Plain Sailing

[bradyell]

This chap seemed to go on and on even thought there's nothing much happening!! Hope you all enjoy it

Chapter 51

“You feeling ok now babe?”

It was a few hours after Amanda had left and Belle had just placed Beau into his moses basket after feeding him and walked into the kitchen where Aden was preparing lunch.

“yeah thanks to my boys” Belle smiled as she came to stand behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist

“glad we could help” he grinned as she placed a kiss on his neck “seriously though Belle, you shouldn’t let her bother you like that!”

“I know, she just pushes all the wrong buttons! No more though! That’s the last time I let her upset me”

“I hope so” Aden said as he turned around in her arms “I hate seeing you upset” he tilted his head so he could place a kiss on her lips. His hands came up to her face and then slowly moved until they were tangled in her hair. The kiss continued for a few moments until they were interrupted by the phone ringing. Belle ran to answer it before it woke Beau.

“hello” she paused for a few moments before repeating herself “hello” after another pause she hung up the phone and replaced it on the stand “nobody there” she told Aden.

“was there squealing?” he asked “cause if there was it was probably Mattie”

“Nah, no squealing” she replied with a laugh “probably a wrong number or something, so is lunch ready yet? I’m starving!”

“just about” he said picking up two plates and carrying them over to the table “Beau still sleeping?”

Belle had wandered over to the moses basket to check that the phone ringing hadn’t woken her son

“like an angel” she answered as she leant down to place a delicate kiss on his head “dream sweet dreams little man” she whispered before standing up straight and walking over to the table.

“What time is Martha coming over?” Aden asked as she sat down

“she just said this afternoon” Belle replied “and seeing as it’s after twelve I’d say we should be expecting her anytime soon” she added with a laugh

“Nic has txt to say she’s going shopping in her lunch break and will be over after school” Aden told her “Hopefully she’ll remember to keep quiet!”

“She better” Belle said! “I’ll have to kill her if she upsets my little man again”

They chatted happily whilst they ate lunch. Just as they had finished the door knocked.

“I’ll get it” Belle said jumping up from the table “I guess it’s Martha”

Aden followed her up and took their plates into the kitchen.

Belle opened the door to be greeted by a delivery man carrying a huge bouquet of flowers.

“Mrs Jefferies?” he asked

“Yep that’s me” she answered with a grin

“These are for you, if I can just get your signature.

He handed Belle a clipboard and she quickly signed her name before taking the flowers and shutting the door.

“Wow, babe look at these!” she said walking towards Aden in the kitchen

“Nice! Is there a card?” he asked

Belle turned the flowers around and pulled out the small card that was tucked into them. She placed the flowers down and pulled the card from the envelope. Her eyes filled with tears as she read it.

To my beautiful wife, mother of my beautiful son, thank you for making me the happiest man on the planet. I love you more than I could ever say, Aden x x x

“Aden! How did you…”

“I called and ordered them whilst you where in the shower this morning. You like them?”

“I love them” she replied wrapping her arms around his neck “thank you”

“thank you” he said as their lips joined in a passionate kiss.

They pulled apart when there was another knock on the door

“that’ll be Martha” Belle said extracting herself from Aden’s embrace so that she could go and open the door.

“Hey you! Congratulations” Martha called

“Is that you Martha” Belle laughed. All she could see was a pair of legs, the rest of her friend was hidden by a huge bunch of blue balloons!

“yeah it’s me!” she pushed herself into the apartment and released the balloons which floated up to the ceiling before pulling Belle into a hug

“Cool balloons, thanks Martha!” Aden said as he walked over to receive a hug

“So where is he then?”

“Come on I’ll introduce you” Belle said leading Martha over to the lounge area

“Oh my god! Look at him!” Martha cried when they reached the moses basket “He’s adorable”

“You want a cuddle?” Belle asked

“I’d love one” Martha said her face lighting up as Belle lifted Beau out and handed him to her. “hello little one, it’s nice to meet you” she said as she sat down on the couch “you look just like your daddy don’t you”

“so we’ve been told” belle said with a grin.

“everyone said the same thing huh?” Martha asked

“yeah - they’re also saying how gorgeous he is so obviously Belle isn’t the only woman in the bay who thinks I’m hot!” Aden answered with a cheeky grin

“I’ve heard that a lot too! Belle said rolling her eyes as Martha laughed

“I was expecting your mom to be here Belle”

“She was. Don’t ask! It’s a long story”

“I know Amanda” Martha said with a grin “you don’t have to explain”

“You want a drink?” Belle asked

“Yeah something cold would be good” Martha replied

“Babe?”

“yeah I could go a cold drink”

“I was actually hoping you’d go and get them” Belle smiled sweetly at him causing him to chuckle

“what happened to not wanting to be waited on?” he asked

“I still don’t but Martha has come to see me, it would be rude to leave her alone”

“Martha came to see Beau and she wouldn’t be alone - I’d be here”

“Hey leave me out of this” Martha laughed

“Please baby” Belle turned her eyes to Aden’s and pouted slightly

Aden sighed as he tried to hold back a grin “So you want one too?”

“yes please” she said sweetly “with ice” she added as he reached the kitchen

“Wow you’ve got him well trained” Martha laughed

“yep” Belle laughed “but don’t tell anyone will you Martha, we wouldn’t want to tarnish his reputation as the local bad boy!”

“I hate to tell you this but that rep was blown apart months ago!”

“I know that and you know that” Belle whispered loudly “but he’s still under the illusion that people think he’s a tough guy! I’d hate to take that away from him!”

“I can hear you you know” Aden called from the kitchen “and if you aren’t careful these flowers will be going back!”

“Aw! Please don’t” Belle told him “You know I love you bad boy or not!”

Aden opened his mouth to reply but the phone ringing cut him off

“I’ll get it” he said causing Belle and Martha to burst out laughing

“where do I get me one of him?” Martha asked

“I think he’s a one off!” Belle answered grinning over at him “Although hopefully this little guy will grow up just the same” she gestured towards Beau

“he really is gorgeous Belle” Martha said running a hand gently down his cheek “Beau I mean not Aden!” she added with a laugh

“who was it babe?” Belle asked Aden as she saw him hanging up the phone

“No one there” he said

“Again!”

“Yeah I know strange huh? You think it could be Amanda?”

“She’d talk” Belle answered “I’m sure whoever it is will get through to us eventually. Now hurry up with those drinks!”

“yes mam!” he replied with a grin

Martha stayed for another hour before she had to get back to the farm. She handed Beau over to Aden and Belle showed her to the door.

“Hey son, you better make the most of the quiet now Martha’s gone, I think auntie Nic’s gonna be here soon.”

“Is she bringing Geoff with her?” Belle asked as she sat down

“well, seeing as how they are attached at the hip this week I’d say yes!”

“you think they’ll last longer than a month this time?”

“honestly? Not a hope!” he grinned

“I think one of these days they’ll surprise us” Belle replied “they obviously love each other to keep going back”

“care to put your money where your mouth is?”

“you want to bet on our siblings happiness?”

“totally! Is that wrong?” he asked with a grin

“probably” Belle laughed “but I’ll go with it. What’s the bet?”

“ok! Well it can’t be money because we share an account so that’d be pointless”

“I have an idea” she grinned “right, as much as I love and adore this little guy” she reached over and took hold of Beau’s hand “I reckon that the novelty of night feeds is gonna ware off!”

Aden chuckled interrupting her “ I can see where you are going with this babe but you’re breast feeding! And I’m pretty sure that I’m not gonna be able to take over with that!”

“I can express” she replied

“ok” he said licking his lips “go on”

“so, if by the time Beau is a month old Geoff and Nic are still together you have to do all the night feeds for a week”

“And if they’re not?”

“If they’re not then I’ll do them!”

“you have got yourself a bet” he said holding out his hand for her to shake.

Belle mirrored his movements and placed her hands in his. He shook it and then pulled her closer towards him

“I think we aught to kiss on it” he said seconds before Belle’s lips were on his. They pulled apart after a few seconds both laughing.

Beau was staring up at Aden eyes wide open

“hey baby boy, mommy and daddy are setting a bit of a bad example aren’t they huh? Introducing you to gambling already! So who’s side are you on hey? What was that? Ah you’re on daddy’s team” Aden smiled as he tickled his son gently under the chin

“no way!” Belle objected “he’s on may side aren’t you sweetheart?”

Before they could get any further into the argument there was a knock at the door

“speak of the devils” Belle said as she stood up to answer the door

“Hey you two! We were just talking about you.” she greeted Geoff and Nicole as she let them in

“good things I hope” Nicole stated as she walked over towards Aden and Beau leaving Geoff trailing behind with his hands full of bags. “hey Beau remember me?” she whispered.

“don’t make him cry Nic” Geoff warned as he dropped the bags at her feet

“you aren’t going to cry today are you Beau?” she asked and her face lit up when Beau just stared up at her. “see, he loves me don’t you handsome”

“just keep your voice down” Aden said “you want him?” he asked manoeuvring Beau into his hands so that he could pass him over to Nicole

“Yes please” Nicole replied holding out her arms “auntie Nic has some presents for you Beau, shall we get mommy to look at them?”

Belle looked over at the pile of bags “are all of them for him?”

“yep” Nicole grinned “I couldn’t resist”

“thanks Nic” she said as she walked over to sit next to her and began to pull items from the bags.

By the time all of the bags were empty there was a pile of blue clothes next to Belle on the couch. She was slightly surprised that she loved each and every one of the outfits Nicole had chosen .

“Nicole, you really didn’t need to buy this much!” she told her.

“Hey, if I can’t spoil my favourite nephew..”

“He’s your only nephew Nic” Geoff replied

“all the more reason to spoil you then hey gorgeous boy!” she said to Beau who was still content to be held in her arms “you haven’t held him yet Geoff, do you want a turn?”

“sure” Geoff grinned “pass him over” Nicole stood up and walked over to where Geoff was sitting

“Stay there a second” Belle called as she jumped up

“here comes the camera” Aden laughed as Belle ran into the nursery emerging a few seconds later camera in hand

“I am a photographer Aden! It stands to reason that I’m going to take a lot of pictures.”

“How many have you taken so far of him?” he asked with a grin

“I don’t know” Belle answered looking sheepish

“yeah you do, look at the counter on the camera. You emptied the memory card yesterday morning so all the photo’s you have on there now are of Beau.”

“There are a few!” Belle replied before raising the camera to snap a few pictures.

“There are more than a few” Aden exclaimed standing up and coming behind Belle.

He reached his arms out and took the camera from her grip “176! That’s the amount of pictures left to take on the card right?” he raised the camera and pressed the shutter then looked again at the number in the corner “177! It’s going up! That means - Belle - you have taken nearly two hundred pictures of him in one day!” they all laughed at the sheepish look on Belle’s face as she grabbed the camera back from Aden

“So shoot me! I love my son and want lots of pictures of him!” She laughed along with them before raising the camera and taking some more pictures counting with each one she took causing them all to laugh harder.

As she was clicking away the door knocked again and Aden walked over to answer it. Charlie, Joey and Ruby were waiting on the other side, Charlie holding a big blue teddy bear.

“Hey guys come in” he said

Each one of them hugged him as they passed offering their congratulations.

“Wow! Look at him!” Ruby was the first to exclaim

“Yes he’s gorgeous, yes he looks like Aden and Yes it hurt” Belle said with a smile

“fed up of the same questions?” Charlie asked as she handed the teddy bear over to Belle and gave her a hug

“something like that” she laughed

“he really is gorgeous though” Charlie said peeking over at Beau

“thanks Charlie.”

“I can’t believe he was born on a boat” Joey said as she sat down next to Nicole “That is the coolest thing ever”

“Why did I know that’d be your reaction!” Aden said with a laugh

“it’s all we’ve heard about all day!” Charlie added rolling her eyes

“What? I like boats!” Joey defended herself

“Do you guys want a hold?” Geoff asked

“Me first!” Ruby cried before Geoff had even finished speaking

The door knocked again as Geoff handed Beau over to Ruby

“I’ll go” Belle said handing the camera to Nicole

“Wow you have a house full already” Irene exclaimed as Belle opened the door to her Annie and Meg

“Yeah we do but the more the merrier!” Belle said as she ushered them in taking Meg from Annie’s arms “Hey gorgeous girl” she nuzzled Megs cheeks planting a kiss on them “You look so big, let’s go see uncle Aden hey.”

She walked her into the lounge area where Aden greeted them

“Hello princess!” Meg reached out her arms for him so he took her from Belle giving her a quick kiss then cuddling her against his chest. “Are you ready to meet your new best friend hey missy?” he took her over to the couch where Ruby was sitting cradling Beau

“wait wait wait!” Belle cried grabbing the camera from Nicole causing her Geoff and Aden to laugh again

Belle’s camera along with all the eyes in the room were trained on Aden, Ruby and the two babies.

“right Nutmeg, this little guy is Beau, he’s pretty cute isn’t he huh?” Ruby tilted Beau so that Meg could get a good look at him. Her chubby hand reached out to grab at him but Aden pulled her back gently before she made contact

“I’ll take that as a sign that you find him irresistible just the same as we all do” he turned her around on his lap so that she was facing him “we’re relying on you to keep him on the straight and narrow ok, no leading him astray!”

“from what I’ve heard” Charlie said “ if he’s anything like his daddy it’ll be the other way around!”

“he’s mommy was no angel either” Irene added with a laugh

“hey!” Belle cried from behind her camera

“it’s true!” Irene replied

“yeah I suppose it is” Belle laughed “We’ll just have to send them to uncle Geoff for moral guidance”

“Let the poor kids have some fun” Nicole quipped

“I’d let them have fun!” Geoff replied defensively as everyone laughed

“Course you would luvvie” Irene said as she walked to answer another knock at the door

“wow!” Roman said as he walked in followed by Leah “good job we brought two bottles!” he held up his hands that each contained a bottle of champagne “thought we could wet the little guys head!”

“Thanks mate” Aden said handing Meg back to Annie before receiving a hug from Leah

He took the bottles from Roman and headed into the kitchen to find glasses. As he was taking them down from the cupboard Belle joined him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“You alright babe?” he whispered to her.

Belle’s eyes wandered around the lounge area. Beau was now in Leah’s arms watched over by Joey and Charlie. Nicole, Geoff and Ruby were looking at her camera scrolling through the pictures she had taken and laughing. Roman was holding Meg bouncing her up and down causing her to squeal with delight whilst he chatted to Annie and Irene .

“How could I not be alright” she answered “look at our family!”

[bradyell]

2 updates in 1 day!! Must be the sunshine!

Chapter 52

After two weeks paternity leave Aden was getting ready for his first day back at work.

“I don’t wanna go” he said throwing himself down onto the bed next to Belle. “do I have to go?”

She tilted her head to place a kiss against his lips “Yeah you have to go” she sighed into his lips “we’ll miss you” she added as he moved away from her and sat on the edge of the bed. Beau was fast asleep in his moses basket but Aden lifted him out anyway.

“daddy’s gonna miss you little man.” he cradled him against his chest dropping kisses onto his head “How come you smell so good huh?” he asked as he took in a deep breath “god Belle” he said looking up at her “I really don’t think I can leave.”

In the two weeks since Beau had been born the three of them had not spent more than a few minutes apart and Aden was dreading the day ahead without having his wife and son by his side.

Belle crawled down the bed to sit next to him placing kisses on his shoulder “How about we come and meet you at the end of the day?” she asked reaching out a hand to stoke Beau’s hair

“that’d be great” he smiled turning his head so that he could kiss her lips “Are you gonna be ok with the phone calls?” he asked worry clouding his features.

The mysterious calls had continued since the day after Beau was born. They had received at least one each day. Aden had spoken to Charlie about it but the only thing they could do was change their number which Belle was reluctant to do

“Yeah I’ll be fine, I just wont bother answering so if you need me call my mobile”

“will do, though I really think we should look into changing the number sweetheart, it’s been two weeks”

“We’ll talk about it later” Belle replied as she glanced at the clock “You need to go babe, you’ll be late if you don’t leave now”

Aden sighed as he stood up taking Beau with him as he walked towards the door.

“Right son, you look after mommy for me ok? Daddy loves you heaps” he lifted him so that their faces were level laughing when Beau continued to sleep. He kissed his cheek before handing him to Belle who in return handed him his bag which she had picked up on her way from the bedroom.

“right” he said as he opened the door “I’ll call you yeah?”

“You better” she smiled at him as she leant against the doorframe. One of his hands was playing with Beau’s fingers the other cupped Belle’s face

“I love you so much baby” he said staring into Belle’s eyes “And you son” his eyes dropped to Beau and he lowered his head to give him another kiss before raising it to kiss Belle.

They were so wrapped up in each other as they said their goodbyes that neither of them noticed the car parked on the opposite side of the street nor the driver who was watching them intently.

After Aden left Belle took Beau into the nursery and lay him in his crib he was still fast asleep but she was reluctant to leave him alone and had brought him into the nursery because if she left both doors open she could just about see his crib in there from the bathroom

“right sweetie, mommy needs to go and have a shower but she’ll be really quick ok” she gave him a kiss before walking away.

She was rinsing the shampoo from her hair when the phone began to ring. As she told Aden she would she left it to ring but she cursed a moment later when Beau started to cry. “I’m coming baby” she called as she quickly pushed her fingers through her hair removing the last traces of shampoo. She turned off the shower and wrapped one towel around her hair and another around her body before running quickly to the nursery

“Hey mommy’s here” she soothed picking Beau up and holding him against her chest “did that silly phone wake you up? Shhh baby it’s ok” she rocked him gently and his cries subsided “Good boy Beau, come on let’s go and get ready” she took him with her into her room and placed him on the bed where he lay contentedly as she got ready. The phone rang once again and she was tempted to pick it up but resisted as it didn’t bother Beau this time as he was already awake. Once she was dressed she pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail then picked Beau up

“right your turn mister, what are you gonna wear today huh? Your wardrobe is bigger than mine and daddy’s put together thanks to Nicole!”

She opened the door to his dresser and ran her hands along the row of tiny outfits “What do you think bub? This one?” she pulled out a pair of baby blue short dungarees with a plain white t-shirt that went underneath “Is that a yes? Good!”

She took him over to the changing table and lay him down.

The phone rang once again whilst she was changing him. She sighed in frustration as she chatted away trying to drown out the ringing.

“I think daddy’s right Beau, we are going to have to get a new number aren’t we? Because mommy really can’t stand listening to that much more!” she took him into the lounge and lay him on the couch “Right time for my breakfast and by the time I’m done with that you’ll be ready for yours.” she was in the kitchen making her self some toast when there was a knock at the door.

She lifted her toast from the toaster and dropped it onto a plate before going to answer.

She growled in frustration when she opened the door to find nobody there “you are kidding me!” she glanced around the surrounding area but couldn’t see anybody but when she looked down she spotted a small box that had been placed on the step. She picked it up before looking around again. When she still didn’t spot anyone she retreated back inside closing the door behind her.

“That was strange sweetheart” she said glancing over at Beau to check he was still ok “looks like people don’t even want to see us” she placed the box down on the counter and lifted off the lid. Nestled inside the box was a tiny blue teddy bear. ”Wow! Look at this munchkin” she called to Beau as she waved the teddy in the air “I wonder who sent it” she lifted up the box and turned it over trying to find a name or something to indicate who had left it but there was nothing. An uneasy feeling crept over her as she placed the bear back into the box but she pushed it away as she got on with making her breakfast.

She carried her toast and a glass of juice over to the couch and sat down next to Beau who began to cry almost as soon as she put the first slice into her mouth.

“You’re a little monkey aren’t you” she said with a laugh as she picked him up “No chance of mommy getting her breakfast before you is there” She undid her shirt and unhooked her nursing bra. As she settled them both into a comfortable position she thought back to what Irene had said about feeding becoming second nature and smiled when she realised how true it was. She had expressed milk a few times and had enjoyed watching Aden get the chance to feed his son but she enjoyed feeding him herself far too much to make it a regular occurrence. She even enjoyed the night time feeds - sometimes she felt as if her and Beau were the only people in the world that were awake and it somehow strengthened the bond between them.

She focused all her attention on her son for the duration of his feed so that by the time he was finished her toast was cold.

She rested him on her lap whist she rearranged her top and then picked him back up and cradled him. Once she was certain that he was asleep she carried him into her room and lay him in his moses basket.

“Sweet dreams baby” she whispered before kissing him.

For the next hour whilst Beau slept Belle tidied up around the apartment and then opened up her laptop to start organising all of the pictures she had taken over the last fortnight. She had just opened up the file they were stored in when her mobile phone began to vibrate. She glanced at the caller ID and was smiling before she had the phone to her ear.

“Hey baby”

“hi gorgeous” Aden replied “you ok?”

“I’m fine” she answered

“and our little man?”

“He’s perfect as always.” Belle smiled “fast asleep like a good boy”

“did he feed ok?”

“oh yes” she laughed “Better than me anyhow, I managed like one bite of toast before he demanded his breakfast”

“Like father like son” he replied with a laugh “I hope you got something else, you need to make sure you eat well Belle, for Beau’s sake as well as your own!”

“I’m just about to grab something now” she answered as she reached into the bowl of fruit on the table “is a banana ok?”

“a banana is great!” he answered “look I’ve gotta run but I’ll call again later ok?”

“Ok babe, have a great day, we love you!”

“Love you too sweetheart, give Beau a kiss from me when he wakes up”

“will do, bye”

“Bye babe”

Focusing her attention back on the laptop Belle grinned when she saw the number of photographs that were stored in the folder marked ‘Beau’s first month’ realising that another two weeks worth of photographs would still need to be added she decided to separate each week into it’s own folder therefore hopefully making it a bit easier to find particular photographs. She was just about to start when the phone started to ring again. Forgetting the vow she had made and not wanting it to wake Beau she jumped up to answer it but she was too late as a cry echoed from her bedroom. She walked past the phone and straight into Beau. As he usually slept for longer than the hour he had already had she didn’t pick him up hoping that she could sooth him back to sleep. “Alright Beau, mommy’s here” she whispered as she ran her fingers down his cheek “I know baby that horrible phone woke you up didn’t it but you can go right back to sleep sweetheart ok?” his crying turned to a whimper as his big blue eyes began to close “Good boy, that’s right baby you close your eyes” she traced her index finger slowly from his forehead down his tiny nose and let out a sigh of relief when he fell back to sleep. After watching him for a few moments she tiptoed out of the room and went back to the table.

Beau slept soundly for another two hours allowing her to do what she wanted with the photographs. And prepare his changing bag ready for their outing that afternoon.

When he woke up she changed him whilst explaining their plans for that afternoon “So, I thought we would take a walk along the beach, maybe pop in to see mr Stewart at the surf club because he keeps on asking about you and we could see Tony too, you remember Tony don’t you? He’s Emme’s daddy. Then we can go to the diner and see granddad Roman and nana Irene and if we’re really lucky auntie Leah will be there too and by the time we’ve done all that it will be time to go and get daddy! That’ll be the best bit wont it hey? Cause we love your daddy don’t we?” Beau’s eyes were fixed intently on hers taking in every word she said. “that sound alright to you then? I hope so anyway because that’s what’s happening!”

Once he was changed and covered with sunscreen Belle carried him into the lounge and placed him into the pushchair she had ready waiting. Grabbing the bags and hanging them off the back of the pushchair she pushed him outside and set off in the direction of the surf club. She pulled her phone from her pocket and started typing out a txt message as she walked so she was too distracted to notice the car that began to drive slowly behind her.

[bradyell]

So who's in the car??? any ideas?

Chapter 53

“Belle”

Belle continued walking oblivious to the voice shouting her

“hey Belle!”

She jumped when a hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder

“Joey! Sorry I was miles away”

The car that had been following her accelerated and pulled away

“must have been lost” Joey observed as it drove past them “so where are you two headed?”

“well,” Belle answered “we’ve got quite an afternoon planned! Surf club first then the diner to see nana and granddad and then we are going to meet daddy from work! We’re very excited about that last one aren’t we baby?”

“wow” Joey replied reaching into the pushchair to tickle Beau under the chin “That is exciting, you’ll get to see all those boats!”

“Don’t let Aden hear you say that” Belle laughed “he’s under the impression the excitement’s all for him!”

Joey laughed “a little of it must be for the boats though hey little guy? Do you mind if I walk with you to the surf club, I’m meeting Charlie there.” she asked looking up at Belle

“Not at all” Belle replied “It’ll be nice having someone to talk to that can actually talk back! As much as I love talking to my little man the conversation is a little one sided!”

Joey chuckled as they set off again towards the surf club.

“wow, nice wheels!”

“thanks Alf” Belle giggled as she pushed Beau into the surf club. Joey had waited outside for Charlie but she needed to get inside as Beau had started to get grizzly, a sure sign that he needed feeding. “Aden chose it, apparently it’s all terrain, it can go off road and everything!”

“Ah right, because you and Aden do a lot of off road walking” Alf said with a smile

“You know Alf - boys and their toys!” She laughed

“So how is the little fella then?” Alf leaned over the bar and peeked into the pushchair

“He is fantastic thanks, although I think he might be a little bit hungry! I was going to feed him in here but it’s pretty busy.” she looked around to see that most of the tables were occupied. As much as she enjoyed feeding Beau she was still self -conscious of doing it around anyone other than Aden.

“Hey Belle” Tony had just walked in and came to put an arm around her shoulder “The gym is empty at the moment, why don’t you take him in there, I’ll wait out here and make sure nobody comes in for a bit”

“thanks Tony” she replied as she lifted Beau from his pushchair “we appreciate it don’t we munchkin?”

“Love, before I forget” Alf said as Belle was un-hooking her bag from the pushchair “there was some bloke in here earlier looking for you”

“Oh?” her head snapped up “who?”

“he didn’t say, just asked if I knew where he could find a Belle Taylor. I told him that you were Belle Jefferies now but I said that was all he was getting out of me”

“Did he tell you his name?”

“No, he ran off as soon as I told him I wouldn’t give out your address”

“Thanks Alf. I’ll just go and….” She walked off towards the gym her mind going back to that morning and the teddy bear that had been left on the doorstep. It seemed obvious that whoever had left the bear was the same person that had been asking after her that morning. She wandered who it could be and how they had found out where she lived. She also assumed that this was somehow connected to the phone calls they had been receiving.

As she settled Beau to feed the uneasy feeling that she had pushed away that morning returned and she found that this time she couldn’t push it away. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. There was only one person who could make her feel better. She began to key in Aden’s number but stopped before she reached the end realising that it wasn’t fair on him to tell him all of her worries whilst he was at work. He would only worry about her and Beau and get frustrated that he wasn’t there with her. She was just pushing her phone back into her pocket when it began to ring. A smile came to her face when she saw Aden’s name flashing on the screen. She briefly considered not answering but knew that that would make him worry just as much.

“hello again” she grinned as she raised the phone to her ear

“hey babe, everything ok?”

“yep, you missing us?” she almost laughed as she asked knowing full well what Aden’s answer was going to be

“like crazy! How’s Beau?”

“he’s great, enjoying his lunch as we speak”

“That’s what I like to hear! Is he missing me?”

“yeah, in fact he just asked me when daddy would be back?”

“ha ha very funny! So I’ll be done in about 2 hours, you still coming to meet me?”

“of course we are, we’re looking forward to it aren’t we baby boy? He said yes!” she added with a laugh.

“not as much as I’m looking forward to it!” Aden replied “I’ll see you soon then babe”

“Ok. I love you Aden”

“I know babe, I love you too. And Beau. Give him a kiss from me yeah?”

“and who gives me a kiss?” she asked with a laugh

“nobody if they know what’s good for them! My lips will be the only ones touching yours thank you very much!”

“well you’ll just have to catch me up with kisses later!”

“you can count on it sweetheart. Right, I better get back to work”

“Ok. Bye babe”

“bye”

After Beau had finished Belle returned into the surf club and ordered a smoothie. She stood at the bar for a while with Beau resting against her shoulder chatting to Alf trying to gain a bit more information about the man who had been asking after her.

“And you’re sure you didn’t recognise him?” she asked

“No love, I might be getting on but I never forget a face and I definitely hadn’t seen his before. Maybe it’s something to do with the paper.”

“Yeah maybe”

“Everything alright Belle?”

Charlie and Joey had just walked up to the bar and Charlie had caught the tail end of their conversation

“actually Charlie, do you have a minute?”

“Sure, I was just going to head over to the diner to see Roman but yeah I‘ve got time.”

“well Beau and I were headed over there so how about we walk with you and we can talk on the way”

“Great. I’ll just go and say bye to Joey whilst you get the little guy ready to move”

Belle settled Beau into his pushchair and said goodbye to Alf and Tony taking her time to allow Charlie and Joey plenty of time to say goodbye.

By the time she made it outside Joey was just walking away. She turned the pushchair in the direction of the diner and her and Charlie began to walk.

“So is this about the phone calls Aden was telling me about?” Charlie asked

“sort of. They‘ve been going on all morning, and then somebody left a teddy bear on our doorstep and Alf has just told me that some guy he’d never seen before has been asking about me”

“a teddy bear on your doorstep?”

“Yeah - the door knocked, when I got there to answer it there was nobody around just a box on the step. With a teddy bear inside.”

“That is kind of strange.”

“I thought so! I’ve just got a really bad feeling about this Charlie.”

“Ok. First of all I really think you need to change your phone number and make sure the new one is unlisted. That way the calls at least should stop”

“I’m going to do that as soon as we get home.” Belle insisted “I don’t suppose there is anything you can do is there?”

“Well not really but I’ll definitely ask around about any new people in town and if you like I’ll get the patrols to drive past your place every now and then to make sure everything’s ok”

“Thanks Charlie, I’m probably just being a bit neurotic with all the hormones and all but…”

“Hey, it’s not a problem. Have you told Aden yet?”

“not yet, he’d get all freaked out and that’s no good to any of us when he’s stuck on a boat in the middle of the ocean!”

“true, but you will tell him wont you?” Charlie asked concern evident in her voice

“yeah, I’ll fill him in when he gets home”

“good, try not to worry ok, I’m sure it’s nothing”

“Thanks Charlie.”

They chatted the rest of the way to the diner and Belle felt slightly more at ease about the whole situation. She spent an hour at the diner and didn’t get a look at Beau for the whole time they were there. He was passed around between Irene, Roman, Leah and Colleen. He behaved beautifully and she was so proud when everybody commented on what a good baby he was.

With 15 minutes before she was due to meet Aden she walked over to the table where colleen was sitting introducing Beau to one of her friends.

“Sorry to break up the party Colleen but this little man promised his daddy he’d go and meet him from work”

“oh well we can’t keep him waiting can we” Colleen said handing him back over to Belle “Bye bye little Beau”

“Bye Colleen”

She settled him back into the pushchair and popped her head into the kitchen to say goodbye.

When they arrived at the dock she parked the pushchair next to Aden’s car and took Beau out to walk over to the boat which was already docked in its usual spot. As she was walking towards it she spotted Aden and saw his face light up when he noticed them. She lifted Beau’s arm and gently waved it in his direction chuckling when Aden waved back.

Within seconds he had jumped off the boat as was running up the jetty towards them.

“look who it is baby, it’s your daddy” Belle whispered to Beau as Aden approached

“Hey” he reached out to scoop Beau from her arms “daddy has missed you so much today!” he said as he dropped kisses onto his tiny face “and I’ve missed your mommy too” He pushed his free hand through Belles hair and leaned in to place a passionate kiss on her lips.

“hey mate you gonna introduce us to the little one then?”

They were interrupted by Gibbsy Aden’s boss on the trawler

“Er yeah, Gibbsy this is Beau, Beau Gibbsy!”

“you know” he said as he took hold of beau’s hand “I feel as if I’ve already met you mate, your old man hasn’t stopped talking about you all day.”

Belle giggled

“no love seriously” Gibbsy said looking at Belle “It was all we could do to stop him showing the flamin fish we caught pictures of the little fella!”

“I wasn’t that bad was I?” Aden asked with a laugh

“you were but I can’t says I blame ya mate! You’ve got a perfect little family here.”

“I have haven’t I” Aden grinned “it doesn’t get much better than this!”

“you hold on to em mate!”

“You don’t have to tell me that” he replied

They said goodbye and made their way over to the car unaware that once again they were being watched!

[bradyell]

Time to find out if your suspicions were correct - especially Taniya who has been researching

Chapter 54

Aden settled Beau into his car seat whilst Belle folded away the pushchair and put it into the boot of the car. She was thinking about the best way to tell Aden about what had happened that day and was so lost in thought she didn’t hear him call to tell her he had finished.

“Hello, earth to Belle!” Aden walked round to the back of the car and waved a hand in front of her face

“what?”

“you were miles away babe, everything ok?”

Belle looked up at him and grabbed hold of his hand “Actually there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Noting the look of worry in her face Aden pulled her into him “hey, what’s going on?”

“first of all promise you wont freak out!”

“you start a sentence like that babe and I’m already freaked out!”

“ok, well somebody left a teddy bear on the door step this morning”

“what?”

“earlier on somebody knocked at the door and when I went to answer it there was nobody there just a box on the step with a teddy bear in it, no name, nothing!”

“ok….”

“that’s not all” Belle interrupted before Aden could continue “when I was at the surf club Alf told me that some guy had been in there asking about me”

“what guy?” Aden snapped as she felt his body tense against hers.

“I don’t know” she replied “Alf didn’t recognise him and he didn’t leave a name”

“and what did he ask?”

“where I lived” she replied biting her lip in worry

“Alf told him our address!”

“No, but it has to be the same person right?”

“yeah, it sounds like it! And the phone calls must be connected too! Right we need to go and speak to Charlie”

“I already have babe”

“And?”

“and there’s not much she can do, we need to change our phone number though”

a slight smile came to Aden’s face “have I not been saying that all week”

“yeah ok” Belle grinned back “you were right! Can we just get home and we’ll talk more about this there.”

“ok babe, let’s go”

Belle climbed into the backseat of the car and positioned herself behind the passenger seat where Beau’s car seat was strapped, she leant over to check that he was fastened in properly

“you all ready to hit the road hey baby boy?”

“yep I’m set” Aden grinned at her over his shoulder as he started the car.

“what are you waiting for then!” she smiled back at him.

Aden was quiet for the first few minutes of the journey. Belle assumed he was thinking through what she had told him.

“penny for them?” she asked after a few more minutes silence

“I’m just thinking. I know you’re not going to like this Belle but I don’t want you and Beau at home on your own all day tomorrow”

She watched as his eyes flicked to the rear view mirror and saw him frown.

“ok, we’ll go to Irene’s or something”

“really? Just like that? I thought I’d have an argument on my hands”

“nope. I know you’d just spend the whole day worrying about us otherwise and then I’d be worrying about you worrying so….”

“thanks babe” his eyes flicked to hers in the mirror and then to the road behind. She saw him frown again and wondered what was wrong. But his expression quickly changed when he glanced over at Beau

“so little man, were you really a good boy for mommy today?”

“he really was” Belle said leaning forward to look at Beau “everybody in the diner said so too!”

“you’ve got everybody in this town right where you want them haven’t you son?” Aden said with a grin on his face.

Belle became even more worried a moment later when his grin faded and she saw his grip on the steering wheel tighten.

“Aden, what’s going on?”

“nothing” he said even though his posture and tone of voice was saying the complete opposite

“Aden!”

“I think there is a car following us” he said as his eyes flicked again to the mirror “don’t turn around” he shouted as Belle was just about to do just that “sorry babe, I didn’t mean to shout.”

“It’s ok” she answered “what makes you think they are following us?”

“they’ve been there since we left the docks and there’s just something funny about the way they’re driving.”

“is it a man?”

“I’m not sure, I think so. Babe call Roman and make sure he’s home, tell him we’re heading over to his place.”

Belle did as he asked as he reached out his hand and rested it protectively on Beau’s chest.

Even the slightest hint that his wife and son could be in danger made him feel sick to his stomach. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself as he returned his hand to the wheel. his eyes travelled to the rear view mirror every few seconds as he changed direction and headed to Roman's house. He wasn't surprised as the car behind continued to follow.

Belle had filled Roman in on what had been happening so when they turned into his street Aden wasn't surprised to spot him waiting outside. He slowed down and pulled the car to a stop directly in front of Roman's house and took note that the car following them had pulled up at the end of the street.

Aden un-strapped Beau from his seat and lifted him out. By the time he and Belle were out of the car Roman was already heading in the direction of the other car.

"Babe, take Beau inside and lock the door ok"

he kissed Beau and handed him over to Belle.

"be careful Aden" Belle felt tears of worry come to hey eyes and tried her hardest to fight them back

"I'll be fine, now go inside" he dropped a kiss on her head and watched her walk inside before running to catch up with Roman.

The driver had left his car and was walking towards them hands raised as if in surrender

“who the hell are you and what do you want with my wife?” Aden asked as they approached. His hands were curled into fists at his side and it was taking all of his will power to not make a grab for the stranger.

“listen I’m sorry I didn’t mean to cause any trouble or….”

Inside the house Belle was pacing up and down Beau cradled in her arms. She was thinking to herself how much she had changed since Beau’s arrival. Even a few weeks ago she would have remained outside despite what Aden had said and would have been at his side when he confronted the stranger. Now however her overwhelming instinct was to keep Beau safe and that meant keeping herself safe too so that she could protect him.

“Belle can I get you a drink or something?” Nicole asked from her seat on the couch

“No I’m fine thanks Nic”

Nicole stood up and walked towards her

“how about I take Beau for a bit?” she reached out her arms to take him

“No, he’s staying with me” Belle snapped

“Ok” she dropped her arms “Will you at least sit down then! You’re making me nervous!”

“sorry, but I really want to know what’s going on out there.”

“Dad and Aden will sort it Belle, try not to worry.”

“How can I not worry Nicole! This guy has been giving us crank calls for 2 weeks, has been asking around after me, found out where I live and has hung around our house and he must have been following me this afternoon to know I was meeting Aden from work.”

“Yeah but it will all stop now right - They’ll find out who he is and what he wants”

“I hope…”

Belle was interrupted by a knock on the front door that made both her and Nicole jump.

“it’s just us” Roman called from outside

Nicole quickly made her way over to the door and opened it. Roman entered first closely followed by Aden whose eyes instantly found Belle’s.

“Well?” she asked instantly her eyes trying to search Aden’s for a hint of the answer.

“Babe, why don’t you let Nic take Beau?” he asked as he approached her

“What’s going on Aden?” she could see in his eyes that he was worried and her heart began to beat faster

“I’ll tell you in a sec sweetheart.” he reached down and took Beau from her arms “Nic, would you?”

He handed Beau to Nicole

“Course I will, come on gorgeous lets go help granddad to make a drink.” she carried him into the kitchen. Aden watched them go then crouched down in front of Belle. He used one hand to gently tuck her hair behind her ear whilst the other rested on her knee.

“Aden?” she whispered. She knew that he was going to tell her something that she probably didn’t want to hear. She could see it in his eyes.

He took a deep breath and licked his lips slowly.

“ok babe, first of all he’s gone ok. You don’t have to worry about him hanging around anymore if you don’t want him to”

“why would I want him to? Who is he?”

“The thing is babe..” he dropped his hand from where is was resting against her neck and instead took hold of both of her hands “… he’s your dad sweetheart”

[bradyell]

Not in a good mood! if this chapter sucks you know why!!

Chapter 55

“What!” Belle dropped Aden’s hand and jumped up from her seat on the couch almost knocking Aden over in the process.

“Babe, come and sit down and I’ll explain” Aden tried to sooth her as he stood up

“I don’t want to sit down and I don’t want an explanation, where’s Beau, we’re going home”

She turned from him and walked into the kitchen

“Belle, we need to talk about this” he called following her. By the time he reached the kitchen Belle was taking Beau from Nicole’s arms and he could see her struggling to contain her emotions as she cradled their son in her arms.

“I just want to go home Aden”

He stared at her for a moment trying to decide on the best course of action. He looked at Roman hoping for a bit of advice but he just shrugged his shoulders.

“ok” he said with a deep sigh “let’s go”

Belle left the kitchen without so much as a goodbye to anyone.

“Sorry guys” Aden apologised for her “And thanks mate” he added to Roman

“hey no worries, you just go and make sure she’s ok. Call me later yeah?”

“Yeah sure. Bye”

By the time he reached the car Belle had already strapped Beau in and was sitting in her seat leaning forwards so that she could talk to her son

“ ….then it will be bed time for you wont it?”

“Alright babe?” he asked as he climbed in

“I’m fine”

Her short reply was not lost on him but he decided to drop the subject until they were at home. He started the car and pulled away.

“so little man, are you going to fill daddy in on what you and mommy have got planned for tonight?”

“well” Belle answered “we both thought that seeing as how the two of you haven’t had any time together today you could be in charge of bath time whilst I sort out dinner”

“I like the sound of that” he replied with a grin “hear that son? I’m willing to sacrifice my taste buds to spend some quality time with you”

“Hey cheeky!” Belle smiled.

Her mind was whirring with thoughts about what Aden had revealed earlier but she wasn’t ready yet to start processing those thoughts and was grateful to Aden for not pushing the subject.

“There is nothing at all wrong with my cooking!” she replied

Once they arrived home Belle made a start on dinner whilst Aden got things ready for Beau’s bath. He realised Belle was keeping them both busy to delay any kind of conversation about that afternoons revelations and decided to go with it for the moment. At least until they had Beau settled.

“right then son, you all ready?” Beau was lying on the changing matt ready for his bath “in we go then” Aden lifted him up and gently lowered him into the water resting his tiny body against his forearm.

He picked up a sponge with his free hand and began to gently wash Beau

“this is good hey mate? A bit of father son bonding time. Don’t worry we wont always do it over bath time! As soon as you are big enough we can go to the footie and then when you are really big we can go to the pub can’t we huh? I reckon mommy will want to join us there though. You think we should let her?”

Beau was kicking his legs in the water clearly enjoying his bath and timed an extra big kick perfectly with Aden’s question, splashing water over the edge of the bath

“I’ll take that as a yes then shall I?” Aden grinned “You love your mommy don’t you? Me too Beau, she’s pretty amazing isn’t she? To me honest mate I’m a little worried about how she’s dealing with what happened earlier so we are going to have to be really good for her tonight aren’t we? Lots of extra cuddles I think”

“I’m fine Aden” Belle sighed as she walked into the nursery “although I’m not going to say no to extra cuddles of either of you” she added as she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her chin on his shoulder “Listen we’ll talk later ok, I just need time to get my head together.”

“ok, whenever you’re ready babe”

“Are you done yet?”

“pretty much, you wanna grab the towel”

She unwound her arms from his waist, picked up the towel and held it out. Aden lifted Beau from the bath and placed him in her arms and folded the towel around him

“Hey munchkin, was that a good bath huh?” she asked Beau as she held him close to her “you like your baths don’t you? Quite the little water baby!” she peppered his face with kisses “Right, back to daddy, that dinner isn’t going to cook itself”

“chance’d be a fine thing!” Aden laughed as she handed Beau over to him “it might be edible then mate!”

After they had finished dinner Aden cleared away whilst Belle fed Beau.

“he asleep?” Aden asked when Belle moved Beau away from her body and pulled up her top.

“yeah” she answered brushing her hand lightly over Beau’s hair “You wanna put him down?”

“lets do it together” he walked over to the couch and reached out a hand for Belle to hold. She took hold of it and allowed him to gently pull her up. He led her to the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Beau’s moses basket and Belle sat down next to him, Beau cradled in her arms.

“I love him so much Aden” she said as she gazed down at her son sleeping in her arms

“I know you do sweetheart, me too” Aden replied as his arm crept around her waist

“the thought of ever being away from him….”

“hey!” Aden interrupted “You don’t have to worry about that Belle, we are both always going to be here for him”

“you can’t know that Aden, what if something happens to one of us or…” by now the tears that she had been trying to hold back all afternoon had begun to fall down her face

“Baby it’s ok” Aden soothed. The arm that was around her waist pulled her tighter to him and he raised his other hand to her face to wipe away her tears “let’s just get this little guy into bed hey, then we can talk”

She nodded her head before lowering it to place a kiss on Beau’s forehead “I love you sweetheart, sweet dreams”

She placed Beau gently into his bed and Aden leaned over to pull the blankets up over him.

“Daddy loves you too little man” he placed a delicate kiss on his cheek and rubbed a hand gently across his hair “sleep tight son, and look out for them bed bugs huh!”

He stood up whilst Belle leant down to give Beau a final kiss.

“come on babe” once again he took her hand and pulled her up this time leading her back into the lounge.

As they sat down on the couch Belle took a deep breath

“come on then, what did he say”

Aden positioned himself so that he could take hold of Belle’s hands and encouraged her to turn around so that she was facing him.

“ok, so you remember when we went to the city for Pete’s birthday, well he was in the restaurant. He recognised Amanda and when he heard you call her mom he put two and two together and….”

“that doesn’t make him my dad he could be wrong”

“he’s not wrong sweetheart - he’s spoken to Amanda and she confirmed it.”

“what!” Belle jumped up from the couch “she knew! She knew about this but didn’t tell me!”

“Belle, calm down, come here” he reached out a hand to her but Belle ignored it and began pacing the room

“I can’t believe this! So what? He wants to play happy families now? It’s only taken him twenty years!”

“he didn’t know about you Belle”

“Ok, even if that is true that meal was months ago Aden!”

“I know sweetheart. He said he needed time to…”

“time to what? Decide if he wants a daughter or not! Well I’ll save him the trouble of having to make that decision! I’ve gone twenty years without a real dad so I don’t think I need one now!”

“Belle, you..”

“No Aden! I don’t want anything to do with him! And right now I don’t want anything to do with my mother either! I can’t believe she didn’t even think to warn me that this might happen”

“I was pretty surprised about that, but you know Amanda, she probably thought she was doing what was best for you”

“that just shows how little she actually knows me Aden. I really mean it, I’m done with her and I’m going to tell her!” she stormed across the room and picked up the phone

Aden jumped up and strode over to her gently taking hold of her arm

“babe, hang on, I know where you are coming from but I think you should wait a while before you talk to her, think things through a little more”

“there is nothing to think through!”

“Belle!” he lifted his hand from her arm and raised it to her face, stroking her cheek before running his fingers through her hair

“Don’t Aden” she said trying to pull away from him

“Don’t what?”

“talk me out of this, be nice to me!”

“hey, I’m always going to be nice to you!” he snaked his other arm around her waist and pulled her into him “and I really think you need to be talked out of this, at least for tonight”

“I’m just so angry” She cried

“which is why you can’t talk to her now, you’d just get into a fight and that isn’t gonna help anyone. We can call her in the morning yeah?”

“I suppose, but I wont change my mind Aden”

“I’m not expecting you to, I just want to make sure you are thinking straight when you talk to her and I know that right now you aren’t”

“my head is all over the place” she sighed as she finally gave into his embrace and wound her arms around his neck “can we just stop talking about it now?”

“if you really want” Aden answered as he rubbed gentle circles on her back “what do you wanna do now then?”

“can we go to bed? I know it’s early but I just really need for you to hold me”

She felt his lips curve into a smile against her hair before he planted a kiss on the top of her head

“let’s go” he whispered as he took hold of her hand and led her into their room.

[bradyell]

Chapter 56

The next morning Aden insisted that Belle stay in bed whilst he gave Beau his early morning feed

“You were up in the night with him babe and then when you were in bed you were tossing and turning”

“yeah but…” Belle tried to reply but Aden cut her off

“No buts!” he leaned down and gave her a kiss before climbing down to the end of the bed towards Beau’s moses basket “Good morning mister” Beau was fussing and Aden knew from experience if he was left much longer the fussing would soon turn into full blown crying and there would be no chance of Belle getting any more rest. “looks like I’m gonna have to take you with me doesn’t it?” He picked him up and rested him against his chest chuckling when Beau’s tiny mouth found the bare skin of his shoulder and began to suck “You aint getting anything out of there buddy! Come on lets get you some food, you’re obviously starving!”

He carried him into the kitchen and used his free hand to fill up the kettle and switched it on then grabbed a bottle of expressed milk from out of the fridge.

“So what are you and mommy gonna get up to today whilst I’m at work? I reckon you might go and spend the day at nana Irene’s. That’ll be fun wont it? You can play with Meg!” he continued to chat away to his son as he prepared the bottle and made himself some coffee.

“Here you go baby boy” he said as he sat down and got comfortable “grub’s up!” he placed the bottle in Beau’s mouth laughing at the speed and strength with which he was sucking “slow down mate, it’s not going anywhere!”

He gazed down at Beau as he fed. Even two weeks on just looking at his son took his breath away.

“How did I make something as perfect as you hey?” he asked “look at you! you’ve got this perfect little face, all these perfect little fingers” he stretched out his little finger from it’s grip on the bottle and pressed it into Beau’s grasp “a couple of perfect little feet, which daddy just knows will be kicking a winning goal someday”

“He also happens to have the perfect daddy!” Belle said as she walked into the lounge

“I thought you were sleeping!”

“I couldn’t get back off” she replied

“You might have done if you’d tried for more than five minutes” Aden grinned at her as she sat down

“there’s no point babe, you need to get ready for work anyways”

“ok, but I’m finishing off here!” he insisted with a grin

“As if I’d stop you” she replied matching his smile with one of her own “I might jump in the shower now, before you go”

“And then?”

“And then I’m going to get this little man ready and we are going to go and spend the day at Irene’s like we promised you yesterday”

“and what about talking to Amanda? Are you gonna do that today?”

“Yeah I am. I’m not angry like I was last night but I haven’t changed my mind Aden, I can’t do it any more! I can’t keep letting her hurt me and then forgive her just for it to happen again”

“you know she never means to hurt you don’t you”

“yeah I do know that and I’m not going to completely shut her out of my life but she needs to know that I’m taking a definite step back from our relationship.”

“ok sweetheart, if you’re sure. What about your…”

“don’t say it! He’s not my dad and I want nothing to do with him”

“well he left me his number so if you do change your mind…”

“which I wont” Belle interrupted

“I’ll keep hold of it just in case!”

“You can do whatever you like with it” she said as she jumped up from the couch “I’m going in the shower, wont be long ok?”

“yeah ok.” Aden sighed “what are we gonna do about your mommy hey Beau?” he whispered as soon as he was sure she was out of earshot “She’s too stubborn for her own good sometimes!”

Once they were all ready they headed out to the cars Aden strapping Beau into his seat in Belle’s car whilst he said goodbye to him

“I’ll see you later yeah son? You remember to look after mommy for me! And remember daddy loves you!” he dropped a kiss onto his forehead before standing up straight

“he all ready to go?” Belle asked as she slammed shut the boot

“he is. Come here babe” he reached out his hands and placed them on her hips pulling her towards him “Are you sure you’re ok with everything that’s going on Belle?”

“Probably not” she said with a wry chuckle “but I will be”

“you need to talk to me, I want to help you”

“Aden, just having you here helps me. I promise I’ll talk to you if I need to but right now I just need to get it all straight in my own head. Is that ok?”

Aden remained quiet for a moment staring into Belle’s eyes before slowly nodding his head whilst he raised his hands to cup her face

“that’s ok babe but don’t ever forget that I am always right here for you ok”

“as if I could ever forget” she said raising up onto her tiptoes and kissing him passionately

“ok” he chuckled as they pulled apart “anymore of that and I really really wont want to go to work!”

“sorry” Belle grinned looking anything but as she leaned in again and placed her lips against his. This kisser was slower and shorter than the last and Aden groaned as they parted

“I hate work!”

“I know babe but you’ll be back before you know it”

He turned his head to look down at Beau who had fallen asleep in his car seat

“looks like somebody isn’t too concerned about me going” he laughed as he nodded down at their son

“Give him time! I’ll have to remind you of this conversation when he’s screaming at the door in a couple of years time!”

“you do that” he said with a wink “ I’ve gotta go” he sighed

“go on then!” she grinned as she placed another quick kiss against his lips “love you babe”

“love you too” he replied “I’ll call later”

When Belle arrived at the beach house Irene was alone at the table eating her breakfast

“Morning” she said as she crept into the kitchen

“Blimey darl, what are you doing here at this time of the morning”

“hold on to this little guy whilst I get a coffee and I’ll fill you in” Belle replied handing Beau over to a willing Irene.

Once she had got herself a drink Belle sat down and filled Irene in on the events of the day before.

“Blimey! Your dad! I’ve gotta say darl that’s a shock and a half”

“yep” Belle nodded

“And Amanda knew?”

“yep”

“That woman never ceases to amaze me! She never thought to warn you that he might show up?”

“apparently not” Belle replied

“And what has she got to say for herself then?” Irene was clearly fuming with Amanda

“I haven’t spoken to her yet, I’ll call her later”

“So how do you feel about the whole dad thing?” Irene asked her voice brimming with concern

“Irene I don’t know! Mostly I feel like I want nothing at all to do with him, I mean I’ve managed this far without him right!”

“mostly? That mean you’ve got some doubts?”

Belle sighed and reached out her hand placing her little finger into Beaus grasp “I haven’t stopped thinking about it and every now and then this little voice in the back of my head pipes up and says why not just talk to him?”

“You know what, it’s not often you can say this about voices in someone’s head but I reckon yours could be right darl”

“You think?”

“Why not just talk to him, you’ve got nothing to lose right?”

“I suppose not.”

“look you don’t need to make any big decisions now just think things through, I’m guessing you’ve got his number?”

“yeah, well Aden has.”

“Hey Belle, what does Aden have?”

“Ah Geoff the answers I could give to that question!” Belle replied with a giggle as Geoff joined them at the table

“Morning Beau” Geoff said choosing to ignore Belle’s remark “how come you guys are here so early?”

“Long story but we thought we’d spend the day here if that’s ok?” Belle looked over at Irene

“Course it’s ok! Couldn’t think of a better way to spend me day off than with this little fella!”

After spending a few hours playing with Meg whilst Annie and Irene fought over Beau Belle decided it was time to call Amanda

“Can you guys keep your eye on him for me whilst I just pop outside to make a call”

“sure darl” Irene said guessing that Belle was going to be calling Amanda “good luck”

“thanks. I’m just out on the porch if he needs me ok.” She leant over to Beau who was lying on Annie’s lap and dropped a kiss on his head “Mommy’s not going far baby I’ll be right back”

Taking a deep breath as she pulled out her phone she found Amanda’s number and pressed the button to connect the call. It only rang twice before being answered

“Hello Amanda Baker speaking”

“hi, it’s Belle”

“darling! How are you?”

“Yeah I’m ok”

“And that gorgeous grandson of mine?”

“He’s fine too”

“Is everything ok sweetheart? you sound a little off. I thought we’d got over that silly argument we had when I visited.”

“Oh yeah, I’m over that” Belle answered her voice dripping with sarcasm that Amanda failed to pick up on.

“Good because it really was silly” Amanda replied

Belle had to take a deep breath to calm her rising anger

“So mom, have you got any news?”

“Not really darling, it’s business as usual here.”

“Not heard from any old friends or anything like that?”

“erm no, it’s just the same old….”

“You are unbelievable!”

“What? Belle wha….”

“you are lying to me! You’re not just hiding things from me you are actually lying about it!”

“I don’t understand?”

“come on Amanda, you’re not that stupid! Guess who’s been stalking me for the past two weeks?”

“Oh! Belle please I can….”

“I don’t need to hear your excuses as to why you failed to inform me that my father might get in touch”

“I told him not to contact you”

“oh right well if you told him not to contact me then that’s ok because obviously he was going to listen to you”

“Belle..”

“Save it Amanda! You should have told me end of! I’m done with being hurt by you.”

“What do you mean” She could hear tears in Amanda’s voice but it didn’t do anything to change her mind about what she was going to say

“What I mean is that you keep saying things and doing things that hurt me so much and then think that just apologising makes it all ok when it doesn’t, the hurting doesn’t stop! I’ve thought about this a lot and I think that the only way it will stop is if I don’t see you anymore”

“Oh my god Belle no! I couldn’t bare not seeing you! And Beau! Don’t keep my grandson from me Belle please”

“I don’t want to but at the moment I feel it’s what I have to do, at least for now. I’m not saying it’s forever and I’m not saying I wont talk to you at all but right now I need to do what is best for me and my family and that’s my decision.”

“But I’m your family Belle”

“Aden and Beau are my family and I’m sorry but….”

“Please Belle”

“Sorry mom, bye”

She removed the phone from her ear and pressed the button to end the call. As she pushed it back into her pocket tears began to slowly fall down her face.

“darl?” she looked up to find Irene standing at the door and within seconds was in her arms sobbing into her shoulder.

[bradyell]

Chapter 57

Belle had just managed to pull herself together and stop her tears when her phone began to ring. She was relieved when she pulled it out of her pocket to see Aden’s name flashing on the screen and not Amanda’s.

“Hey babe” she said as she answered the call

“Belle what’s wrong?” Aden replied quickly, his voice full of concern

“What makes you think there’s something wrong?” she asked a small smile coming to her lips

“You’ve been crying”

“How can you possibly know that?”

“I can hear it in your voice.”

“I’d only said like two words” she replied

“I know you Belle. What’s happened babe?”

Belle sighed “I just spoke to Amanda”

“Didn’t go well huh?”

“to put it mildly”

“I wish I was there, we wont be back for….”

“Aden, I’m fine.” she interrupted “Please don’t spend all afternoon worrying about me”

“that’s easier said than done sweetheart”

“I know but promise me you’ll try”

Aden sighed “I’ll try babe. So how’s my boy?”

Just the mention of their son brought a smile to Belle’s lips. “He’s great, enjoying getting spoiled by Irene and Annie!”

“I bet he is! Give him a kiss from me and one to my princess too”

“Nicole’s not here!”

“Ha ha” Aden replied “I’ve gotta get back to work. You sure you’re ok?”

“Yes! I’m sure. I love you and I’ll see you later”

“love you too gorgeous, bye”

“Hey I didn’t know you were here!” Nicole cried as she followed Geoff into the beach house later that afternoon “Hello handsome boy” she said to Beau as she sat down on the couch next to Belle

“hey, you want a cuddle Nic?”

“Silly question” Nicole replied as she took the baby from Belle

“actually do you want to feed him for me?” Belle asked

“I’d love to but I thought you were breast feeding”

“I am but I express some milk too but so far he’ll only take a bottle from Aden. It will be interesting to see if he’ll take it from you.”

“I’m sure you’ll take it from auntie Nic wont you Beau”

Belle got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen as she passed Geoff she patted him on the shoulder and was surprised when he flinched at her touch.

“everything ok Geoff?” she asked

“Er yeah why”

“Probably because you just jumped a mile when Belle touched you” Irene answered as she stood up from her seat at the table

“Did I?” Geoff asked his face a picture of innocence

“you did darl, so come on spill the beans, what’s going on?”

“Nothing, I guess she just made me jump” he said as he sat down on the couch next to Nicole.

“if you insist!” Irene replied with a laugh “ Right, I’ve gotta duck out to the shops, I wont be too long, you kids gonna be alright here?”

“I think we’ll manage” Belle answered with a grin “I might be gone by the time you get back so thanks for earlier.”

“anytime darl” Irene gave Belle a quick hug before heading out of the house.

After heating Beau’s bottle Belle returned to the lounge

“What are you two whispering about?” she asked as Geoff and Nicole quickly stopped talking.

“nothing!” Geoff answered

“ok, here you go Nic.” she handed Nicole the bottle as she walked around the back of the couch “let’s see what you make of someone other than mommy or daddy feeding you baby” she leaned over the back of the couch so that she could look at Beau and rested her hand on Geoff’s shoulder.

“OW!” Geoff winced and pulled away from Belle

“Oh my god!” Belle cried “You didn’t? Let me see it!”

“What? I don’t know….” Geoff tried to defend himself but was interrupted by Annie

“What? What did you do? What’s going on” She looked back and forth between a sheepish looking Geoff and a shocked Belle.

“He’s had a tattoo!” Belle answered “Haven’t you?”

“no” Geoff replied although there was no conviction behind it

“Geoff Campbell take your shirt off” Belle insisted “wow” she added “there’s a sentence I never thought I’d hear myself say!”

Nicole couldn’t contain herself any longer and let out a chuckle “good job Aden’s not here to hear you say that! Geoff you might as well show them, you can’t keep it covered forever!”

“it’s true!” Annie cried “you got a tattoo!”

“yeah but it’s not that big” Geoff replied as he stood up and lifted his shirt over his head. There was a square of bandage taped to his shoulder. He reached round and slowly began to peel away the tape. His back was to Belle and she let out a gasp when the bandage finally came away to reveal the tattoo underneath.

“oh my!” she cried raising a fist to her mouth and biting on a finger to hold back the laughter that was trying to break free “no prizes for guessing who’s idea this was!”

“What is it? Turn around Geoff” Annie insisted and he obliged

“Nicole! You had Nicole tattooed onto your shoulder!”

“it’s great isn’t it?” Nicole asked from her seat on the couch

“it’s stupid!” Annie replied

“Belle?” Geoff asked

“Well, the design is nice” she answered biting on her lip

“but?”

“but don’t you think it’s kind of silly to have something so permanent? I mean no offence but you two hardly have the most stable relationship.”

“Yeah it might not have been in the past but this time it’s for good right Geoff?” Nicole said

Geoff nodded in answer

As they had been talking Nicole had been trying to give Beau his bottle but looking down at him when he began to whimper Belle could see that he wasn’t interested in taking it.

“sorry guy’s we’ll have to carry on with this conversation later” she lifted Beau from Nicole “looks like daddy is the only one who can do the bottle huh? I might as well go home now and feed him there. You can wait a few minutes can’t you mister?”

Annie helped Belle to collect up all her and Beau’s things and Belle said her goodbyes promising Geoff and Nicole that she hadn’t finished talking to them about the tattoo.

Belle had just finished feeding Beau and had lay him on the couch when Aden came in from work

“Hey you” she said standing up and walking towards him

“hey yourself” Aden replied dropping his bag and wrapping his arms around her “you ok?”

Belle reached up and snaked her arms around his neck getting as close to him as was possible.

“I will be in a minute” she answered before burying her face in his neck

“it‘s ok!” Aden kissed the top of her head as he tightened his hold around her “I’m here now baby”

Since her tears earlier with Irene and her conversation with Aden on the phone Belle had pushed all thoughts about Amanda and the goings on of the past few days to the back of her mind but hearing Aden’s soothing words and feeling secure in his arms she felt ready to let go properly of the emotions she had been bottling up.

Tears fell from her eyes and sobs overtook her body as Aden held her as tightly as he could without hurting her.

“shhh baby” he whispered into her hair “it’s gonna be ok”

After a few minutes her sobs seemed to subside so Aden pulled away slightly so that he could see her face

“You wanna talk?”

Belle nodded and pulled away from him completely “Come and say hi to Beau first, he’s missed you today”

“not as much as I’ve missed him” Aden replied as he walked over to the couch and sat down next to Beau. “Hey sleepy boy” he ran his hand gently over Beau’s head before leaning down to place a kiss on his forehead “I missed you son. And mommy said you missed me too, is that right huh? Not enough to stay awake to see me though I see!”

“I’m sure he would if he could!” Belle said with a small smile

“I hope so” Aden grinned “asleep when I leave, asleep when I get back! Daddy’s beginning to think he’s boring or something!”

“Nah it’s just bad timing” Belle replied “I’ve just finished feeding him”

“hmm I suppose I’ll forgive you then little man” he leant down to give him another kiss “how about we order in a take away for dinner babe?”

“Yeah, I’m really not in the mood for cooking”

“cool. You wanna order it whilst I have a quick shower then we can talk yeah?”

“sounds like a plan” Belle said with a grin as he stood up and dropped a kiss on her head before heading to the bathroom.

Over dinner Belle filled Aden in properly on her conversation with Amanda and he assured her that he supported her decision.

“Do you still have the number for my er…”

“Your dad?” Aden finished the sentence as Belle seemed to be struggling to find the correct word

“yeah”

“Yeah I do. Are you thinking about calling him?”

“maybe” Belle answered. They had finished eating and she began to clear away their plates “It can’t hurt right?”

“Erm no I guess not. You seemed determined not to this morning though”

“I know and I’m still not sure I’m going to but I don’t know….I guess maybe I should give him a chance to explain himself properly”

“He’ll probably do a better job of it than I did! You know that you don’t have to if you don’t want to though right babe?”

“yeah I know that, I’ll think it over for a day or two first”

“ok and I’m with you on whatever you decide” Aden told her as he joined her in the kitchen

“thanks babe, I know you are.” she turned round from what she was doing and wound her arms around his neck “and thanks for being here for me”

Aden wrapped his arms around her waist and lowered his head kissing her delicately. “Haven’t I told you like a million times before, I will always be here for you”

“You might have mentioned it once or twice” Belle replied with a giggle before her lips met his once again.

They pulled apart reluctantly a few minutes later when Beau began to stir

“somebody’s been taking tips from his uncle Geoff on picking his moments” Aden laughed as he walked across the lounge and picked Beau up “hello mister”

“speaking of uncle Geoff” Belle said as she came over and sat down next to them on the couch “do we have some news for you!”

“Ha! Have I won our bet already?” Aden asked as he raised his feet up to rest on the coffee table and lay Beau down on his raised legs

“not at all, in fact I’m pretty sure that today’s events have sealed my victory”

“don’t tell me Nic finally wore him down and had her wicked way with him again”

“Ewww! No! But I’m pretty sure this was all Nicole’s idea”

“come on don’t keep me in suspense, I need to know what I’m up against”

“Well, Geoff is now sporting a rather fetching tattoo on his shoulder”

“No way! What of? Do not tell me it’s her name?!”

Belle nodded as she let out a chuckle. She wished she had her camera to hand as the look on Aden’s face was priceless

“let me get this straight Geoff has had Nicole’s name tattooed permanently onto his shoulder?”

“Yep”

“what would posses him to do that?” Aden asked

“Like I said I’m guessing it was Nicole’s idea, I didn’t really get chance to talk to them about it” Belle replied

“Well you’re right babe, it does seal the victory but for me not you!” Aden said with a grin

“And how do you work that out?”

“basic rule of the universe sweetheart - guy tattoos girls name on his arm a week later two at most he‘s dumped! Geoff has just hammered the nail in the coffin of his and Nic’s relationship! You can kiss a full nights sleep goodbye!”

“you are such a cynic! I still think that they’ll last this time”

“and the tattoo?”

“Erm! Well put it this way I adore you and I know that we are going to last forever but there is no way I will ever have your name tattooed on any part of my body”

“that’s good to know! And the same goes here. I’ll just have to come up with some other way to show you how much I love you”

“oh yeah, what did you have in mind?” Belle asked as she leant in closer to him

“I’ll show you” Aden whispered as their lips met at the same time as their son let out a wail.

[bradyell]

Not really sure about this but here you go ......

Chapter 58

“Hey honey I’m home!” Aden shouted as he arrived home from work the following Friday

“Hi babe, we’re through here” Belle called from Beau’s nursery

He dropped his bag on the floor and headed to join them.

“so what’s going on in here then?” he asked as he leant against the doorframe grinning at his wife who was dancing around the room with Beau cradled in her arms

“Well he’s just finished his dinner and was looking a little sleepy but I know how much he really really wanted to wait up for daddy so…”

Aden laughed as Belle walked over to him and stretched up to place a kiss against his lips as he took Beau from her arms.

“Hello little man, how’s it going huh?” he asked as he held Beau in front of him level with his face. “that bad?” he added when Beau started to whimper. He lowered him so that he was cradled in his arm and with his free hand ran a finger slowly down his cheek “Shhhhh Beau it’s ok daddy’s here now” he lowered his head and placed a kiss on Beau’s forehead. By the time he moved his lips away Beau’s eyes were closed and the arm that had been waving in the air began to slowly drop.

“wow you really are that boring!” Belle giggled when she noticed Beau had fallen asleep already

“Hey!”

“kidding babe it’s just….”

“bad timing!” Aden interrupted “Yeah I know.”

“sorry, I’m sure his routine will change soon!” Belle replied

“it’s fine Belle” Aden chuckled “besides its Friday so we get the whole weekend together”

“that we do! You haven’t forgotten about tonight have you?”

“Tonight?”

“dinner, Tony‘s birthday….”

“Ah yeah, Beau’s coming with us right?”

“of course he is. Rach said we can put him down in Emme’s room, she’s gonna set their travel cot up for him.”

“Your first sleep over mate, with a girl! You’re already taking over uncle Geoff!”

“Aden!” Belle slapped his arm “besides it’s not a sleepover! He’ll be coming home with us so it doesn’t count”

“ok babe, if you insist. So what time are we heading out? Have I got time to chill with this little bloke for a bit?”

“by chill you mean sleep?”

“erm maybe yeah” Aden replied with a sheepish grin “you can join us if you like”

“as tempting as that sounds I was actually going to make that call”

“to your dad?”

Belle nodded

“ok, let me put Beau down and I’ll sit with you if you want?”

“do you mind?” Aden could see the uncertainty radiating from her. He reached out his hand and grabbed hold of hers pulling her into a hug being careful not to disturb Beau.

“of course I don’t mind, that’s what I’m here for” he planted a kiss on the top of her head before walking over to place Beau in his crib “Sleep tight son” he whispered as he pulled the blanket up over the sleeping baby.

Belle had followed them over and leant over to drop a kiss onto Beau’s cheek “dream sweet dreams baby”

Belle dropped down onto the couch next to Aden the phone clutched in her hand

“you sure about this Belle? There’s no rush”

“yeah I’m sure, I’ve done nothing but think about it the past few days.”

“ok sweetheart” he placed his hand on her leg and rubbed it lovingly

“You got the number then?” she asked

Aden pressed a few buttons on his phone and handed it to Belle “there you go”

“what do I call him?”

“what?”

“Well I’m not really comfortable with calling him dad so…?”

“Oh right ok. His name is Ben”

“Ben. Right ok! I can do this!”

“of course you can!” he raised his hand and placing his fingers against her cheeks gently turned her head so she was looking at him “I love you” he leant forward and placed his lips against hers in a tender kiss.

“I love you too” she whispered as she pulled away “here goes”

With shaking hands she keyed in the number and held the phone against her ear.

Aden stared intently at her and wished with all his heart he could make this easier for her. It was killing him seeing her so worked up knowing that there was nothing he could do to make it better. He slipped his hand into Belle’s and felt her grip tighten when the phone was answered.

“Erm yeah hi, is this Ben?” Belle asked, a distinct wobble of emotion evident in her voice.

“Yes it is.” came the reply from the other end

“this is Belle, Belle Taylor, your…….. Amanda Vale’s daughter”

“Belle! Wow, I didn’t think you’d call. Wow!”

“I nearly didn’t but…..”

“I’m glad you did. Wow! I don’t know what to say”

Belle laughed nervously “me either!”

“Well I suppose how are you? Is a good place to start” Ben replied, clearly as nervous as Belle was

“I’m good thanks, how about you?”

“oh me? I’m great, really great. How about the baby? I’m sorry your husband didn’t tell me his name”

“Beau, he’s called Beau. And he‘s doing really well.”

“that’s good”

“Yeah it is” Belle replied

“look Belle how would you feel about us maybe meeting up over the weekend, I think this would be much easier face to face”

“erm yeah ok, I guess”

“how about tomorrow evening? Perhaps in the surf club by where you live?”

“ok, I’ll see you there about seven?”

“see you then Belle, bye”

“bye”

She disconnected the call and dropped the phone onto the table before turning round to look at Aden

“well?” he asked

“I’m meeting up with him tomorrow at the surf club”

“wow ok”

“will you….”

“you don’t even need to ask sweetheart” he dropped his hold on her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder

“do you think somebody will watch Beau for us?” she asked “I wouldn’t feel right taking him”

“I’m pretty sure Irene would or Roman and Nic”

“Roman’s gonna be at Tony’s tonight so we’ll ask him.”

“You haven’t left him with anyone yet, are you gonna be alright with it?”

“honestly?”

“Yes honestly” Aden grinned as he sat back pulling Belle to rest against his chest

“just the thought of leaving him anywhere makes me feel actually sick! I mean I trust Roman completely and I know I’m going to have to do it sooner or later but…”

“you’re gonna be a mess?” Aden asked with a chuckle

“basically yes! I mean I miss him now Aden! How crazy is that? He’s only in the next room and I’m aching for him”

“Aww babe, I know how you feel. But he’ll be fine and we’ll both have our phones and we’ll keep it short yeah?”

“yeah, I don’t really want it to drag on for ages anyway, with Ben I mean. If it goes ok we can always arrange another time or something.”

“that’s cool babe. And hey, I’m really proud of you”

“really?”

“Really really. You took a huge step tonight and I know it wasn’t easy for you but I think it was the right thing to do.”

“I think so too. And I couldn’t have done it without you here so thank you”

“you are more than welcome” he replied as he leant forward to meet her lips

With his

“Knock knock!”

Belle pocked her head around the front door at Tony and Rachel’s house a few hours later

“Hey guys” Rachel cried walking towards them “Come in come in”

“Hi everyone” she called to the assembled group in the lounge “are we the last ones here? Beau wanted a feed just as we were ready and….”

“Belle relax” Tony soothed placing an arm around her shoulders and using his free hand to relieve her of the bag she was carrying “come in and sit down”

“Thanks Tony and happy birthday!”

“yeah happy birthday mate” Aden called as he walked in carrying Beau in his car seat

“thanks!” Tony replied “Aden, beer?”

Aden looked to Belle with his eyebrows raised “Who’s driving home?”

“me I suppose although you owe me like a million!”

“I’ll make it up to you babe! Anyway you’re breast feeding so you can’t really drink that much anyway”

“I could express”

“ok do you want me to drive then? I don’t mind if you…”

“Tony” Belle interrupted him “Will you get him a beer and shut him up”

“will do!” Tony answered with a chuckle

“Hey Aden” Martha called from her seat in the lounge “bring Beau over, I haven’t seen him for days!”

Aden took him over and placed his seat on the coffee table. Martha, Leah and Rachel all crowded round and began to coo over him whilst the men that were present watched. After a few minutes, when they had all finished saying their hello’s Rachel took Belle and Beau into Emme’s room so that Belle could put him down to sleep. Aden followed a few minutes later to say goodnight.

“So is this Beau’s first sleep over then?” Hugo asked when they were all seated around the table eating dinner

“It is not a sleep over!” Belle replied

“Touchy subject mate” Aden said with a laugh

“I’m with Belle” Tony added “my little girl will not be doing sleep overs with the opposite sex until she’s…..” he paused for a few seconds before continuing “my little girl will not be doing sleepovers with the opposite sex!”

“I feel your pain mate” Roman said “you wait till she’s a teenager”

“Don’t!” Rachel cried “The poor thing will never be allowed out of the house”

Aden laughed “You’ll just have to hope you get lucky like Roman has and Emme finds a guy like Geoff!”

Everyone at the table laughed “Yeah I guess I am kind of lucky - who would have thought Nic would end up dating a wannabe minister!”

“you know” Belle laughed “Geoff’s not as innocent as he’d have you all believe”

Roman began to choke on the mouthful of beer he had just taken

“that’s true” Aden added sensing the opportunity to wind Roman up and grabbing it with both hands “I mean even I wouldn’t do what Nicole talked him into doing the other day!”

Roman was the only person around the table without a grin on his face “What did he do?”

“It’s nothing illegal or anything like that although actually….”

“Aden!” Roman was really not amused

“Aden stop it” Belle scolded “It’s not that bad Roman, he just got a tattoo of Nicole’s name on his shoulder”

“He did what?” the same cry came from Martha, Leah and Tony at the same time

“And this was Nicole’s idea?” Roman asked

“Apparently so” Belle answered “She wanted him to prove his love to her seeing as how he wouldn’t show her by… well in a more… well..”

“I think they get the idea babe” Aden laughed

“Yeah I get it loud and clear” Roman replied “I suppose I should be relieved! Please don’t tell me Nic returned the favour though”

“well if she did it’s not in a place that is visible when she’s wearing clothes” Aden told him

“That doesn’t help mate! I think my daughter and I need a chat!”

“You’ve got all this to look forward to” Martha said with a laugh to Tony and Rachel

“boys are so much easier” Tony said

“have you spoken to VJ lately?” Leah asked with a wry laugh “don’t you two be thinking you’ve got it easy because you’ve got a boy!” she added to Aden and Belle

“Beau is going to be the best behaved boy this bay has ever seen” Belle said with a laugh just as a loud cry came from the bedrooms

“Well that’s not Emme” Rachel laughed “It must be the best boy in the bay!”

[bradyell]

I was planning on putting the meeting with Belle's dad in this chap but got a bit carried away so that'll have to wait till the next one leaving this as a bit of a filler really!

Hope you enjoy it anyway

Chapter 59

Aden groaned the next morning when Beau’s crying woke them at six am “no chance of a lie in then!” he mumbled as Belle crawled to the end of the bed and looked into Beau’s crib

“good morning sweetheart, you ready to get up huh?” she lifted him up and made her way back to the top of the bed making herself comfortable resting against the head board. “looks like daddy’s the one who’s too sleepy to say hi this time!”

“I’m up!” Aden answered back although his eyes remained shut as he pulled himself into a sitting position. He stretched lazily and then finally opened his eyes to see his son staring back at him from his position in Belle’s arms “Hello mate, did you have a nice sleep huh? All that partying wore you out didn’t it.”

Belle had fed him at around midnight the night before and he’d remained asleep ever since even when he had been moved from the crib at Rachel’s into his carseat and then into his own crib.

Belle manoeuvred him into a position comfortable for both of them and began to feed him

“I can’t believe he’s gone what? Six hours. You must be starving hey little man?” she spoke down to her son

“looks like it” Aden grinned as Beau suckled away hungrily “looks like you might be there for a while.” He leant over and gave her a quick kiss before lowering his head to give one to Beau “how about I make some coffee”

“I knew there was a reason I married you” Belle laughed as he climbed out of bed

“there was me thinking you just wanted me for my body” he teased as he pulled on a pair of board shorts

“It’s a good job I didn’t” Belle grinned “it’s started to slip a bit lately”

“What?” Aden ran a hand over his toned abs and turned to look in the full length mirror “Really?”

She let out a laugh as she watched him contemplate her statement whilst he looked in the mirror

“I haven’t been to the gym as much since Beau arrived but…”

“Aden I was kidding! Your body is just as great as it’s always been! If only the same could be said about mine!”

“Belle! You look amazing. Beau’s only three weeks old and you are already back into your jeans! How many women can say that?”

“I suppose!”

“there’s no suppose about it! You’re gorgeous end of! Now stop fishing for compliments”

“I wasn’t” she cried

“Yeah yeah, I believe you” he winked at her before heading out of their room and into the kitchen.

“So what are we going to…..”

Belle walked out of the bedroom where she had been getting ready to find Aden asleep on the couch with Beau, wearing just a nappy, laying on his bare chest also fast asleep.

“like father like son” she whispered to herself with a smile as she walked over to the table and picked up her camera. She walked around them snapping shots from different angles all the while a smile plastered to her face. Seeing them together like this filled her heart with more love than she ever thought possible.

Getting closer to them she placed her hand gently on Beau’s back just above where Aden’s lay. Satisfied that he was warm enough she decided to leave them to sleep whilst she got on with some jobs around the apartment.

Aden awoke an hour later when Beau began to stir “hey mate, we must have nodded off huh?” he said to Beau as he ran a hand over his face in an effort to wake himself up

“Hey sleepy boys.” Belle called from the kitchen “Is this going to be the weekend routine from now on? Me slaving away in the kitchen whilst you two snore your heads off!”

“sorry” Aden held onto Beau whilst he sat up and then adjusted his position so he could carry him over to Belle

“you were supposed to be getting him ready” Belle scolded although the smile on her face completely contradicted her words.

“I know we just got too comfy didn’t we Beau? You should have woke me!”

“you looked too cute” Belle smiled as she raised herself onto tiptoes and placed a kiss against Aden’s lips. When they parted she took Beau from his arms and nestled him against her chest “right, I’ll get handsome here ready, you go and get a shower then we can head out yeah?”

“whatever you say gorgeous”

Aden showered and dressed as quickly as he could not wanting to spend any more time away from Belle and Beau than was necessary. He was finished within fifteen minutes and headed into the nursery where Belle was just finishing getting Beau dressed.

“All set?” he asked leaning against the doorframe

“yep” Belle replied picking Beau up

“So where are we going anyhow?” Aden asked as they walked together into the lounge and Belle lowered Beau into his pushchair

“I thought we could head over Irene’s” she answered

“Sounds good to me, what about later on? What time do we need to get Beau to Roman’s by?”

Belle ushered him outside and followed on with the pushchair “I said we’d meet at the surf club at seven so I thought we should get to Roman’s about five thirty?”

Aden reached behind her and pulled the door shut, checking it was locked before answering her.

“Why so early?”

“You know why!” she replied as she began the walk to Irene’s “I’m not looking forward to leaving Beau so I think we need plenty of time to make sure he’s settled and has…”

“Belle, he’s going to be fine”

“I know he is but I’m still going to worry about him! I’m his mommy it’s my job isn’t it baby?” she asked as she leant over the pushchair and tickled Beau under his chin

“Just don’t worry too much yeah?” Aden said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders

“I’m not promising anything” Belle laughed “Like I don’t have enough to stress about with this meeting!”

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to babe”

“I know but I want to do it” Belle said nodding her head as if trying to convince herself as well as Aden

“As long as you’re sure”

“I am” she insisted

They spent the rest of the walk chatting about that evening and by the time they reached Irene’s Belle was feeling slightly less anxious about it.

“Hello!” Aden called as he headed into the beach house

Belle parked Beau’s pushchair outside and took him out before following Aden inside

“Hey you three” Irene greeted them “To what do we owe this pleasure?”

“We thought we’d come and spend a bit of time with you all if that’s ok?” Belle replied

“It’s always ok” Irene replied with a smile “Come on hand him over” she said gesturing to Beau.

Belle passed him over before heading back into the kitchen to make her and Aden a coffee

“So where’s everyone else?” Aden asked from the couch where he had settled himself

“Annie is upstairs getting madam ready and Geoff is at the Gym”

“He’s not too sore?” Aden asked causing Belle to splutter on the drink she had just taken a sip of

“why would he be sore?” Irene asked “And don’t even think about fobbing me off because I know there is something going on with him, he’s been in a funny mood all week!”

“Aden I’m going to kill you!” Belle said as she handed him his drink

“Sorry I didn’t think” he replied with a grin that told Belle that what he had just said wasn’t entirely true

“ok spill” Irene insisted from the table

Belle sat down opposite her and took a deep breath before beginning

“I take it you haven’t seen Geoff without a shirt on all week?”

“Nooooo” Irene dragged the word out

“have you given any thought to why?” Belle asked

“Belle will you just spit it out!” Irene exclaimed

“I was just trying to break it to you gently!” Belle replied “He’s had a tattoo!”

“What! What sort of flamin tattoo?”

Aden was chuckling until he spotted Belle glaring at him

“Nicole’s name” Belle answered before biting her lip

Irene closed her eyes and took a deep breath “please tell me this is a joke darl”

“what’s going on?” Annie asked as she walked down the stairs Meg resting on her hip

“no Joke” Belle informed Irene “Hey Annie”

“there’s my little Nutmeg” Aden smiled jumping up from the couch and meeting Annie at the bottom of the stairs. Meg’s face lit up when she spotted him and she stretched out her arms in his direction “Hey baby girl come here” he lifted her from Annie and raised her above his head gently shaking her causing her to squeal with delight “I’ve missed you princess” he told her as he lowered her down and peppered her face with tiny kisses. “did you miss your uncle Aden huh?” he carried her over to the couch and sat down with her whilst Annie went and sat at the table with Belle and Irene

“So” Annie said looking back and forth between them “what’s going on?”

“Belle just told me about Geoff’s latest stunt” Irene explained

“Oh right” Annie replied

“Oh right indeed!” Irene began “That boy is….”

“Speak of the devil!” Aden called as Geoff walked in

“Geoff! Just the man” Irene called “Take a seat”

“erm I was just gonna go and get changed”

“seat now!” Irene insisted “we need to have a little chat I think”

Geoff followed her orders and sat down with a nervous smile on his face

“So?” he asked even though he had a fair idea of what was about to come

“Don’t give me so you great big…big I don’t know what you are! A tattoo Geoff! What were you thinking?”

“I don’t…..it was Nicole’s idea”

“And if Nicole told you to jump in front of a bus?”

“We’d be wiping him up off the road” Aden called with a laugh

“Not helping Aden!” Belle scolded

“It’s not that big a deal” Geoff defended himself “Tonnes of people get tattoos”

“you aren’t tonnes of people Geoff” Irene commented

“well it’s done now” Geoff snapped “so if you are going to punish me then punish me but can we stop talking about it please”

“I’d say being branded with Nic’s name for life is punishment enough” Aden added his input once again and once again it was met with a glare from his wife.

Irene sighed “You are too old to be punished Geoff. I suppose Aden is right, you are going to have to live with the consequences of this forever and nothing I do is gonna change that.”

“thanks Irene - can I go shower now?”

“go on” Irene sighed and Geoff jumped up from the table and headed upstairs. “I hope you were listening to that young man” she spoke to Beau who was lying in her arms “We’ll have none of that from you!”

“He’s going to be a good boy aren’t you Beau” Annie said

“I hope so!” Irene stated “not sure I can take any more dramas”

“Actually Irene” Belle began “speaking of dramas, did I tell you I’m meeting up with my dad tonight!”

[bradyell]

Chapter 60

“So usually I feed him at six, six thirty but last night he went six hours without a feed so today his routine has gone out of the window! I fed him at four which means he’ll need feeding again around eight but we wont be back by then so I’ve expressed some milk but so far Aden is the….”

“Belle will you relax a second” Roman interrupted “come on in and sit down first”

Belle, Aden and Beau had just arrived at Roman’s place over an hour before they were due to meet Belle’s dad at the surf club.

“Belle’s a little stressed out” Aden volunteered unnecessarily

“I’m not stressed out I’m just…..ok yeah I’m stressed out!” She laughed

“It’s totally understandable” Roman replied “you’ve got plenty of time before you need to leave so let’s just chill for a bit yeah?”

“thanks Roman” she said as she sat on the couch next to Aden who had Beau cradled in his arms.

“Where’s Nic?” Aden asked

“Right here” Nicole called as she came bounding down the stairs “Where’s my favourite nephew?”

“He’s here but you’re not getting him yet” Belle said as she took Beau from Aden’s arms “it’s mommy’s turn for cuddles isn’t it sweetie”

“Am I going to have to get the crowbar out for when you leave?” Nicole asked with a giggle

“I think you might” Aden laughed

Beau spent the next hour nestled against Belle’s chest and she was cuddled up against Aden. Roman and Nicole left them to it and got on with their own jobs around the house

“Babe, we should think about making a move soon” Aden said gently to Belle

“Yeah I know” she sighed “he’ll be ok wont he?” she asked as she lifted Beau a little higher so she could nuzzle her nose against his cheek

“He’ll be fine sweetheart. I’ll go and get Roman yeah?”

“yeah” she replied reluctantly as he got up and headed into the kitchen. “Hey baby, are you going to be a good boy for granddad Roman huh? Mommy is going to miss you so much! I love you little man”

“all set?” Roman asked as he walked over to the couch followed by Aden

Belle covered Beau’s tiny face with kisses and silently handed him over to Roman

“Hey mate, we’re gonna have a great time aren’t we?” Roman said down to Beau before looking up at Belle “I’ll guard him with my life I promise!”

“I know you will” Belle said a smile coming to her lips “You’ll call us though, if he needs anything?”

“of course we will” Roman insisted

“And his feed, I really don’t know if he’ll take a bottle from you guys, so far Aden has been the only one he’ll take it from. If he doesn‘t take it call and we‘ll come home”

“Babe” Aden reached out a hand and took hold of Belle’s pulling her up from the couch “he’s fine, we’ll be back in a few hours, he wont even notice we’ve gone!”

“I know, I know! Let’s go!”

Roman stood up and walked with them to the door. Aden bent down and dropped a kiss onto Beau’s head

“Love you son, we’ll be back soon”

He moved back and allowed Belle to step in front of him so that she could say goodbye. He placed his hands on her waist as she lowered her head to kiss Beau

“be a good boy baby, mommy loves you so much” she placed a final kiss on his head before taking a deep breath and backing away into Aden’s arms that wrapped around her from behind

“come on” he whispered into her ear “see you later guys” he said as he ushered Belle out of the door

They walked down the driveway and climbed into the car in silence. Aden glanced over at Belle as he fastened his seatbelt and wasn’t too surprised to see a tear making it’s way down her cheek.

“baby, come here” he said as he let go of his seatbelt and held his arms out. Belle willingly leant into his embrace “he’s gonna be fine”

“I know he is” she sniffed pulling away from him “I’m just being silly”

“loving our son so much isn’t silly Belle, I’d be more worried if you weren’t upset. And you‘re just about to meet your dad for the first time so it‘s hardly surprising you‘re a bit emotional”

“Yeah there is that! God I need to get a grip!” she took a deep breath as she ran a hand over her face

“Belle look at me” Aden told her as he took her hand from her face “You don’t have to do this. If you’re not sure or ready we can just get Beau and go home”

“No I wanna do it, I do! It’s just a bit… I don’t know…scary I suppose”

“well I’ll be right here the whole time. If you want out just give me a nod ok”

“thanks babe, I love you”

“I love you too. Shall we go?”

“yeah” she said with a nod “let’s go meet daddy!” she added with a laugh

As they walked into the surf club Aden felt Belle’s grip on his hand tighten. He squeezed back reassuringly as he led her over to the table were he had spotted her dad sitting.

He stood up as they approached and held out a hand for Aden to shake. Aden returned the gesture whilst Belle hovered nervously behind him

“Thanks for coming” Ben said nerves clear in his voice “Hi Belle”

“Hi” she replied quietly

“can I get you a drink?” he asked as Aden pulled out a chair for Belle before sitting down himself

“that’d be good thanks” Aden replied “I’ll have a beer”

“Belle?”

“erm just a diet coke thanks”

“coming right up” Ben said as he walked over to the bar

“you ok babe?” Aden asked Belle

“yeah I’m good” she replied “I’m just gonna call Roman quickly” she pulled her phone out of her pocket as Aden chuckled

“We’ve only been gone twenty minutes!”

“I’m just checking he’s ok” she grinned as she put the phone up to her ear

“Hello”

“Nic, hi, it’s Belle”

“Surprise surprise” Nicole laughed “He’s fine Belle”

“Really?”

“Really! He’s fast asleep on dad’s lap”

“Aww, does he look adorable?” Belle asked

“ Dad no! Beau completely! I’ll send you a pic”

“Thanks Nic, give him a kiss from me”

“And me” Aden called

“Two kisses coming up” Nicole replied “Now go enjoy yourselves and stop worrying!”

“ok ok bye” Belle hung up the phone and placed it on the table

“He ok?” Aden asked

“yep, asleep with granddad” Belle answered as Ben came back to the table and placed their drinks down.

“You checking up on the little fella? How is he?”

“Yeah, he’s great” Belle replied “It’s the first time I’ve left him so I’m being a bit neurotic I think!”

“That’s understandable, he’s your first right?”

“Yeah he is” Belle answered with a smile

“And how old is he now?”

“three weeks tomorrow, it’s gone so fast”

“it flies by eh! Just make sure you make the most of him”

“Oh we’re certainly doing that” Aden replied with a grin

They were interrupted by Belle’s phone bleeping signalling the arrival of a message

“this’ll be off Nicole” she said as she picked up her phone. Aden leant over and looked at the screen with her as she opened up the picture Nicole had sent

“Aw, look at him!” she grinned “He does look adorable”

“That he does” Aden agreed

“Would you like to see?” she asked Ben

“I’d love to” he smiled as Belle handed him her phone. He spent a few moments studying the picture “He’s a looker alright, I can see why you are so proud”

“Thanks” Belle replied

“So is that your dad with him Aden?”

“Not exactly no”

“oh it’s just that you said granddad before and I just assumed….”

“it’s kind of a long story, and very complicated” Aden told him

Belle smiled “It’s safe to say that neither of us has what you’d call a traditional family!” she explained

“that sounds interesting” Ben commented “I’d like to hear all about it if you want to tell me that is”

“sure, we might not get it all in tonight though” Belle laughed “Like Aden said it’s very complicated!”

They spent the next few hours chatting about how both Belle and Aden came to be part of their respective families. They managed to skirt around the deeper issues to keep the conversation light hearted and Belle was pleasantly surprised to find herself enjoying the evening.

“I see what you mean when you say it’s complicated” Ben laughed “it sounds like you have a pretty nice set up now though”

“We really do” Belle agreed with a nod “We’d be lost without them right babe?” she asked looking at Aden

“Absolutely, I mean who could live without Nicole in their life!” he laughed “What about you Ben, you married? Kids?”

“Yeah, I’m married. Her name’s Jess and last year was our eighteenth anniversary”

“wow, that’s a life sentence right there!” Aden laughed

“Aden!” Belle tapped him playfully on the head “you’ll have to excuse my husband, he likes to think he’s funny”

“I am funny!” Aden defended himself with a smile “what about kids?”

“we have a daughter called Abigail, she’s seventeen.” He took out his wallet and handed Belle a picture

“Wow she’s really gorgeous” Belle told him

“yes she is, and a real handful too! She’s really keen to meet you Belle.”

“She knows about me?”

“Yeah, as soon as I had spoken to Amanda I sat her and Jess down and told them all about it. They both wanted to come tonight but I thought it best to wait till the next time. That’s if there is going to be a next time?”

“I’d like there to be” Belle replied almost shyly

“Maybe the three of you could come over for dinner?” Aden suggested

“That sounds great” Ben replied with a smile “I’d really like that”

“Me too” Belle grinned as she picked up her phone “Wow look at the time! We should really get back to Beau”

“yeah of course” Ben said pushing back his chair and standing up “I’ve had a really lovely evening”

“yeah” Belle smiled as she too stood up “it’s been really nice, I’m glad I came”

“so I am” Ben reached out a hand and placed it on her shoulder “it’s been an absolute pleasure Belle”

Belle grinned a him shyly then turned to Aden “You ready?”

“when you are babe” he stood up and shook Ben’s hand “it was really nice to meet you”

“You too Aden, it’s nice to see Belle has such a supportive husband”

“I try” he grinned

“so Belle, shall I call you or…?”

“I’ll call you” Belle answered “We’ll arrange the dinner, maybe next weekend?”

“sounds good, I’ll speak to you soon then”

“ok ”

“ok”

“well this could go on a while” Aden laughed as he put his arm around Belle’s shoulder “We’ll see you next weekend Ben”

“yeah see ya”

“Bye” Belle called as Aden ushered her out of the door

“that went well” Aden said as they climbed into the car

“hmm?” Belle looked over at him

“I said that went well” he grinned

“yeah it did” she replied “it really did! He’s really nice”

They spent the rest of the journey back to Roman’s discussing how the evening had gone.

Aden laughed when they pulled up outside of the house as Belle’s door was open before he had stopped the car.

“careful babe, you don’t want to break your neck before you see him!”

“Well hurry up then”

She jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped and practically ran to the front door opening it without even bothering to knock.

Nicole was pacing the length of the lounge gently bouncing a fretful Beau in her arms

“Hey baby what’s wrong?”

Belle immediately lifted Beau from Nicole and cradled him against her chest placing kisses against his head

“sshhh, mommy’s here now” almost instantly Beau settled against her “had he been crying for long?” she asked worriedly

“nah, he just started before you came in” Roman told her “he’s been great all night”

“hey guys” Aden walked and headed straight for Belle and Beau “How’s my best boy huh?” he placed one hand on Belle’s lower back and his other against Beaus

“I was just telling Belle he’s been great” Roman informed him “drank all his milk didn’t you mate?”

“wow, looks like granddads got the magic touch too” Belle smiled

“Looks like it!” Nicole claimed “I’ve hardly had a look in all night!”

“What can I say?” Roman grinned “he loves his granddad!”

“Not as much as his granddad loves him from the looks of things” Aden replied with a smile “thanks for having him though guys”

“the pleasure was all ours mate” Roman replied sincerely