a business deal.
‘OK then,’ Olivia said. ‘But if it’s a girl, I would like to enter the names of Hannah or Miley to consideration.’
Oh Christ,
groaned Kim internally.
‘But what if it’s a boy?’ Ben offered, obviously trying to move away from the thoughts of Hollywood pop stars.
‘Justin!’ Lindsay cried. ‘Definitely, Justin.’
Kim snorted with laughter. ‘I think I’m seeing a pattern here,’ she said smiling at Ben. Her youngest was only five, and already she knew all about Justin bleedin’ Bieber. Crikey, what would they be like when they were teenagers, if they knew this kind of stuff now?
‘Well, that does it,’ Ben said in a teasing voice. ‘I think I know two little girls who watch far too much TV. It’s the History Channel for you two from now on.’ He scooped them both up in his arms as they squealed with laughter.
‘Great, next we’ll be getting Caesar and Cleopatra . . .’ Kim said archly.
Lindsay rushed forward and encircled Kim around her middle, as far as her little arms would go.
‘Thank you Mummy,’ she said, smiling.
‘For what?’ Kim asked, hugging her.
‘For bringing us another baby. I don’t care if you get fat.’
Kim hugged her daughter with all her might, tears shining in her eyes.
Remember this moment
, she cued herself.
No, she didn’t care if she got fat either. She would balloon out to three hundred pounds if it meant she could feel this happy, for ever. She wouldn’t trade any of this for the world. She had everything she needed, right under this roof and within these walls.
Chapter 5
By the time Cara was due to meet Shane for dinner, she was only beginning to shrug off the effects of the jalapeño burger and cheese fries at lunch.
Pregnant or not, she still didn’t understand how Kim could put all that food away the way she did.
While Cara had never had any major problems with her weight, she still needed to make a conscious effort to work at it, religiously hauling her ass to the gym at least three times a week. Kim on the other hand stuffed her face, rarely worked out and still strutted around as glamorous and skinny as ever.
Freak of nature, definitely. Had to be genetics.
Cara checked the time on her watch. She was running late. She had meant to be at the restaurant – a lovely Mediterranean bistro called Stromboli in the city centre that was a favourite of theirs – by seven o’clock. It was now a quarter past and her taxi was still stuck in traffic.
She picked up her phone and typed a quick text message to Shane.
Sorry, almost there, traffic on the quays is hell, coming as fast as possible.
A moment later her phone pinged and she read his response.
Don’t rush, I’m not going anywhere.
She smiled and let out a sigh of relief; thank goodness he was patient. While she would never have readily admitted to it, the truth was he ended up waiting for her a lot. Cara struggled with punctuality.
Her thoughts drifted back to their conversation earlier this morning and she vowed to herself that she would not bring the subject of marriage up again. Like Kim said, it would happen when the time was right, and she knew now that she had nothing to worry about; he’d assured her of that this morning.
Instead, she was going to be a sexy, confident, independent woman and was certainly not going to sit around wondering when her ring finger would find an accessory.
Moments later, the taxi zipped down a couple of side streets that landed her close to the restaurant entrance. Paying the driver, she reached into her bag for her lip gloss and, smoothing it on with the fingers of one hand, she fluffed her hair with the other.
She’d do.
She got out and walked into the restaurant, which was still full of an after-work crowd made up of well-heeled young professionals. Cara glanced around and tried to find Shane. She was sure that he was more than likely waiting in the bar area for her, so she scanned the occupants.
Spotting him, a smile jumped
‘OK then,’ Olivia said. ‘But if it’s a girl, I would like to enter the names of Hannah or Miley to consideration.’
Oh Christ,
groaned Kim internally.
‘But what if it’s a boy?’ Ben offered, obviously trying to move away from the thoughts of Hollywood pop stars.
‘Justin!’ Lindsay cried. ‘Definitely, Justin.’
Kim snorted with laughter. ‘I think I’m seeing a pattern here,’ she said smiling at Ben. Her youngest was only five, and already she knew all about Justin bleedin’ Bieber. Crikey, what would they be like when they were teenagers, if they knew this kind of stuff now?
‘Well, that does it,’ Ben said in a teasing voice. ‘I think I know two little girls who watch far too much TV. It’s the History Channel for you two from now on.’ He scooped them both up in his arms as they squealed with laughter.
‘Great, next we’ll be getting Caesar and Cleopatra . . .’ Kim said archly.
Lindsay rushed forward and encircled Kim around her middle, as far as her little arms would go.
‘Thank you Mummy,’ she said, smiling.
‘For what?’ Kim asked, hugging her.
‘For bringing us another baby. I don’t care if you get fat.’
Kim hugged her daughter with all her might, tears shining in her eyes.
Remember this moment
, she cued herself.
No, she didn’t care if she got fat either. She would balloon out to three hundred pounds if it meant she could feel this happy, for ever. She wouldn’t trade any of this for the world. She had everything she needed, right under this roof and within these walls.
Chapter 5
By the time Cara was due to meet Shane for dinner, she was only beginning to shrug off the effects of the jalapeño burger and cheese fries at lunch.
Pregnant or not, she still didn’t understand how Kim could put all that food away the way she did.
While Cara had never had any major problems with her weight, she still needed to make a conscious effort to work at it, religiously hauling her ass to the gym at least three times a week. Kim on the other hand stuffed her face, rarely worked out and still strutted around as glamorous and skinny as ever.
Freak of nature, definitely. Had to be genetics.
Cara checked the time on her watch. She was running late. She had meant to be at the restaurant – a lovely Mediterranean bistro called Stromboli in the city centre that was a favourite of theirs – by seven o’clock. It was now a quarter past and her taxi was still stuck in traffic.
She picked up her phone and typed a quick text message to Shane.
Sorry, almost there, traffic on the quays is hell, coming as fast as possible.
A moment later her phone pinged and she read his response.
Don’t rush, I’m not going anywhere.
She smiled and let out a sigh of relief; thank goodness he was patient. While she would never have readily admitted to it, the truth was he ended up waiting for her a lot. Cara struggled with punctuality.
Her thoughts drifted back to their conversation earlier this morning and she vowed to herself that she would not bring the subject of marriage up again. Like Kim said, it would happen when the time was right, and she knew now that she had nothing to worry about; he’d assured her of that this morning.
Instead, she was going to be a sexy, confident, independent woman and was certainly not going to sit around wondering when her ring finger would find an accessory.
Moments later, the taxi zipped down a couple of side streets that landed her close to the restaurant entrance. Paying the driver, she reached into her bag for her lip gloss and, smoothing it on with the fingers of one hand, she fluffed her hair with the other.
She’d do.
She got out and walked into the restaurant, which was still full of an after-work crowd made up of well-heeled young professionals. Cara glanced around and tried to find Shane. She was sure that he was more than likely waiting in the bar area for her, so she scanned the occupants.
Spotting him, a smile jumped
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