Don't Want To Miss A Thing (36 page)

When this much was potentially at stake, he’d go with anything that might do the trick.

‘Hiya!’ Tina greeted them with a beaming smile. ‘Come along in, excuse the mess, we’re just back from the school run . . . you two, stop fighting and
share
the biscuits.’

Dex and Molly followed her into the house. Dex liked Tina, who lived next to the village shop and was always cheerful, despite having seven children whose decibel levels would have driven a lesser woman to drink.

‘I need a favour,’ Dex told her. ‘Someone from social services is coming over in a bit to do one of those review updates and they’re interested in seeing how Delphi interacts with other children. So I was wondering if we could borrow George for a while.’

‘Of course you can! Borrow as many as you like!’ Tina stepped over a couple of school-age ones stretched out on the floor playing with the dog and watching TV. She scooped George up and said, ‘Hey, baby boy, want to go on a play-date with Delphi?’

George regarded his mother with pale, blond-lashed eyes; nothing much bothered him. Placid and largely silent, so long as he had food to eat, he was a happy lad. Only a week separated him and Delphi but whereas she was dark-eyed and dainty, George was as bald and chubby as a baby hippo.

‘BRRREEEEEE!’ Delphi gleefully reached over to grab one of George’s ears by way of greeting.

‘Thanks,’ said Molly, holding out her arms and taking him from Tina. ‘And don’t worry, we’ll look after him. He’ll be back before seven, is that OK?’

‘No problem.’ Tina blew a kiss and gave her son a wave. ‘Byebye, baby boy, see you later. Have fun!’

‘Oh dear. Poor George.’ Molly stepped back to admire her handiwork. ‘He doesn’t look as if he’s having much fun.’

‘Sorry, George,’ said Dex. ‘We wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t have to.’

George eyed them balefully from his position on the sofa. The pink smocked dress that was too big for Delphi was a bit tight on him. He was wearing frilly white ankle socks and his fair hair had been coaxed into a little topknot and secured with a bright pink scrunchie. The next moment, as if accepting his fate, he broke into a placid smile and examined the white lace trim around the hem of his dress with interest.

‘Good boy, George.’ Dex nodded approvingly. ‘I mean, good
girl
.’

Molly said, ‘If he grows up to be a transvestite, it’ll all be down to us.’

Chapter 45

Molly had left, taking Delphi with her. Dex watched from the window and waited for Matt to arrive. George, after eating a couple of biscuits and watching an episode of
In the Night Garden
, had fallen asleep on the beanbag. OK, it was unlikely that Matt would turn up demanding a DNA test today, but if he asked for one any time soon, they’d just have to borrow George again. It was the only way.

And yes, it might be wrong and illegal and morally indefensible but Dex knew he would do it; he’d do anything,
risk anything
to prevent Delphi from being taken away from him.

Especially to Australia.

At ten to five a car drew up outside. Matt climbed out of the driver’s seat, well over six feet tall and broad shouldered, wearing a plain T-shirt and jeans. Not particularly good looking but not bad looking either, just average. Mid-brown hair, fairish freckled skin, no immediate resemblance to Delphi – but then, with her dark hair and eyes, Delphi took after Laura; appearance-wise she was all Yates.

Dex mentally braced himself; this was like all the times in the past when he’d lied to the girls in his life, only a million times more important.
OK, here we go
. . .

‘Dexter. Thanks for seeing me.’ Matt shook his hand and said, ‘I just can’t get over it. What a shock. I couldn’t believe it when Phyllis told me about Laura. Such a tragedy. And then to hear about the
baby
. . .’

‘Yes. Come in.’ Having left George fast asleep in the living room, Dex led Matt into the kitchen and switched on the coffee machine. ‘When did you leave for Australia?’

‘Just under two years ago. I’ve been working on a cattle station in the outback. In Queensland. I’m not the greatest at keeping in touch with people at the best of times . . . but if I’d known she was pregnant . . . well, oh Jesus, I had no
idea
. . .’

‘But if Laura had wanted you to know, she could have found a way to contact you. She was just happy to be a mum. It’s all she ever wanted. She was such a great mother,’ said Dex. ‘And Delphi’s fine. She’s fantastic, doing really well. She’s changed my life. I love her, I’m her legal guardian, the adoption’s going ahead, it’s all on track, she’s calling me Dada . . . as far as Delphi’s concerned, I’m her father—’

‘Right. Can I see her?’ Matt was giving him an odd look.

‘Of course you can.’ Dex realised he’d said too much too fast, so desperate was he to stake his claim. ‘She’s asleep. Come on through.’

At the sound of the door opening, George opened his pale blue eyes. He looked more than ever like a baby hippo in drag. Overcome with emotion, Matt gazed at him in silence and covered his mouth with his hand.

‘Delphi. Come here, sweetheart. Come to Daddy!’ God, it felt weird, saying the words to George. Reaching down, Dex scooped him up into his arms. ‘There’s a good girl. And look, someone’s here to see you!’

A ribbon of shiny drool dangled from George’s bottom lip and
Dex left it there; the only saliva he didn’t mind cleaning up was Delphi’s.

‘Here she is, then.’ Swinging round to Matt, he said, ‘This is Delphi.’

George blinked and dribbled a bit more as he stared blankly at Matt.

Matt stared back for several seconds. The ribbon of drool lengthened, like a minature silver bungee.

Dex held his breath.

At last Matt said evenly, ‘I don’t know what’s going on here, but this isn’t Delphi.’

‘What?’

‘It’s not Delphi.’ He shook his head.

‘Yes it is.’

‘Oh come on.’ Matt took out his phone, pressed some buttons and held it up so Dex could see the photograph on the screen.

Shit. When had that been taken? Just a few weeks before Laura’s death, presumably. There was Phyllis sitting on her pristine pale blue sofa, proudly holding Delphi on her lap.

Beautiful elfin-featured Delphi, with her sparkling dark eyes, delicate cheekbones and irresistible beaming smile.

Phyllis had evidently – oh so helpfully – shown Matt her precious framed photograph and he’d taken a picture of it.

Dex felt sick. So much for their grand plan. What was going to happen now?

‘Who’s this?’ Matt pointed at George.

‘He belongs to a friend.’

‘
He?
’ His eyes widening in disbelief, Matt said, ‘So where’s Delphi?’

‘She’s . . . next door.’

‘Am I allowed to ask why?’

‘Because she means everything in the world to me,’ said Dex, ‘and I panicked, I couldn’t bear to lose her. The thought of someone turning up out of the blue and staking a claim, taking her away . . .’ His throat tightened at the prospect, ‘Well, it’s enough to make you do something desperate. So we did.’

‘Right.’ Matt nodded thoughtfully. ‘I can see that it would. But I’d like to see the real Delphi now, if that’s all right with you. By the way,’ he added as Dex turned to leave, ‘if that means you think I’m her father, I’m not.’

Molly and Delphi were on the floor building a tower of wooden blocks when the doorbell began to ring.

And ring and ring and rrringgggggg.

Her heart leaping with terror, Molly jumped up and pulled the front door open. She’d never seen Dex looking so happy. Wasting no time, he said, ‘It’s OK, everything’s fine, he’s not the dad.’

‘WAAAAH!’ Her shriek of relief would have been ear-splitting had it not been muffled by Dex flinging his arms round her. All the pent-up fear dissipated in a whoosh of release as they clung to each other. Then Molly pulled back in order to look at him and they both began to laugh.

‘All that worry,’ she told Dex, ‘for nothing. No one’s taking Delphi away from you.’ Whoops, for a split second there she’d almost said
us
.

‘I know.’ He was shaking his head in wonder. ‘I still can’t believe it. Come here.’ And he was hugging her again, too overcome with relief to speak. The next moment, somehow, they were kissing. It just felt so natural, so right, his warm mouth on hers—

‘DadaDA!’ Having crawled across the hallway, Delphi clung to the leg of Molly’s jeans in order to pull herself to her feet. Tugging
energetically at the hem of her shirt, she demanded to be lifted up and allowed to join in. ‘DadaDADADA.’

Since what was carrying on over her head clearly wasn’t a good idea, it was a timely intervention. Molly picked her up, planted a big kiss on Delphi’s cheek then passed her over to Dex who did the same.

‘Oh, my baby girl.’ For a moment his eyes swam as he hugged her to him and was rewarded with a poke in the ear. ‘Ow.’

‘Bladada.’ By way of apology, Delphi stretched out her delicate hand and trustingly stroked his cheek.

‘I love you too,’ Dex murmured, before collecting himself. ‘Come on, let’s go. Matt’s waiting for us. I left him in charge of Transvestite George and I don’t know which of them’s more scared.’

‘Now I can see it.’ Matt held out an index finger and watched as Delphi grasped it. ‘My God, she looks just like Laura. Those eyes.’ He turned back to Dex. ‘She looks like you too.’

In a corner of the living room, Molly changed an uncomplaining George out of the dress and girly accessories and turned him back into a boy. She stayed out of the conversation as Dex took Matt through the details of Laura’s sickeningly sudden death.

Then it was Matt’s turn to explain his and Laura’s relationship. ‘We worked together years ago and stayed friends afterwards. It was mainly thanks to Laura we kept in touch. I’m not brilliant at that sort of thing.’ He pulled an embarrassed man-face. ‘But we always picked up where we’d left off. Laura was great. We got on really well, enjoyed catching up with each other’s lives. It was a platonic relationship.’ He paused. ‘Then a few years back, Laura talked about wanting children and not having any luck with finding herself a man. She asked me if I’d help her out.’

Dex had gone very still. ‘In what way?’

‘In the way friends do. You know what I’m talking about,’ said Matt. ‘Laura was happy to take the responsibility and be a single mother. She just wanted a donor to . . . well, donate.’

‘When was this?’ said Dex.

‘Four years ago. We tried for a few months, but it never did happen.’ Matt shook his head. ‘Poor Laura, she was disappointed, she’d been desperate for her wish to come true. But then I was offered a job in Alaska, so that was that. I was out there for a year. When I came back we met up, but didn’t . . . you know. I’d started seeing this other girl so it wouldn’t have been appropriate. And then not long after that I went out to Australia. When you’re living that kind of life, it’s easy to lose touch with friends. Before you know it, they’ve moved on. I lost my phone with all the numbers in it . . . I just assumed everyone else was as busy as I was.’ He paused, lost in thought. ‘You tell yourself you’ll catch up at some stage, whenever you get back. I finally came home last week and thought it would be great to see Laura again. Didn’t have her number any more, so I just turned up on the off chance at the house. But the door was answered by a teenage boy who hardly spoke any English. I thought Laura must have moved away, and knew she’d always been friendly with Phyllis next door. So I went to ask her where Laura was living now.’ He stopped abruptly, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ‘I couldn’t believe it when she told me what had happened. Couldn’t
believe
it.’ He rubbed a hand across his forehead. ‘Still can’t. Laura was such a good person.’

‘I know.’ Dex nodded. ‘She was.’

‘And then Phyllis started talking about Delphi. Well, you can understand why I was shocked. Pleased in one way, because it meant Laura had had the baby she was so desperate for. And
devastated because she’d died, leaving Delphi without a mother. So if you thought I was the father,’ Matt went on, ‘that means you have no idea who it is.’ This had evidently only just occurred to him.

‘None at all. A one-off, Laura told me. Anyway, I’m adopting her.’ Dex was firm. ‘Right now, I’m her uncle. But I’m going to be her dad.’

‘Wow. That was the other shock.’ Matt shook his head. ‘When Phyllis told me who was taking care of Delphi now.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘Well, I know we’ve never met before, but Laura used to talk about you.’ Grimacing apologetically, Matt said, ‘No offence, but she told me what you were like.’

From the other side of the living room, Molly watched and wondered how Dex would react to this less than complimentary observation.

‘It’s OK.’ Delphi was attempting to take off his watch; Dex unclipped it and fastened it around her ankle, currently her favourite place to wear several thousand pounds’ worth of Switzerland’s finest. ‘I used to be a complete . . . idiot.’ Now that Delphi had begun imitating sounds, he was having to learn to censor himself. ‘And I never imagined I could do this. The first time I talked properly to Molly was just after Laura died.’ He glanced over at her as he spoke, and a lump sprang into her throat at the memory of that night. ‘I told her I couldn’t do it, that there was no way I could look after a baby.’ He paused, a world of emotion in his eyes as he held her gaze for a long moment. ‘She was the one who told me I could.’

‘And I was right,’ said Molly.
Mustn’t cry, mustn’t cry
.

‘Eventually. Well, not even that. One day at a time,’ said Dex. ‘But we’re getting there. And I’m doing something I never thought
I could do. Delphi’s changed my life and I had no idea it was possible to feel this way about someone who can’t even speak. She just means everything in the world to me. Sorry, I know it sounds pukey. I’m not used to talking like this.’ He leaned forward and waggled Delphi’s bare foot with the oversized Breitling watch dangling from her ankle. ‘I just love her so much.’

‘Has she turned you into a better person?’ said Matt.

Dex shrugged. ‘I don’t know about that. I hope so.’