We bring the play station downstairs and put on the sing star. We even get Charlie up singing; we sing a version of Don’t go breaking my heart together and later on I show him how you shake it like a polaroid picture, when the Outkast song comes on, then Ava, Sam and I stand in a row, shaking our backsides as much as we can, trying to teach him to twerk, we are laughing hysterically. Poor Charlie, he doesn’t know where to look and bids us all good night and goes off to bed. Despite being in his sixties, he is still a very good looking man, I can see why Jackie would be attracted to him, although, knowing what I do about her, Charlie’s money would have been a factor too, I am sure.
Jen is really good on the Sing Star, apparently she sings in a band. Sophie and Ava and Zacs eldest two boys Louie and Charlie Junior, or CJ as he’s known, being a bit older than the other children have joined us and are in hysterics at our antics and continuously film and take photos of us on their phones. Every time I sing, Gabe shakes his head and puts his fingers in his ears. Despite how bad I am at singing, I still come Runner-up. I've played this game a lot of times and know it’s nothing to do with how good or bad your voice is, but I'm not going to tell Gabe this. Cooper appears with a guitar and Ava starts shouting at Gabe to play. Gabe plays guitar? Well it has been a day of revelations. We all settle down on the sofas with our drinks as Gabe and Jen decide what they will perform for us and as soon as he strums the first note, I know what the song is, Jen starts to sing, her voice is amazing. It’s the Pretenders I Go To Sleep, the song he sang into my ear on the night we met. They then sing Birdy’s Skinny Love, followed by Adele’s Chasing Pavements. Ava begs her dad for a One Direction song but Jen doesn’t know any lyrics so instead she sings Simply Reds, For Your Babies and they dedicate it to all the Wilde children and I hold it together until Ava says
“And to Laurens babies, they’re big but they are still her babies, what are their names again Lauren? One of them lives in London and we watched him on the TV playing rugby, Sonny, that’s it Sonny, he’s hot and so is the other one Ryder, Sophie likes him, don’t you Soph?” “Ava!” Sophie shrieks, obviously embarrassed.
Luckily the lights are out and we only have candles burning so I don’t make too much of an idiot of myself as Gabe plays and Jen sings and I cry. Gabe hands over guitar duties to Coop after that and comes and sits with me.
“You okay? Sorry about Ava, that child has no filter between her brain and her mouth”
“Yes Gabe, I know, she takes exactly after her father, that’s why I love her”
He sits behind me and pulls me between his legs and we share a bottle of Bailys and listen to Jen sing everything from the Beetles, Bob Dylan and The Eagles to Pink, Skylar Grey and Ed Sheeran. I must nod off as the next thing I remember is Gabe guiding me to the bedroom.
When I wake on Sunday it’s after ten, Gabe is nowhere in sight. My head is pounding and I still have cramps but no sign of my period. I shower and pull on the comfy clothes I brought with me for Sunday. I pull my hair up, put on a bit of makeup, and head upstairs. The boys are out on the balcony. Jackie is in the kitchen organising breakfast with Sam and Jen.
“Good morning” I say cheerily, I get a morning reply from all of them, except Jackie. Sam makes me a coffee.
“How's your head Diva?” She asks with a smile
“Pretty ordinary actually” We chat about the fun we had the night before and I ask Jen about the band she's in. Jackie remains silent. The other girls go quiet and I know he's approaching, I can feel him, I actually shudder with the tremor that runs through me. He turns me around and wraps me in his arms and kisses the top of my head
“Good morning beautiful, did you sleep well? You smell fucking lovely, I was going to come and get back in bed with ya but we have a lot to do today”
“Yeah, I did, why didn't you wake me?” I pout. “Because you've had a big week and a very big night and I know how much you like your sleep so I thought I would leave you. You had some coffee?”
“Yeah, Sam made me coffee”
“Well we'll have some breakfast and then head off, we have things to do later”
We round up the kids and persuade Stella to get out of bed; she went out with some friends after the game and apparently didn’t get home till five. We have a noisy family brekkie around the huge dining table. I watch Charlie, watching everyone else, he catches me and winks. I know what a great feeling it is when you are surrounded by your family. I have to get things sorted with Ryder this week, even if it does mean knocking at his door like Gabe suggested. As if he knows that I'm feeling uneasy, he reaches over for my hand and raises it to his lips and kisses my palm, it’s like being hypnotized, like fighting sleep and I have to close my eyes and cross my legs. I feel like a nympho I want sex so badly. All of the time. I reach under the table and give his thigh a squeeze. He leans forward and says just for my ears, “Let’s make a move, I need to get you home and naked, I want to feel my skin on your skin” I smile and blush as I look at him. God, I really am so much in love with this man, have I mentioned that already?
“Hang on a minute though, I can’t move yet I've got a massive hard on” he whispers. I smile some more. What a waste!