23 April 2022 - Saturday
Burkesville, Kentucky
Lucy lay in bed next to Gemma. They had just finished making love and Gemma in true tradition had already fallen asleep.
Her thoughts weren’t on Gemma.
Her thoughts were around her father. He’d called that morning, and they had spent an hour on the phone speaking of her mother. She couldn’t believe she’d been gone two years. The time had flown by.
Gemma and Lucy had started their own restaurant in Burkesville. With the help of Angellica, of course. She had lent them money, and they were doing well.
Lucy was in the middle of gaining her Veterinary qualifications and Daphne let her do more than she was actually qualified to do, but more than capable of doing.
They were in the process of purchasing their first house and planning their wedding.
Her mother wouldn’t be there, and from what her father had said that morning on the phone, he wouldn’t be able to make it either. He wouldn’t accept money for tickets, he wouldn’t accept tickets full stop.
Lucy didn’t want to get married without her parents.
She wanted her Mum back.
She looked at Gemma, snoring beside her and gave her a gentle poke, “You awake?”
Gemma didn’t reply.
She poked her harder. “Gemma? Are you awake?”
Gemma gave a groan, but continued to sleep.
“Fat lot of use you are.” Lucy muttered and snuggled against her warmth. She closed her eyes and found that sleep came a lot quicker than she thought it would.
Caelum had not slept very well. His three-year-old daughter lay in his bed next to his wife, in his place. He’d slept in Cassidy’s bed and it was far too short for him, his feet had hung out over the end of the bed.
His back was sore and he was cranky.
He got dressed while it was still dark and went down to the kitchen for coffee.
He stomped to the front door and pulled his boots on.
His back ached, he was very annoyed. He decided the horses had best not play up for him, or he would be incredibly upset.
Lucien was also tired. Astra had been up all night coughing. It wasn’t her who’d irritated him; it was Azhure getting in and out of bed every fifteen minutes to settle the toddler back into bed.
He’d suggested at some point that perhaps Azhure might like to sleep with Astra. Azhure had not been impressed and had brought the child in bed with them. Lucien tried to ignore the wriggling girl between them that coughed and squirmed. However, it had proved much more difficult than he’d originally thought. He got out of bed early while his girl’s slept soundly.
He was cranky.
As he pulled on his boots before heading out to his truck, he thought briefly to himself, ‘Hopefully no one pisses me off today’.
Adam poured water into his coffee mug. He was awake. He’d slept peacefully next to his beautiful wife. They’d managed a whole night without one child interrupting their sleep. He whistled happily while he stirred.
“Shhh.”
He stopped whistling, he stopped stirring.
Footsteps.
YOU ARE READING
