See You at the Show (55 page)

“Do you remember the first time we had sex?”

She smiled too, leaning backwards slightly.
 
“On a bike.”

“On a bike,” he repeated, straddling the seat as she moved closer, wrapping her legs round his waist as he kissed her slowly.
 
“I love you, Stevie Stone.”

“I love you too, Mr. Rock Star.”

“And we’re having a baby…shit!
 
How crazy is that?”

She smiled again.
 
“I just hope he or she’s ready for the ride of their life with us as parents.
 
Because this ain’t gonna be no ordinary family.”

He stroked the small of her back, desperate to get her inside and make love to her again.
 
It was all he wanted to do these days, make love to her.
 
He didn’t think he’d ever get bored of that.
 
He’d known her for years yet it seemed as though this relationship was completely brand new, and in a way it probably was.
 
It certainly felt different.
 
It felt good.
 
It felt safe, and that was something Mark had never really got from a relationship before – safety.
 
Security.
 
He liked it.

“How do you think Luke’s gonna take it?” Mark asked.
 
“Having a baby brother or sister?”

“He’ll be fine.
 
He’s a great kid, a sensible level-headed kid, and that’s thanks to Connor.”
 
She ran her fingers over his rough chin, kissing his slightly open mouth.
 
“I think I should tell him and Connor first though, don’t you?
 
Before we do the big announcement.
 
And I think
you
should tell Johnny.
 
Tell him to get ready to become rock’s greatest Godfather.
 
He’s our best friend, Mark.
 
He’s the only man for that job.”

 
Mark kissed her again.
 
He could kiss her forever.
 
And why he hadn’t realised that before he had no idea.
 
He’d just been too stubborn to listen to his feelings, and too weak to fight for her once he’d realised they were there.

“You sure you don’t want to be known as Mrs. Cassidy?”
 
She pushed him away and he laughed.
 
“Still a no then?”

She climbed off the bike, straightening her dress.
 
“Your levels of perception are impressive, Cassidy.”
 
She pulled him up off the bike and slipped her arms round his waist, kissing him quickly.
 
“However, just because I won’t be Mrs. Cassidy in name, doesn’t mean to say I won’t be Mrs. Cassidy in the bedroom, and later, when we get bored of this party – which will probably be sooner rather than later because you look incredibly hot tonight – I’m gonna take you up there and show you a few Swedish tricks of the trade that should keep my new husband more than happy.”

“You mean there are some I haven’t seen yet?” he smirked.

“Oh, there are quite a few, handsome.
 
Believe me.”

He groaned as she put her hand where he really needed to feel her and she laughed.
 
“Hold that thought, baby.
 
I’ll see you later.”

She ran off in the direction of one of the bars to talk to Connor, and Mark sat back down on the bike, pushing a hand through his dark hair.
 
Stevie Stone.
 
The love of his life.
 
Now he just had to make sure he held onto her.
 
For good this time.

***

“You not drinking?” Connor asked, after Stevie turned down a beer.

She shook her head.
 
“I’ve had a glass of champagne but…Connor, I’m pregnant.”

He looked at her.
 
“Whoa!
 
I wasn’t expecting
that
!”

“No.
 
Neither were we.”

“You ok about it?”

She couldn’t help smiling.
 
“Yeah.
 
I think I am, now the shock’s worn off.”

“How…how far gone are you?”

“Almost four months.
 
Hence the baby doll dress.
 
The bump’s small but noticeable.”

“It’s Mark’s then.”

She nodded.
 
“Could’ve been a whole new mess if it had been Daniel’s, couldn’t it? But no, there’s no doubt.
 
It’s Mark’s.”

“And…is
he
ok about it?
 
Because he doesn’t strike me as daddy material.”

She couldn’t help smiling again.
 
“He’s fine.
 
Was a bit shell-shocked at first, as you can imagine, but then
I
wasn’t exactly doing cartwheels the second
I
found out either.”
 
She looked at Connor, his kind eyes staring straight at her.
 
He was a good man.
 
How different would her life have been if she’d stayed with him?
 
He would have looked after her, that was for sure, but Stevie Stone didn’t do being looked after.
 
Not anymore.
 
That was something Stefanie would have wanted, but not Stevie.
 
“I messed up with Luke...”

“Stevie…”

“No.
 
I messed up big time.
 
And now I want the chance to prove I
can
be a good mum - to Luke
and
to this baby.
 
I’m not saying I’m going to be perfect - this baby is going to be brought up on the road, spending a lot of its life at rock gigs and that’s no ordinary life, but…I
can
do it Connor.
 
I know I can.”

“I know you can too, mum.”

She swung round to see Luke standing there, his hands in his pockets, proudly wearing his Black Rock Diamond t-shirt, studded belt and scruffy jeans, his new tattoo on show.
 
Her handsome, grown-up son.

“And I’ll help you.
 
I’m gonna be it’s big brother after all.”

She smiled, standing up and pulling Luke into her arms for the first real hug they’d ever shared.
 
It was the first time she’d put her arms around him and held him like a mother holds a son and she cried as he clung onto her.
 
She’d let him down but she didn’t want to repeat that mistake.
 
She didn’t want to do that.
 
She wanted to show him things could be different, that she
could
be his mum – in whatever guise that happened to be.
 
She wanted him to know that she loved him.
 
More than he’d ever know.

She pulled away, noticing that he was crying too and she smiled at him again, wiping his tears away.
 
“Hey, come on.
 
You’re a rock roadie now, kiddo so, no tears, alright?
 
We’re gonna be ok.”
 
She turned to look at Connor.
 
“All of us.
 
We’re all gonna be ok.”

Luke looked at his dad, who just smiled and nodded.
 
They
were
going to be ok.
 
Stevie Stone was back in their lives, and who knew what that was going to be the start of.
 
Who could possibly know?

***

“Fuck me, Mark…a baby?
 
You and Stevie?”

“Yeah.
 
And I kinda reacted just like that when we found out.”

Mark sat back and opened another beer, taking a long swig as he remembered the morning they’d learned they were going to be parents.
 

Stevie’s period had been late, they’d been having sex practically non-stop for weeks beforehand so it hadn’t taken a genius to put two-and-two together.
 
She’d gone and bought a handful of pregnancy tests, they’d had sex in the shower while they’d waited for the results, and come out to the news that they were going to be mommy and daddy.

“And you’re ok with it, are you?” Johnny asked, looking at his friend as he watched Stevie from across the pool.

“Yeah, I am.
 
Now.”

“And Stevie?”

Mark looked at him, smiling slightly.
 
“She freaked out more than I did.”

Johnny looked down into his drink.
 
This was something that had come completely out of nowhere, from right out of left field.
 
Even finding out Stevie had a grown-up son hadn’t been as much of a shock as this.
 

“You didn’t get married just because…”

“No.
 
Why would we do that?
 
We didn’t
need
to get married at all, but I love her so much, Johnny.
 
I love that crazy, Swedish woman, and the fact she’s having my baby…you know what?
 
That’s an incredible feeling.”

Johnny couldn’t help but feel his heart sink, a feeling he’d once thought people just made up, nothing but a figure of speech, but no, it was an actual sensation.
 
And he was feeling it now.
 
Had he ever really stood a chance?
 
Should he have made his move sooner?
 
But Mark well and truly had her now.
 
Any last glimmer of hope that Johnny might have had was now gone.

He looked at Mark.
 
He seemed like a different person.
 
Happier, calmer.
 
For now, anyway.
 
But he’d always be Mark Cassidy, Johnny knew that.
 
Even a baby wasn’t going to change that.
 
Or Stevie.
 
So he forced a smile and hugged his best friend.
 
“Congratulations.”

Mark smiled, suddenly feeling as if the last piece of a very complicated jigsaw had just slotted into place.
 
He was Mark Cassidy – husband, daddy-to-be; rock star.
 
Life was fucking great!

***

“So, the woman who said she would never be a mum is suddenly about to become one.
 
Again,” Ava smiled as she sat down next to Stevie.
 

Stevie smiled back.
 
There was no malice anymore, no tension in Ava’s voice this time.
 
She seemed genuinely pleased for her and Mark.

“Well, maybe I was just kidding myself when I said I’d never get serious with him, Ava.
 
It was always there.
 
We were just too blind to see it.”

“You’re together now, Stevie.
 
That’s all that matters.
 
And…I’m sorry, ok?
 
For all the times I might have come across as stand-offish or judgemental,
 
that was wrong of me.
 
I never really gave you a chance.
 
I guess the rock star lifestyle just took a bit of getting used to for me.”

“Hey, you’ve got Billy.
 
You got the good one.
 
The rest of them need keeping on a tight rein.”

“You can rein me in anytime you like, sweetheart,” Jack smiled, sauntering over with a cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth and trousers tighter than they should legally be allowed.
 

 
Stevie and Ava looked at each other and smiled.
 
Even Ava was slowly getting used to Jack Warner.
 

She stood up and flicked the cigarette out of his mouth, high five-ing Stevie as she sat back down, both of them laughing.

Jack looked at them.
 
“What?”

“Mum-to-be here, Jack,” Stevie said, flattening her dress down over her tiny baby bump.

“Oh, Christ, spawn of Cassidy’s on the way.
 
I forgot.”

“We only told you ten minutes ago.”

“Yeah, well, there are a couple of glamour models over there that are slightly distracting, so, if you don’t mind…”

“Be my guest,” Stevie laughed.

“Rather them than me,” Ava said, watching as Jack swaggered off in the direction of two incredibly pretty, young, and possibly unsuspecting, brunettes before turning back to Stevie.
 
“Seriously though, if you need any help, any advice, just call me, Stevie.
 
I mean that.”

Stevie smiled.
 
“Thank you.”

“And Luke…he seems like a lovely young man.”

Stevie looked over towards one of the marquees where Luke was talking to a couple of rather famous rock stars, taking it all in his stride.
 
Her tall, handsome, wonderful boy.

“He’s a credit to his dad, Ava.
 
And I’m so lucky that I’ve got this chance to get to know him.
 
So, so lucky.”