Fulfillment (Book 3 in The Temptation Series) (28 page)

“As soon as
possible, I’m kind of bored shitless at the moment and Bryce is due
to go to Sydney tomorrow for work then on to Brisbane for the rest
of the week. Lucy and Nic are gonna stay here, so I’ll fill them in
and swear them to secrecy.”

“Sure, I like
a challenge and you look like a challenge,” he said, in a mildly
flirty way.

“Hey, I might
just surprise you and be your best student.”

“Well
considering you’ll be my only student then, yeah, you just
might.”

“Give me your
phone, I’ll program my number into it,” I put my hand out for his
phone and he obliged, so I entered my number into his contacts. “As
soon as you’ve got some spare time, give me a buzz.” I handed him
back his phone.

Bryce walked
in moments later and placed the large platter on the coffee table.
He walked over and handed me my own dish of sauce, saying loudly,
“Alexis double dips.”

“And proud of
it,” I announced as I glared at him playfully and snatched it. I
then proceeded to dip my finger in my dish and suck off the
sauce.

His eye
twitched and I couldn’t help but smile wickedly at him.

My phone
buzzed in my pocket as Bryce went to fill a plate with seafood for
me. I pulled it out to find a text from an unknown number:

Don’t worry, I double
dip too.

But don’t tell anyone.
- Derek

I looked up at
Derek standing next to the table. He gave me a wink then dipped his
prawn back in the sauce.

I burst into
laughter.

***

For the
remainder of the evening the guys and Lucy practised some of their
original songs and a few they planned to cover at the upcoming gig.
I adored their rendition of “Hurricane” by Thirty Seconds to Mars
and “Fader” by Temper Trap and I soon became really excited at the
prospect of seeing them play again on stage, together with playing
a guitar myself.

I found myself
staring in between Bryce and Derek, watching them intently as they
strummed the guitars; they made it look so simple.
Fuck! What
have I got myself into? I’m so gonna suck and Derek is going to
find it hilarious, if not aggravating—possibly even
infuriating.

“You might
want to be careful where Derek is concerned,” Nic whispered into my
ear, breaking me out of my regretful thoughts.

I turned to
her, confused. “What do you mean?”

“He is a very
flirty guy, just be mindful of that. You’ve kind of been staring at
him.”
Have I? Oh, shit! I have, but not like that.

I screwed my
face up at her, slightly offended at her not so subtle accusation.
“Yes, I have been staring at him and at Bryce, for a reason. I am
going to learn the guitar as a surprise for Bryce, and Derek has
agreed to teach me. For your information, Nic, I’ve been watching
them both play.” I turned my head back to Bryce, who had picked up
on my change of demeanour, so I smiled at him.

“Oh, I didn’t
mean anything by it, Alexis. I just noticed you getting friendly
with Derek and thought I better warn you that he can get quite
friendly in return...sometimes too friendly.”

“Do you speak
from experience?” I asked her, snidely.

“No,” she
replied sharply.

I turned back
to her. “Then what are you talking about, Nic? I am in love with
your brother-in-law. We have just lost our baby, and I want to make
him happy again, give him something special to show him how much I
love him. That is why I want to learn the guitar. I can’t exactly
ask Bryce to teach me, can I? So in comes Derek. He is going to
help me, that is it.”

She lowered
her voice even more. “Sorry, I honestly didn’t mean anything by
it.”

“Yeah, you
did, Nic,” I answered without looking at her.

The music
stopped and everyone seemed to be pleased with their form.

“I’m going to
take Alexander upstairs to bed,” Nic announced to Lucy.

“Okay, I’ll be
up in a minute,” she gave Nic a look of concern. She obviously
picked up on the not so pleasant discussion between me and her
girlfriend. Or, maybe in addition to her humongous IQ and computer
hacking skills; she could also lip-read—I honestly wouldn’t put it
by her.

“Nate and
Charli, it’s getting late. You can say goodnight too, okay?”

Both my kids
did their new fist bump/high five/thumbs up/goodbye salute with
everyone in the room. I shook my head and got to my feet, grabbing
my crutches.

Bryce made his
way to my side. “Here, give me those.”

“No, I can
manage,” I said playfully, but trying to assert my authority at the
same time.

“Are you
challenging me, Hunny?” he asked in a daring tone.

I felt my face
redden, so I quickly looked around the room.

Lucy smiled
and shook her head and Nate quickly sided with Bryce.

“Mum, you are
so gonna lose. Bryce always wins.”

Bryce kept his
eyes on me but extended his fist toward my son, my son quickly
bumping it with his own.”

“Really?” I
asked, looking at Nate and now standing on one leg with my hands on
my hips.

“Yeah,
really,” he replied, then snatched up my crutches and ran off.

“Nate, you
little traitor,” I yelled out after him just as Bryce bent down and
swept me off my feet.

As he carried
me out of the room, I looked over my shoulder to Lucy. “And you
think I’m in control over him. Ha, you’re crazy!”

She just
shrugged her shoulders.

***

Bryce helped
me put the kids to bed, or more like tilted me in their direction
so that I could give them a kiss goodnight. Charli didn’t ask
anything further about my fall, and I was kind of glad. Being able
to explain the next morning seemed like a better option, I was
still dreading it though and Bryce picked up on my unease.

“Do you know
what you want to tell them yet?” he asked as he carried me to our
room.

“No. I guess
I’ll just tell them the truth. Um, where are we going? You still
have guests downstairs,” I tried to peek over the half-wall
banister, which spanned the top of the stair case to the end of the
walkway.

“They’ll let
themselves out, they always do,” he said casually.

“Bryce. You
can’t just abandon them to put me to bed. And anyway, who said I
was ready for bed? It’s still early.”

“Yes I can.
And trust me, you are ready for bed,” he exclaimed as he buried his
head into my neck with an animalistic growl.

I squealed in
excitement. “Bryce!”

CHAPTER TWENTY

I dragged
myself out of bed the morning after Bryce very deliciously put me
to sleep by way of kissing nearly every surface of my body—nearly
every surface. I’d found him and the kids in the kitchen, creating
works of waffle-art for breakfast, including toppings like whipped
cream, sprinkles, marshmallows and chocolate sauce. I liked his way
of making what will be a horrible heart-wrenching moment somewhat
better with sugar and aerated cream. My feelings told me it was not
going to work, but I appreciated his effort nonetheless.

All four of us
were seated around the dining table when I decided to get it over
and done with. Stewing on the inevitable was not something I
enjoyed doing.

“Nate, Charli.
Bryce and I need to tell you something.”

Bryce dropped
his hand and placed it on my thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze.

I sucked in a
deep breath then slowly let it out as I opened my mouth to speak.
“Charli, remember when you asked me if the baby was hurt when I
fell?”

“Yeah, Mum. I
hope she is not angry at you, because it was an accident. You
didn’t mean to hurt her,” Charlotte said with the sweetest
sincerity.

“No,
Charli-Bear, I didn’t mean to hurt her. But...” I sighed and closed
my eyes briefly. “She did get hurt, and unfortunately because of
that, she stopped growing and the doctors had to take her out of my
tummy.”

Nate stopped
eating and looked at me strangely. I could see him putting two and
two together. Charli, on the other hand, put her fork down and
smiled from ear to ear.

“Where is she?
Can I see her? Can I hold her?”
Oh, shit! No, I didn’t mean it
like that, fuck!

I blinked a
couple of times then brought myself back together, opening my mouth
to speak. “No, Charlotte, Sweetheart. You can’t, because she didn’t
survive.”

Her smile
faded and she scratched her head. “What do you mean?”

“She means the
baby died, Charli. When Mum fell, the baby got hurt, bad.” Nate got
up from his seat and made his way over to me, wrapping his arms
around my shoulders. “Sorry, Mum. That must be really sad for
you.”

I clasped his
arms with my hands holding him tight, but I could not respond.

“Nate is
right, Charlotte. The baby stopped growing, and her heart stopped
beating,” Bryce explained, knowing my voice had temporarily ceased
up.

Charli’s
bottom lip dropped and it began to tremble, breaking my heart for
the umpteenth time. “Oh, Sweetheart, come here.” I freed my arms
from Nate, holding them out for her. She slid off her seat and
walked toward me, bursting into tears before she made it to my
embrace. I wrapped myself around both my children and squeezed them
tightly.

“She’s in baby
heaven now, playing with lots of other baby angels.”

“Are there
other baby angels?” Charli asked, weeping and pulling away while
wiping her eyes.

Bryce put his
arms out for her so that she could sit up on his lap and be level
with my face. “Yes, Charlotte, there are lots of baby angels. Some
babies are not lucky enough to be born into this world, and some
babies are born but then don’t live for very long. When that
happens, they all go to baby heaven and become good friends,” Bryce
explained as he reassuringly stroked his hand down Charli’s
head.

“Do you think
she has made friends yet?”

I smiled
through my sadness. “Of course she has. I think she has lots of
friends, Darling.”

Charlotte
nodded and returned my smile mildly.

“So, Mum, I
was right then. She was a girl.”

I looked at
Bryce then back at Charli. We had decided to open the envelope a
few days ago to see if our baby was a boy or a girl, but I had
chosen not to look at the picture—I was not ready for that yet.

“Yes, Charli,
you were right.” A tear fell from my eye.

Nate left my
side and returned instantly with a tissue.

“Thank you,
little man.” I kissed his head and tucked him back into my
arms.

“Mum, what was
her name?” Charli asked quietly.

Bryce took a
deep breath. “Well, your Mum and I thought that you could choose
her name, Charlotte.”

She looked up
at Bryce then gave him a hug. “Okay, I will pick the prettiest name
ever.”

He hugged her
back. “I know you will, Charli.”

***

We finished
our breakfast together and answered more of Charlotte’s questions.
Bryce was incredible and seemed to have the most amazing
explanations for her, ones where she would understand almost right
away. Seeing her expression change from nervous curiosity to
understanding made me feel so much better, and the apprehensive
weight of this encounter that I was carrying around lifted, just
like Jessica said it would.

“Are you
alright?” Bryce asked as the kids made their way upstairs.

“Yeah, I am.
That was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,
but it just proved to me how wonderful and special my children are.
I’m so unbelievably proud of them both. And you...you just blow me
away. Your ability to handle difficult situations is remarkable.
I’m so blessed to have you.” I wrapped my arms around his waist
just as Lucy and Nic walked into the kitchen with Alexander.

I couldn’t
look Nic in the eye, I was still slightly pissed with her accusing
me of flirting with Bryce’s best friend. It was none of her
business and she had jumped to the wrong conclusion.
I mean,
fuck! I was only talking to the guy and watching him play the
guitar. I wasn’t salivating or flashing him my tits.

“How’d it go?”
Lucy knowingly asked Bryce.

“Yeah, okay,
those two children are pretty bloody awesome, just like their mum.”
He gave me a loving wink. Lucy smiled.

“There’s some
left over waffles if you both want them,” he said as he pointed to
the plate on the bench.

Lucy took a
seat at the breakfast bar. “Thanks, but your Eggs Benedict are my
fav,” she batted her eyes at him in the hope he’d cook them for
her.

He raised his
eyebrow and smirked at her. Interpreting that expression as an
acceptance of her request, I unwrapped my arms from around his
waist and took a seat at the breakfast bar. Bryce cemented my
interpretation by turning to the fridge and taking out the carton
of eggs.

Sitting one
seat away, I leaned in and baited her. “Tell me again, who has
power over him?”

She looked up
through her lashes toward Bryce and answered quietly. “My methods
are different from yours.”

“Yes, I know,”
I replied.

“So, big bro,
what time does your flight leave tomorrow?”

I slumped over
the bench, having been reminded by Lucy that Bryce was flying to
Sydney the next day then on to Brisbane—I would not see him until
Friday.

“9 a.m. Why?”
he asked, as he blended egg yolks, lemon juice and water
together.

“You’re gonna
miss Alexis’ appointment with the surgeon to have the plaster
removed.”

He looked at
me apologetically. “I know. I can cancel if you want me to
come.”

“No, don’t be
silly, I’ll be fine. Anyway, you’ve neglected far too much of your
work for me lately. You can’t keep doing that.”

“No you
can’t...” Lucy interrupted. “So, as I was saying, seeing as I’ll be
the one taking her, I will need to borrow one of your cars.” She
smiled naughtily at her brother.