Page 58 of Past

"You want your uncle El?" I ask him, and Jake has that classic grin I've seen a million times on his dad.

"Here you go." Allie laughs, passing him over, and I push his hair out of his eyes a little.

I find Sebastian and Maisy in the lounge, and Sebastian is at the bar making drinks.I want to comment on how he has made himself at home within seconds of being here, but I don’t. I actually like that he is making himself a drink.

"I've ordered a taxi to pick us up later, so we can drink a little; want one?" he asksme.

"I’ll have whatever there is, do you like the apartment then?" I ask, sitting on the empty sofa with Jake, while Allie hugs Maisy.

“It’s nice; I will have a proper walk around in a minute,” he replies as he gives me a beer and turns to Allie.

“Do you want a drink, Allie?” Seb asks her.

"Sure, you choose for me, thanks, Seb,” she says and turns to Maisy.

“I missed you, Maisybear," Allie says, and they start chatting away like they didn’t just see each other yesterday. Sebastian puts my drink on the coffee table and sits next to me.

"Dada," Jake says, clapping his hands on my lap.

"He is getting so big," I comment, looking at Jake. Jake is wearing blue jeans and a top that says 'mummy is the best.'

I point at his top with a grin, and then I tickle Jake, making him laugh.

"Maisy went shopping for him, I couldn't say no when she brought him out wearing that." He laughs.

"You look happy, man," I comment, noticing him looking at Maisy and laughing.

“So do you,” he replies, and I follow his gaze to Allie, who is grinning at whatever Maisy has said.

"I love her, but I don't think she really feels the same. I was a dick to her for years, and I don't know how to fix that," I say quietly, wanting his advice.

"She does feel the same, but it takes time to trust someone, bro. It was bad, but you never did anything that would truly hurt her, and she knows that,"Seb tells me, patting my shoulder.

My phone chooses that moment to start ringing in my pocket.

‘My milkshake brings all the guys to the yard, and they’re like…’

I cancel the call when I manage to get it out of my pocket. I see that it’s an unknown number anyway. Everyone is laughing at this point, and I glare at Allie.

“Please tell me what the hell you did? I can’t get rid of it,” I say tensely. The little madam just smirks at me.

“No way, plus I like it.” She shrugs.

“You have your hands full there,” Seb says as Allie goes back to talking to Maisy. Seb doesn’t know the half of it.

The alarm on the cooker starts beeping so I don't have to answer, and I hand Jake over to Sebastian before going to the kitchen. Half an hour later, we are all sitting around the small table in the corner of the lounge. Jake is in his seat, which Sebastian brought as it folds up, and is eating pasta and chicken. The rest of us have creamy chicken pasta, which is an easy Google recipe I like to make sometimes.

"Holy shit, this is good," Allie comments.

"Language, someone copies what their aunties say," Sebastian says with a smile.

"Whoops, but honestly, this is good." She winks at me, and I reach under the table next to her to squeeze her bare knee.

"So we have some news. We only found out in the last few weeks, and it’s a massive surprise, but we want you guys to know," Sebastian starts, and I frown at him, wondering what he is going to tell me.

Sebastian takes Maisy’s hand before shocking me silent by saying, "Maisy is pregnant; I'm going to be a dad again. It wasn't planned but, honestly, I couldn't be happier," Sebastian says, lifting Maisy’s hand to place a kiss on it.

"Congratulations," I say with a big smile, and Allie jumps out of her seat to throw herself at Maisy, kissing her cheek.

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