I'm Yours Only, Sophie J Brain [i am malala young readers edition txt] 📗

he gave her spoke volumes. His eyes were tortured and she could see the confusion that he was feeling inside. She couldn’t imagine how hard it must all be for him.

“I know why you don’t want to believe it” she continued “Kevin was your best friend, of course you don’t want to think he could do something like that. I didn’t want to believe it myself.”

He sat next to her again and she saw that he had tears in his eyes “Nicky, I don’t know what to say.”

She shook her head as she battled against her own tears. “I know you got angry with me because there was no one else to be angry at. Can we just not talk about it? For the last four years all I’ve done is carry this around with me, I just want to move on now. Please don’t be angry with me. I just want my daddy back.”

He took all of her and hugged her close to his body; she felt his tears fall onto her head but made no attempt to move away. She just enjoyed his embrace; she hugged him closer and felt his warmth spread throughout her body.

He would always be her protector. She had realised over the last week how much her parents meant to her. No matter how old she was or whatever happened in the future, deep down she knew that she would always need her mum and dad.

 

Chapter Sixteen

 

Chapter Sixteen

 

Two days later, Chris packed his bag ready to make his way home. After receiving Michelle’s phone call, both he and Paul had rushed back to the house. They had found her in bed and buckled over in the pain. Chris had then taken her to the hospital, Paul following closely behind, where after a long fourteen hour labour, they had welcomed Mark Timothy Foster to the world.

Before he had left for Chelle’s Nicky had told him that being an uncle was a great responsibility. He had known what she meant the second he had held his nephew. Love had washed over him like nothing he had ever experienced before.

As Mark got older it would be Chris’ job to help Michelle and Paul. During the tricky teenage years, Chris knew that he would have to act as the peacemaker when Mark and his sister fought.

After seeing the interactions between Chelle and Paul, he had had to admit that he was not surprised that they had broken up. While he didn’t like the way Paul had chosen to end things, Chris had to admit that it was obvious they no longer loved each other.

Having a bit of time before he was due to leave for Crowmarsh, and with his sister resting in bed, Chris decided to take a walk around the area.

After about twenty minutes of slow walking, he found himself by the Ladygrove Lakes. He sat down on a bench nearby and watched as people went about their daily routine. He was already feeling lighter being back in Didcot and he knew that he would never be able to leave it so long before visiting again.

About fifteen minutes after he had sat down Chris heard someone call his name. He turned around and saw Gary, his third cousin, walking towards him.

“I thought that was you.” Gary smiled as he sat down “what brings you here?” “Visiting Chelle” Chris replied “she had her baby yesterday.”

“Well congrats to her” Gary smiled “I saw her only the other day and she looked ready to burst then.” Chris smiled; his cousin had a rather abrupt way of putting things, something he found refreshing “I hear you just got promoted, the job going well?” Gary nodded “I’m working in Reading now, I should probably move there but, you know, we have roots here.” “Where are you living now?”

“Dart Drive” he replied “It’s a nice house.”

“I’m thinking of moving back here myself” Chris murmured “just need to sort some things out in Crowmarsh.”

Gary sighed and stood up “well I had better be off; I will see you soon I’m sure.”

It could have been his imagination but Chris was sure he saw Gary scanning the park as he left. He shook his head, sure that he was just imagining things, and then stood up.

It was time for him to start making the right choices in his life.

 

Nicky smiled as saw Greg, the two of them had arranged to meet so they could discuss what to do about Eloise. Greg had already decided to cancel the rest of his travel plans, and luckily he had not yet paid anything for them so no money was lost.

Eloise, who already had some idea about Greg’s feelings, had confided in Nicky that she, too, planned to move back home. It seemed that she had already put in a transfer request with her work before Nicky’s wedding, the sneaky minx.

Greg arrived at the café and sat down opposite Nicky. They had decided to meet in Wallingford, about one mile from Crowmarsh, mainly to avoid bumping into Eloise but also to get a change of scenery. Nicky had spent so much of the last week in turmoil that she had needed to get out of Crowmarsh, even if it was just a mile out.

She had managed to talk things through with her dad and she finally felt like she was putting the past behind her. In some ways this was good but in others is had been a curse, it meant that she now had to think about the future. As such she had spent two days overthinking and overanalysing her relationship with Chris.

There was still feeling there, she knew that, but was it based on current love or past? They hadn’t had any closure, which alone would lead to unsolved feelings. She didn’t want to spend more of her life with the wrong person; on the other hand she had known that she wanted to be with Chris since she had first laid eyes on him.

She knew that she would always care for him and that he would always have a place in her heart but was it all enough? Everything about their relationship previously had been set to fail; maybe they just weren’t right for each other.

“Nicky?”

She blinked her vision back into focus and smiled “sorry, I was day dreaming.”

“How have you been?” he asked.

“As well as to be expected” she replied “I’m seeing Boris later to pick up the rest of my things.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

She shook her head “I will be fine, besides we digress. When are you going to tell Eloise how you feel?”

“I don’t know” he replied “I want her to know how serious I am, I need a gesture.”

Something in his eyes scared her “Greg, what are you planning?”

He shrugged “I was thinking about proposing.”

Nicky’s mouth fell open “You will scare the poor girl, listen just take things slow all right, tell her how you feel and go from there.”

Greg nodded “maybe that is the better plan.”

 

About two hours later, Chris arrived home feeling more refresh and relaxed than when he left. He sat down in the lounge and glanced at the familiar surroundings. The house had never been much of a home to him; he had rarely spent any time there. It had been blanketed with loneliness after his break up with Nicky and he always tried to find a reason to be out of it.

The weekends had always been spent in the pub and the weekdays had usually been with Tom, when he hadn’t been available Chris had gone the café or the library. It hadn’t really mattered as long as he hadn’t been at home. He had barely been back for ten minutes before he heard a knock at the door. It was Tom.

Chris showed him into the lounge and sat back down, Tom sat opposite him and smiled “here he is, the weary traveller. How is Michelle?”

Chris raised his eyebrows at the question “she gave birth yesterday.”

“Well that is lovely.” Tom beamed “I bet she was happy with that.”

“She is separated from Paul” Chris continued “they will probably get divorced.”

Something flashed over Tom’s face “that is terrible, I am very sorry for her.”

Chris blinked, he didn’t seem very surprised by the news but then it wasn’t like Tom and Michelle were overly close. His lack of surprise was more than likely just disinterest in the topic.

“What brings you my way?” he asked.

Tom shrugged “I saw your car in the drive and thought I’d be a bother, fancy a walk?”

Chris grinned and stood up “you are never a bother, and I would love one.”

They walked in silence for a few moments, Chris was glad to be left to his own thoughts. He now knew what he wanted but had no idea how to get it. There was much history between him and Nicky that he had no idea where to start from. He wanted to be with her for the rest of his life, he knew that much at least, but he couldn’t jump in all guns blazing. She had just come out of a lengthy engagement and he did not want to scare her with his intentions.

The best course of action would be to invite her for a drink, nothing too serious, just to catch up and get to know each other again. Four years was a long time and he had no doubt that they were both different people now.

“So are you still in love with this girl?” Tom asked as they entered a nearby field.

“I think I will ask her to join me for a drink” Chris replied “I saw her before visiting Michelle; she seemed to be very refreshed.”

Tom nodded “as long as you are sure.”

Chris smiled “more than sure, she’s the one.”

They turned a corner in the field and stood for a moment. Like Chris, Tom was also a people watcher and they eyed the crowd in silence.

That was when he saw her, Nicky, walking along a path in the field, quite obviously looking for someone. He nudged Tom, who immediately knew what was afoot, and they watched her together.

 

Nicky had rushed to the field as soon as she had got El’s text message but once she arrived she found it hard to find her. Curiosity could not describe what was going through her body. She knew that Greg planned to tell El how he felt but that should hardly lead to a frantic message. It wasn’t like El wasn’t a little aware of his feelings already.

When she eventually found them, huddled in some small corner under a tree, she found that she didn’t know what to say. They were in each other’s arms, kissing passionately, and very nearly making love right where they were.

She coughed and they both turned to her, and that was when she noticed the ring box, she turned to Greg “I thought I told you not to propose?”

Eloise smiled “he didn’t, I did.”

“You did?”

“But I refused” Greg announced.

Nicky blinked, when she had lost the thread of the conversation? She was usually one step ahead of her friends not three steps back. “You refused?”

“And then I proposed” Greg replied.

“And I accepted” El beamed “isn’t it wonderful?”

Nicky looked into the distance, not quite