Page 91 of The Damaged Hearts Bargain

“You got a dog?” Lucy squealed. Billy and George had been talking about getting a dog for as long as she could remember.

“Um, not quite,” said George, finally freeing the lock and standing up to push the second door open. “We’re ready,” he called out.

“Should I put the croissants away?” Pen said worriedly. “I’m not sure dogs can eat croissants.”

“He said they didn’t get a dog,” Ash said. “Besides… I think babies are pretty safe around croissants, aren’t they?”

Billy was standing in the doorway, a large twin pushchair in front of him, beaming like he was fit to burst.

“I wanted to do the whole Lion King thing,” George said. “Lights, music, holding the babies up to present them. But Billy said it might be too much.”

“You… you have babies?” Lucy said, mouth agape.

Then Pen was rushing to hug George and Lucy was picking up one baby as Billy gently passed the other to Ash and the smell of milk was everywhere as Cal decided making coffee was the best way to put herself to use.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Pen asked, scooping a baby out of Ash’s arms and holding it to her chest.

“Because these things fall through,” Billy said. “And we couldn’t bear having told you then having to tell you that it didn’t work out.”

“Can I finally say my piece?” George asked.

Billy rolled his eyes, but nodded. “Formal introductions?”

George took his son from Pen’s arms. “Everyone, I’d like you to meet Sam. Samuel Edward, if we’re being formal.” He held the wriggling child up.

“I wasn’t done cuddling,” Pen said, reaching for Sam.

“Just as well,” Billy said. “Because we would like to ask you and Ash if you would do us the honor of being Sam’s godparents.”

Pen looked at Ash whose cheeks had gone pink. “I can’t think of a higher honor,” she said, grinning at her wife.

George cleared his throat as he reached for the child that Lucy was holding. His daughter squirmed as he picked her up. “Second, but by no means least, because let me tell you, she’s a trouble maker already, this is Beth. Elizabeth Olivia who has kept us up all night.”

“She just had a touch of colic,” Billy said adoringly.

But George was already walking toward Cal, offering Beth to her. Cal looked at Lucy in terror, but Lucy just nodded at her. “Go on,” George said. “Take her.”

“Me?” Cal asked.

“Well, if you’re going to be her godmother, you’re going tohave to hold her at some point. At least by the Christening, I’m thinking,” said George.

And then Cal was taking the baby, cradling her like she could break at any second and looking down at her, tears rolling down her cheeks. “You’d trust me with… this?” she stuttered.

“This is a her,” George said. “I mean, unless she prefers something else when she’s older. And yes, of course we would. You and Lucy will be great godparents. Frankly, if something happens to me and Billy, Sam’s the one that I’d be worried about. Pen will feed him cakes all the time and Ash will have him reading bodice-rippers.”

“Thank you,” Cal said quietly. “Thank you.”

“See,” Pen whispered to Lucy. “You’re all worried that she’s not ready for serious commitment and she’s holding that baby like she owns it now.”

Lucy sighed. “That’s not the same as actually owning one though, is it? Also, I don’t think you own a baby. Probably you just have one.”

“You know what I mean,” said Pen.

“I do,” Lucy replied, taking Sam from her arms and smelling his sweet scent. “And you know what I mean. Asking her to settle down with me is one thing, asking her to move back here is another. I don’t want to scare her. On the other hand, it’s been two years now. We can’t keep living the kind of life where she changes jobs every couple of months and we live in a one-room flat.”

“You love her and you believe in her,” Pen said. “You trust her, right? So why are you keeping all these feelings from her? You need to ask for what you want. She’s not a mind-reader.”

“I know,” Pen said, snuggling baby Sam. “I just don’t want to be without her. She’s been in therapy for over a year now dealing with what happened between her and her mum, working on her guilt and trying to stop blaming herself. I don’t want to derail that. And if getting to keep her means that I need to keep living like some kind of nomad, then I suppose that’s what I’ll do.”

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