Page 94 of Endgame

I may not be able to share what’s going on, but there is no way I am letting today go unnoticed.

I flick on my bedside lamp, grab my phone and take a picture of Ariella sleeping peacefully on my shoulder. She looks absolutely beautiful.

Then I open my social media app, upload the image and add a simple caption below.

Perfection.

I put my phone back on its charging disc and return my hand to Ariella’s tummy, hoping that the sesame seed can feel me silently telling it how much I love it already.

‘Caleb?’ Ariella whispers to me in the middle of the night.

‘Mason?’

‘I think I want to keep it. What do you think?’ she says, placing her hand over mine, still resting on her tummy.

‘I think I want to keep it too.’

‘I’m a little scared.’

‘I’ve been on the internet. I think we might need to be a lot scared. They’re cute but it turns out they are all frightful little monsters and no one is ever really prepared for their arrival anyway. Also, the general consensus is we sleep now because, the second it’s born, we’re never going to sleep again. Ever.’

‘But I’m not sleepy,’ Ariella says, climbing on top of me.

‘You do realise it was exactly this sort of behaviour that got you into your little spot of trouble, Mason?’

‘It’s not like it’s going to get any worse,’ she says, smiling, before she brings her lips down to meet mine.

‘Nope. In fact I suspect it’s only going to get better.’

I pull my girlfriend in, make love to her and hold her in my arms, softly chatting like we used to do in London, until the sun comes up.

‘Granny Pat!’ I call as I happily come down the stairs in the morning, ready for Honey to turn up. MsPat is exceptionally early today. She usually doesn’t surface until about six fifteen, well into my beatings. Sometimes she stops for a few minutes to watch for fun.

She whips round. She has the biggest smile on her face.

‘You keep the baby?’ she asks excitedly.

‘Yes, we’re keeping the baby.’ The force with which she hugs me almost knocks me over. ‘Can I juggle the ginger now?’

‘No!’ She smacks my arm and laughs loudly. ‘Miss Ariella must take to work in a flask and drink all day so she is not so sick. When she get tired of ginger, we try mint.’

I have an overwhelming urge to hug MsPat, and I do. I cover her tiny five-foot-two frame with my entire body.

The doorbell goes suddenly. Honey is early too. I open the door to her and an excited Lara.

‘Well?’ Lara says.

‘We’re keeping it, Aunty Lara.’

Lara squeals, shoves me to the side and dashes up the stairs.

‘In honour of your news, I’ll go easy on you today. Come on,’ Honey says as she gives me a quick hug. Then she walks into the garden and onto our training mat. We are soon interrupted by Ariella.

‘Caleb, did you post a photo of us in bed together to your social media?’

‘Yes,’ I say as I finally manage to grab one of Honey’s legs.

‘Why?’

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