Page 46 of Everything After (Everything Trilogy)

ALFIE

ONE MONTH LATER

Lily flopped down on our large sectional sofa with her wild curly hair sprawled all around her. The contrast between her pale skin and rosy cheeks made her look flushed and adorable. She glanced up at me through her lashes and gave me a seductive smile.

I immediately sank to my knees, pushed her legs apart and closed the space between us.

“I’m stoked that everyone loves the album.

There were one or two songs that I felt shouldn’t have been there, but once they’d been reworked, one of them is surprisingly being the first to be released as an EP,” Lily gushed, looking pleased with herself.

“You mean track number four on the LP. ‘Am I There?’ that song?” I guessed that Lily had written it without the band knowing she was pregnant.

She hadn’t told me she’d penned new lyrics either, but I’d have had to be deaf not to hear the emotional insecurities in the tone of the words the song held.

Lily broke our gaze, stretched her arms above her head and stared at the ceiling. “You know it’s about me, right?”

“I do. And I’m here to say, I’m with you all the way. If you want to work once the baby is here, who am I to stop you?”

Lowering her arms, she stared me straight in the eye. “I know, and I do trust you,” she replied, reaching for my head and sifting her fingers through my hair.

“This little one is going to be loved,” I said, spreading my hands over her still flat belly. I pushed her top up and stroked my palms across her smooth soft skin. “You know, you’re almost a third of the way there,” I remarked.

“Which is why now is the right time to tell everyone. I didn’t want to say anything before in case something went wrong. Can you imagine how the band would treat me?”

I could. They all adored Lily, fawned over her welfare, and have always been protective of her in the past. “What time are the caterers coming tomorrow?” I asked.

“8:30 a.m., Hazel and Keith will be staying this week. So they’ll be using the pool house.”

Lily didn’t like the idea of full-time staff at our home but conceded that we’d needed to bridge the gap, for the times when we were in transit.

The couple we employed part-time filled that void. Keith kept our house shipshape while we were away by doing regular maintenance on the place. He also managed and oversaw the landscapers and pool guy, while Hazel deep cleaned each time we left and replenished our supplies.

“Who all will be staying?” I asked. Lily sat up, dug in her jeans pocket and pulled out her smart phone.

“Let’s see… Rick, Lennie and Coral, your sister Layla and James, Andy, Des, their plus ones, Gibson and Chloe, Elle and Drew…

Elle’s mom is having the kids. Jack and Mya, their kids are staying at Elle’s along with Mya’s mom.

Digs and Shawn, not sure about plus ones for them, but they’ll head back over to Miami.

You know them, they love nothing better than clubbing as opposed to going to bed.

” Lily smiled, then her eyes widened. “Oh, I almost forgot, Holly and Brett, of course.”

“And Cody?” I probed.

“And Cody,” she remarked flatly. “Alfie, please, let’s not be weird. I want peace in my life. I can only say this so many times, I am completely uninterested in Cody in any capacity apart from our band business.”

I nodded because Lily needed my agreement. Beside everyone else in her band was invited, it would cause working relationship waves if we left him out. And I had requests of my own, which I believed might cause Lily some stress.

“Can I make some additions?” I asked, climbing back to my feet and sitting on the sectional seating beside her.

“Sure, but not too many,” she mumbled.

“No, only three,” I agreed.

“Okay, will you take care of their invitation or should I. Who are they?”

“Sienna, Kara and Poppy,” I said with a sheepish grin.

“Any particular reason?” Lily asked, her tone stilted like she was swallowing an argument for Sienna not to come.

“Yeah, I want to catch up with Kara and Poppy. I really want to get them settled. Ever since I made my money, I’ve wanted to find them and help her.”

“And Sienna?” she probed.

“I could have said more about Cody, but I’d tried to be the bigger man.

Besides, Gary was Sienna’s brother, and I kind of feel some responsibility for her.

I mean, she’s single, her parents passed, and she doesn’t have anyone else…

apart from Kara and Poppy. I can hardly invite them without inviting Sienna.

After all, they’re living in her house.”

“Right,” Lily muttered, nodding as she considered my reasoning. When she began to slightly rock back and forth, I realized how uncomfortable my invitation was for her.

“If we’re talking about trust, and I’m willing to tolerate Cody, I figured you might meet me halfway and do the same courtesy for me with Sienna.”

“But I’ve never slept with Cody,” Lily insisted.

Changing position, I looked into Lily’s suspicious eyes and tried to swallow back my frustration. “Jesus, I was a boy then, and it wasn’t at all memorable,” I argued. “But if it’s going to upset you that much, scratch the three of them off your list,” I conceded without a hint of malice.

Lily’s worried eyes searched my face, and I saw the moment they softened. “No, you’re right. This is my hangup. Since the day we married, you’ve never given me cause to worry about being unfaithful.”

I smiled, cupped her face in my hands and slowly pressed a kiss to her lips. “Baby, I’d have to be stupid to swap out what we have for anything else. As Sinéad O’Conner once sang, “Nothing Compares 2 U.”

Lily dropped her forehead to mine and swallowed audibly. “I’m so thankful we worked things out, Alfie Black, because you’re my everything.”

Standing, I pulled my wife to her feet. “Dance with me,” I said. “It feels like forever since I had you in my arms on a dance floor.”

“Well, you’d better get in quick if you want it to be a slow close-up one. You won’t be able to get near me in another few months.”

Bending, I swiped the music system’s remote control from the coffee table, switched it on and instantly “Baby Don’t Hurt Me” by David Guetta filled the room. It was the song that had been playing when I’d last turned it off.

Lily leaned back, glanced up at me and the instant connection we shared was immediately there between us. “Fuck that,” I muttered and pressed shuffle.

A wide grin spread on our lips simultaneously when “Come a Little Closer” by Dierks Bentley began to play.

“Now you’re talking,” I said, sliding one arm around Lily’s waist while the other cradled her head.

Pulling her closer, I held her flush with my body, dipped my knees, and whispered close in her ear, “You are my life, Lily Black.”

When she lifted her head to look at me, tears shone in her eyes. Stopping, she reached up and pulled my head down. “Ditto, Mr. Black.”