick until they all got back.
CPOV:
"Daddy! Guess what happened today!" Penelope ran into the kitchen with Samantha following her. I had Lucy in my arms and Nick came in behind us.
"Ummm...Grampy fell over his feet at school?" Zach's guess always had something that would insult someone, mainly his dad.
"No silly! Me and Sammy and Dannie were playing with the skipping ropes when a new boys come up to us and kissed Dannie on the lips! Like you do with mummy. Then Granddy came out and got angry with him and said it was naughty." Pen was giggling to herself so Sammy carried on the story.
"He wasn't being nice to him so I told him you do that to mummy and he said we need to stop being so cheeky like daddy. And that it is ok for big people to do it. Daddy, Morgan is a big person so does he do it?" The girls stopped laughing and were staring at Zach. Macey began laughing, Nick stood awkwardly in the corner and me and Zach had a look in our eyes saying 'he-had-better-not-be.'
"Come here you two." He pulled them on to his lap. "That sort of kissing is what you do when you really love someone. That's why big people do it because they love the person they are with. Like I love mummy and aunty Macey loves Uncle Preston. So no Morgan doesn't kiss anyone like that now but he might do one day." The girls gave Zach an understanding look then ran into the playroom. Lucy was wriggling in my arms wanting to go to Zach. I passed her over and have Macey a nod. She raised her eyebrow.
"We need to go do stuff and you two still need to discuss things so I will stick a film on for the girls and they will leave you alone. And Blackthorne boy I'm feeling like sausages and mash for dinner." I gave him a kissed on the cheek and took Lucy back.
The girls watched the little mermaid 2: return to the sea. It is one of their favourite films.
"So what are we doing?" Macey was sat on my bed feeding Jack while I grabbed the laptop.
"Looking at wedding things." Macey's eyes shone up. "Oh by the way Preston and Nick got on really well."
***2 hours later***
"I need to go home and sleep but you should defiantly buy some of that stuff we saw they would be amazing and book the hotel by tomorrow otherwise I don't see it happening there." Macey rolled the computer chair towards me so she could take Jack back. "And by the smell of things I think you need to go and feed your daughter." She laughed and gave me a hug before we went downstairs.
"Bye Mace."
"Bye Aunty Macey."
"Bye sis." We all said our goodbyes to Macey and her crew of guards.
"Dinner time girls." I love it how Zach called us all at once rather than me and then the girls. Nick was sat on the laptop looking over the new security cameras that him and Zach had insulted while I was at Macey's. Zach was plating up and the girls were making their way to the table.
"Mummy?"
"Yes hunnypie,"
"Can me and Pen finish watching Peter Pan 2 after dinner?" Sammy did her best puppy dog eyes and her cute voice. She did learn from the best.
"We will see after dinner, okay darling?"
"Okay mummy," I gave Sammy and Pen their plates. Zach had already cut up the sausages for them so they just dug in. He had also done it for Lucy even though we both knew it was pointless since I would have to feed her.
"Nick, come and sit with us. For now you are part of the family and that means eating with the family." I took the laptop away from him so he knew not to argue with me.
We all sat down eating together, when Sammy came up with a question.
"Mummy, daddy who is this dude?" She was pointing her fork at Nick who was trying not to laugh. I shook my head in shame. That sentence is something Zach would normally say, now my daughter is saying it too.
"That wasn't very polite Samantha. If you would like to ask a question like that you ask nicely and not like daddy. This man is here to look after us because mummy is poorly. He is your uncle Nick. I expect you to be nice to him and also to do as he says when your told to."
"Sorry mummy, sorry uncle Nick."
"Come on then finish up eating and then you can watch half an hour more of Peter Pan." The twins scarfed down their remaining dinner then leapt off their chairs and ran to the playroom. Lucy has half way through when she decided she didn't want anymore. I knew this was going to stress me out so I gave the plate to Zach and walked away.
***30 minutes later***
ZPOV:
Lucy had finally finished eating. In some sense it was perfect timing. It meant I could put them all to bed at the same time. I lifted Lucy out of the high chair and walked through the playroom.
"Come on now it's time for bed." They didn't move at all. I was too tired to be big scary daddy. "Do you remember what I told you on Monday? You need to do as your told otherwise mummy stresses out which makes her poorly." They realised what I was saying do jumped up and ran upstairs.
When I got upstairs they were tucked up in bed and Cammie was reading them a story. I stood in the door frame with Lucy listening in.
"Then mummy bear said I know daddy bear and baby bear are at the door why don't they come in?" Sussed out by the wife.
"We just came to say goodnight." Lucy jumped out of my arms and ran to give them all a kiss.
"'Ight mama."
"Night baby. I love you."
"Uve you too." Lucy came back to me and we went into her room. I got her changed and all ready for bed. She never has been big on going to bed but that night when I lay her down she sleep asleep almost instantly. I kissed her forehead and went back downstairs to find Nick.
Nick's POV:
Who woulda thought that you could be a caring father and loving husband when you're a trained assassin? That's why I never had a family or even tried for one. But watching Zach with Cammie and his girls made me think twice. Especially with his past. It wasn't good but he married the love of his life who also happened to be the person his mum wanted to kill but he did it. He is defiantly not the Zach Goode I remember from Blackthorne. The big I'm better than you bad boy he was. But if he can do it them maybe I can do it too.
"Nick?" Zach called me from what sounded like the stairs.
"Yeah? I'm in the kitchen." I was going over exit strategies for each room in the house. He walked in looking exhausted.
"You can take a break, you know? You are going to be for a long time and Cam won't want you to feel as though we are taking you for granted well nor do I. We have gone over all the main details today so chill out a bit. You are going to be with us 24/7. Come get to know us properly." Zach nodded towards the living room. I shut the laptop down and followed him through. Cammie came down five minutes later.
CPOV:
I came down in my nightie and dressing gown. I hadn't done much today but I couldn't wait to get to sleep. I curled up on Zach's lap when I found them in the living room. They were talking about flipping sports. If this is where the conversation way staying then I was going.
"Guys if you're just going to talk about sports, in going to bed." They both laughed at me.
"What do you want to talk about, baby?"
"Well from the way you guys have hit it off today I assume you remember each other from Blackthorne. So I want to hear what he was like before I was in the picture." Zach tensed up a bit so I kissed his cheek and rested my head in the crook of his neck.
"Well how long do we have?" I laughed and Zach relaxed as my breath tickled his neck.
"Until I fall asleep."
Nick told me so many stories so my wonderful husband who wasn't so wonderful back in school. I have never known someone to get into so much trouble and I'm the one who had a secret civilian boyfriend for a year. It turned out that Nick was falling asleep before me so we all made our way up to bed.
Me and Zach lay in bed facing each other. Neither of us sleeping. He wanted to say something but he said nothing.
"Kiss for your thoughts?"
"You don't care about what I was like in Blackthorne? I don't want it to affect us now."
"Baby, of course I don't care. I love you for what you are now and for whatever you did. I found most of it funny anyways. Well apart from you sneaking in girls with Grant."
"Well we didn't get very far with it. Jonas daubed us in, both times. And I love you too." I gave him a quick peck as I said I would. "What did you and Macey do earlier? She left with that look in her eye."
"Wedding shopping." Zach groaned. He knew that if me and Macey were left completely alone we would be bankrupt which would mean we spent a lot of money. "Don't worry I didn't spend over two grand and in the morning we need to book the hotel. It will probably be easier if we go there and do it."
"Okay Gallagher girl. Can we go to sleep now?" I nodded and tucked my head into him.
***the next day***
Zach dropped the twins off at school while I got myself and Lucy ready. *BEEP*BEEP* Zach was calling us, telling us he was back and we needed to get to the car.
"Cammie, Zach's here and he looks annoyed."
"Nick just because he won't let me work doesn't me I can't hear a car horn." I gave Nick a are-you-serious look. "And that's my fault. I pushed him out of bed this morning and made him get the twins ready. And by the sound of things this morning they were in the mood to play a game with daddy." We both chuckled and the three of us left the house. I jumped in the back with Lucy while Nick took shot gun.
"Baby, are you angry at me?" I was lent forwards so my breath tickled his ear as I spoke and I kissed the top of his head.
"No baby doll, now sit back. I'm just grumpy because the girls made us late so I was tired and late not a good Zachary Goode combination." We both laughed.
"I know. I've been married to you for 10 years, I know." Zach pulled a face at me that I saw in the reflection of the rear view mirror.
"Mama, dada crazy?" I turned to look at my youngest daughter who caught Zach messed up face.
"Yeah he is gorgeous. But we love him anyways because he is daddy." She let put a small giggle then went back to looking out the window.
Me and Zach walked in together, holding each other by the waist. Lucy was holding Zach's hand and Nick was walking behind us.
"Good morning, welcome to the Hyatt Regency Sacramento. My name is Chantelle and how can I help you today?"
"Hi, we were hoping to hold a vow renewal here if that is possible?"
"Sure is. What date are you hoping for?"
"The 23rd of January. So we kinda wanted the main hall area that you have for our reception and also if possible to do the renewals outside on the gardens?"
"Dada?" Lucy was pulling on Zach's trouser leg. He was just stroking her head. He was slightly distracted with something else because he was looking at the brochures and seeing the prices. "DADA! Picky NOW!"
"Come here you," I took Lucy and picked her up so she could see what was happening.
"Hi sweetie, what's your name?" I sat Lucy on the desk so she could talk to Chantelle while I tried to remove the leaflet from Zach's hands.
***20 minutes later***
We were finally getting somewhere.
"If we just fill in your details we are a done for now."
Name: Cameron and Zachary Goode
Number of room(s): 2
Hall hire: Main Hall
Reason for hire: renewal of the vows ceremony and reception
Approximate number of guest(s): 2000
Contact details: 12345678998 (Cameron)
23456678765 (Zachary)
"Here you are Chantelle. I had best go save my daughter from my husband or is it the other way round?" We both laughed.
"Well thank you Mrs Goode and if you have any further questions or requests don't be afraid to call." I turned around and walked up to Nick.
"Close your mouth Nick don't want to catch flies or be caught on the job." I left him there flabbergasted and took shot gun in the car.
***back home***
Nick had taken Lucy into the playroom to go and play some dollies.
"Blackthorne boy, when are we going? Where are we going? Who are we going with? If anyone? And who are the girls staying with?" We were both in the kitchen making tea and coffee.
"Gallagher girl, its book for 6:30. I'm not telling you where we are going. It's a surprise. It's just going to be the two of us. They can stay with Bex and Grant or at Gallagher and wherever they go Nick will be with them. You need to dress really nice tonight. If it helps I'm in a tux. The one with the green waist coat? If you want to match." I took my tea and headed for the stairs.
"Okay baby, I'm going to get all the clothes sorted and lay them on the bed so later you aren't faffing around. Shall we drop the kids off straight after school?"
"Yea can do." He called back.
I flicked the TV on and got to work. I pulled out Zach's tux first because he knew what he was wearing. ( . ). I know had to find the perfect dress to go with it. It had to be the exact same shade of green or gold or black. I spent an hour going through all my dresses. I love having Macey as my best friend but she does go over the top when it comes to shopping. And now I have too many dresses to look through and pick from. I finally found the perfect one. I had forgotten I had it. The last time I wore it Morgan must have been the same age as Lucy. Thank my lucky stars I'm the same size I was back then. It was green strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline. It was a mermaid style with a slit up the leg. And because my little bubba isn't showing yet I would still have flat stomach. ( . ).
"Zach! Give Lucy lunch then put her down for her nap. I'm going in the shower."
I spent half an hour in the shower. Then blow dried my hair and curled it in big loose curls. I went downstairs in a skin tight jumper and tights because getting changed so many times in one day is a hassle. I grabbed a salad bowl from the fridge and grilled some chicken for it. Wait! Where was my husband and his newly found best friend? I went into the living room to see Zach asleep on the sofa with Lucy tucked into his chest. Nick was sat on the laptop watching last night's security footage. I awed at them then went back to my food.
I might as well do some paperwork for next week.
"Cam, you coming to drop off the girls?" I guess I got so absorbed in paperwork I didn't know the time.
"Yeah course I am. Did you pack some stuff for them because I haven't."
"Yes, I did. Now let's go before we are late." I jumped up from where I was sat in the dining room and went for the front door.
Hey guys so I haven't left a good authors note for a while so here it is. Life's been pretty shit for the past week. It was my dad's death anniversary on the 11th and I couldn't face it. I went to school in the morning and when it came to the last half an hour of the day I started pouring my eyes out. I didn't want to come home to see my family in such stress and bereavement. I didn't go home until later and went to see my science teachers. One of them almost had me crying again so to stop me he offered me a cuppa tea. We British think a cuppa tea solve everything which in this case it did. On a positive note I'm on Christmas Holidays from Wednesday so yay! Hopefully I will be able to update more often but no promises because I have to do revision for mocks.
Also I am going to do some time skips in a few chapters so do you want me to include Christmas and New year or are you not bothered?
Nadz x