Angel

by Victoria Johns

  After some intense physical therapy, he regained some feeling in his legs. He now walked with crutches and would for the rest of his life. He wasn’t the same suave asshole he’d once been and often joked that he’d lost his mojo that day because the bullet took it away. It took some time for him and Rosie to get close again. She felt guilty and he just wanted his old life and the old Rosie back. He just needed her to be a sarcastic bitch again and it was amazing how long she managed to keep her sass under control with him. It returned one day when she was visiting him at a rehabilitation home. Apparently, he was getting close to one of the therapy nurses there and Rosie made some comment to her about changing up her bed bath activity if giving him a hand job instead of a bed bath wasn’t making him smile.

  The nurse replied with, “I’m out of practice. Davis is the first person under the age of sixty that I’ve had to wank on a daily basis.” Davis was horrified but Rosie instantly found a friend in Nurse Katie, and there were times when I wasn’t sure who she was actually visiting.

  Twelve months into his treatment a spark of the old Davis returned and he manned up and asked her for a date. Katie hadn’t left his side since, or wanked off any other patients, as she told Rosie when she asked. Davis was now our accountant who looked after the restoration business and the legitimate holdings I kept hold of, as well as his own. Sometimes he worked at home, and sometimes he came and sat in the office, but we didn’t let that happen too much. He was a pain in the ass. Part of the family, but still a pain in the ass. He and Katie were about to tie the knot and I was fucking thrilled for the guy. He could have sunk deep after what happened, but with a little help from us, and a ‘hands on’ nurse, he bounced back.

  Of course, I married Rosie as soon as JP was well enough to give her away at the town hall. I had decades to make up for. Twenty years of not feeling that safety at night when we slept together. My proposal wasn’t pansy assed or pretty. I just held her naked one night and said, “My soul has always missed you. It needs you to breathe. It’s fucked up and girlie, but it won’t settle again without your soul right beside me, every day and every night.”

  “What are you asking, Dec?”

  “Not asking. I’m telling you. We’re getting married.”

  Of course, my Rosie had to bitch and argue. “You started off so well, but that is not how you propose.”

  “Fucking fuck me, she’s even gonna bitch about how I propose now.”

  Then I heard, “Just fucking say yes already. Some of us old folk are trying to sleep,” from the other room and she burst out laughing before she agreed to marry me.

  JP and Vix weren’t quite ready for her to leave the house, even though she was thirty, but after I made his Angel scream in pleasure one night, he all but kicked us out. I rented us a little place just in town and set to building our own home on the Sentinels’ land. It wasn’t just about JP wanting her close; it was Rosie’s need to be near him. They were connected through some inexplicable link the universe had created and who the fuck was I to stand in the way of that?

  Three months after we’d first met again, the universe had something else in mind for us—we discovered we were having a baby. It turned out that having unprotected sex in a field could do that to you. And just as the house was finished, Rosie gave birth to our son, Liam. She was magnificent, me not so much. I would definitely never look at a burrito the same again, but when the little guy burst into the world, I had to sit down. I mean, fuck, that little ball of skin was mine.

  Ours.

  Rosie was the most important thing in the world to me and she’d just given me the best gift ever. How do you even cope after you realize that? Well, it seems you don’t; you go all weak at the knees and short of breath, and need to sit down like I did. However, Rosie screaming, “That woman has just used salad tongues to remove a whole person from my lady bum and you need to sit down!” brought me to my senses pretty quickly, so I stood up and watched Vix try not to laugh at me.

  My life was now full of inappropriate outbursts. When I took my son to the market and he screamed, “Hey, lady, are you moving in? Step aside please,” they looked at me and frowned, but blaming his forthrightness on my wife did not go down well. Any cuss words that kid had learned had not come from me and no one believed me.

  I looked at the clock and it was five minutes until lunch at the workshop. It was nearly the best part of my day. Rosie and Liam brought me lunch. I knew exactly what time it was because I’d been clock watching for the last forty minutes wondering if the batteries had stopped working. As I reached for a rag, I saw her hair flowing in the wind.

  “For fuck's sake!” Flowing hair meant she was jogging, and at eight months pregnant, I was worried that she was trying to one-up the ‘conceived in a field’ story to ‘I gave birth in a field’.

  The next thing I knew a little head of thick dark hair came sprinting into the workshop and miraculously missed all of the men and tool cabinets lying about the place.

  “Daddy!” Liam squealed. “Mommy can’t catch me.”

  I opened my arms just in time to catch him as his feet had already left terra firma and he was heading in my direction.

  “Mommy shouldn’t be in that field, let alone running across it.”

  Rosie entered the workshop wearing a backpack, just in time to hear me scolding her craziness.

  “You should have tried keeping her under control at sixteen. Herding cats would have been easier,” I heard from under the hood of a Hot Rod we’d been commissioned to tune up. JP found it amusing on a daily basis that Rosie was making up for all the grief and mischief I’d missed out on over the years.

  “Baby, why’ve you come across the field? There’s hazards and shit, not just for you, but for him.” I kissed my boy on the cheek before blowing a raspberry.

  My woman looked out of breath and fit to burst. “You’re the only one who finds the hazards. Liam’s fine.”

  “Mommy peed herself today, in the kitchen, Daddy!”

  I looked at her as JP pulled his head, with some urgency, out from under the Hot Rod’s hood. Not only was she breathless, she was massaging her bump, too. “Is it? Are you? And you came across the fucking field?”

  “Language Daddy and Relax, Dec, it’ll be a while yet.”

  “Daddy said a bad word!”

  “Yes he did. Naughty Daddy.”

  That was how she answered. If she didn’t look like a human who had swallowed a barrel, I would have taken her over my knee, but that kind of fun was what got her in the baby way again.

  “People really need to start appreciating the firm grip I keep on my temper.”

  “We have a few things to agree on before I commence the laying process,” she said with a shifty look in her eye.

  “Let me get this right. You walked through a field full of potholes and shit, with my son, who was running and could have injured himself, while my other baby is making a concerted effort to come and greet us today. Instead of calling me like a sane person, to, I don’t know, take you to the hospital, you decided to walk here and bargain with me?”

  “Yep. And just so you know, I am not above having this child here on that crawler board if this takes a while.” She now had a hip jutted out and was pointing to a wheeled tray that Gears, now my number two, had just scooted out from under a car on. Needless to say, he had a lot of experience with Angel and didn’t bat an eyelid at what she was suggesting. With my woman, anything was possible.

  “My child won’t be born in here. If I have to carry you out of here and drag you to the hospital, it’s happening in a sterile environment.”

  “You’d best agree to my terms then.” She smiled.

  God, I fucking loved how this woman kept me on my toes.

  “I’d suggest popcorn,” JP joked, “but then I have no desire to watch my grandbaby being birthed. That’s your momma’s job, Angel. I’m gonna go fetch her.”

  “Mom’s on her way with the truck, Dad.” Rosie smiled sweetly.

  �
�She let you cross that damn field like that?” JP stormed off and I knew someone was in for an ass tanning later when all this drama was over.

  “I want to hear you say it, Declan. If this baby comes out with a vagina, she will be allowed in the workshop.”

  “Don’t do it,” JP shouted from somewhere outside. For an old bastard he had stellar hearing.

  “Say it in front of your brothers. If you are blessed with a daughter and she chooses to work with her daddy and big brother in this workshop, you will let her.”

  “What’s a fa-gina, Daddy?”

  I glared at Rosie as my brothers struggled to hide their laughter. This was what my life was like—Rosie causing disruption and amusement at the same time. I swear that half of these fuckers only came for the entertainment. Getting to work on classic cars and being paid was just a bonus.

  “Mommy will tell you what one of those is when you’re a big boy.” She smiled.

  “Mommy won’t tell you anything about that when you’re a big boy. Daddy will. My boy will need to know things you can’t tell him.”

  “In that case, Mommy will tell him the things she had to teach you about fa-ginas when you’ve done your bit.”

  “Rosie…” I warned.

  “Just your simple agreement—oh!” Her legs wobbled a bit and she panted. “Whoa, they’re getting stabby. Where was I?”

  “Alright.” I panicked, as she continued to rub frantically at both her back and belly. “I agree!”

  “Say it.”

  It was a point we’d been arguing about since she’d surprised me by passing me a positive pregnancy piss stick instead of a screwdriver when she was helping me one night.

  “If we have a girl, she can be a grease monkey if that is what her heart desires.”

  “Fantastic.” She grinned, standing up straight, the pain of a contraction suddenly passing.

  “Oh my God! Were you faking?”

  She leaned in and kissed me. “No, Dec, I had a twinge, but it wasn’t that bad. I had to hurry things along a bit. I know how stubborn you can be. Now we can go.”

  I should have been surprised that she’d played me, but she was constantly coming up with these cute little schemes to get her own way.

  “I’m fucked if it’s a girl.”

  “Bad word, Daddy!”

  “Yes, that was a very bad word indeed, Daddy,” she scolded.

  “Makes a change for him to hear it from me. If we have a girl, I’m going to buy her a pony and dolls and strollers, and well, anything I can afford that keeps her out of this damn garage.”

  Rosie walked over to her dad who was waiting with the car door open. She leant into his open arms and kissed his cheek.

  “That won’t work,” she said, looking up at him. “All us girls want when we’re younger is to be wherever our dad is.”

  JP’s eyes glazed over. She hadn’t even given him the second grandkid yet and he was nearly in tears. Rosie could be a sarcastic hard ass at times, but when it mattered she could say the most beautiful things and she often did, to the one person who had given her the world.

  Four hours later and this time without salad tongues, Angelica Foster was born.

  As Liam and I left to go and tell the boys sat in the waiting room the good news, I snuck a look back at Rosie handing JP his new granddaughter. Seeing the tears of joy on his face at holding his new baby angel, I sent a prayer to the heavens.

  Whatever divine intervention had sent him to her that day was one we were all truly thankful for.

  The End

  The best way to show an author what you think of their hard work is to leave a review at the site where you purchased it. It helps new readers find us and our exposure.

  It would mean a lot to me if you could take a few seconds to do this… pretty please!

  Tammy Clarke at the Graphics Shed, thank you for your imagination. All the hard work you put into my work is more than the icing on the cake, it’s also the cherry on top.

  Heather Ross at Red Pen Editing, your enthusiasm for my work makes me smile… hard! Getting to know you and work with you on each of my books has turned my crazy words into crazy GREAT words.

  Author Nikki Ashton, when I go down the story rabbit hole, I rarely have to drag you with me. You’ve already got a shovel in hand helping me dig deeper. I couldn’t ask for a better book wifey. Love you long time.

  Suzie Cairney and Laura Nelson at SLPA Services, your organization and willingness to help promote my work is amazing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

  The girls at Pict Publishing, with a special mention to Leanne and Sara Marie Graye. Our community is growing and most of the effort is down to you two. It’s a pleasure to work with you.

  This book wasn’t hard to write and that’s largely down to Mr. Johns.

  When I said I was writing a story about a kick ass girl, who loves to be elbow deep in cars and engine grease, he was more than happy to sit and listen to my idea. What I didn’t know then, was that how writing Angel would mean I got to share the process while picking his brain about all things cars and motorcycles.

  This one is for you and the nights we spent chatting in our garden with music and beer. Love you JP x

  Victoria Johns is a writer who enjoys sharing a happily ever after and believes that it’s every good girl’s dream to experience a steamy one. Growing up in North West England in a large family surrounded by love and support she found her Prince Charming many years ago and enjoys living the life they’ve made with their son.

  She’s always had a creative imagination and decided that some of the stories bubbling in her head need to be given life and shared. This pen name gives them the freedom to be loved by others.

  When she’s not writing, she’s sewing, cycling or chomping on crisps in front of the TV.

  www.victoriajohnsbooks.com

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