Page 36 of North (The Moral Compass 2)

“Annabella, Isabella, and Mirabella.”

I look on in amazement. They are so tiny.

“Annabella is three pounds, six ounces, Isabella is three pounds, four ounces, and Mirabella is three pounds, ten ounces.” He beams just like a proud father should.

Jesus, that’s nearly ten and a half pounds of baby. No wonder she was in pain.

Ergh no thank you.

West explains that the babies will have to stay in hospital until they gain a bit more weight, and it might be another two to three weeks before they can come home. I pop my head around Sutton’s door, but she is fast asleep, so we head off back to North’s Shag Pad.

Chapter 27

North

Ifshecallsthissuite my fucking Shag Pad again, I’m going to make her pay for it. Little minx.

It’s been two days since Sutton’s waters broke all over the carpet, and the cleaning crew from the hotel has been in and out dozens of times, trying to get the stain out. It’s not budging, though. I must remember to give West the bloody bill for the cleaning and the new carpet they are laying tomorrow.

I keep trying to distract myself whilst Kara is at the hospital visiting, but something is playing on my mind.

When we were having our heart to heart and laying all our issues out on the table, Kara said she had no family except her dad and her sister.

Well… That’s where the problem lies. I did a deep dive on Kara before I even met her, and she knows this, so it’s no secret. However, according to Kara’s file, her dad was killed with her mother in a car accident when she was a young girl.

She was brought up by her grandparents until they passed away three years ago. So, why the hell does she think her dad is alive?

I’ve been wanting to ask her but with everything that’s happened, the timing hasn’t been right. I decide to go back over the file and make sure there is nothing that I’d missed. Surely, she can’t be fantasising about a dad who is no longer here.

I search and search, and frustration sets in as I am pulling up all the same documents. Nothing tells me that her father is alive. I even have the newspaper cuttings from the accident.

Just as I’m putting the file away, Kara appears in the doorway.

Shit.

“What are you up to?” she asks, all chipper and happy. She’s just been to see Sutton and the babies, and I’m just hoping she doesn’t get broody.

“I’m going to make a coffee. Do you want one?” I deflect.

“Actually, I’ll have a tea, but what were you looking at? You look really shifty,” she says, wrapping her arms around my waist. Well, there is no time like the present.

I make the drinks and sit down next to her on the sofa and explain what my worry is. She goes a funny shade of grey.

“Did I really say that the only family I have is my dad and my sister?” she questions. I smile and take her hands in mine. I can see her eyes turning red, and I know there is something that has hurt her.

“Shit!”

“What is it? What’s wrong? Do you know why you said it?” I ask gently.

“Yeah, I do, but it’s something I thought I’d forgotten about. I haven’t thought about him in years. I don’t even know why I said it. I don’t even remember saying it.”

“Well, you did, Princess, and I want to know what it’s all about. There is nothing in your file about a living dad.” Her eyes flick up to mine, and she squints. It suddenly dawns on her what I was doing when she came back.

“It won’t.”

“What do you mean ‘it won’t’? It tells me everything, Kara. Even about the accident when you lost your parents.”

“Oh Jesus, why do you have to know everything about everyone? Fuck. This was my business, North, and no one else’s. Ah fuck. Well. You now know my beautiful, lovely dad was not my father. You must have worked that out.”

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