The Meeting

Twice

Eagle-eyed fans were quick to pick up on the quote, taking to Twitter to discuss it:

@username: my heart sank when I read 'because my marriage is over' :(

@username1: how are we meant to believe in love if Alex and Leah didn't make it?

@username2: fuck the media. They literally made Leah and Alex break up

@username3: Leah's 'fatigue' issue that kept her away from her business' one year party and Stand Up To Cancer turns out to be heartbreak :(

@username4: You know what, Leah and Alex have done love proud. They gave it everything they could. If people had just stopped dissecting their relationship.

A close friend of the ex-couple told us "they tried everything they could, but when the kids began to suffer they had to make a tough decision. They will continue to co-parent Aoife and Theo, and of course the little one that is yet to be born." When asked if they saw a reconciliation between the pair, they told us "no, it's definitely over this time. Alex moved out a few weeks ago but has been seeing the children daily. They both just want privacy, and a chance to heal from the obvious hurt they are feeling."

I stared at my phone in disbelief, I didn't believe that I would ever have to read anything that said Leah and I had split; but I had been expecting that it would come soon. I felt a twinge in my chest, a growth of pain that I hadn't felt from news articles before.

"I can't believe you kicked me out." I announced as I walked into the living room with my phone still in my hand.
"I can't believe I had to miss my business party because you broke my heart, Alex. But here we are." Leah held eye contact with me.
"I'm kind of glad it's out there now, I hated people thinking I was such a soppy cow for you."

Leah tried to hold a straight face, but failed miserably as I finished my sentence and sat down beside her.

"You are a soppy cow for me, but I'm one for you too." She smiled as she placed her head on my chest.
"How long do we leave it?"
"Should we see who they decide you've cheated with?"
"Yeah. I hope it's someone fit." I chuckled as Leah pelted a cushion across my face.

Wait, did you think it hurt to read it because it was true? It hurt to read it because I could never imagine a time when Leah and I would read those articles and feel that sense of exposure, knowing that our life had been splashed across the front pages of newspapers around the world. It couldn't have been less true though, which is why Leah and I were able to laugh about it, trying to decide which close friend had been paid £500 to give an untrue insight into our failing marriage as we cuddled on the sofa listening to the noise of our children playing.

One Twitter comment was right, Leah didn't have fatigue issues, she had been playing spaceships with Theo and gave herself a nasty cut, just above her eyebrow. After the tornado of speculation we had dealt with in recent months, we had decided that it was best to call it a fatigue issue and keep Leah out of the public eye until the wound had healed, rather than have some troll on social media start a rumour that I had hit her. Before the children, we wouldn't have thought twice about these things, but we always feared that if anything happened to us, these stories could convince our children as they got older that their childhood wasn't what they remembered.

"Mummy, mummy, mummyyyyyyyy!"
"Yes, Theo?" Leah laughed at his impatience.
"What time are we doing it?"
"Soon, mate. We still need to have dinner."
"What're we doing?" I asked.
"Making a den!" Theo said as he jumped onto my lap.
"A den? How're we going to do that?" I gasped.
"You'll see. Me and mummy planned it last night."
"I can't wait, go wash your hands before dinner please." I kissed his head.

As Theo disappeared through the door I felt Leah's shoulder begin to bounce against me, hearing the faint sound of her laughter.

"What's so funny?" I asked, now giggling along with her.
"Alex, I have no fucking idea how to make a den. He wouldn't sleep last night so I agreed to this, I thought he would forget."
"Better get googling." I teased her as she placed her head in her hands dramatically.

Our takeaway arrived almost as soon as the kids had returned from washing their hands, both changed into their pyjamas and sitting excitedly at the table for their treat dinner. Dinner was usually filled with talk of spaceships, football, and random facts that they thought Leah and I would fall for. That night, Aoife blurted out a random statement, one that would give Leah and I a lot to talk about.

"I wish we were at your wedding." She sighed.
"Huh? Where did that come from?" I asked.
"I do too." Theo grinned.
"Matilda's parents got married last weekend, and she got to wear a big floaty dress."
"Wait - do I have to wear a dress?" Theo chirped in.
"You can wear whatever you want, silly." I smiled at him.
"Can you only get married once?" Aoife asked.
"Yeah - well - kind of."
"Why?"
"Well, you get married because you want to be with someone forever. Sometimes it doesn't work out for people though, but it did for me and mummy." I smiled as I felt Leah's hand land on my lap.
"What do the people who it doesn't work out for do then?"
"Well, some of them get married again."
"Can you not just get married again then?" Aoife made eye contact with both of us.
"Yeah, we could." Leah's words startled me, her eyes looking for my reaction.
"Please please please!" The kids chanted.
"Eat up, eejits." I laughed.

Building a den was hard when Theo was the person in charge, he didn't want the simple blanket over two chairs type of den. He had us rummaging around for cable ties, pulling fairy lights from one room into the other to decorate the den, he lined up the snacks in alphabetical order and rearranged the pillows more times than we could count. It did look really fucking cool though. Once he was happy with his (our) work, he drew T's on the back of our hands to ensure only those permitted could enter the den. Leah and I carried the tv in before dropping the blanket door and snuggling up at either side of the two, settling down to watch a movie, and eating a disgusting amount of sweets and chocolate until all four of us declared that we felt sick. We allowed them to pick a second movie, but half an hour in they had both fallen sound asleep, a crash from their sugar rush kicking in.

Leah and I made our way to bed, both laughing at Theo's bossiness earlier in the night and talking through our toothbrushes in the bathroom. We climbed into bed, finding the arms of one another as we often did and discussing the days events, and anything else that we happened to stumble upon. Like marriage.

"Did you really think it was a silly idea earlier?" Leah said softly into my neck.
"What was a silly idea, Le?"
"Us, getting married."

I playfully grabbed her hand, finding her wedding ring and letting out a dramatic breath.

"What're you doing?" She chuckled.
"Checking that I didn't dream that we're already married." I laughed.
"I know, I know. Again though, getting married again."
"Like renewing our vows?"
"Yeah. With our children there. Is it a stupid idea?" Leah asked, sounding insecure.
"None of your ideas are stupid, Le. I would love to marry you again. But you'll have to ask me first." I grinned.
"Mhmm, I will. Later." She began placing soft kisses on my neck, her hands snaking their way under my top.

— — — —

"Go on then, ask me." I laughed, still trying to regain my breath.
"You deserve so much more than me asking you in bed, Alex."
"But I want to say yes, like right now." I stuck my bottom lip out but it just made her press her lips against mine again.
"All in good time, babe." She said between kisses that made it apparent she wasn't finished with me yet.

How could she ever top Mauritius though?