When Gabriel had parked the car Millie put her hand on his knee, she had spent the car journey home feeling much relieved that Gabriel had understood her dilemma. She looked into his dark blue eyes and almost burst into tears at the thought that she could have lost them both, and of how much she loved him and Nick.
"Thank you, Gabe, thank you for understanding." She felt so foolish now, how silly she was to think they didn't care about her. They were nothing like her sisters, and she was stupid to think they would ever be like them. That emotion seemed ingrained in her subconscious that people would never care for her. It had to be banished, and she had to relax, stop feeling so on edge. This relationship was not a dream; this was real.
Gabriel leaned over to kiss her, "Don't worry, it's going to be fine. Let's go and see what Nick and Katie are doing."
Millie went straight into the house and to the bedroom to change into her bikini, and she was just in the bath
While Millie settled against his warm hard muscular body and dozed; he thought about the party they were planning, and he wondered how Millie would cope. Not that she needed to do anything about it, all she had to do was be there, but he knew she would be shy among their friends. Especially the girls, and he knew she would feel intimidated by them. They would have to stick with her at the party, mostly when Georgie was around. He would make sure she had an instant confidence boost and made a mental note to arrange something for her.Gabriel sat on the patio chatting to Katie; they were colouring a dragon between them."So, you have decided that Nick is papa, and I'm daddy, what about Millie?"She was colouring the dragon's claws in different colours. "My mummy went to heaven."Gabriel stopped colouring the fire coming out of the dragon's mouth. "I know darling I'm sorry she's not here anymore, but you are allowed to have another mummy if you want."
Millie, Katie Jess and Lucy sat in the arena, it was the final soundcheck, and Gabriel and Nick had invited them to come and watch their part of the soundcheck. They sat in the auditorium, watching everything that was going on. They had been back from Italy for two weeks now, and the guys had got straight to work. Millie and Katie had stayed at Kings Cove, Nick and Gabriel had gone back to London, and they came back on Friday night to spend the weekend with the girls. Katie stood at the French window's in the kitchen, watching and listening for the helicopter. She missed both Daddy and Papa very much. It was strange for Millie too, even though she had Jess and Lucy in the house and Claire stayed for part of the week.
Millie smiled; it seemed like they had enjoyed her being the Mistress. She had enjoyed it too, watching Nick's face had been great fun. He couldn't believe his eyes, neither of them could. Millie found it difficult not to break into a laugh, but she had played her part perfectly. Nick's eyes glittered at her, and she wondered just what sort of price she was playing for this. There was a singer on stage at the moment, and Millie let her mind wander back to the other night.Gabriel let out a sound, half roar, half Nick's name, his chest going up and down as he fought for breath. Nick released Gabriel's cock with an audible pop
Nick waved to his family and ran off stage. They just had to wait for Gabriel to sing with Claudia Cranston and then they could go home. Katie was jumping up and down, so Millie to Katie to the ladies. While Millie was waiting for Katie to have a wee, a couple of women came in. They were busy chatting, "Oh thank the lord we got out of there," wailed one of them, "I'm not sure I can stand that ho anymore, I'm not working with her again Shailla, who does she think she is? It's her who is out of tune, not me.""Precious, my darlin' don't take any notice of her, she's chasin' that poor man, Just be
Gabriel awoke slowly. His eyelashes fluttered, and he stretched his legs and then curled up again. He yawned and wondered what he would do today. Perhaps he would go to the marina and hitch a ride somewhere, the south of France maybe? God, his head was banging. Where was he last night at a party? God, he was really drunk, and his mind was a total blank. Gabriel opened his eyes and looked around the room. He could see the sky through the window, and he knew it was almost dawn. Hmm, that was weird he didn't recognise the room, it wasn't his flat, and this was a single bed. He'd not slept in a single bed since he was a small kid. Where the hell was he? God, his head hurt, and he closed his eyes and curled up to sleep again.
They had been without him for two days, forty-eight hours, two thousand eight hundred and eighty minutes, and every single one seemed like a lifetime of hurt, anger, and desperation. Nick had spoken to the police, and last night at the gig, Nick and the boys in the band pleaded with whoever had taken him to let him come home.What should have been a fantastic night was bittersweet. No one had seen Claudia Cranston, which, according to Nick, Dimitri, and Amelia was telling in the extreme. They had a friend who took Gabriel's place in the band, and after their set, they stood together on stage. Nick stood with this head down until the audience was quiet."You will have read in the newspapers and seen on the news that our dearest friend Gabriel is missing." Screens each side of the stage, showed a video of a man dragging Gabriel to the limo and then pushed inside. People gasped and then a hush over the arena. "Gabriel is my best friend, we've been together sin
Gabriel awoke with a start, gasping for breath. That was him, the man in the dream. Slowly he released his breath, and his hand touched the tattoo on his chest. He knew his name, he'd said it in the dream. Nick. He was tall and bright, happy, laughing his head off. He was also stark naked. Gabriel closed his eyes and conjured up the sight in his dream, this beautiful, golden man, muscles as he'd never imagined, and those muscles were going to be wrapped around him. He looked like a bloody rock star!Gabriel couldn't work out where he was. The room in his dream didn't strike a chord it loo
Nick shuddered, his breathing was erratic, and a feeling of utmost relief and...dread encompassed him. He didn't want to, but he dropped onto the sofa, he couldn't move, and he knew he should be running to the car to get Gabriel.The sitting room door burst open, "Dad, Lucy and I are going shopp...ing."Jess walked up to him, "Dad, are you okay? You look... It's Gabriel, have they found him, is he okay?" Jess knelt on the floor, her hands on Nick's knees, "Dad, is he okay?"Tears were running down Nick's cheeks, and he pulled Jess up so he could wrap his arms around her. "He's alive," he croaked. "Thank God he's alive."DI White sat with Gabriel and Matt on the bench in the park, which was not exactly what she should have been doing. The missing rock star should be in an ambulance on his way to the hospital, and for some reason, he had taken a distinct liking to the kid. Of course, she didn't want to insist Gabriel left now, especially i
Christmas Eve"You disgusting little horror, I've never known anyone smell like you, Not even your handsome big brother." Nick held Aria Henderson-Swan at arm's length and took the stairs two at a time. "You gorgeous beautiful stinkpot, what are we going to do with you?""Shh, I've just got Arlo to sleep," Gabriel whispered, he sat in one of the two rocking chairs with his tiny son over his shoulder gently patting his back. "You'd better be quick, one of her legs has turned a strange mustard colour."Bloody hell what has your mother been feeding you?"Same as she has been feeding this one, Google says breastfed babies have mustard pooh.""Great." Nick sighed, "Oh my
"What do you think?" Millie twisted around to look over the back of the wedding dress in the full-length mirror. The twins shook their heads, "Looks great at the front, you can hardly see the bump, but the back is a mess, far too many frills. I'll go and have a look, see what I can find. Pearl and Ruby wandered off. "What do you think, Mum? Rene shook her head, "No the girls are right, it's too much,""It looks as if you have a crumpled bed sheet attached to your bum," Lucy said. "Lucy!" said Claire, try not to upset the bride.""We are not having our gorgeous step-mum, looking like a complete clown, she can hardly see her feet, nevermind her bum. She needs us to tell the truth."Millie went back to the changing room and waited for the next dress, Pearl and Ruby came barging in."Try this Millie, I know its not the right colour, but the style is perfect."Millie wasn't going to argue, right now she was so fed up with trying frocks on, she w
Millie lay on the bed, as the ultrasound technician covered her tummy with gloop. The room was in semi-darkness, and Nick and Gabriel stood at the bed's side, Nick holding her hand and Gabriel's hand lay on her thigh."Just let me do my measurements, and then I'll show you the baby," Said the sonographer wielding the ultrasound wand over Millie's lower tummy.It only took a few minutes to get her measurements."Well, this is interesting," she said, "Which one of you is the father?" the sonographer asked."We don't know yet," Millie said, "and we don't mind all our family will love the baby.""I apologise, I thought you were a surrogate for these two gentlemen."Millie laughed, "No, we're just a very unusual family, and there is plenty of love for our children.""Do any of you have twins in the family?" The men shook their heads, "I have twin sisters" Millie said."Well, you're having twins, let me
It was so wonderful to be home, and Millie revelled in Nick and Gabriel taking care of her. Nick could hardly bear to let her out of his sight. He followed her around like a lost puppy, especially on that first evening.Claire brought Katie home after work. Katie glanced into the sitting room and realised Millie was there, "Mama"! she yelled running into the room and throwing herself onto Millie's lap.Millie breathed a sigh of contentment, how could she have abandoned this sweet little girl because of her hurt feelings. How ridiculous she was.Katie held tight to Millie's neck, "I'm sorry for leaving you, Katie," she whispered in her ear, "I'll never leave you again."Millie put Katie to bed after dinner, and they all sat and talked about the things they had been doing."So How are you doing Millie?" asked Claire.Millie glanced up at Nick and Gabriel. They were smiling at her like Cheshire cats.&
Jess and Lucy stared wide-eyed at Amelia's message, they both let out a sigh, "Thank god for that, so, shall we call Smokey?""No, let's ask Gabe if he will take us, Millie will need someone to be with her. Someone who loves her."Lucy said, "Not like we love her.""Okay, what about Dad?"
"Tell me what Angus said again?" Nick could hardly believe what Gabriel had told him, that he was suffering morning sickness, it was unbelievable, he'd never heard of this before, he didn't have this when Jess's mum was pregnant."He doesn't think there is anything wrong with you, he said to look up Couvade Syndrome, you read it yourself, Nick." Gabriel was holding on to his patience,
Three Weeks Later.Millie lay in her bed. She had left the curtains open, and from her position, she could see the trees across the river. The birds were tweeting and doing aerobatics among the branches, and the sun was shining. For the first time in weeks, everything was peaceful. Millie sighed, a feeling of contentment rose within her, and all she needed now was... No! She could not think of them. The lump in her throat stopped her breath, and her eyes stung with unshed tears. Jumping out of bed, she marched to the bathroom, determined that she would carry on with her new life. She leaned over the bath and turned the shower on, no massive shower with a million jet streams here. She would be lucky if the hot water lasted until she had washed her hair. The agent had promised they would repair the thermostat as soon as, but she hadn't heard from him for two weeks. God another Monday morning on the phone to him, She had never had any trouble in London with repairs t
The cottage was idyllic, it was a fairytale cottage, with a drystone wall at the front and garden full of flowers. If the inside were as pretty as the garden, Millie would take it. The Derbyshire hills surrounding the picturesque village were beautiful to look at, and just across the road, the river Derwent rolled peacefully along.The peace that Millie felt was incredible, and no one would bother her here. All she could hear was singing of the birds. The cottage was on a back road in the village, the only people who would come down this road were the people who lived in the other four ho
Gabriel watched the girls cook tea. He enjoyed being with them. They were funny, and they both explained many things to him about his life."Gabe, would you like to go and tell Nick dinner's ready please?""Do you know where he'll be?" he said, standing and stretching."Up two flights of stairs, first door on the left. That's your bedroom. He's probably sulking."Gabriel sighed, "Does he often do this, sulk, I mean?"Lucy rolled her eyes, "What you have to remember Gabe, is that although my brother is the outwardly dominant member of this family, you are usually in charge. Nothing happens in this household without you saying so and giving it your approval."Gabriel's navy blue eyes opened wide, "Are you sure?"Both the girls nodded their heads. "He just talks and shouts a lot," Lucy said. "But you are the one we all go to, and especially Nick. If you didn't realise it, Nick has said something to Millie, not meaning to hurt