Seven Days: The Complete Story (49 page)

“You’re incorrigible. I won’t be doing
anything until the doctor gives me the all clear. And maybe not
then either, if you keep bugging me.”

“I thought you found me irresistible.”

“Not so much anymore. You’re actually quite
annoying. More than you used to be.”

Joel pulls me to him and kisses me. It’s a
shock but a nice one and I sink into his embrace, enjoying his
kiss. His lips feel so good, so warm. He deepens the kiss and I
follow his lead until I’m panting in his arms.

“Am I really that annoying?” he whispers,
leaning away.

“Yes.”

He moves his attention to my earlobe, which
he nibbles on. His finger hooks under the hem of my neckline and he
slides my top off one shoulder, then licks his way along my
collarbone and nips at my skin with his teeth. He knows full well,
I’m sure, that it makes me breathless.

“What about now?” he questions.

I push him playfully away and adjust my top.
“Especially now. Get off me, I’m trying to wash these bottles for
the baby. You’re getting in the way.”

“But you like having your ears nibbled.”

“I do, but not at eight in the morning when
I’m washing up. Now go to work. That Iris renovation won’t finish
itself. And despite how good your team are, I bet they’ve been
slacking off without you cracking the whip.”

“I don’t need to crack the whip. They work
out of love and devotion to their boss.”

I groan. “You are so full of yourself.”

Joel picks up his wallet and keys. He drops
a kiss on my forehead. “That’s why you love me.”

“I’ll love you more if you give me some
peace.”

I watch Joel as he swaggers from the
kitchen, opening the garage door and disappearing. He’s whistling
as he goes and it makes me smile that he’s happier.

After I’ve finished washing up and put Nicky
down for a nap, I decide to ring Emily and see what she’s up to.
She’s got a meeting with her wedding planner — the wedding is
getting closer by the minute — so she suggests we meet for coffee
afterwards. I have a shower and even manage to wash and blow-dry my
hair while Nicky is sleeping, then I swaddle him against my chest,
pack his carry bag and head off to meet her.

Emily is sitting in the alfresco of the cafe
when I arrive. “Honey bubble. Look at you. You’re positively
glowing.”

“Am I?” I ask. I’ve had a good few days, I
suppose. I’ve managed to get through them without thinking of
Nicholas too much and I’ve been walking a lot with the baby
strapped to my body, so I’ve started to shed some of my baby
weight.

“You look like a girl in love.”

“I don’t know about that.”

Emily orders us both a coffee and pours
water from the bottle brought to us by the server. “So how’s things
with Joel?”

“He’s driving me mental. He wants to have
sex and I’m not ready. I just want comfort but he doesn't seem to
understand.”

“He’s a man. They find comfort in sex. It’s
the physical release.”

“Oh God. I’ve put him off for now because
technically we’re not meant to do anything for four to six weeks
after the birth. But my doctor’s appointment is next week. He’ll be
all over me then and I can’t handle it, Em. I can’t.”

Emily looks thoughtful. “Have you told him
this? Joel’s a nice guy. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“He can be so persistent. And I’m weak
around him. I always was. He only has to kiss me and I practically
come.”

“
Ooooh
, sensitive little soul, are we?”

“Don’t joke. I’m serious.”

“He’s that good?”

“He’s that good.”

The server appears with our coffee and Emily
pokes Nicky gently a few times to accidentally wake him up. She
oohs and ahhs over his little blue eyes and clutch of dark hair. “I
can’t wait to get pregnant,” she says. “Being the cool auntie is
fun but I want my own babies.”

“It would be nice if our children were
similar ages. Then they could be friends like us.”

Nicky begins to make little crying noises.
After a few weeks, I’m starting to differentiate between his
sounds. Emily must know too. As if using a sixth sense, she inserts
a fingertip into Nicky’s mouth and he sucks on it. “He wants a
feed,” she says.

“Pass him here.” I get a bottle from his
carry bag and test it to make sure it’s still warm. I’ve been
alternately feeding him on the breast and bottles of expressed milk
because no matter what people say about breast-feeding, I’m just
not one of those mothers who can whip a boob out in public. My
efforts at skinny-dipping were the one and only time. Plus, getting
him used to a bottle means Joel might be able to feed him. If he
wants to.

As I feed Nicky, Emily and I continue to
talk.

“So what are you going to do about Joel,
then?” she asks.

“I don’t know. I feel so awkward.”

“If he’s that good in bed, why not just have
sex with him when the time comes. It might be like riding a bike.
Once you’re in bed together you might find everything goes back to
the way it was.”

“That’s just it. It will never be the way it
was. Nicholas is dead.”

“But you got over Joel leaving. You managed
to transition into a monogamous relationship with Nicholas. The
same is entirely possible with Joel. And if the bed’s still lonely
you could always add the hunky older Mr. Lawson to the mix.”

Oh. My. God.

“Emily! I’m not going to have sex with
Nicholas’ father. How disgusting.”

“Cool it, honey bubble, I was joking. Though
you have to admit he’s one hot old dude. He has the exact same eyes
as Nicholas and he’s majorly loaded. Hashtag I’d-go-there.”

“Hashtag let’s
change-the-subject-before-I-throw-up.”

“Seriously, though, are you going to give
the Joel thing a go once you get the all clear?”

“I don’t know if I can. I feel so guilty for
even enjoying when he kisses me.”

“Do you want my suggestion?”

I nod. At this point I’m ready to listen to
anything. “Okay.”

“Tequila. Lots and lots of tequila.”

*****

I walk home from my date with Emily. It
seems like a good idea when I decide to do it but ends up being
really quite a stupid idea. Nicky, of course, is sleeping
peacefully against my chest but I’m knackered from carrying him, my
jacket plus the baby backpack with all the essentials. I decide
that leaving home with a baby would probably be easier with a car.
Or a team of servants to carry the crap. I guess, now I have money
I could buy what ever I like but I’ve never owned a car before and
I don’t want Nicky’s arrival to change my life. I want him to fit
into mine if I can.

I put Nicky down for a nap and collapse,
exhausted, on the couch. It takes, oh, about three seconds before
my eyelids begin to droop and I doze, my last coherent thought
about going to the baby shop tomorrow and investing in a pram. It
was the one thing Nicholas never bought me because I was
superstitious about it. Mum always said it was bad luck to buy a
pram before the baby was born. But Nicky is here now and I’ve had
about as much bad luck as a girl can have in one lifetime so it’s
time to invest. Plus, that little bundle of joy is heavy when you
carry him for a few kilometres.

A while later, the doorbell rings, rousing
me from my nap. I have no idea who could be there other than a
doorknocker, so I decide to ignore it and curl further into my
cushion. I’m too tired to delve into the ins and outs of whether I
believe in God today. I don’t want to buy a raffle ticket for a new
house. And I don’t need new gadgets and gizmos. I need sleep.

The doorbell rings a second time. My eyes
roll in exasperation and I groan but continue to ignore.

There’s a third ring.

Geez, talk about persistent.

This time I get up and peek through the
sidelight next to the front door. It’s not a Jehovah’s Witness or
cancer research doorknocker. It’s a deliveryman. And he has a very
big box on a trolley beside him. He’s breathing heavily as if the
exertion of lugging the box up the front stairs is about to give
him a coronary.

What on earth can be inside that box?

It might be best to open the door. If Joel’s
ordered some new contraption for his home gym he won’t be happy if
I ignore the doorbell. Though why he would need an Ab Cruncher Pro
is beyond me.

“Can I help you?” I ask the deliveryman.

The man looks at the name on his package.
Okay, not his
package
package
but the box.

“Sadie Cooper?”

“Yes.”

“Delivery for you from Baby World.”

I know I’ve been a bit ditsy since Nicky was
born but I’ve definitely not ordered anything from the baby
shop.

“Are you sure?” I ask.

He glances at the box again. He’s very
testy, like it’s my fault he has to deliver stuff for a living or
something. “Positive. Look, do you want it or not? I’m on a tight
schedule. I’ve got four more deliveries to make before the end of
the day. Opposite sides of town. If you don’t want it, I’ll take it
back to the shop.”

“Um, I’ll take it. I guess.”

“Sign here.”

I sign the electronic clipboard. My
curiosity has the better of me now. “Do you know what’s in the
box?”

“I drive a truck, love. I’m not a bloody
mind reader.”

Right. I was only asking.

I direct the man into the living room where
he unloads the trolley and leaves. Then I sit for a while and stare
at the box. I surmise as to what’s inside and whether Joel is
behind this. Maybe he’s been buying stuff thinking to get into my
good books on the sex front. I wouldn’t put it past him. But what
else do I need? I hope it’s not a giant teddy. That’d scare the
crap out of baby Nicky and we don’t live in a fun house. Perhaps I
did order something a while back and have just forgotten about it
in my pregnancy fog?

I dig my key out of my handbag and slide it
through the sticky tape along the top. Cautiously, I flip back the
lid. The first thing I see is a large blue bow. Okay. So we know
it’s a boy. We get that. Taped to the bow is a card, which puts my
mind at ease somewhat. I’m not going mental. I have not been
cruising the aisles of Baby World in my haze and ordered some
heinous baby hammock or something. Someone has sent me a gift.

I pull the card from the envelope.

I know you wanted to choose this with
Nicholas and I know about your superstitious mind, so I’ve not said
anything until now. But it’s time you stopped carrying Nicky about
like a sack of potatoes. He needs a pram fitting to his station in
life. And I need your arms free so I can cuddle the girl I
love.

Joel X

The card makes me smile. In fact, I smile
so hard I shock myself at the expression. I gaze into the box, a
warm gooey feeling spreading through my body. It’s a feeling a
haven’t experienced since Nicholas passed. This is
so
Joel to glean exactly what I
need without me knowing and make it happen. It’s one of the little
things about him I love, the fact that he can sense my every need.
How the hell does he do that?

Putting the card aside, I delve into the
box and peel the plastic wrapping from the top of the pram. I slit
the sides of the box with a pair of scissors so that they flap to
the floor, revealing a pram that is, literally, like my dream come
true. It’s the Rolls Royce of prams in navy and cream. It’s uber
stylish with big silver wheels and a rounded chassis to cushion the
baby’s ride. The body of the pram is the colour of milk with the
words
Silver
Cross
printed on the
side. This pram is divine. It has every bell and whistle that could
possibly be fashioned onto a pram. This pram is so gorgeous even
the Royals would be jealous if they saw me wheeling Nicky in it.
And it’s also the exact one I chose that day I went shopping with
Nicholas. And massively expensive. Like a thousand dollars
expensive. What on earth was Joel thinking?

*****

Joel arrives home about an hour later. He’s
early today and from the look on his face, his first day back has
been hard. As you’d expect. He has to deal with the condolences all
over again. I don’t think that’d bother him but the looks
definitely would. The look of pity is hard for anyone to
swallow.

I eye him as he crosses the room, trying to
gauge his mood. His familiar, sexy gait sends a tingle through my
insides as he comes to a stop on the other side of the bench. He
fingers a slither of carrot on the chopping board and tosses it
into his mouth. I think about his fingers doing other things and
I’m sure I’m blushing. It still amazes me that he can turn me on
without even trying. “Hey cowboy. I thought I’d make some stir fry
for dinner.”

“Is that wise? I can get takeaway.”

So his day hasn’t been that bad, he can
still take the piss over my cooking.

“I’ve been practicing while you were
prancing about the globe. I can now cook stir fry and apple
pie.”

“Not in the same pot, I hope.”

“You are so annoying.” I smack his fingers
away from the vegetables. “How was the first day?”

“Fucked.”

Right. I raise an eyebrow hoping he’ll
elaborate without me having to dig for information. He’s not that
forthcoming about sharing feelings and stuff.

“I reckon every single person on site told
me how sorry they were. Which is fine but I can’t go round being
sorry every second of the day. Nothing will ever get done.”

“I’m sure it will get better now they’ve got
it out of their system. How’s the build going? Nicholas seemed
pretty confident you were on track for the December opening.”

Joel stills at the mention of Nicholas’
name. “The site manager has done a good job sticking to what we
wanted but there’s a couple of problems to iron out. When I finally
got the ‘I’m so sorry’ shit out of the way, I discovered a major
issue with the heating system that means it won’t meet code. The
boys have done their best to rectify it but it’s botched. I may
have to ditch the whole thing and start from scratch if the
electricians can’t come up with a better system.”