The Honeymooners

Thirty-one. Money boxes and newspaper articles

"Babies do grow quickly, I guess," he shrugs, frowning at the instructions on the back of the box. "Oh, wow, Am. You can pre-set it, so we'll never be caught out."

I admire the wrapping of Janice and Tomás's present, stroking my finger over the candy floss fluffy string wrapped around the top of the gift. "Do you know what your parents bought? It feels heavy."

Enzo glances at me. "No, sweetheart, no idea."

I pass it over. "Then you should open it."

"Okay," he takes it, moving the box around in his hands.

I move over to his side of the room, practically sitting on his knee, dying to see what's inside. Enzo peppers his lips across my cheek, wrapping me up in his arms. "I changed my mind. Can I open it?"

The corners of his eyes crinkle when he starts to laugh, "I thought you might. Go for it."

My nails slice through the paper, seeing a decorated box. There are tiny shapes in pastel colours surrounding the words in the middle of the box. 'Born in 2018'. I untie the ribbon and lift up the flap spotting a round pink, clay money jar with the words Isabella written prettily in the middle. I also see an envelope addressed to Enzo and me.

"You can open the envelope," I say, handing it over to him.

"You sure?" he lifts an eyebrow, probably knowing how indecisive I am on a daily basis.

I surprise him with a gentle kiss on the lips and whisper, "Yes, darling."

We kiss a few seconds more, Enzo tugging me back to lay in his arms when he opens the envelope. It's a Barcley's cheque, and Enzo is deathly quiet when he reads over it. I glance up to see his face fixed in a concentrated frown.

"Everything all right?" I whisper, nudging his arm.

The cheque in hand, he lowers his arm to rest on his thigh, breathing deep. "My parents are bonkers."

I let out a quiet giggle. "Why's that, En?"

"They've given Isabella five thousand pounds."

I find it hard to swallow, the muscles in my throat swelling. "I beg your pardon?"

I see the amount when he hands the cheque over. "Five thousand, Am."

It's hard to see past the mist in my eyes. "Why would you give a baby this amount of money?"

Enzo sighs, scratching his forehead. "Christ if I know. As I said, they're bonkers."

"It could be to put towards her college fund for when she's older?"

"That's a long way away yet," he rests his lips near my temple.

True. We don't know if our girl wants to go to college yet. And, I refuse to be the type of parent to push her on anything.

I let my weight sink into his side. "I guess we could spend it on buying nappies. They're pricey bloody things."

"Darling, are you for real? There are at least seven full cases of newborn nappies in the loft alone. I know babies poop a lot, but, something tells me we'll never get through those before she moves up a size."

"They were on offer," I say defensively.

You can never be too prepared.

"Kind of defeats the purpose of them being cheap when you spend over a hundred quid," he holds me tighter, silently telling me he's playing around.

I put the cheque on the side, not at all comfortable with accepting five-thousand from his parents. "We'll talk some sense into them. They could use it for themselves."

"Mum won't like it."

I struggle to get up when my bladder signals that I need to empty it. "We'll sort something," I give him my sweetest smile, offering my hand. "Help me up would ya?"

My feet hit the carpet when he pulls me to standing, my ankles aching from the swelling.

Enzo kneels down to start tidying the ruined gift wrap from the floor. "I have something awesome to show you when you get back."

"What is it?"

He laughs, rustling the black rubbish sack. "Go for a wee, and I'll tell you."

"I hate surprises," I remind him.

The vibrancy of his eyes is quite something. I can't deal with how beautiful he is, inside and out. I think it's safe to say that I'm learning to forgive him for his mistakes. I know he's sorry, and he's done his fair share of grovelling over these past weeks.

I feel ready to move on to the next chapter in our lives.

I want him in my future.

"You love them you little liar. Go to the bathroom, and I'll show you."

No longer able to hold on for much longer, I waddle towards the bathroom, ashamed by how long it takes me to get up off the toilet seat. Once I reach the sitting room, my hands are still wet, but it doesn't faze me. My trouser legs will do.

"You ready?" Enzo says, coming into the room holding a newspaper.

Now I'm confused.

"Is that me?" I gasp when he places the newspaper on my knee, my name and picture plastered on the front page.

LOCAL HERO SAVES THE DAY!

Enzo kneels in front of me, warmth and something else in his gaze. "Your phone was retrieved in the woods by the police. They looked through it to try to find out its owner and came across your video. You helped catch the poachers, Am, sweetheart. You're a hero."

My eyes run back and forth over the article, recognising the mug shots of the evil men who planted the traps. They mention Enzo and his parents calling me the kent beauty. (I smile at that bit!) Further down the page, it mentions Violet, and I almost skip it until I notice it says that she remains in custody. Oh my God! Is Violet a suspect too? It appears so, as the article goes on to tell us that her brother is one of the men and she instigated it all.

"I can't believe it," I whisper, reading it over and over.

Enzo takes the paper from my hands and sets it on the floor, going back to cup my jaw with his hands. "I'm the world's biggest idiot for ever believing that manipulative woman. I'm sorry."

I shake my head, but he stops me, inching closer, so we're nose to nose. "I'm sorry," he repeats.

"I know you're sorry. It's forgiven."

Thank you," he whispers.

Our noses touch, and he says, "You're a local celebrity in Yorkshire."

My stomach bubbles with excitement. "I am?"

"Hell, yeah. My beautiful superwoman."

My eyes close with a laugh. "You're silly."

He kisses my top lip, flooding my mouth with the taste of peppermint and him. "And you're amazing." 

...

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, lovelies! 💗