Page 107 of The Thief
Fate.
I truly believed that.
We were always meant to find each other.
We turned a corner, and the beach came into view, causing Ava to jump about on her seat.
“Canwe go in the sea later?” she asked, struggling to contain herself. She was so excited.
“Of course we can. It’s a lovely day,” I replied, smiling as a buzz of contentedness rippled through me, making warmth radiate through my soul. “Liv said she’d pack a picnic.”
“Tyson will love that,” Ava remarked.
My girl was crazy for that dog. He was obsessed with her too. They made quite the pair when they got together, following each other around and getting into trouble, which usually involved mud and Liv’s new carpets. Liv didn’t mind, though. She’d forgive Tyson and my Ava anything.
“Don’t give Tyson any of your chocolate cake,” Tyler added, and I turned to see Ava rolling her eyes.
“Of course not,” she moaned, like a sulky teenager. “I’m not stupid, Daddy.”
“I know, princess.” He grinned to himself, pride flowing from him. I don’t know if he’d seen the eye roll, but if he did, I don’t think he cared.
We turned the last corner onto Adam and Liv’s road and then pulled onto their drive. My mum and brother, Toby, were coming down later, but from the cars already parked, we knew the others from Brinton Manor were here.
Adam and Liv’s house was a cosy, newly built, detached house, with a neat and pretty garden, rose bushes beside the front door, and a welcome mat that said, ‘Don’t worry about the dog, beware of the husband’.
We didn’t need to knock. Liv flung the door open as we walked towards the door, and Tyson plodded out, going straight to Ava, circling her and sniffing as she rubbed his back.
“Congratulations Evans family,” Liv sang, opening the door widerto let us through.
“Thank you. It’s been quite a day,” I remarked, walking into the house, hearing chatter from the living room.
“It’s not over yet,” Tyler pointed out, leaning to kiss Liv on the cheek before following me down the hallway.
“Now the real fun starts,” Liv announced. She called out to Ava and Tyson to come in, and whispered, “He’s getting so old now. He’s like an old man.” Then she slapped her thigh, and in a light, playful tone, she shouted, “Come on, boy. Poppy wants to play with Ava, too. You can’t monopolise all her time.”
“Is Poppy talking yet?” Ava asked, and I laughed to myself, forgetting how young my old-headed daughter was.
“Not yet.” Liv waited until we were all inside, then shut the door behind us. “She’s only six months old, so she’s still just babbling.” Then glancing at us, she added, “But Adam’s convinced she said dada the other night.”
“She did say dada,” a gruff voice from behind us announced, and we turned to see Adam standing in the doorway to the living room, holding baby Poppy in his arms, drool dribbling down her chin as she babbled and blew raspberries. “My daughter is a genius. She’ll be reading Shakespeare next week.”
I grabbed Poppy’s chubby little hand as I passed them both and kissed it. “She’s too cute. I need a munch of her soon.”
“If he ever lets her go.” Liv tutted, pretending to be annoyed, but there was so much love in her voice. I knew exactly how she felt.
“Good job she took after Liv in the looks department,” Tyler joked, slapping Adam on the arm then giving Poppy a screwy grin as he tickled her tummy and made her giggle. “Although she does have your hair, mate.”
“Ignore Uncle Tyler,” Adam said defensively, stroking his baby’s head, smoothing the fragile whisps of hair and kissing her. “He’s just jealous that we rock a crew cut better than he does.”
“She hasn’t got a crew cut,” Liv complained, trying to take Poppy out of Adam’s arms, but he was having none of it.
“Hey, she’s enjoying daddy cuddles right now. Wait your turn.”
We walked into the living room where a huge banner that read ‘Happy Adoption Day!’ was strung up over the fireplace. Tyler went around greeting everyone, and I just stood there, feeling a little overwhelmed. That was until Ava bumped me out of the way and danced into the middle of the room with Tyson on her heels.
Bryony and Will’s dog, Tiny, was in Bryony’s arms, but when she saw Ava, she started to wriggle like a mad thing before jumping down and joining them.
“Oh, it’s like that then, is it?” Bryony joked. “You only want me for my doggie treats.” Then she stood up, walked over to me, and gave me a hug. “Congratulations, Jess. I’m so happy for you all.”
