“Say bye-bye to mummy.” Cal bends down to me, bringing Caleb with him so I can give him a kiss. “Give mummy kisses.”
I kiss Caleb on his cheek and Cal’s warm breath rests on my face as he holds Caleb close. Then his warm lips press against my skin. I suck in a breath. My eyes dart from Caleb to Cal, who looks away, swiftly shifting on his feet and pulling Caleb with him out of the room.
“See you in a bit,” he shouts as he walks down the hall.
I let out a noise somewhere between a hum and a squeak. My head is light and my skin still tingles where his lips touched. Had he forgotten himself? Forgot he hates me or forgot we’re not actually together? He did that once before in our teens; we were so used to hugging and then kissing. Weeks after we broke up, we gave each other a friendly hug and then accidentally kissed. Kissing him was just so natural, and it’s given me a glimmer of hope. Maybe he can forgive me after all.
* * *
CAL
What a fucking idiot.Why did I have to kiss her? Shit. It’s gonna make things awkward. She already hates me.
I don’t know what made me do it. She was just there and Caleb was getting all the action and… who am I kidding? I wanted to kiss her. Kissing her goodbye as she kissed my son—our son—was so natural.
I strap Caleb securely in his seat, in the new car I just bought for Steph. One good thing to come of the accident was writing off that pile of crap she drove.
Even though I don’t have any fucking money left with the flight from Australia taking up all my savings, I bought her an Audi Q7, hoping we’ll get to use the seven seats at some point in the future. She thinks it’s my car, but she can have it when she’s better. It’s sturdier than the last. I wanted to make sure I got her something more robust this time.
I tune the radio to planet rock, starting Caleb off early with a bit of Motley Crue.
Tapping my fingers against the steering wheel, I glance at Caleb before I start the car. “Your mother drives me crazy, kid. You know that, don’t you?”
Caleb waves his hands and gurgles.
“What am I gonna do about her?”
He looks at me with his big brown eyes as I wait at the traffic lights. The cheekiest kid I ever saw. His thick black hair has a mind of its own, sticking up as though he’s rubbed it with a balloon. He giggles, showing me those cute dimples on his soft chubby cheeks, and he reminds me so much of Steph when he smiles.
A horn beeps, startling me, and I see the lights are on green. I was mesmerised by our boy. Our perfect boy that we created. She’s made me the happiest man alive. The only thing that would make me happier is making her my wife.
That and Priya moving back to the UK, which I’m working on. I miss my girls, but it made sense that they went back with Steve. He had to return to England for his brother’s wedding, and he took the girls’ back to Oz with him. They’d missed a few weeks of school, which Priya wasn’t happy about, but it couldn’t be helped.
After parking at the library, I make my way through the hoard of pushchairs and prams. I’m greeted by a cackle of mothers. Fuck. Not a bloke in sight.
They all look up from their seats or the carpet where some are sitting, and gaze at me as I walk towards the group with Caleb in my arms. They move, allowing me to step through. A woman removes a large changing bag from a chair and gestures for me to sit next to her.
Taking the seat, I nod and smile, settling Caleb on my knee while I wait for the story to start or sing-song or whatever the fuck it is they do here.
“I haven’t seen you here before.” The blonde next to me says.
“I haven’t been here before.”
“I’m Diane.” She softly strokes her hand over her baby’s head. “This is Henry. And who’s this gorgeous one?”
“My names Callum.”
She smiles, then presses her lips together.
“Oh, you meant this gorgeous one?” I laugh. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. This is Caleb.”Stop fucking flirting, dickhead.
“Oh cute, Callum and Caleb. He’s your double, after all.” She flutters her eyelashes and I could take this further, but there’s only one woman I want. Even if she is sitting at home in the most hideous pyjamas, vegging out all day and hasn’t washed, brushed her hair, or her teeth. None of that matters because I fucking love that woman.
A lady from the library joins the group, sitting at the helm of the circle on a stool. Everyone sings ‘The Wheels On The Bus’ and oh… they’re all doing the actions too. Thank fuck this kid is sitting on my knee, saving me from any hand signalling.
Caleb waves his hands around as if he wants to join in with the action. I wipe the drool from his chin with the tissue I keep in my pocket. That’s a regular thing these days. If it’s not needed for Caleb, you can guarantee Steph will be teary about something.
Next up is ‘The farmer’s In His Den’ and as the song goes on, I can’t stop smiling to myself. Maybe it’s just me and my dirty mind, but there’s something very wrong about a bunch of women singing ‘we all pat the bone’.