Page 115 of Worth the Wait
Nathan glanced at him. “I’m trying to make up for that now. To both of you. He means a lot to me, Alf. And so do you. I’m… figuring out how to do right by you both. I’m not perfect. I’m not always gonna know the right thing to say or do. But, fuck, Alf, I’m gonna try. And I want both of you in my life.”
For a long moment, Alfie said nothing. Then he sighed and chucked another chip out to the gulls. “Just don’t bang where I can hear it. Had enough of that with Mum.”
Nathan let out a breath that was half sadness and half relief. “Deal.”
Then, as if on cue, a shadow slid across the pavement, and Nathan smiled before he could stop himself. “Hey.”
Freddie. Back in civvies after his night shift. Jeans, a jumper, and a leather jacket zipped halfway, snug in a way that wasn’t trying to be sexy but absolutely was, with a baseball cap pulled low.Effortless. Smelt even better.Skipping behind him was his niece, all windblown giggles and tangled hair, and behind her came Piper, steering a pram. A family stroll. Harmless. Normal. Nothing suspicious at all.
Coincidence that he was here now?
Not a chance.
They had their own emoji system.
“Hey. How you doing, Alf?” Freddie asked, casual as anything.
“Alright.” Alfie didn’t look up from the ground.
Freddie nodded, accepting it for what it was. The awkwardness hadn’t vanished overnight, butChrist, he was trying. And Nathan loved him for that. Loved the quiet way Freddie showed up, again and again, without ever pushing.
“How’s life behind the desk?” Nathan asked, a smirk tugging at his mouth.
Freddie rolled his eyes. “There’s a reason I didn’t sign up to be a bloody secretary. I spent half the night pretending to do incident logs while playing Solitaire and trying not to lose the will to live.”
Nathan snorted. “How many games did you win?”
“Three. And one moral crisis about whether I should start alphabetising crime reports just for something to do.”
Nathan grinned and Freddie tucked his hands into his jacket pockets, grinning back. It was easy. Warm. A rare moment that didn’t ache. It wasnice.
Really fucking nice.
“Thank fuck.” Piper appeared beside them then. “I need to feed Ryan before he starts a riot.” She lowered onto the low seawall beside Alfie, hauled the baby out of the pram, and unapologetically pulled out a boob.
Alfie shot to his feet. “Can I go skate?”
Nathan bit back a laugh. “Yeah, we’ll be here.”
Alfie clacked his board along the pavement and took off without another word, hood bouncing behind him.
Tilly grabbed Freddie’s hand and swung it. “Can I go too? I’ve got wheels on my shoes!” She beamed and stuck out a foot, displaying pink trainers with tiny wheels embedded in the soles.
“No way, Tils. You’ll break your neck, and then your mum’ll break mine.”
“That I will,” Piper called, reclining as the baby latched on with the determination of a vacuum cleaner. “Get me a chip butty, will you? This one’s draining the life out of me.”
“And I want a fishcake!” Tilly chirped. “And a can of Coke!”
“No Coke,” Piper called again. “You can have juice. Get her juice.”
Freddie sighed. “Alright. Two chip butties, fishcake, open chips for Tils, juice. Anything else?”
“A pickled egg,” Piper added.
“Jesus.” Freddie rolled his eyes. “Anythingnormal?”
Piper smiled. “You used to eat picked onions out of the fucking jar, mate. Don’t have a pop.”
