“Ah! I knew I’ll find you here. Hello, Becca.” He told his sister, and spoke to Becca at the same time, coming in and placing a kiss on Sandra's forehead, before taking Alex from her arms and expertly tossing him up in the air and catching him. The child giggled happily, smiling up in adoration at Dan. Dan was clearly his favorite person, even more than his mother was.“Yeah. Welcome. Guess what? Becca’s got this hot date and she’s refusing to tell me about it.” Sandra told him, shaking her head in mock annoyance.“Well, I don’t blame her, seeing as you’re such a tattletale. Anyway, I’m glad you think that I’m hot.” Dan replied, winking at Becca who smiled at him.“What are you two talking … oh! I feel so stupid! You’re the one taking her out. Well, you should have just said so.” Sandra exclaimed, slapping her palm against her head in frustration, as her brother and Becca laughed at her. “Anyway, are you ready, Becca? You look really gorgeous, by the way.” Dan told Becca.“I’m ready
The touch of his lips against hers sent a jolt of electricity through her veins. Dan gasped when she kissed him, and remained still at first, causing Becca’s heart to pound in her chest and making her wonder if she had overstepped her bounds. The split second before she decided to take her lips off his and apologize profusely, however, Dan sighed and kissed her back, causing her to sigh in relief. The kiss was passionate and long, and the desire that had been gripping Becca for the past months sprang to life, as she moaned into his mouth and ran her hands over his well-sculpted body. She reveled in the feel of his hard muscles that rippled under her fingers as she caressed them.Dan kissed her so expertly that she never wanted the kiss to end, and she kissed him back just as fervently. Before both of them knew what was happening, the kiss began to get out of hand, and Becca was already beginning to undo the top buttons of Dan’s shirt, immediately forgetting her resolve not to do anyth
It was amazing, and strange how quickly time flew by. The twins were now four months, going on five months old, and Ryan had developed such a bond with them that in just the two months plus of their living with him, he could not imagine his life without seeing their smiles. So this was what it felt like to be a parent? Not that he considered himself to be fully their parent. Craig was still alive, or more truthfully, barely alive. It was four months since the accident and the surgery that the doctors had had to carry out to save his life, but he still remained in a coma, and Ryan was beginning to despair that he would ever come out of it.The doctors had talked about taking off the life support, but Ryan would not hear of it, at least not for now. He still chose to hope that at any time now, Craig would come out of his coma. Angela was now a permanent fixture in the house, having inserted herself as a ‘surrogate mother’ to the twins, just as she had said she would. She was so good wit
The drive to the cemetery where Craig was to be buried, seemed to take forever, with Ryan seated stiffly in the backseat and Angela seated beside him, rubbing his shoulders in support and sympathy. He still couldn’t believe it, although he supposed that there really wasn’t any reason to be so surprised. After all, the doctors had told him that this was what would most likely happen in the end and that Craig was highly unlikely to come out of the coma. Ryan had held out so much hope though, but still, Craig had died. The twins now had no one but him, and would never know either of their biological parents. Even though he had had this whole while, and even the two weeks since Craig had died, to come to terms with the loss, it felt so unbelievable and unfair. “I hope those bastards rot in jail for the rest of their miserable lives.” He ground out through clenched teeth, gripping Angela’s hand hard when she took his hand to comfort him so that she winced. “I’m sorry.” He apologized imme
The rest of the funeral passed in a jiffy. As usual, the paparazzi tried to get Ryan to talk, but he ignored them the same way he did whenever they tried to get him to say something of recent. Craig’s father, Noah, had invited him and Angela to have something to eat at their family house, and Ryan took him up on the offer, so now, they were at the house, sitting in tense silence with Noah, and Anna in their study. Angela was also there, and for once, Ryan was grateful for her presence, as he felt very uncomfortable being alone with Anna and Noah. The two of them were staring daggers at him, as though he had killed their favorite puppy, which he supposed he had done in a way by not informing them of their grandkids' existence on time.“Uh … you’ve got a really nice place here, Mr. Noah. I like it all … the house, the lush lawns, everything.” Angela said into the thick silence, fidgeting a little and wishing that they would just go home, but she had to be there for Ryan.“Thank you, Ang
“So, I was going to tell you that I quit my job, but I haven’t found the time to do that yet,” Sandra told Becca as they walked down the aisle at the supermarket, putting stuff in their respective trolleys. Alex was strapped to her chest with a baby carrier, and he was sleeping peacefully with his small mouth open, despite the chaos and noise that was in the supermarket. Christmas was near, and so the place was packed full, as everyone was in a rush to buy things in preparation for the festive period. “Excuse me?” Becca said, totally surprised, as that was the last thing that she had been expecting Sandra to say. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but anyway, you know I’ve not been so fine recently.” “Wow. That’s no excuse, but okay. Have you told Dan?” “No. I’ll tell him today.” “Why did you quit though? I thought you loved the job. I know for a fact that I enjoy having you there a lot. I’m going to miss you so much. Please tell me that you’re joking, Sandra.” Becca begged, but
The silence in Becca’s living room was so thick and oppressive that it felt like it could cut butter. Dan sat in one of the armchairs, his face impassive, but his body itself was another story entirely. He was holding himself very rigidly and was clearly trying to control his disapproval and not say something that would startle his already skittish sister. Sandra sat beside Becca on the sofa, looking very defensive, as she waited for her brother to say something, while Becca pretended to be so engrossed in the peek-a-boo session that she was having with Alex, who was in a crib in front of her. Luckily enough, her Alex was very easy to entertain, and the rapturous laughter that he let out now and then served to dilute the tension a little.“Did you hear what I said, Dan? I said that I’m going to leave the first week of January. I already told you I was leaving not too long ag…”“Okay.”“O … okay?” Sandra asked unsurely, sure that her ears were deceiving her.“What were you expecting me
Toby, Becca’s younger brother arrived at her house in the evening the following day. He took one look at her and whopped in equal parts of surprise and excitement, staring at her large, round stomach with wide eyes as he got out of the taxi to meet her where she was standing in her driveway to welcome him.“What? You’ve never seen a pregnant woman before? Are you not going to grab your luggage, or do you want the taxi driver to have it as a Christmas present?” Becca asked him playfully, although she couldn’t exactly say that she blamed him for his surprise. After all, she saw herself in the mirror every day and was only getting used to the big, tired-looking woman that she saw every day. It was all going to be so worth it in the end, though.“Ah, right!” Toby said and went back to pick up his small luggage, before coming back to hug her gently, taking care to avoid her stomach. Becca rolled her eyes and hugged him back tightly. She had missed him so much, and the last time that she ha