by Iris Blobel
Choking back a laugh, he tilted his head to the side. “Apparently, neither is Mia tonight.”
She opened the door a bit wider, and he saw she only wore an oversized T-shirt as a nighty. Bad idea, but this was well worth it. Zach pinched his lips with his thumb and finger before he said, “They have a little girl called Hope.”
A smile spread across her face, and everything inside him melted.
Then he heard himself saying, “Soph’s got Hope tonight, Mia’s with Mark–” He hesitated as he searched her eyes. “I thought I'd come here, although Mi told me you’re a dragon.”
****
Mia followed Mark into the kitchen and watched him as he turned on the kettle and got the coffee and chocolate out of the cupboard, as well as the cups. She was tired. Beyond tired. Her bones felt heavy, and she sank onto the chair like a heavy sack.
“Sure you wanna talk?” Mark asked.
“I went to see Darren Schuster. I know he’s my dad,” she said quietly.
Mark stopped what he was doing, placed his hands onto the bench, and inhaled deeply.
“That’s not the bad part about the day,” she added.
Turning around, he raised his eyebrows questioningly.
“I ran away. Half the day, Zach had no idea where I was.” She stared at Mark, who was still silently staring at her. “Didn’t Jared tell you anything?”
“Jay?” he asked quietly. “How does he fit into all this, Mi?”
She shrugged, and he turned and finished off the drinks. He sat, pushed a cup towards her, and met her eyes. “Start from the beginning.” He yawned, and Mi felt awful. Here he was, sitting late night, listening to her instead of holding his new baby.
“How’s Sophie?”
That surprised him. “Come again?”
Mia closed her eyes as she sipped some of the hot chocolate, wondering whether she should go to bed and let Mark have some sleep. Have some sleep herself as well and talk to Sophie the next day. No, that would be too much for Sophie. Frustration grew in her again, feeling the fifth wheel in the family. Then she slowly placed the cup on the table and raised her eyes, but not to him.
“Zach and I had a fight. I was upset that he had never told me that he knew about my father. Really angry at Soph for not telling me,” she added quietly. Her eyes drifted over to the window, and she stared away into the night. “I bolted out the door and down to the marina.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw Mark rubbing the back of his neck. Worry written all over his face.
She sighed. “I remembered vaguely that Darren Schuster had mentioned the hotel he was staying at. So I walked over there.”
He cursed under his breath and oddly enough, Mia was glad to hear some reaction to her story, although she expected something more like sympathy.
“Basically, I don’t think he’s much father material, and then he told me all about some financial stuff he wants me to have or to do. Wayyyy beyond me.”
That made Mark’s eyebrows shoot up into his forehead.
“Anyway, upset about not actually meeting the father-of-the-year, I left. Then I was so confused and annoyed, because I still had all these questions to ask. You know. Like, about mum. I wonder whether he’d actually loved her.” Another sigh. “I wasn’t sure how Olivia’s mum would react, so I went to Jared’s.”
“Go on,” he encouraged her.
Another shrug. “Jared rang Zach. He picked me up. We went to have something to eat, talked, and then we came to the hospital.”
He took a long sip of his drink, not looking at her.
“Mark?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m really scared I pushed it too far with Zach.” Mia was barely able to finish the sentence, before her throat tightened up.
He stood and pushed the chair right next to her. “He’s a tough guy, but I have a feeling the story’s not quite finished.”
Yes, the tears were back. Wiping them away with the back of her hand she turned. “Don’t get mad, though.”
“Spill it, Mi.”
She hesitated, not really sure how to approach the issue without making the situation worse. Mark had always been good to her since the very first day, and she loved him for that. With a big lump in her throat and hands damp from sweat, she turned to meet his gaze dead-on.
“I felt completely alone today. As in,” she hesitated and wiped more tears. “I missed my mum and deep down inside I was hoping for a dad. A dad who’d care for me. Or listen to me. Does things with me. You know?”
Mia waited patiently as he closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. Her heart sank. Not only had she gone too far with Zach, but Mark didn’t seem happy with her either. When he spoke again, his voice was calm and full of warmth.
“Mia, sweetpea. I’m a bit at a loss where this comes from, and I’m sure that would’ve been Zach’s same initial thought. You’re one of us. You’re important to us, and I thought we do things with you.” He let out a long breath. “May I say that it was just a bit unfortunate today, with everything happening at once.”
He leaned forward and took her hands into his. “You’re the most important person to Soph. Believe me, you are. I’ve had a few struggles to find out.”
There was a slight smile on his face which made Mia smile as well.
Then he went on, “And whether you think she did you wrong, Soph did what she did with your best interests in mind. You have no idea how many nights she cried, hoping she’d raised you right. The nights she worried you were neglected.”
Mia choked back a small giggle. “Mark you’re supposed to comfort me, not make me feel guilty.”
“Sorry, ‘bout that,” he said with a smile. “As much as you’re my sis-in-law, you’re more like a too-old daughter to me, you know that right?”
She lifted her head to look at him.
“Right?”
And then she nodded.
“Just because Soph and I have a little girl, doesn’t mean you’re going to be the fifth wheel here. Quite the opposite, actually. You’re going to be the big sister for little Hope.”
“Auntie!”
He laughed. “Okay, auntie.” Then he looked at her with a seriousness that nearly gave her goose bumps. “You’re part of this whole journey, okay! I have no idea how it must feel like, not to have a mum, but don’t walk away from what you’ve got, because you’ve got tons. Soph and me, Zach–”
“Yeah, right… Zach,” she whispered.
“He’s only playing the cool dude. I’m sure if you go over tomorrow with a mud-cake, he’ll have already forgotten about it.”
Only a few minutes later Mia crawled into bed, exhausted by her conversation with Mark as well as by the events of the day.
“What colour eyes does little Hope have?” she screamed so he could hear her across the hall.
“She’s the spitting image of her dad,” he replied with as much pride in his voice as a new father could have.
“The poor little soul.” She giggled more to herself than to him.
Standing in the door and nearly making her jump out of her skin, he replied, “I heard that!”
Chapter Sixteen
When Mia woke up the next morning, she slowly made her way into the kitchen, which would’ve been easy even with her eyes closed. She just followed the smell of bacon and eggs.
Every part of her body ached, and her head felt heavy and drained, despite a very good sleep.
“Morning,” Mark greeted her.
“Mmm. That smells yum.”
“Have a seat. And once you’ve got your tummy satisfied, you can start telling me how Natasha fits into yesterday’s story.”
That certainly woke her. “Who?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “You know who. Miss Peterson.”
Instead of sitting down, she walked over to the cupboard and grabbed a mug. As she prepared a hot chocolate for herself, she tried to replay the previous day’s events. But as hard as she tried, she couldn’t figure out herself how her teacher w
ould fit in there, either.
“What makes you think she was part of the story?”
Mark placed the eggs and bacon on the plates and walked over to the table. “She rang a few minutes ago, congratulating us on the birth of the baby. Hope. She knew the name.”
“Good news travels fast in a small town,” she replied nonchalantly.
“And she asked how you’re feeling and whether you'd made it home safe.”
That got her stumped, and she slowly turned to Mark.
“Exactly, Mia. Why would she ask and how would she know?”
She honestly had no idea so she shrugged and walked over to the table and sat next to Mark. “What did she say?”
The eyebrow moved up again and she placed her finger onto his forehead to push it down. “Stop the eyebrow wriggling, will ya.”
“I told you already.”
Before Mia could say anything, the front door opened.
Zach’s voice boomed through the hall. “Good morning.”
Almost instantly, her heart thumped with frantic force and breathing was somewhat tricky. No way was she ready yet for an in-depth conversation with apologies and explanations. She stared at him as he walked into the kitchen. He looked the way she felt, exhausted and worn out. Except Zach had coarse stubbles covering his face. However, his energetic step radiated the opposite. He came closer and placed a kiss on top of her head and nodded towards Mark.
“Feeling better today?”
She nodded, not quite sure where this was going.
“Going to see the new family member?”
“Yes,” she answered hesitantly, looking over to her brother-in-law. “We are, aren’t we?”
“We certainly will. You coming?”
Zach scratched his jaw. “I’d better clean up first. In desperate need for a shower.”
Mark stood and took his plate to the sink. “Have you ever met Mia’s teacher Miss Peterson.”
That took Mia by surprise, and she turned to look at Zach who had the biggest smile on his face.
“Yup. I met her the other day at the sports ground. She’s the dragon teacher.” He winked towards Mia. Then his eyes moved and focused on his hands. “She also helped me search for Miss Runaway yesterday.” His voice was less confident than before, which surprised Mia.
“Now it all makes sense.”
“D’you wanna fill in the blanks for me, mate?”
Mark turned and walked over to the table where he leaned on one of the chairs. “Natasha rang this morning asking about Hope and Mia. We couldn’t figure out how she knew, that was all.”
Zach turned to Mia. “Had a good talk?”
Heat crept up her cheeks and Mia nodded. “I’m sorry if I said something last night that upset you,” she said quietly.
Touching her nose with the tip of his finger, he replied, “Not to worry, pumpkin. It wasn’t the easiest day for you.” He tilted his head towards Mark and continued, “Did you get things sorted with the man?”
She smiled. “Yes, I did.”
“So why Natasha?” Mark suddenly asked.
They both turned to look at him, and then the focus moved to Zach.
“What?”
“Why did you go to see Natasha?”
Zach shrugged. “She was the one that came to mind.”
“I don’t like her,” Mia explained.
Another shrug. “I do.”
Out of the corner of her eye she noticed how Mark gently pulled on his earlobe. “Watch out, his mind is working overtime.” She pointed over her shoulder to her brother-in-law with her thumb. “He does that when he’s thinking things through.”
Zach took Mia’s fork and helped himself to a piece of bacon. “What are you thinking through, mate?”
With a slight frown on his face, Mark replied, “Not sure. But, hey, I might be wrong, but, the need for a shower this morning threw me. Not to mention your car’s in our driveway.”
Without looking up, Zach helped himself to more food off Mia’s plate and stood. “I suppose I’d better go and throw this shower now.” Then he turned to her and winked. “We’re good, right?”
Relief rushed through her. “Right!”
Mia took the fork and finished eating her breakfast. When they heard the front door shut, Mark sat next to her. His question surprised her.
“How much does he like Natasha?”
She finished chewing on her bacon. “I don’t know. I didn’t know–”
“What?”
“When you did your earlobe thingy, what kind of crazy assumption did you come up with?”
The sudden silence was numbing until Mark stood. The sound of the chair scraping across the floor sounded like a shotgun, and she flinched. Mia wasn’t really sure what to read into Mark’s couple of gestures and remarks. Certainly, he wasn’t thinking that Zach… no way! After all, she, Miss Peterson, was a dragon! And what was the comment about the car in the driveway and no shower. A headache started behind her eyes, and it wasn’t even noon. The last thing she wanted was another day similar to the previous one.
She was about to put all the riddles into a question, when Mark said, “Let’s get ready. I’ve got two-thirds of my girls waiting for me.”
The thought of her little niece distracted Mia immediately from the question he hadn’t answered.
****
Taking his time in the shower, Zach let the hot water ease his tension. He had spent all night at Natasha’s, on her sofa, not in her bed, but knowing she was so close had eluded him from a decent sleep. As he climbed out of the shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist and then made his way to the kitchen. Coffee was what the doctor ordered, and he wanted to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.
He smiled. Another little girl in the O’Connor household and probably, or he certainly hoped so, another girl for him to babysit. Though not until she was at least eight years old. He was in his mid-thirties and finally had found someone he could go the long way with. It sounded ridiculous in his head, because he wasn’t sure whether either Natasha was the one for him, or if he could actually make a statement like that after only a few days of knowing her. Though she was a brilliant kisser. On the flip side, it had been a while since he’d kissed a girl. That song came into his head, and he was instantly annoyed with himself. He quickly sipped his coffee, ate the toasted sandwich, and made his way to the hospital – past the shops for the toys he needed to buy. And possibly a small something for his new lady as a thanks for the previous day, on both accounts, for helping and listening. Not to mention it’d be an opportunity for him to see her again.
Within only a short time, he made it to the hospital. He didn’t really like hospitals. Remembering the days on end he had spent with Clara in hospitals while she'd received treatment for her cancer. They had spent days and days in that small room together. Sometimes she'd been so sick she hadn't been able to talk, and he would sit and hold her hands or read her from a book. Other days she'd felt better and they’d play cards or imagined being on a journey to different countries. When she had lost her fight, he'd promised himself to stay away from hospitals. But, this day was different, though still weary, he rushed up to the maternity ward with quick steps.
Presents and flowers in his arms, he was ready to face the new girl in his life.
“Oh, they’re beautiful,” Sophie smiled as she took the flowers and thrust the baby into his arms.
“Oh…. erhm… she’s beautiful, too,” he muttered.
“You’re such a liar.” She laughed.
Zach looked around and noticed lots of flowers, lots of wrapping paper, and an enormous amount of cards, but not Mark or Mia. “Deserted already by the family?”
“Bonding time,” she winked.
He choked back a laugh. “How much did they tell you?”
Sophie adjusted the baby’s head in his arms and then gently pushed him into the comfortable seat next to the window. “Well, let’s say enough for me to be all curious about you and Nat.” Her gr
in was as wide as those on the smilie faces online.
He shook his head. “You’re a shocker, honestly.”
“Tell me something I don’t know!”
Laughing, he tried to sit comfortably, as well as avoid her gaze. “Honestly, Soph, there’s nothing to tell. I’m not sure why she came to mind when I needed help yesterday, but I rang her, she helped and I was really grateful.”
“Looks like you’re going to be on babysitter duty for number two as well.” She pointed at Hope who was in a deep sleep on his arms.
Grateful that the subject of Natasha was so easily dropped, he smiled. “Don’t push it, sweetheart!”
“Zach?”
Not moving his gaze from the small little bundle in his arms, he merely nodded.
“Don’t hurt her, right?”
“Well, you’d better have her back then. She’s so tiny.”
Sophie giggled. “Zach. I was talking about Natasha.”
Looking up, he noticed the seriousness in her eyes but still played it down. “I’m offended. Did I ever hurt anybody?”
“She’s had a bit of a hard time recently. It involves a man she was with.”
He moved his eyes towards her without moving his head. “I’m not gonna hurt her.”
Sophie sat next to him. “Everyone else would’ve asked for details, but not you.”
He shrugged. “If this is really turning into something, she’ll tell me when she’s ready.”
With a gentle slap on his arm, she said, “See, I knew there was more than just helping out last night.” She laughed.
He held up Hope in front of him and said, “Your mum is wicked. Be aware!”
Placing a kiss on his cheek, Sophie said, “Thanks for the presents. I love the teddy.”
He looked up at her and met her eyes. “Never thought that a little thing like that could stir up something in me, but fair dinkum, she’s a cutie!”
“Ever the charmer.”
“You look well, too.”
She leaned back into the seat. “Hurts like they took an elephant out of me, but I’m okay. I’m just glad she only had to spend the night in the NICU. She’s all good now.”
