by S M Mala
‘You better not be. They’re just going to get bigger and-.’ Then she noticed his expression changed to shock. ‘What is it?’
‘It’s a letter from Harry’s solicitor.’
They looked at each other. She knew this was a bad sign.
Most things Harry had done of late had been made without good intentions.
Taking the letter out of his hand, she spotted the logo of the expensive lawyers. Sophie waited for a moment, knowing this would change the mood. Jonah was pressed against her side, his nose in her hair, mainly to see what Harry had instructed this time.
‘Let’s see what words of love he has sent today,’ she lightly laughed, dreading the trickery. ‘Dear Mrs Bauer, my client wishes to inform you that…’
Then she couldn’t read the rest.
‘What?’ he asked. ‘Soph, what?’
‘Here.’
She handed over the short letter and thought she had misread it.
There was some obvious mistake she hadn’t spotted.
‘Oh my God!’ Jonah said, his face going pink. ‘Is this right?’
‘Apparently.’
Sophie sat there, stroking her swollen belly and wondered what Harry was up to this time.
There had to be a motive of some sort.
‘It says that he has signed the papers agreeing for the adoption, which has been sent to our solicitors.’ Jonah looked shocked. ‘Why the change of heart?’
‘You tell me.’ Sophie turned to look at Jonah. ‘What did you say to him that day he was here? You never told me. It must have been something to persuade him to do this. And there aren’t any demands or a twist. That’s not like him.’
‘Nothing!’ he shrugged and started to smile. ‘This is brilliant news.’
‘He doesn’t do something for nothing.’
‘I told him I loved you, and we were going to have a baby, and I would never leave you. I put Harry straight.’ Then he let out an uncomfortable little laugh. ‘I am straight, and that’s all there is to it.’
Then it hit her.
This kind act of Harry’s.
It was a declaration of love.
For Jonah.
‘It’s what you said to him I’d like to know,’ he whispered, making her sharply turn her head to look into his eyes. ‘Soph, I know you saw him a few weeks later.’
She sat still and didn’t know what to say.
‘Did he tell you that?’ she asked, biting her lip and feeling the babies kick hard. ‘Because he came out of nowhere to see me and I wasn’t happy.’
‘He didn’t say a word.’ Jonah looked guiltily away. ‘I was with Milly and saw you talking in the park, then the kiss.’
‘Jonah! I didn’t kiss him and I certainly didn’t like it.’
‘Oh, I know that,’ he cheekily replied, starting to grin. ‘My little wife slapped him so hard, even I could hear it from the other side of the park.’
‘Why didn’t you mention that you saw us?’
‘Because I realised he was probably saying goodbye to you in his usual, wayward fashion.’
‘He will never be out of our lives; you do know that, don’t you? Even with his consent over the adoption, he’ll always make sure we owe him for this.’ Sophie sighed. ‘Because he won’t let you go and I don’t blame him.’
‘Sophie, I can handle Harry.’
‘But I can’t.’
‘Listen to me, and listen closely. It’s me, you and the kids. That’s all that matters. He can’t do anything to us, not now. He’s a million miles away, and that’s good. Right now, he’s probably partying hard and forgotten about all this.’
‘He is in love with you. Can’t you see this is him showing he’s a nice man?’
‘And don’t you see, he realises he can’t break us, so what else can he do? Even he knows when to give up.’
‘I’m not sure. Do you think he will ever be out of our lives?’
‘This is the only thing we wanted from him, and we got it. For whatever reason he did it, we have to be thankful.’
‘How thankful?’ Sophie narrowed her eyes at him. ‘You better not be too thankful.’
‘And if he has got the hots for me, he has impeccable taste,’ her husband grinned. ‘But no-one munches on my bits other than you.’ Jonah moved closer. ‘Forget about his bitter, mean kisses and concentrate on my soft, sweet ones.’
And as she grinned, Sophie realised he was right.
The once bitter taste had now turned sweet.
Sweeter than she had ever wished to dream of.
And it tasted good.
Published by S M Mala
Copyright © S M Mala 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication is to be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any forms or by any means, including photocopying, recording or any other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher/author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.
All characters in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
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ISBN: 978-0-9928364-8-1
Books to look out for by S M Mala:
My Mother in Law’s Lover
What he did to her
The problem of getting Rich Quik … part one
The problem of getting Rich Quik … part two
Relative Strangers
The Secret History of Hatty Ha Ha … begins
The Secret History of Hatty Ha Ha … ends
Pushing over 40
Good Vibration
Bad Advice
Hot Flush
Trust Me
Happy Now?
Love’s Foolish Punch
Bless this Love
To Love Thy Neighbour
Her Bleeding Heart
Hard to Love
Bitter Sweet Kisses
Straight after the Bend – out in 2017
