“I’m ok Zac honestly, it’s all been more of a shock than anything, although it did scare me last night, but look, as long as I have Gabe, I will be fine”
“He loves you Lauren, he really does, I have never seen him like this, none of us have, except with Ava of course, I am so glad that he’s found someone”
“Yeah, just a shame I have to come with a shit load of baggage though, shame he couldn’t have met himself a nice normal girl”
“Lauren, you met our family last week, you had a baptism of fire, so you know what a fucked up bunch we are, if you were normal you wouldn’t have fitted in so well. The ol’ man hasn’t stopped going on about ya, you’re good for Gabe and as long as your good to him, that’s all that matters to us”
Jemma is still sitting in bed with me and I know she will ask questions later about Gabe’s past, she doesn’t miss anything and will have stored Zacs comments away for another time. She climbs out of my bed and collects up my plate and cup and heads off to the kitchen with them.
“Sam will be over later to see you, if that’s okay?”
“Zac, shit, does everyone know, do they all know what he did to me?”
“Well yeah, why?”
“Because it’s embarrassing, I feel so ashamed”
He holds my hand “Lauren come on, this is no more your fault than what happened to Gabe was his, you have nothing to be embarrassed about, we’re family, the rest of the world won’t know all the details, only us and we should know, that way we can help. We learned a lesson with Gabe, so we don’t keep secrets in our family, you may have noticed we tend to say exactly what’s on our minds”
I laugh, yeah, he’s not wrong there but before I get chance to reply, Gabe puts his head around the bedroom door. He has a soft beautiful look in his eyes and a smile on his face.
“You have a visitor, let go of her hand Zac, come on out, let’s give her some privacy, you perv”
Zac kisses my hand as he flicks Gabe the bird, ahhh such children. As he leaves, Ryder comes through the door, my beautiful baby boy, my tears are instant. He literally fly’s across the room and into my arms.
“Mum, I’m so sorry, I should have come sooner, I should have returned your calls, Dads just been such a mess, I felt sorry for him. I didn’t realise how bad things were, why didn’t you say something, why didn’t you tell us what he was doing to you, we knew he had a temper but you always seemed to be able to manage him and keep him under control”
He’s crying into my chest as he talks and I stroke his hair and breathe him in, God I have missed my children so much.
“Shush, its okay Ryde, no one knew, I told nobody, it was my choice. I could always handle him but the past couple of years, he’s just gotten worse and I just wasn’t prepared to put up with it anymore, I didn’t leave him for Gabe, I was already planning on leaving him, then Gabe and I met in the pub the night Dad hit me and he’s just been here for me since then, I didn’t mean to fall in love with someone else so soon, that’s just the way it’s turned out. I’ve missed you so much bubby”
I brush his tears from his face as I look down at him and kiss his hair “He seems like a nice enough bloke Mum and he obviously loves you, can I ask, how old is he? He looks young”
Shit, oh well, here goes “He’s thirty five”
“Shit, thirty five? Fuck, my Mother’s a cougar”
“Ryder, language”
We sit on the bed and he tells me all about the state Jay has been in at work, turning up drunk on the days that he does turn up at all and that Ryder has been holding the fort and running things pretty much single handed but he’s okay with that and is more than capable. He stays for an hour or so and promises to stay in touch, I get up to see him out and am pleased when he shakes Gabe’s hand and apologises for his dads behavior. Gabe pats him on the back, saying “Look mate, it’s not your fault, but just make sure you let him know to keep away, I won’t be calling the police next time I will deal with him myself”
I give my boy a last hug and wave him goodbye. God that visit has made me feel so much better. As we close the front door, I can’t help but look around the hallway, thinking about what happened the night before. I feel Gabe’s eyes on me and turn and give him a cuddle. He pulls me in tight, almost stopping my breath.
“I love you Lauren”
“And I love you Gabriel, are we good?”
“We’re good, everything will be alright, all this shit will come to an end, you know that don’t you? We won’t always have all this drama”
“I hope so Gabe, this past few weeks have just been a rollercoaster but you know what, as long as I have you, it will all be fine, I’ve taken a leaf from your book, I will no longer give a fuck about what ever anybody else thinks about me or us. I love you and we’re together, if any one else has a problem with that, well then that’s their problem, not mine”
“Lauren, you fuckin amaze me, you really do.”