Page 37 of The Scrum-Half (Lincoln Knights #3)

THREE YEARS LATER

Harper

“Daddy! Puddle! It’s my birthday!” Jack yelled as he flung himself onto our bed, giggling and wriggling into the space between Matty and me. His flame red hair was sticking up at odd angles where he’d emerged from the cocoon he tended to sleep in.

“Happy birthday,” I said, my voice still thick with sleep as I put my arm out to give Jack a cuddle.

“Happy birthday, pumpkin,” Matty said without really opening his eyes as he rolled over and enveloped the two of us in his embrace, making Jack laugh. “How long have you been awake?”

“Er, not long,” Jack said. “About five minutes.” He held out his hand, fingers splayed, his freshly painted birthday nails looking as good as they had last night. He’d hate having to take them off in the morning for school, but it was the same thing we did every weekend.

“Not sure I believe that,” Matty said roughly, kissing Jack’s temple loudly. “Puddle and I could hear you moving around ages ago.”

“I went to the toilet,” Jack said indignantly. “Then I read Doctor Doctor and Giraffe a story because they couldn’t sleep and you said we had to stay in bed until the clock went yellow and the little hand was on the seven. Which it is!”

“And now, I suppose, you would like birthday pancakes?” Matty asked. His arm was still thrown over us, gently squeezing us all together.

“Yes, please! With chocolate chips and strawberries!”

“Okay then,” Matty said, not really making any attempt to move. “Let’s go downstairs. There might even be some presents for you too.”

Jack squealed happily and clapped his hands. “Get up then, Daddy!”

“One more minute,” Matty said and pretended to snore very loudly.

It wasn’t a bad imitation of his normal snoring, which was the result of having broken his nose multiple times throughout his life, some of which hadn’t been set properly.

I’d eventually learned how to sleep through it, but it had been touch and go a few times.

And sometimes when it was really bad in the winter, usually when Matty had a cold, one of us tended to move into one of the spare rooms so we both got enough sleep.

“No,” Jack said with a laugh as Matty squeezed us harder. “Puddle, make him stop it.”

“Come on, grumble bum,” I said, pushing my fiancé off us and laughing at the face he pulled. He looked gorgeously rumpled, his mane of hair making him look more like a lion than ever. “Breakfast time.”

Matty grinned and shot me a wink. “Fine, you win, but I want a kiss first.”

“Yuck! You two are gross!” Jack said as he climbed out from between us and slid off the bed, heading towards the door at full speed.

Which was pretty much how he went through most of life, accompanied by a lot of laughter and sass.

The only time he was really focused was when he was at gymnastics, which he absolutely adored doing.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Matty said, cupping my jaw and drawing me in for a kiss. “Ready for the chaos?”

“I think so,” I said, humming happily as he kissed me slowly. “As long as there’s tea, we’ll be okay.”

“I got us some ice cream for later too. It’s hidden in the back of the freezer behind the frozen veg inside an old tub with ‘Stew’ scrawled on the top.”

“You’re the best.”

“I know,” he said with a smirk. Then he sighed. “We should actually get up before Jack opens all his presents without us.”

“He’s probably waiting for us at the top of the stairs,” I said, stealing one more kiss before I pulled away to climb out of bed, grabbing my glasses off the bedside table and shoving my hair into a messy bun.

I watched Matty pulling on an old Knights T-shirt, mostly focusing on the way the pyjama shorts he was wearing hugged his arse.

He’d decided this season would be his last in professional rugby because he’d finally reached the point where his body just wasn’t able to cope with the physical intensity of the game.

He’d already had surgery on his ankle last November and although he’d recovered well, he’d said it was a sign enough was enough.

Maybe once he’d retired we’d actually get round to planning our wedding. We’d been engaged for nearly two years now, but we’d never actually organised anything because life had simply gotten in the way.

Although since I’d be starting my master’s degree from September, I didn’t think that would leave much time for planning either.

We’d get there one day, but it wasn’t a priority.

We loved each other and we were completely committed to this family—we didn’t really need anything else.

Maybe we’d book something in with the local registry office over the summer, even if it would disrupt Jack’s plans of having us get married at Disneyland or Legoland.

Sugar beans, I couldn’t believe our little gothic pumpkin was turning six.

I’d been in his life for over three years now, and I loved him so much it hurt sometimes. He’d started calling me Puddle about nine months after Matty and I had told him we were together, and while we still had no idea where it had come from, it had stuck and I loved being his Puddle.

I walked around the bed and kissed Matty’s cheek quickly before following him out onto the landing. As I’d expected, Jack was waiting at the top of the stairs with his enormous battered plague doctor plushie next to him.

“Come on, please,” he said. “Or me and Doctor Doctor will die of death.”

Matty gasped playfully. “Oh no, can’t have that. Poor Doctor Doctor!”

“And me.”

“And you.” Matty ruffled his hair. “Better get downstairs then.”

Jack got up and shot off down the stairs, dragging Doctor Doctor with him. I grinned as I followed him and Matty down, waiting for the inevitable screams of glee when Jack saw the bike waiting for him in the dining room. It wasn’t easy to wrap, so we’d opted just to tie some ribbon around it.

There were also some wrapped gifts including a helmet, some new books, a LEGO set, and a Sylvanian Families set, which he’d become obsessed with over the last year.

We tried to encourage him to use his imagination, so while he did have a kids’ tablet with a few games, he didn’t get much time with it and we’d avoided getting more digital presents.

Hannah and Marissa were coming over later with a few more gifts, but their big surprise was the trampoline they’d bought for their garden.

I still wasn’t quite sure how my sister and Hannah had ended up together, but apparently they’d started chatting at a family lunch and then one weekend when Marissa was babysitting so Matty and I could try a night away, Hannah had turned up at the front door and it’d gone from there.

They were surprisingly good for each other, and it had been fun, if a little awkward, to watch their relationship bloom.

Hannah still worked away a lot, although not as much as she had, and she and Marissa had bought a house not too far from us. It wasn’t particularly convenient for Hannah to get to London, but it made it easier for her to see Jack and she’d said that was what mattered most.

I could see her getting closer to Jack the older he got, and she’d confessed that while it was still hard, she was feeling more comfortable because she could simply treat him like a small adult.

I didn’t think she and Marissa would have any kids of their own, and while Matty and I had discussed having another child, it wasn’t on the cards at the moment.

We were happy with it just being the three of us.

Although maybe we’d get a cat at some point. A big fluffy one.

As predicted, the bike went down incredibly well and Jack was desperate to try it out, which we promised he could do as soon as we’d had breakfast.

Matty made chocolate chip banana pancakes and crispy bacon while I chopped up some fruit and got the jar of Nutella out of the cupboard.

Jack bounced around happily, chatting nineteen to the dozen about everything from gymnastics, to his friends at school, to which dinosaur he thought would make the best pet and why he should be allowed to get a snake as a pet.

That was definitely not happening.

Not until he was eighteen at least and could pay for it himself, and another freezer for whatever was needed to feed it.

I watched Matty fondly as he tried to answer Jack’s questions and explain why no, he was not having a snake at only six.

When I’d first arrived three years ago, I’d never dreamed things would turn out like this.

Yes, I’d thought Matty was handsome but I hadn’t imagined we’d end up like this.

I’d always hoped I’d have a family and partner who loved me as fiercely and devotedly as Matty did, but sometimes it had only ever felt like a fantasy.

And now here I was, living the life of my dreams.

I had the best partner in the world and the most wonderful son, even if he was currently trying to lick Nutella off the edge of the jar.

My heart was full, and despite the challenges, I wouldn’t change anything.

I was just going to hold on to what I’d been given and enjoy every single moment.

For the rest of my life.

The End