Into the Dark (ORIGINAL AND UNEDITED EDITON)

Thirty One

"It is, yes," I giggle, turning my body round to face him.

A crease of confusion appears between his eyebrows. "Alex, you do realise you're the catch in this scenario don't you?" He motions between us.

"Oh my god, that's why you knocked me up isn't it??" I pretend to be shocked.

"Can't say you weren't warned. I told you that day in the cafe - rest of my life. Just had to get you to fall in love with me first."

I gape at him. "So you trapped me? Not the other way around. You're bloody despicable Jake Lawrence."

"Yeah, but you knew that too. And you love it so let's stop fucking about, yeah?"

My mouth softens into a smile as he moves away from me to lift another slice of the seeded bread. Then he goes to the fridge and pulls it open to inspect the contents, pulling out a tray of baby tomatoes and selecting a couple which he pops into his mouth. He's going to ruin his appetite. Before closing the fridge he lifts out a bottle of beer uncapping it with the magnet opener stuck to the front of the fridge.

"Sooo.... I'm thinking I'll tell my mum and dad at dinner on Sunday. Do you... want to be there with me?"

He swallows, lowers his bottle from his mouth and sits it on the counter, his fingers wrapped tightly around it. "Do you want me there with you?" He asks. "I'll be with you if that's what you want."

Until he said it I hadn't actually realised how much it was what I wanted. "I want you with me," I reply. Jake nods a few times.

"Then I'll be there," he says.

I smile. "Oh and Nick's going to be there — it'll be nice for you to meet him finally."

The look that comes over his face then is almost funny. He's terrified. Jake Lawrence, one of the most dangerous men in London (by his own admission), is afraid of my brother. I want to laugh but I'm certain he looks a little paler than he did a moment ago. "Yeah, sounds good," He says tightly, lifting his bottle to his mouth again.

"It'll be fine, I promise." I give him my most sincere smile. I'm not entirely sure it will be fine, but it will certainly be interesting. For some reason, I'm not as nervous about telling them about the baby as I was about introducing them to Jake. In any case, I suppose I'll finally find out how much my mother is looking forward to being a grandmother after all. "Dinner won't be much longer if you want to go put those away?" I gesture to the bags he dumped when he came in.

He gives me a pointed look, of course to do with his 'tidy clean house' comment, and sets his beer down and goes to lift both bags. "Where will I put the stuff?" He asks, hooking the rucksack over his shoulder

"I cleared the bottom three drawers for you in the tall unit by the window," I tell him, turning my focus back to the dinner. "And there's some hanging space in the spare bedroom if you need it." The one that would be Caleb's room. Rob could easily help make it more of a little boy's bedroom. She'd love to help with that. I'll ask her at dinner on Wednesday. She'd literally squealed down the phone when I told her about Jake's reaction to the baby. Sensing he still hasn't left the kitchen, I turn back around to find him staring at me.

"What?" I ask.

"You cleared out drawers for me already?"

I shrug. "Well, I knew you'd need them eventually."

He raises an eyebrow. "How'd you know that exactly?"

I shrug. "I'm irresistible."

He tries not to smile. "I'll be in fucking wellies next thing I know," he huffs.