A stunning smile lights up her face, her eyes are still glassy from crying giving them a glaze but still beautiful. Picking her up into my arms, she wraps her legs around my waist and hugs me, flinging her arms around my neck and kissing my cheek, then my lips.
“I love you too, Cass, always have, always will.” I shrug before spinning us around while she laughs. Once I stop I sit us down before I fall down.
“So how was your mum?” Her mouth twists to the side as she thinks of what to tell me.
“Hmm, subdued. Like she knew I was coming or was going to give her a bollocking. I don’t know, she was weird. She didn’t shout she just took it on the chin but was truthful at the same time. I can’t ask for more than that can I?”
I let her talk while she feels like it, I don’t want her to bottle shit up anymore there’s no need to.
“She said sorry as I was leaving but I told her I didn’t care. Is that bad?!”
“After what she put you through, no, but then maybe you could have offered her the olive branch.”
“But this is not down to me.”
“No, but you could be the bigger person and offer to begin to put it right.”
“Ugh, when did you become such a forgiving soul?”
“When I lost you, when I lost my Mother and lost any way of putting things right with her. To say sorry for not coming back when she asked. Cass, I have a list of regrets as long as my arm. Some of those regrets I can’t change but the others I can and I’m going to do my absolute best to change them, starting with you, Cameron and Dale. I want her to look down on me and be proud of what I’ve become, not the selfish git she remembers.” Her tiny hands clasp either side of my face.
“Listen to me. Your mum was never anything less than proud of you. She’d tell everyone about you playing with bands and touring, even though I know it killed her not to see you, she was still as proud as punch of you - of you both. You’re a credit to her. I know she’s not here now but if it means anything, I have regrets too and you’re right, I don’t want another one lingering over me. I’ll give her a couple of days to stew on it and I’ll call her.”
“Okay. Don’t leave it too long.”
“Yes sir!” Her hand against her forehead salutes me.
“Like that is it?”
I smile happily as my hands that are holding her hips move up until they’re against her ribs and gently digging the tips of my fingers into them, making her squirm around on my legs as she straddles me, screaming.
“Elliott, stop.” I do as she asks and stop tickling her, crooking my finger at her in a request to come forward.
“You have something there?” Looking at her lips I smirk.
“Where?” she brushes over her face with her fingers. “I haven’t had anything.”
“You’ve missed it…” My head shakes on a frown. Gripping her shoulders lightly I pull her forward. “There.” Before she can ask again, my lips are touching hers in a soft and delicate caress kissing her lovingly.
She pulls away a little. “Did you get it?”
“Oh yeah.”
Pulling back to my lips I kiss her again.
Ignoring the banging of the footsteps coming down the stairs we stay locked together until we hear our son.
“Ewww. Is that all you’re gonna do. That’s disgusting.”
Reluctantly breaking our kiss, I look around Cass at Cameron.
“You won’t say that when you meet a girl.”
Frowning, he screws his nose up. “Girls are horrible.” He spins away from us and leaves the room, heading for the kitchen. Cass buries her face into my chest sniggering.
“He’ll soon change his mind, give him a few years, the girls will be beating down the door for him.”
“Ha, you wouldn’t be that easy going if he was a girl.”
“If I had a girl no boy would get near her, let me set that straight right now.”
A thought passes through my mind and my eyes narrow at her.
“Are you trying to tell me something?”
“Oh no... I was just stating a fact.”
She gets up from my lap and walks out of the room smirking, leaving me more confused than before.
After going home for a shower and change I’m back at Cass’s to pick her up for work. Instead of asking her Mum to babysit she asked Dale as she didn’t want to talk to her yet. She didn’t want to make it look like she was building bridges because she needed a babysitter, which is fair enough.
Dale runs into the house and I wait for Cass to come out. After only waiting a few minutes, she’s joining me. Leaning across and giving me a kiss, she fastens her seatbelt across her and sits up straight.
“I’ve decided, I’m going to talk to Carson about changing my shifts.”
“Why?”
“Well as much as I love to be there to beat the women off with a stick it’s not fair on Cam for me to keep doing evenings.”
“I like having you there though, but I can see what you mean. He needs his Mum at home and I’m around too. Maybe you can drop weekends and work in the week instead. That way one of us will always be here for him.”
“Hmm, that’s a good idea.”
“Let’s go to work so I can shout from the rooftops that I’ve got my girl back.”
My palm stroking her thigh as I gently pull away from the kerb. She smiles proudly back at me.
“You always had me you just didn’t realise it.”
I bring her hand to my lips and kiss her knuckles tenderly.
“And I’m never letting you go again.”
Parking at the back of the pub on the car park we get out. I meet Cass on her side of the car, throwing my arm around her shoulders pulling her into my side - where she belongs.
“Today my angel, is the first day of the rest of our lives together.”
Meeting her lips with mine I press a hard kiss to them. Walking through the door I land another one on her lips for good measure, so everyone knows she’s my girl and head to the back room to drop my guitar. By the time I go back out to the bar, her coats off and she’s at the back of it talking to Carson.
Sitting on a stool I watch her work, she has a natural ease with the customers, everyone likes her.
She’s mine and one day soon I’ll show the world she’s mine and put a ring on her finger.