My eyes started to sting but I swallowed past the threatening tears. “I do belong to you, don’t I?” I managed to get out in a hoarse whisper.
“We belong to each other.”
I smiled then as I lost my fight against tears Harry’s thumbs came up to swipe them from my cheeks.
“I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“No, it’s fine. Happy tears. I’m so happy, Harry.” The old Verity would be horrified by the amount of blubbing I seemed to do on the regular now, but then again, the old Verity was emotionally shutdown and deeply unhappy.
“I never wanted anyone but you.”
“Me neither.”
He kissed me again then, pulling me closer until I was pressed along the length of him. When we broke apart, we were both breathing heavily. He rested his forehead against mine and smiled.
“Didn’t think I’d get another chance to kiss Verity Markham on this sofa again.”
“Verity York now.”
His smile was blinding, and his arms tightened around me.
“Let’s stay here for a while. I’m sure they can survive without us. I bet they won’t even notice that we—”
“Oi!”
We both started at Yaz’s shout as the double doors crashed open. “I know you two are hiding in your weird teenage love spot. We’ve come to drag you out of here for photos and cake.”
“Yaz, maybe they want a bit of privacy,” Mia’s voice joined Yaz’s. Then it was like a heard of elephants had invaded the library.
“They’ll have plenty of privacy next week, darling,” Fern Hardcastle said in her no-nonsense tone. “We get to have them for now.”
“Yes, quite right, Fern,” Jean York clipped. I could hear both the women’s M&S heels clicking across the library floor now, just around the corner from the bookshelf we were tucked behind.
“I told you!” Yaz shouted as she rounded the corner and pointed at us. She looked gorgeous in a maxi dress and gold flip-flops. My brother appeared next, slinging his arm over her and kissing the side of her head.
“Sorry, mate,” he said to Harry. “I held the horde back as long as humanly possible.”
“Unca Hazza!” Sophie scrambled down from Max and ran to the sofa as fast as her stubby legs could take her. Mia smiled after her daughter and rested her hands on her also very pregnant stomach.
“Why the bloody hell are we all in the library?” Harry’s brother said. Three more small bodies ran to the sofa and scrambled up Harry and me.
“Careful of Auntie Verity’s bump, guys,” Harry said, attempting to hold them back but I shook my head at him.
“They’re fine, Harry,” I said as his now four-year-old nephew pressed his ear against my stomach. I smiled down at him and stroked the back of his soft hair. “Hear anything yet?”
He looked up at me with a grumpy expression. “He’s areallyboring baby.”
I laughed. “Maybe he’ll be more fun when he’s out and about.”
“Then I won’t be the youngest!” At his shout, the baby chose that moment to move. My stomach rippled as a leg pressed out to the side. I held Jake’s hand over the movement and his eyes went wide. “Maybe he’s not totally boring,” he whispered, and I leaned forward to kiss him on the side of his head. “You look really pretty, Auntie Verity.”
“Yeah,” said Mikey, who had inserted himself between me and Harry on the sofa. “Even if you are all puffy.” I laughed and pulled him in for a hug, looking over the top of his head at my mother-in-law. She gave me a beaming smile which I returned. I was now firmly, even ferociously, a member of the York clan. Sunday lunches at Harry’s house (his parents had finally relented and allowed him to host), his brother’s and even my cottage when we were there were a regular fixture. A real turning point came when Jean agreed to teach me how to make her gravy – a dizzy height of acceptance that not even the beloved Steph had managed to achieve. I was no longer the outsider. I was part of the York family and was being gradually interwoven into the threads of their life. I don’t think any of them realised how precious a gift that was.
“Right, kids,” Yaz said. “Let the love birds get up. We’ve cake to eat. Come on, come on!”
“Yes,” Lanie said from behind everyone, and I looked over at the entrance to see she’d also arrived in the library along with Naomi and Toby who were holding hands as was their default setting nowadays. “There’s cake and a band. You olds are so boring!” It was safe to say that Lanie’s spark was well and truly restored. No more monosyllabic answers from her now. In fact, there were times I nearly missed hoodie-wearing-kept-her-many-opinions-to-herself Lanie, but not quite. Sassy, colour in her cheeks, take-the piss-out-of-the-old-people Lanie was much more fun and less anxiety-provoking.
“Yes!” shouted Tilly, clambering off the sofa to stand next to Lanie and take her hand. “Boring olds!”
