“What’s wrong little lady?” I ask her, worried that she doesn’t want to do this now.
She waves me closer to her so that she can whisper in my ear.
“Aunty Mel loves you and you love her, I saw you both on the TV last month. I’m eight, I’m not stupid. You need to tell these idiots that she’s yours too.”
Well, fuck me. This kid just keeps blowing my mind.
“I might be a kid and everybody thinks I’m fragile because of what happened to Mum, but you both can’t be unhappy because of me. We can all be happy together.”
And boom. There goes my heart splattered all over the Wright’s front garden.
Giving her the biggest smile I possess, I give her hand a gentle squeeze and continue walking to the wall that separates me from the numpties on the other side.
Taking a deep breath, I look down to a smiling Beth, who’s my anchor right now. She’s the one giving me the strength to what I’m about to do for the world to see and pick apart.
“Liam, Liam. Over here.”
“What can you tell us about your relationship with the child?”
“How can you not know you had a child?”
The questions keep coming, but I just hold a hand up to silence them all. The statement I’m about to make is all that they are getting, if they don’t like it then tough fucking shit.
“Before I make this statement to you all, I just want you to know that once I’ve finished speaking then that’ll be it. I don’t want you hounding the Wright family or myself. You won’t be getting anything else, are we all clear?”
I hear a round of mumbles, some agreeing with me, some complaining.
“Right, now that’s all cleared up, please allow me to introduce to you Bethany Wright…” I get stopped when Beth tugs on my hand again.
“My name isn’t Wright, it’s Williams. Bethany Williams.”
Well blow me down like a fucking feather.
Now isn’t the time to delve into that so I carry on addressing the nosey fuckers.
“Please allow me to introduce to you all, Bethany Williams, she is my daughter. I won’t now, or ever, deny that she doesn’t belong to me and I’m going to try my hardest to be the best goddamn father I can be.”
I look down at her and smile whilst letting a stray tear fall from my eyes.
“Only I don’t want to do this next part of my life alone, you see a little over five months ago I ran into someone I thought I would never see again. She soon became my reason for breathing. My reason for carrying on with my life and at this moment in time. I’m not sure if she even likes me right now, but let me tell you all this, I love her with my whole being. She’s the most amazing person I know and I know for a fact that Bethany loves her.”
Turning away from all the cameras and flashes that are still going off, I look at Mel who’s no longer just crying, she’s full on sobbing her heart out.
“Melissa Wright, you came back into my life just when I needed you to. You knocked me on my arse and made me see that life is worth living and not just for existing. You gave me a reason to breathe again. I love you and if you’ll have us, me and this little lady right here, we would love it if you would come and be happy with us?”
“Please Aunty Mel? Come and be happy with us.” Beth adds.
Words seem to evade her, but I can see her start to smile as she makes her way to us. Wrapping an arm around Beth and Mel when she finally reaches us, we all fall to our knees and cry happy tears.
“I’ll come and be happy with you both,” she finally hiccups out.
Smiling, I look at Beth.
“Close your eyes, you’re too young to see this.”
Laughing at me, Beth closes her eyes quickly and once they are shut I take Mel’s tear-stained, blotchy face into my hands and kiss her with everything that I have.
“You’re mine, you always will be, because of you, I can live again. Thank you for bringing me back to life,” I tell her in between kisses.
“Yes. I’m yours Liam, always.”
Epilogue
Mel
Do you ever look in the mirror and think, wow, how did this become my life?
Like you’re on the outside looking in and you can’t actually believe how lucky you got.
Because that’s me.
The day Liam not only told the world that Beth was his, he told them I was his too. Since then my life hasn’t been the same. It’s been a hundred times better than I could ever imagine it would be.
We finally sat Beth down and told her all about Liam and why he wasn’t around for the first part of her life. It wasn’t his fault, it was Steph’s in a way. She knew she was pregnant when he left and didn’t tell him. My mum sat with us and broke down, telling us how Steph had gone to her and begged her not to tell him. Since then he’s been an amazing Dad to Beth, she now lives with him in his townhouse along with me. All of that didn’t just happen overnight, it took time and for my parents to trust Liam. It wasn’t easy, but eventually after numerous sleepovers and long weekend visits they soon realised that she belonged with her one remaining living parent. We’re not your normal typical family not by any means, but who cares. We all love each other and that’s all that matters.
The room I found with Steph’s ripped face all over the walls is now an amazing girlie room that Liam had done for Beth. There’s still some of Steph in that room for her because she will always be her mum and I don’t want Beth to ever forget that.
The only thing that’s bugging me is Liam.
For the last few days he’s been acting strange, a little moody if you will.
I’m currently in the kitchen prepping a salad to go with the BBQ we’re having out back and I haven’t heard a peep out of him since we made love this morning.
The front door opens and then slams shut, and I hear, “Max is in the house people, show me some love.” Followed by Max appearing.
He never fails to make me laugh, but under all that humour and fun exterior I can see it in his eyes that he’s secretly battling his own demons. He’s the only one out of all them that I can’t get a read on. He’s holding his cards very close to his chest and I know that all the bravado and joking around is just an act to hide what he’s really feeling. I hope one day that he’ll let the guys be there for him, just as he’s always there for them.
“Uncle Max,” Beth shouts, as she runs down the stairs.
Laughing at the them both, I go back to my salad making.
“Look Aunty Mel, Uncle Max is here,” she announces as they both walk into the kitchen.
“So I heard,” I chuckle and take a quick glance over my shoulder at them. Since Beth became a permanent fixture in Liam's life, all the guys have taken her under their wing and welcomed her into this big family, as if she has been a part of it since birth. They’ve been amazing with her and I couldn’t ask for anything more. Beth also loves baby Max and baby Syren, who I still take care off when I’m needed.
“So, where is the moody fucker?” Max asks.
Abandoning the salad, I turn around and glare at him. No matter how many times I tell him not to swear around the kids he still bloody does it.
“Ooops, sorry. I forget,” he laughs, which then makes me and Beth laugh.
“He’s outside with the others, go and see if you can cheer him up will ya. He’s been like a bear with a sore arse for the past few days.”
Max and Bethany look at each other and smile, I can see it in their eyes they know something and are keeping it from me.
“Come on kiddo, let's go find your moody dad.” Max throws an arm around her tiny shoulders and leads her out the patio doors.
There’s no point in me even trying to get any information out of them, they wouldn’t bloody tell me anyway. I hear cheers of joy when the pair enter the garden which makes me forget about what they’re hiding, I’m just glad we’re all here and finally all together.
Liam
I thought telling the world I had a daughter and that I was in
love was the hardest thing I was ever gonna have to do. I couldn’t have been more wrong, because what I’m about to do now has me shitting myself in my boxers. I shit you not, I’ve never felt so sick and nervous in all my life.
The past few months since that day at Mel's mums house have been perfect. I have my little girl who I love unconditionally and I have Mel. She calms me but lights me up and sets me on fire all at the same time.
I thought having everyone around for a BBQ would make this easier, but I was so wrong. Connor and Johnny are just sitting laughing at me.
“I did tell you dude, it comes to us all eventually. No-one was a bigger man whore than him,” Johnny says, pointing at Connor. “And even he got pussy whipped.”
“Hey,” Allie pipes up, shocked at Johnny's words.
“Come on, Angel, it’s true. You know it and I know it, I was no saint before you came along and swept me off my feet.” He smiles at her then kisses her stopping her from protesting any further.
Beth and Max come strolling out of the patio doors with smirks on their faces, I kid you not sometimes I think she loves the guys more than me. She’s become attached to them as though she’s known them her whole life – loving them all, but Max is definitely her favourite. She knows what’s gonna happen today, I had to sit her down and ask her if she was okay with it because if she wasn’t then I wouldn’t be doing it.
Once we’re all seated and Mel has finally finished fannying about in the kitchen, I can’t wait any longer - the blue Tiffany box I have in my pocket has been taunting me for days.
I have to do it now.
Quickly standing from my chair at the table, I look down to everyone smiling at me. Except Mel. She looks confused as shit. Dragging her chair back so she can face me, I get down on one knee and hear her gasp loudly when she realises what I’m doing.
“Now please don’t say anything, just let me get this all out,” I tell her before carrying on. “Melissa Wright, you came back into my life unexpectedly, but just at the right time. I promise with all that I am going to love and cherish you. I vow to help you live life to the fullest and to be strong when you can’t be. I’ll protect you and our little family the best I can. I’ll always be there when you need a shoulder to cry on or someone to just laugh with. So Melissa Wright will you please do the honour of being my wife and marrying me?”
Before I’ve even got the ring out of my pocket, she’s dived out of her seat and is kissing me.
“Yes… oh my god yes. I’ll marry you Liam Williams.”
The End
Playlist
Eminem – Rock Bottom
Fairground Attraction – Perfect
No Doubt – Don’t speak
Jade – Don’t Walk Away
Jocelyn Brown – Somebody Ese’s Guy
Tina Turner -I Don’t Wanna Fight
Rachel Platten – Fight Song
Simply Red – Stars
Minnie Ripperton – Lovin’ You
Eminem Ft Ed Sheeran – River
Eminem Ft Beyoncé – Walk On Water
Acknowledgments
Where do I start with all the people that have made it possible for me to do this?
The most important people will always be my family. Nathan, Mollie, Noah, Tracy my mum and Sam my baby brother, you are my rocks and my biggest supporters. None of this would even be possible without your love and encouragement. I will never be able to thank you all enough for putting up with me whilst I’ve had my head stuck in my laptop. I love you all so much.
Karina aka my Mofo/editor- You are worth your weight in bloody gold girl. You’ve put up with me and my neurotic ways and demands. You have the patience of a saint and I couldn’t imagine doing this without you by my side, so please don’t quit on me? I need you… there I admitted it after all these years.
I luv ya bye…
All the ladies in my Facebook group Jen’s Lovelies- You crazy bunch rock, you make me laugh, smile and generally happy every day. Without you all I actually think I would’ve given up, but you all had my back and kept me from pressing the delete button more than once. A simple thank you wouldn’t be enough for how much I appreciate you all being there for me, but I’m afraid that’s all I’ve got and I hope I haven’t disappointed you with this book, especially after all the teasing I’ve put you all through.
I love you all.
My beta reader Layla, girl you don’t know how much you mean to me. I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me, you’ve gone above and beyond for me. You really are one in a million.
The fantastic ladies over at 5 Ladies and their books- Tracy, Layla, Helen, Stacey and Sam. You ladies are fantastic and some of the best friends a girl could ask for, I love you and your group.
Last but by no means least, the amazing C.A. Bell over at Envy Design. You girl are fantastic at what you do with your graphics. You brought my thoughts to life with the book cover and I couldn’t love it any more than I already do. Thank you so much, you’ve become a fantastic friend.
About The Author
Jennah Thornhill is a thirty-one-year-old wife and mother, who lives in Staffordshire in a town called Stoke-On-Trent with her husband Nathan and two kids Mollie Moo-Moo who’s ten and her little ginger critter Noah who’s five.
She’s had a lot of up’s and down’s in the past three years, going from a full-time mother and hard worker to just fainting at work one day and ending up in hospital. Later finding out she needed to have a lot of tests done.
Turns out she needed a lumbar puncture in her back in which they drain the fluid from your brain.
When she had the results back she wasn’t happy to say the least.
When they did it the first time she got really ill from it. She soon found out why when a doctor told her they think they took too much fluid.
After having a further sixteen lumbar punctures for the same thing.
Not being able to go back to work because of this she now manages her illness between being a mother, wife and writer.
The only blessing to come out of all that is it pushed her to start writing her own books. After reading quite a few books before this, and when we say a few we mean a couple hundred.
When she’s not writing, being a mum or laid up in a hospital bed, she spends her time reading or sleeping.
Social Media Links
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/jennathornhillauthor
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/jen.tauthor
Twitter:
https://www.twitter.com/Jennahthornhill2
Jens Lovelies FB group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/175104109620516/
Other Books By This Author
The Syren Series
Syren’s Angel Book one
Syren’s Heaven And Hell Book Two
Syren’s Plaything Book Three
Standalone
Making our way back
Coming Soon
Syren’s Pride Book Four
The Model Citizen
Fighting To Live (DV Book)
Love thy Neighbour
Syren's Rebirth (Syren Series) Page 16
