Chapter 41
"Morning!" Ella murmured.
She placed a cup of coffee by the side of him and he yawned sleepily.
"I'm worn out." He mumbled.
She laughed.
"We are so doing that again sometime." He mumbled again.
She huddled back under the covers and snuggled up next to him.
"uh huh!" she murmured softly.
"Is there coffee?" he asked his voice sounding as though he was still half asleep.
"Yes and I've had a text from the girls. And by the girls I mean all of them have texted me. To say they will be here soon."
Roman moved and pushed the covers down. He rearranged the pillows behind him and sat up.
Taking a long drink of the coffee he looked at her.
"I think I'm ready. What else did they say?" He said.
"Well Ruby is afraid of Nic's driving so she made Annie drive. Annie got a bit tense and Ruby and her had a fight over the car. But I don't think it was about the car. Nic is upset with both of them because they hid the vacuum and she wanted to give the carpets a quick going over this morning before they left." Ella told him with a completely straight face.
Roman drained the coffee.
"Right. What time do they arrive?" he asked.
"Oh no you don't." she told him.
"Don't what?" he said quickly.
"Don't think that you can run away. This is your daughter and she is in trouble." Ella told him with a laugh.
"Funny because yesterday she was our daughter." He responded.
"Ha Ha. I thought that last night meant you forgot that slip of the tongue." She muttered a slow stain of embarrassment appearing on her cheeks.
"I hope that last remark was a joke?" he said. "Because if I thought for one minute that you were under the impression you had to…" he trailed off.
"Had to what?" she asked getting out of bed and pulling on her bathrobe.
He grinned but said nastily.
"Perform circus tricks to entertain me."
"You pig!" she muttered. She picked up the pillow and hit him with it.
He looked at her as she raised the pillow again and caught it tugging her with it. She fell on the bed.
"I'm sorry." He said.
"You don't sound sorry." She told him.
He pulled her towards him.
"I am very very sorry." He said softly.
He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.
"I've been afraid that you feel you have to keep me…" he trailed off.
"Entertained?" she asked with a wry lift of her eyebrow.
"Uh huh. And I know that you haven't been feeling well. I am truly happy just to hold you and kiss you," he said. "And I just said something very nasty to you which I didn't mean."
"I like entertaining you." She murmured.
She pressed a hand to her stomach.
"I know that we won't be able to do this next week back home and soon we'll find it difficult because of the demands of a baby. I'm happy with holding and kissing but I really want my husband."
"Really?" he asked softly.
"Yes. I love being in his arms and feeling him against me. I love the way he touches and kisses me." She told him softly. "And I really love the way he thinks that we have time for more sex right now because the girls will be here in about 20 minutes."
He looked at her.
"Maybe they'll get stuck in traffic." He suggested.
"Oh I hope so." She said and kissed him.
"We've been buzzing for like 10 minutes." Nicole said to her again.
"Yes I know but the buzzer isn't very loud and I was asleep." Ella told her trying to pacify her.
"And Dad was in the shower where he still is." Nic said grumpily folding her arms across her chest.
"Not at all like an alibi." Ruby commented.
Ella blushed and held up her hands.
"Fine. I admit it. I confess. Nicole your father and I were having amazing sex just when you arrived." Ella told her and watched, as the other girl blushed before turning pale. "I'm sorry I didn't hear the buzzer but your father is…"
"ENOUGH!" Nic said and put her fingers in her ears.
"Is what?" Ruby asked leaning forward.
"Very distracting." Ella came up with and grinned.
"Now who would like a drink and maybe some toast." She asked.
"I would." Annie said at last. The first words she had spoken. She looked over at Ruby and glared at her. Ruby glared back.
Ella sighed and looked at all three girls.
"Come on let me show you Mike's room. I hope you don't mind sharing." She told them.
They each looked at each other without saying anything.
Ella walked over and opened the door to Mike's room. Although she referred to it as a room it was more like a suite. It had it's own bathroom, a sitting area complete with wide screen tv and entertainment system, and the bedroom area had a bunk bed with a double futon underneath it and another couple of futons.
"The sofa opens out as a bed too so you can decide where to sleep." She told them and left them to it.
Roman stood in the kitchen.
"Hey" he said.
She walked straight into his arms.
"She is so your daughter." She said grumpily.
"Would you feel better if you hit me with a pillow again." He asked.
"Maybe, if it had a brick or something in it." she said without thinking about it.
"Hey!" he muttered.
She looked up.
"Did I say that aloud?" she asked with a blush.
"Yes." He tried to look offended.
She smiled and kissed him before moving away.
"The girls need breakfast as I understand it they weren't allowed to eat before they came because Nic didn't want them to mess up the kitchen. Since that is your area of expertise I'm going for a shower and maybe escape through the fire exit."
"You said that last bit aloud too!" He muttered.
She turned and looked at him.
"I know. That was just in case you wanted to follow me later." She winked at him before dashing into the bathroom.
Roman chuckled and started to cook breakfast. He made a strong pot of coffee and poured out a cup for himself. He figured he'd need it.
Nic walked slowly out of the room and into the kitchen area.
"Hey." She said to him.
He opened his arms and she ran into them and burst into tears.
"What's up Princess?" he asked.
"It's all so horrible. I can't stop cleaning and the girls hate each other and I missed Ella. And Geoff keeps trying to get me to the Gym." She sniffed.
"Well the Gym might be a good thing. I mean I know you wouldn't be going there for the same reasons this time round." He said softly.
She looked up at him.
"Huh?" she asked puzzled.
"To spy on Geoff." He told her.
"I so did not." She muttered and blushed. "I so did, didn't I?" she hid her face.
"And all friends fall out sometimes. But they are here despite it." He told her and she sniffed. "Are you going to tell me that you haven't fallen out with either of them at some stage." He pointed out.
"And what about the cleaning?" she asked.
"I'm not going to tackle that one I like the house neat and tidy." He told her with a grin.
She looked up and laughed.
"You're here now so you won't be missing Ella. Although I think you stressed her out earlier." He told her.
"I know I was the old Nicole." She muttered. "She keeps coming back." Nic sighed.
"I like the old Nicole. She was a bit stroppy but underneath it she was still a good person. I adore this Nicole who will let me hug her and see her cry because she is not afraid anymore. And I love Nic. She's the old Nicole and the new Nicole and Geoff's fiancée and Ella's daughter." He said to her.
She looked up at him and blinked. She took a deep breath and then another one before she started sobbing. She threw her arms around him.
"I love you daddy." She cried.
He held her tight.
"I love you too Princess." He told her.
He saw Ella walking out of the bedroom and he half smiled at her.
She walked over to them and put her hand on Nic's head.
"Hey daughter." She said.
Nic turned around and threw her arms around Ella.
"I'm sorry." she said. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." She told her.
She handed her phone to Roman and he read the message on the screen. He shrugged but had a puzzled look on his face he handed the phone back to her and she tucked it in her pocket.
"Right then as soon as you've had breakfast I'm going to take you to the market so we can look at material for the dresses. Then this afternoon I've booked us all in for a pamper session."
"What time do you have to pick up Mike?" Nic asked.
"It's ok he's decided to stay at school again this weekend. Something about a sports event coming up." Ella told her. "So its up to you girls how long you want me and your Dad this weekend."
Nic sniffed and wiped at her eyes.
"Seriously? Is he alright?" she said referring to Mike.
"Yeah." Ella said.
She met Roman's glance as he looked at her.
"Why?" She asked Nic.
"I just didn't want him to think I was taking up all your time with wedding stuff." Nic looked at her. "He's fine. Doesn't think that at all." Ella told her. "But thank you for thinking about him."
"Come on Nic get some breakfast before it gets cold." Roman told her.
He waited until she was sitting at the table before following Ella into the bedroom.
"What's up with Mike?" Roman asked.
"I don't know but next weekend I am dragging his ass home." Ella said and started making the bed.
"El?" he questioned.
She looked at him.
"I still haven't told him about the baby and I'm thinking that maybe Ollie overheard you and Miles talking about it and told him." She said.
"You said he was giving you some trouble before. Was it anything like this?" Roman asked.
"No he was clingy. Wouldn't go to school despite loving it." She said.
She sighed and sat down on the bed.
"So what do you want to do?" he asked.
"I want to go to the school and rip his head off." She said. "But I am going to leave him until next week and if he sends me another sarcastic text message I will take him out of school and enrol him in Summer Bay high."
"How about I talk to him?" Roman asked.
She looked over at him.
"Ok. Pretend I am him and tell me what you would say." She grinned at him.
He folded his arms across his chest.
"No first mistake." She grinned. "Defensive body language."
He looked at her.
She nodded.
"He uses every trick in the book." She told him.
"Ok. How about this? Mike I think we should have a talk." Roman said.
"What about?" she answered assuming the typical teenager pose.
Roman laughed.
"Well lots of things have been happening lately." Roman added.
"Whatever." Ella said dismissive. "Not like you even ask me anyway."
"I think you'll find that isn't true and you know it. But anyway, I wanted to tell you…" Roman began.
Ella shook her head.
"Nope!" she told him. "You bought into the guilt thing and felt the need to tell him it wasn't true. He knows it isn't true he's trying to deflect you and it worked because you went off topic." She smiled. "I thought you were good at interrogation."
He laughed.
"Mike is a superbrain. Don't let him get to you." She told him. "You can't get emotional because he will use it against you."
"Really?" he asked.
She nodded.
"IQ of 147" she told him. "That's why he's been at boarding school for most of his life. I'm not an uncaring mother. He really does need the structure and discipline." She told him with just a touch of pride.
"And you didn't think to tell me earlier." He asked.
"You mean like before we were married so you knew you would be getting a teenager with a superbrain someday?" she asked.
"Well yes." Roman said with a grin.
"No chance you wouldn't have married me!" she grinned back.
He sat down near her.
"So how did you cope with him?" Roman asked.
She shook her head.
"I didn't I just lurched from one crisis to the next. Took him out of school for a year and went travelling. Lived in California for another year. I tried to focus him on pretty much everything." She told him. "Such as sports as well as study."
"Uh huh crisis huh?." He said.
"Well…Maybe a little exaggeration." She said.
"Would these years out of school be so he would still be with the same age range kids when he returned?" he murmured.
She looked at him and grinned slowly before nodding.
He put his arm around her.
"We could drive to see him on Sunday and take him to lunch. Tell him about the baby." He suggested.
She looked at him and kissed him.
"I love you but seriously if we did that Mike would probably have a hissy fit. He's hoping that the text message will upset me." She told him.
"And it has." Roman told her.
"I'm more annoyed than upset. I was planning to see if he wanted to see Harry while we were here. But he's blown that chance and now next weekend he will be grounded to the house."
She said.
She patted her stomach.
"This one had better behave." She said.
Roman stood and walked over to the bedroom door.
"Not a chance in hell it will be half Nic and half Mike." He told her.
She groaned.
"Maybe it'll have all the good bits?" she suggested hopefully.
Roman looked at her for a moment.
She sighed.
"If I hear the Omen theme music when I'm giving birth we're putting it up for adoption." She told him.
He held out his hand and she went over to him and he kissed her.