I decide to go out and along the veranda and see if I can catch him dancing again. The outside table is set up for breakfast and I smell the bacon as I stick my head into the family room. He is frying, singing, and having a little wiggle. He's wearing a pair of boardies and they hang down low on his hips. As he moves the bacon around the pan, I can see the muscles in his back and shoulder moving under his tanned skin. Fuck me but he's gorgeous. My stomach lurches and my breathing catches as I think about what we did last night and I feel myself blush.
“Ahhh awake are you princess?”
I'm actually not sure as the man of my dreams is standing in front of me, half naked and cooking me breakfast. “You sleep okay? You snored well”
“Shit, did I? I'm sorry” Fuck, how embarrassing!
“No worries darl, I just got up and went for a surf as soon as the sun came up, anyway, I much prefer you sleep and snore, than sleep and have nightmare’s baby so it’s all good. Hungry?”
“Um yeah, thanks” Snoring, God, I'm going to the chemist today and will see if I can get something for it, what must he think? But he doesn't seem fazed, is there anything that pisses him off, apart from my husband?
“Go sit down, I'll bring your brekkie out” I wander outside and sit in the sun and drink the fresh orange juice that's on the table. Gabe brings our plates out, loaded with scrambled eggs, bacon, mushrooms, and toast, yum.
We sit and eat in silence. I start to wonder what time his daughter will be here and I also wonder what on earth she's going to think of the old lady her dads moved in.
“What time will Ava get here?” I ask
“She’s not coming till Monday; its school holidays so she will stay for the week. I have a business meeting in the city Monday morning so I will pick her up on my way home then”
Okay, so that gives me the weekend to find out a few more things about her. What do thirteen year old girls like?
“Is she a Belieber or a Directioner?” I ask him. Ha see I know what kids are into.
“Oh she's a big 1 D fan. Wait till she finds out you were born in England, she'll wanna know if you know them”
“Does she know about me?” I ask biting on the skin on the inside of my bottom lip as I wait for his answer.
“Yeah, I told her last weekend that I had met someone and I told her last night that you had moved in” He says with a shrug. “She’s cool with it, she can't wait to meet you, I think she thought the same as everyone else, that I was always going to be on my own, she even asked me if I was gay once”
Now that was funny, I have a husband and two sons and have had many of their friends in and out of my house over the years but I had never met a man so NOT gay as Gabriel Wilde. He just had something about him, anyone can just tell that he likes women and from what I can tell, women like him too and probably, so do lots of men!
“Has she never met any of your other girlfriends then?”
“Lauren, how many times do I have to tell you, I don't do relationships and I would never expose Ava to my, one night stands, for want of a better word”
“But what about the two weekers as you called them. Surely you must have seen Ava while you were seeing them?”
“No, no I didn't, if there was someone I was seeing longer than the standard one night, I just wouldn't see them on the days and nights Ava was here, that's why she's so excited to meet you. I think she's pleased her dads not gay. Although as she's already informed me, it was no biggie to her if I was and I think she's pleased that I've finally found someone I want to introduce to her”
I've noticed how animated he becomes when he talks about his daughter and it’s touching. I'm nervous and excited about meeting her because I'm pretty sure it would be a deal breaker for him, if we couldn't get on. No pressure then.
“Is she bringing a friend?”
“Yeah, Sophie will be with her, they’re pretty inseparable, you would know how thirteen year old girls are with their besties”
Actually yeah, only too well, my parents dragged me away from my besties at a similar age, to start on our new life down under. My stomach still lurches at the thought of how totally helpless I felt at their decision and it makes my jaw involuntarily clench with just a frisson of anger. The feeling reminding me a little too much of my current situation, out of my hands!
“Great. Two thirteen year old girls judging me. Can't wait”
I didn't mean to sound so sarcastic. Alright then, I did
“Come on Lauren, they’re children, you've raised two boys, what are you worried about? You will get on fine with them”
I say nothing, mainly because I don't want him to know that the thirteen year old girls I've come across in my time, are far from children and who am I to shatter his elusions regarding his baby girl.
I stop eating as the thoughts of what the weeks ahead are going to bring; meeting his daughter is just the start. I'm going to have to tell the boys what's going on in my life, then my mum. That one will be interesting. Then it will just be a case of going public and putting it out there. Oh well, as long as Gabe’s next to me, I'm sure I'll be fine, however we're judged.