Page 59 of Born To Be Bad

“Coffee or champagne?” asks Alistair.

“Why do we have to choose?” I reply.

“Fair point,” he concedes, and orders both.

“Come watch Alex eat pineapple,” I say, and he pads over the warm powdery sand to us. With perfect timing, the baby takes a nibble and scrunches up one eye. We all laugh, and this time Alex joins us. Alistair’s strong hand rests on the small of my back, and when I look up at him, he kisses me.

“This is perfect,” I say.

“Yes,” he agrees. “It is.”

We spend the morning stretched out on the beach, alternating between shade and sunshine, dry land and water, coffee and champagne. The sea feels like bathwater, but it’s still oddly refreshing. I watch as Alistair, all rippling muscles and drop-dead-gorgeous face sits in the shallows with baby Alex, splashing in the puddles and playing with the wet sand. They have commandeered the bamboo serving utensils as beach toys. The speakers hidden in the umbrellas play Jack Johnson, John Mayer, and Norah Jones on shuffle.

“He’s always been good with kids,” says Brumilde, looking up from her doorstopper of a novel—the latest Kristin Hannah—which I’m only slightly envious of.

“The oldest sibling usually is, I think.” I reply—perhaps thinking of myself.

“Not always,” she retorts. “My brother was an absolute scourge.”

I think of Jamie, who has never said an unkind thing to me in my entire life. I guess that’s one of the advantages of having a sibling born with an extra chromosome. Mum’s latest voicemail had filled me in on how they were preparing Jamie for his new home. He’d be out of hospital in a couple of days and the timings would line up perfectly. The thought prompts me to pick up my phone, something I hadn’t been doing very much lately because living in the here-and-now was infinitely superior to anything I could find on my phone. This is a drastic change to how life was before I met Alistair, when apps were a welcome reprieve from what felt like a pretty hopeless reality.

I text Mum.

Please don’t buy Jamie any art equipment yet. Alistair said he would like to do that. <3

Mum

That’s man’s a keeper!

Yes he is.

Mum doesn’t know about baby Alex yet. She’ll be absolutely over the moon to learn that she has an insta-grandchild. I snap a quick pic of Alistair and Alex playing. I’ll send it to her later. It’s nice to have this secret for now. Becks, however, will absolutely murder me if I keep this from her. I grimace and quickly type out a message.

Becks. There have been … developments.

She comes online and begins typing.

Rebecca Bradley

Grabbing coffee to settle in.

Good or bad developments??

The bad news is that we had to leave the country for a couple of days.

Ooh. Let me guess … the good news is also that you had to leave the country for a couple of days?

Pretty much. We’re in Koh Samui.

You absolute tart.

[Laughing emoji]

Is it amazing? Warm, sunny, white beaches, palm trees?

Yes.

Lucky bitch!

---