His eyes move to mine. “You’re moving in with him, already? You sure?” I nod my head slowly. The room is quiet; the only sounds are of the kids all playing in their room along the hallway.
“It’s not like we don’t know each other.” I shrug, look at Cam and then at each of my brothers. “I know I’ve spent the past year behaving like I should be sectioned.” I roll my eyes, realising what I’ve said. “Well, yeah, yeah, I know, I was sectioned, but you know what I mean.” I twist the corner of my napkin and look down at it for a few seconds, thinking that the twisted corner feels a little like my insides right now. As I let it go, it uncurls itself and I allow my belly to do the same. “Look, I’ve been a fucked-up mess for a year. Going to Australia was the best thing I could’ve done. I’ve had a chance to get my head straight and realise how selfish I’ve been with my behaviour.” I look around the table at all of my family. “I’ll never be able to thank you all enough for helping me through the worst experience of my life, while at the same time dealing with your own grief. I behaved selfishly and I’m sorry for that.” Cam pulls me closer and kisses the top of my head. “I love you all and I am one hundred percent sure that I’m in love with this man here. It’s not like Cam and I have just met. We’ve known each other years and it was by pure chance that we bumped into each other in Australia.” Bailey raises his eyebrows over that little untruth. My family know nothing about my accidental overdose and telephone call to Cam but I carry on regardless. “We’ve both been dealt a shit hand in life. We’re both old enough to recognise love when it smacks us in the face and we don’t see the point in hanging about.”
“You know the press are gonna have a field day with this, don’t ya?”
“They already are, Marls. They’ve been camped outside Cam’s place since I got back.”
His eyes flick between me and Cam. He looks like he’s about to say something but Cam speaks first. “I’ve been speaking with Bailey the last couple of days. We’ve taken on Scotty Davies as close protection for Georgia. I’ve got her a new car so she’s not trying to dodge the press in her little motor. It’s blacked out, bulletproof. You name it; it’s got it. She won’t be going anywhere without me, Benny or Scott for the next few weeks at least. I’m sure they’ll get bored and leave us alone eventually, but for now, I’ll do what I can to keep them from hassling her.”
“Have you thought about releasing a statement? If you make it official, then there’s no story, well, no exclusive, at least,” Lennon says.
Cam turns to me and shrugs. “That’s entirely up to Georgia. If it’s gonna help, then I’m up for it.” His eyes are back on me. “Kitten?” I feel myself blush as he calls me that name in front of all my family.
“Did he just call you Kitten?” Oh, Ash, just for once could she not keep her mouth zipped? I give her a small nod. “Fucking hell, that’s so hot.” I look around Cam to where Jimmie sits and nods at me.
“And once again, yes, she did just say that out loud.”
“You’ve never called me by a nickname,” Ashley whines and gives Marley a dig in the ribs with her elbow.
“I called you a cunt the other day and you punched me.” My mum spits her wine while everyone else laughs.
I sit back in my chair and look at Lennon. “If you think it’ll help, Len, I’m up for it.”
He nods. “Okay, I’ll talk to ya tomorrow and we’ll put out a press release. What about an interview? Would you be up for that?”
I shake my head. “Not really. Let’s just release a statement and see if that does the trick.” I turn and look at Bailey. “You’re very quiet, Bails. You got anything to say?”
He drains his drink. “Nope, I think you’re in a good place, with a good man and I know I can trust him to look after ya.” He smiles and nods his head at me. “I’m really happy for the pair of ya, really happy.” He smiles at me again and my heart feels like it’s being squeezed, but in a good way. I look over at my dad, who’s sitting back in his chair, just observing the conversation going on around the table. Harley comes from the playroom. It’s getting late and she’s only four and obviously tired, she holds her arms up to me.