38:
They walked in moments later, and we stood to greet them. I spoke first as they filed through, wanting the awkward introductions over as soon as possible.
"Jack, 'Van: this is my soulfinder, Will."
Their reaction was immediate: 'Van dropped her handbag, and Jack's jaw fell open.
"I'm sorry, what?" Jack asked, finally breaking his stupor.
"Didn't mum tell you?" I looked at my mother for confirmation. There was no way she'd be able to keep such information to herself. A family member need do little more than sneeze before she'd rang round and informed all other family members than they had a cold.
"I thought that you and Will would want to be the ones to break the news." Mum explained, leaning down to pick up 'Van's handbag and place it on the table.
"Oh." Well that definitely explained their reaction. Although Will knew who they were, they had never met him before, or even known he'd existed until a few seconds ago.
"You found your soulfinder?" 'Van clarified, still looking rather dazed.
"Yes. We met at the convention."
"But I thought you said you didn't meet your soulfinder at the convention." Jack stated, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Yes, I did." I agreed.
"That's what she told everyone, Jack. And she's going to tell us why over dinner, aren't you, Alexis?" My Mother explained. I nodded meekly.
"Well, it's lovely to meet you, Will." Savannah piped up, coming over to hug Will, allowing the awkwardness to dissipate.
"And you." Will replied, hugging her back with a smile. Savannah was even smaller than me, so their embrace was funny to watch. She moved onto me next, and I watched over her shoulder to see Jack and Will greet each other.
"He's certainly a looker, Alexis." 'Van whispered in my ear as she hugged me. I couldn't get quite as close to her as I used to because her bump got in the way. She hadn't been really showing before, but now there was a definite bump poking out through her t-shirt.
"Agreed." I giggled back, blushing. We watched with amusement as Will and Jack engaged in an awkward handshake/ hug.
"Now, I've got the baby photos out in the lounge for us to look at." Mum announced once pleasantries had been exchanged.
"No!" Jack and I chorussed in tandem.
"Yes!" Savannah squealed, clapping her hands together. "Will, you have got to see them- they are so cute together!" She grabbed his hand, and practically dragged him through to the lounge. He gulped and shrugged at me as he passed, seemingly unable to deny the petite, pregnant lady he'd just met. I smiled back, picking up my drink and preparing to follow him in.
"So is this why we've been looking after Monty more than usual?" Jack asked me quietly, watching the two of them and Mum disappear through the doorway.
"No comment." I replied, trying to ignore the heat I felt blooming in my cheeks.
"Al, why didn't you say anything? We'd have been- no, we are happy for you." I looked down at my drink and avoided eye contact.
"It's not my story to tell, Jack." I answered him cryptically. And it wasn't. Alice needed to tell everyone herself, not me.
"I-" Monty yapped then, obviously impatient that he was still prohibited from entering the garden, and I took the opportunity to change the subject.
"Jack, could you have a word with him, please? Dad won't let him go out unless he's agreed to behave himself."
"Sure." He agreed, obviously noticing the change of topic, but not pushing me on it. "You go through, I'll let him out in a minute. I don't know how your burly American's be dealing with those pair." He raised his eyebrows to indicate which pair he meant, and I smirked, Mum and 'Van could be a bit intimidating at times.
As if baby photos weren't bad enough (unbeknownst to Jack and 'Van), Mum had taken their old baby pictures and uploaded them onto a site which from them generated an 'accurate' (I think accurate was a rather sketchy claim from the site) picture of her first grandchild. This grandchild, in my opinion, looked rather more like a deformed alien, but for fear of my own life I kept that opinion to myself.
At dinner, Will even managed to make Dad warm to him, his performance earlier in the evening now forgotten as the two happily chatted together like old friends. His modest re-telling (at Mum's insistence) of his gallant rescue made 'Van gooey eyed, something Jack wasn't all too pleased about, but he was easily appeased by Will's promise to get him courtside seats to the basketball if he ever came to the States- Benedict security offered both electronic and physical protection, and many high profile athletes used their services. If my Mum wasn't already in love with Will, then his insistence to help clear the table and wash up would have made her fall head over heels for him.
"Please sit down, Will" She simpered, her hand on his shoulder practically forcing him back down into his seat. "You're our guest!"
"Honestly, Mrs Anderson, my mother would have a coronary if she knew I wasn't helping."
"Will, call me, Liz. Mrs Anderson makes me feel old!"
"Why Liz, you don't look a day over thirty." He smiled up at her and I swear to God she blushed at the compliment. I rolled my eyes at him behind Mum's back as I stacked the used plates.
'What? Overkill?' He asked, and I smiled back at him.
'If you're not careful she's going to kidnap you.' He smiled angelically back up at Mum, thrilled to be having such an effect on her.
"Honestly, Brian tries his hardest to get out of washing up." She shook her head at his actions.
"Hey!" Dad interrupted from the kitchen. He was currently busy washing up all the delicate glassware that couldn't go in the dishwasher. "That's not true, Liz!"
"Well, why else did you buy me a dishwasher?"
"To make your life easier." He smiled, wandering through with a tea towel draped over his shoulder.
"Brian, a dishwasher is not exactly the anniversary gift I was hoping for!" She harrumphed indignantly whilst I snorted and Will tried his very best to keep a straight face.
"It was a very expensive dishwasher!" He defended himself. "And you forgot it was our anniversary!" Mum blushed at that. She was always forgetting important romantic dates. In our house it was always Dad who remembered it was Valentine's day, never mum.
"No I didn't- your gift just arrived late." He raised an eyebrow.
"Liz, the invoice in the package said that it was ordered on our anniversary, not before." He chuckled. Mum had the decency to blush, realising she'd been found out.
"Well, you'll be glad of the dishwasher when I'm away with Alexis." She pointed out. For Mother's day Alice and I had booked for myself and Mum to go and visit her in Paris. She was very excited.
Whilst they continued to bicker Will helped Jack and I clear the table and clean the kitchen. 'Van, much to her displeasure, was relegated to sitting and drying glasses due to Jack's insistence that anything else was far too strenuous for her in her current condition, despite that our parents, two trained medical professionals, agreed with 'Van, and said she could do more if she wanted to.
A few hours later, we headed off home, not before mum unsuccessfully cornered and interrogated me as to why I'd not admitted to finding Will immediately. I repeated to her what I had said to Jack- that it simply wasn't my story to tell, but she wasn't impressed with that answer. I left Monty with Mum and Dad, after he told Jack he fancied trying out the new basket they had bought for him. Honestly, Monty was such a diva! It seemed like he barely spent any time with me anymore!
"Do you think I did okay?" Will asked me nervously as we drove home. His hand was clenched nervously around the gearstick. I rested my hand on his and squeezed it reassuringly.
"They loved you." He brought my hand up to his lips and kissed it as we waited for the red light above us to change. After we parked, we looped arms and headed up to my flat, my head lolling against his bicep as we walked. I let us in quickly, shucking off my coat and hanging it on the peg adjacent to Will's. It seemed right having his coat next to mine. Normal, even, as though the peg belonged to him and him alone. I kicked my shoes off onto the mat and turned to face him.
"Breaking Bad?" He questioned. I shook my head, flexing my index finger at him in my very best 'come hither' motion, until his body was flush with mine. I kissed him deeply, my fingers creeping under the hem of his t-shirt, tugging it upwards until he took the hint- his lips leaving mine only to pull it up over his head, before they came together again. He lifted me up against him, and I wrapped my legs around his waist, my fingers knotting in his hair. He walked us to my bedroom, navigating the layout expertly, a trail of clothes in our wake.
XXX
I woke the next morning to the feel of butterfly kisses ghosting along my spine, up my neck, and into my hairline. I rolled over and opened my eyes to see Will's warm hazel ones staring back at me.
"Good morning."
"It's a very good morning." He agreed wolfishly, grinning back at me. He kissed me swiftly, ignoring my morning breath, his hands clutching me closer under the covers, pressing me against him. I moaned into his mouth and he smiled against my lips. He knew he had me.
When we finally surfaced a couple of hours later, Wil was looking smugger than ever. I was nestled cosily into his side as he pressed kisses to the top of my head, my body sore, but sated.
"You look pleased with yourself." I commented, struggling deeper into the crook of his arm. His free hand toyed with one of my curls, stretching it before letting it ping back into place.
"Why wouldn't I be?" He grinned cheekily back at me. "I charmed the in-laws and got the girl." I snorted at his confidence.
"Charmed? You were hardly sure of that last night!" I rebuked him teasingly. In response, his fingers danced across my rib cage, and I gigged at his tickling. "Okay, fine, you charmed them. They love you. Happy?"
"Ecstatic." He agreed, his eyes twinkling. "My plan to seduce you has worked perfectly." He added cockily, the gleam in his eye let me know he was teasing me. I elbowed him in the stomach, and he let out an appropriate 'oomf' as if it had actually hurt him.
"Girls don't like arrogant boys." I scolded. "And your plan wasn't quite perfect."
"How so?" He demanded. "You're the only girl who doesn't like being sent presents, and still I succeeded."
"The photos." I pointed out.
"What photos?"
"Those creepy photos of me at the convention, with 'we will be together' written on the back. It didn't exactly scream romance."
"I didn't send you any photos." I could tell he wasn't kidding when he said it. "Do you still have them?" I nodded.
"Monty chewed them up a bit, but I've got them."
"Show me." Pulling on a dressing gown whilst Will pulled on his discarded boxers, he followed me through to the kitchen. On the windowsill where I'd left it was the envelope containing the ripped pictures. We pieced the remains together on the worktop.
"I don't like this." Will muttered, wrapping an arm around me to bring me closer.
"Are you getting a feeling like when you told me not to visit Sam?" I asked worriedly. He nodded.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." He promised. "My brother, Uri, can tell the past of an object just by touching it. He's in South Africa with his soul finder at the minute, but we'll get it to him, and get to the bottom of this." I wasn't convinced. An uneasy feeling had settled in my stomach, and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't rid myself of it.
We collected Monty from my parents, and took a walk along the canal- stopping at a café for lunch along the way. It was a good way to distract myself from the photos for this afternoon. When we got back, Will had to leave for the States. Although he had tried to work from London, there were things across the pond that needed seeing too, and he'd put off going back for as long as he could. I didn't know when I'd see him again, which made the goodbye harder. He left with the photographs clenched tightly in his hands, and a promise that he'd find out who the photographs were from.
Thanks for the continued support. Life got in the way of finishing this story. In order to give anyone who's still reading this closure, I'm going to finish this story within the next month. The chapters will feel rather rushed, but if I ever go back to this story I can always embellish them. I'll upload the next few chapters over the coming days as I've got the next two written down- I just need to type them up. Thanks.