Page 45 of Dreams Do Come True

He laughs. “No apologies needed, plus it’s not the first time I’ve shared my meal with a child. I was thinking we could turn the downstairs lounge into a children’s playroom .”

“That would be perfect, thank you,” I say. At least, I’m not the only one who thought that would make a good children’s room.

I look at Temp, who is now baby-free and see Cass happily holding River and chatting to him.

“When are you and Ben adopting?” I ask Temp for fun, cutting into my sausage.

“We’re not,” Temp replies, as if the answer was obvious.

“We’re both happy being uncles to whatever children come into the family,” Ben says, taking a drink of his coffee.

Molly cackles out a laugh.

We all turn to look at her.

“Don’t cackle like that, you crazy witch,” Temp says to her. “That’s your ‘I know something you don’t’cackle.”

“We’re really not cut out to be full-time parents,” Ben insists.

Molly cackles again. “The future is a funny thing. I can’t wait to see what happens.”

Temp drops his head on Ben’s arm.

I pat his back as the rest of us laugh at them.

“So, is this the reason you want a wedding?” Cassie asks, looking at us.

“We were going to get married anyway, having the boys just made us bring it forward,” Kean replies, before eating some bacon.

“What time is the delivery van coming?” Jude asks. “You know, one of us would have brought our van up, right?”

“And spoil the surprise?” Sal says, laughing. “Of course, they would hire one.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Jude replies, giving Connie some chopped banana.

“He should be here about eleven. We have all the furniture from Lyric’s room and what would have been River’s room,” Kean says.

“The room opposite yours is empty, if you want that one as well,” Adhan offers, feeding Lyric some sausage.

“Cheers, Bro,” Kean says, saluting him with his mug.

“I’m suddenly glad we have such a large house,” Cam says.

“Me too,” Adhan says. “I might moan, but having everyone here is lovely.”

“It really is,” Emily agrees. “Plus, I get to see my grandchildren every day.”

“Now we’re home, we need to start bringing structure into their lives. They’ve not had any yet, apart from River’s four hourly feeds,” Kean says.

“I can imagine. You’ll settle into one soon enough,” Emily says, who is now holding River.

It would seem the baby is being passed around the table, and Lyric is happily eating off Adhan’s plate.

Sal stands up. “Right, I’m off,” he says, kissing Connie and Jude.

“Me too,” Nix adds. “Have fun, everyone.”

Sal and Nix leave together. It’s then that I notice that Ernest, Alfred and Justice are missing.