Once again sorry for the delay, I'm away on holiday and we've just moved location and I finally have internet connection! Hopefully should have it all week to update again soon. Best Wishes Mx
'Matt, how are you feeling after the flight?' Christian asks with concern.
'Good.' I say slightly confused as to why he is concerned. 'I slept for most of it.'
'I know.' He says. How does he know already?
'I slept in the bedroom.' I say quietly.
'Hey what are you worrying for? I said that you could. You knew what you weren't allowed to do and you respected my request. Were you dizzy when you woke?' he asks.
'I just sat up too quickly. You've spoken to Mia already.' I say.
'No, she emailed me. I know you ate different things, you slept alone and she was concerned when you woke.' He says gently.
'Why are you asking me then if you already know everything?' I ask grumpily.
'Matt! What's wrong?' he asks remaining calm with me.
'Can I call you back?' I ask.
'Do you want to speak to mom?' he asks. He knows me so well.
'Yes.' I whisper.
'Matt, keep talking to me. Mom is still at the hospital. She had an emergency case.' He says gently.
'When is Stefan taking the jet back to Seattle?' I ask.
'Thursday but you can't come back on it.' He says.
'Why?' I say in a mild panic.
'Because you are staying there for ten days, you'll be able to surf by Friday. Matt seriously you don't want to come straight back.' He says.
'I'm having doubts about being here.' I mutter.
'You'll feel better once you've seen the house.' Christian says.
'I'm not even looking after Hannah very well, I've just left her with Mia.' I say.
'Matt, the girls are fine. They'll sort each other out. They understand that you're trying to deal with so much at the moment. This trip away is something huge for you.' He says.
'What if I can't sleep? What if I have a nightmare?' I whisper.
'Little bro stop worrying about things that haven't happened yet. Do what we've always done in the middle of the night, play the piano. You can always sleep by the pool in the daytime to catch up.' Christian says.
'OK. I think we might be here. Sawyer has slowed down and is waiting for the gates to open.' I say. 'He's going through them now.'
'And' he says.
'And it looks nice.' I say.
'Nice. Is that all you can say. You know I don't like that word.' He says.
'OK, it's impressive. I'm over-awed by it. The girls are over excited.' I say as they squeal in front of me.
'Go and explore, I'll speak to you after you've had dinner.' Christian instructs.
'The press release.' I mutter.
'Is nothing to worry about now. I'll chat to you later.' He says and clicks off so that I don't have a chance to reply. I climb out of the SUV when it comes to a stop and open Hannah's door. Sawyer has opened Mia's already. I hug Hannah and then Mia comes to join our hug.
'Matt, the house is beautiful.' Hannah says.
'Wait till you see inside.' Mia says. 'I remember spending a lot of time on the beach and in the pool when we came years ago. Matt, please can I make a request?'
'What do you want Mia?' I ask.
'Please can I sleep in the room I had last time. Your daddy had it decorated pink especially for me.' Mia says.
'Of course you can. Anything else?' I ask.
'No that's all for now baby bro.' she says to me and kisses me on the cheek. 'Come on let's go inside.' We follow Mia, she obviously remembers more than I do. As we approach the front door it opens and a lady in her fifties is stood waiting with a huge smile on her face.
'Welcome.' She says.
'Hello Mrs Richards.' Mia says and hugs her.
'Hello Mia, lovely to see you again. Hello you must be Hannah.' Mrs Richards says and hugs Hannah.
'Hello.' Hannah says.
'There's no mistaking who you are.' Mrs Richards says and envelopes me in a tight hug. I hug her back as she says quietly. 'You're so like your father.' She pulls away slightly so that she can look at me properly.
'Lovely to see you Mrs Richards.' I say as I smile at her.
'Oh you're as charming as ever with your cheeky smile.' She says. 'Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes if you want to freshen up and explore.' She adds with a tear in her eye as she turns and heads to what I presume is the kitchen.
'I'm going up to my bedroom.' Mia says. 'Do you want to come and see Hannah?'
'Yes.' Hannah says looking at me. I take her hand and we follow Mia. She heads straight to her room.
'Oh look, it's the same as I remember.' Mia says. 'That room was mom and dads, that one was Christians and next to that was Elliots.'
'I remember Mia.' I whisper. I walk straight to where my room was and go inside. It's quite small and I remember having a tantrum about having the smallest room. I smile at the thought, I haven't changed. I look at the view out of the window and smile again to myself when I see the pool. I will be happy all week here having the privacy of this pool. Exiting the room I go into the one next door. This is the master bedroom and was mommy and daddy's. It is so big and there's a sun terrace running along the length of it. I open the doors and walk outside. The sound of the ocean and the view is spectacular. I make my way back into the room and head towards Mia's where I can hear her and Hannah giggling together.
'Baby, come and see.' I say as I kiss Hannah's cheek. I take her hand and smiling shyly at her I take her towards what was mommy and daddy's room. 'Come and see the view.' I add as we head out onto the sun deck.
'Wow Matt, it's beautiful.' Hannah whispers.
'I know, come inside.' I say excitedly.
'Oh, it's huge.' She says wandering round.
'Look in the bathroom.' I say dragging her towards it. It's as big as I remember. A large sunken spa bath with a view of the ocean, a walk-in shower, his and hers basins. This bathroom is bigger than my little bedroom next door. I drag her back into the bedroom. 'Do you think we should use this room?' I ask her quietly.
'Are you sure? It was your mommy and daddy's.' Hannah says quietly.
'Hannah we made love in their room this morning and nothing bad has happened. If we come with everyone on vacation for autumn break then this room is set apart from the rest as its next to my old room and no-one will use that. Also with the sun deck we'll get some privacy. If you're happy we might as well start using it straight away.' I say.
'You blow me away. After everything that you're dealing with at the moment and with the huge amount of change and then you suggest we use this room. I'll be happy to sleep here with you if that's what you want.' She says smiling at me.
'Cool, cos it's what I want.' I say with a smirk and dive onto the bed. 'To be honest Hannah from what I remember I spent more time in this bed and room than I did in my own when we spent two weeks here. Come and see it, it's so small and I had a tantrum about its size.' I jump off the bed and take her hand once more. Once we enter my room I say 'See what I mean, though I can understand why they put me next to them. It was probably the same in all the houses.'
'Oh Matt, it's a lovely size. Imagine when you have kids this is an ideal room for them.' Hannah says.
'When we have kids, Hannah.' I say wrapping my arms round her waist. 'How many?'
'What?' she asks.
'How many children do you want?' I ask.
'I don't know, I've never really thought about it apart from knowing that I want more than one.' She says.
'Six.' I say.
'Matt! Are you ever serious?' Hannah says sounding shocked.
'I was.' I mutter. I let go of her and turn to go out of the room.
'Hey, I'm sorry I didn't realise.' Hannah says grabbing my arm and hugging me. 'I'm not sure I want six though. I know I definitely want more than one. You've changed your tune, a few weeks ago you were horrified at the thought of one.'
'A lot of things have changed since then.' I whisper. 'I need to find the piano, we've got five minutes until dinner. I want to sing for you.' I say taking her hand once more and heading down the stairs. I know where to go and am soon in the large living area overlooking the garden, pool and ocean. It replicates the view from the sun terrace. I make my way over to the grand piano and sit on the stool. Hannah sits on the huge comfy chair that's closest to the piano and facing the ocean but away from me. I start to play and then sing.
'Birds flying high, you know how I feel. Sun in the sky, you know how I feel. Breeze driftin on by, you know how I feel. It's a new dawn, it's a new day it's a new life, for me. And I'm feeling good.' I lose myself in the rest of the song. When I finish I feel Hannah at my side, I turn to look at her shyly and she has tears running down her cheeks.
'Matt, that was ….' Hannah starts.
'Baby, I didn't want to make you cry.' I say interrupting her. 'I thought it would be easier to sing to you than try and explain how I'm feeling at the moment.'
'You're feeling good.' Hannah says with a smile.
'Very. Let's go eat.' I say and stand to hug and kiss her.