Taylor's POV
Several months later
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My mind tells me that I've forgotten, I begin to wonder as I look out into the sun, the breeze sweeping through the hills as I lay looking at the pool and the shimmering water. My bump the size of a melon as the heat stifles me even under my parasol. My hair longer and lighter, my skin a deep tan as I gaze over bump realising that I've forgotten him, just like one should when they leave an ex lover. My heart convulses imagining him briefly, how he may look different. In almost half a year his hair may have grown out or his style may be different. Influenced by different surroundings and therefore he may be a completely different version of Matthew that I no longer know. Would I even recognise him if I walked past him unassuming on some street in London. Or would we just be two people that are rushing around, no longer connected to one another.
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I glance over at Jay splashing around our infinity pool with his son, his hair cut short accentuating his jaw. A deep glow to his skin, he’s never looked more happy in all of the years I’ve known him. Henry, my sweet, kind toddler splashing around in the pool surrounded by a swim ring as his blonde hair falls over his small head.
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"My darling" I call out sipping my cordial watching his head turn to stare at me, he’s on high alert for me to go into labour.
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"This baby is coming I swear to the Lord" I laugh feeling the pressure in my lower abdomen as he practically darts from the water. I'm overdue, by several days and I'm beyond ready to give birth to our little girl.
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"One, two, three" Jay smiles holding Henry's small hand as he helps him to walk over to me. Henry has been a quick walker, talker and eater. Generally he has done everything before his time and as parents our hearts couldn't be bigger for him. He holds onto his pale blue sunhat in his chubby hands to stop the breeze blowing it off, as he stumbles over the patio with Jay just behind him.
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"Dadda, juice" he looks up to Jay and I smirk watching Jay practically bend over backwards for his son so that he has everything that he needs.
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"Mmm Taylor" Jay says watching Henry play with a ball as he stumbles in the grass, I had planted daisies and chrysanthemums and Henry just loves to run around in them.
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"Baby number two is ready huh" he smiles rubbing my waist as I smile at him irresistibly.
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"Yes god darn it I need this baby out of me" I say exasperated as he kisses my bump feeling the movements of our little girl who is head down and ready. We're just waiting for her to either break my waters or I will be induced.
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“First food, what would you all like for dinner?” Jay smiles irresistibly.
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“Tato tot” Henry squeals and we both laugh, Henry has been enjoying a few easier dinners since my tiredness from growing his sister. Jay makes incredible potatoes that are stuffed with cheese and bacon, Henry has named them Tato tots and it’s his new favourite meal. On the eve of his first birthday one cannot deprive their first born son of his cheesy potato favourites and so Jay hustles out to the kitchen as I swing my legs slowly over the side of the lounger and slip my feet into my slides.
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“Mama” Henry squeals hugging my legs as I help him to walk into the kitchen, around a collection of building blocks and train sets. Henry is spoilt for choice with toys and I have not reined Jay in once on the spending. Henry even has a real motorised baby car to zip around in, a large playhouse and everything a young boy could dream of having.
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“Mama” he declares grabbing my attention as he shows me a daisy that he has plucked from the flowerbed. I haven’t the heart to tell him off for picking my carefully planted flowers. Henry is a kind boy, he enjoys giving people gifts. Last week he gave Rachel, auntie ra ra he calls her, a whole bunch of flowers.
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“Aww Henry that is beautiful thankyou baby” I tell him and he saunters off, attracted to the large flatscreen and his building blocks.
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“Would you like something more sophisticated than Tato tots darling” Jay asks setting me down in a cushioned seat and fixing up a chair to rest my legs on. He is attentive and utterly wonderful. Our life in Italy is just as we had planned, days in the sun and BBQ’s with Rachel and Christopher. Jay and Chris often do a nights baby sitting whilst Rach and I go out for dinner, neither of us can drink but we enjoy the pasta and the sorbet. Casually discussing Matthew and Ross over candlelight, our long lost friends that never visit.
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“Please can I just have pasta” I smile kissing his lips as he grins.
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“Pasta!? Of course mon amour. How about carbonara” he suggests and I smile. Jay’s mother, Claire, will be arriving tomorrow for Henry’s first birthday party. Usually my parties are utterly over the top and full of pre planning. This is no exception, Rachel and I have had it planned for months. It will be dinosaur themed and we have even hired a large bouncy castle which will sit in front of the vineyard. Of course Matthew and Ross are invited although they have not RSVP’d to their invitations as of yet. Half of me wants to call Matthew’s phone, although after days which turned into months of zero contact I no longer feel it appropriate to barge into his life. I asked for him to move on, wished for it even and now that he has I must not complain.
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“Here” Jay turns to me as I look up from the huge flatscreen and Henry practically singing along to some baby lullaby. An upshot of living in Italy besides the warm sun and the glorious food is that Henry is practically bilingual already. Jay and I have been learning a fair bit of Italian ourselves, Henry’s speech, although it is still developing, dips between Italian and American consistently. Jay is pleased as punch being that he already knows a fair bit of Italian himself.
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“My mother will be here by like twelve” he continues and I smile.
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“Nanna” Henry squeals smashing a whole load of blocks from his tower as I smile telling him that he is a clever boy.
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“That will be nice how is the company” I ask venturing a subject that he doesn’t offer much insight into, all be it Jay is a CEO, he works remotely. I can count on one hand how many times he has had to visit Dubai since we arrived back in Italy. Each time I’ve had Chris and Rachel for company, despite Matthew’s protestations of leaving wherever he is in the world for me I dare not take him up on his offer.
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“Growing in size and worth, which is positive.” He laughs plating up some of his Tato tot creations for Henry. He plods over with a toy car in his hands and we sit him down at the table ready to devour his potatoes for dinner.
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Jay ruffles Henry’s hair as he walks past to collect our pasta, served in deep bowls with a mound of cheese loaded on top.
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“My darling you’re glowing” Jay smiles setting the pasta down in front of me as I blush and eye his bare chest, clad in just his swim shorts.
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“Thankyou I feel like a beached whale” I smirk as he protests telling me that I’m the most stunning woman he has ever laid eyes on.
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“This is it for babies for a while Jay” I warn him as he eyes me suggestively, a glint in his eyes. I smirk and he laughs openly.
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“I know I know mon amour” he laughs.
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“I just love” he begins standing up and cleaning up after Henry who has finished and is tottering over to me.
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“Mama milk” he giggles and I laugh resting him on my knees, he only has breast milk once before bedtime every day. Jay smiles sitting back down in front of us.
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“I just love you mon amour, I love how wonderful of a mother you are” he blushes and I giggle watching him finish up his pasta.
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“I love you, you’re the perfect daddy” I tell him earnestly.
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After dinner, we tuck our little boy into his big boy bed, a large canopy above his toddler bed and sheets with dinosaurs printed on them. Henry’s room is filled with plush toys. Jay reads him a story and he listens giggling his eyes alight as he watches and idolises his daddy. My gaze remains upon the large teddy bear that sits in the corner of his room, a bear that was purchased in the States, thick thur and a classic look about it. The bear that Matthew bought him after the disaster in New York.
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I watch as Henry closes his eyes slowly, irresistibly giving into sleep and to dreams of running around with footballs through my flowers, or splashing in the pool with his father. Tomorrow will be his birthday, the most special day in his life and I focus on all of the love that surrounds him before he turns one.
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