“Sure,” Sarah cried and threw her keys towards Adam. “And Adam, thanks.”
“Yeah, no problem.”
* * * * *
Natalie shook Adam awake. “So what did she have?”
“Huh?” Adam said sleepily. “Oh, a baby.”
Natalie shook Adam again and then slapped him hard across the cheeks that caused him to groan. “Was it a girl, like the scan said?”
“Oi,” Adam cried. “I thought you weren't speaking to me?”
“Yeah, well. I want to know.”
“It's a girl,” Adam told her and she sat down on his bed.
“Why didn't you phone me?”
Adam sniffed. “Cos you weren't speaking to me,” he told her. “Remember?”
“Well I would have spoken to you for that,” she snapped back. She pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows. “And anyway, you've been a bastard,” she told him firmly and looked him in the eye before getting up and closing the door to his bedroom.
By the time Adam got out of bed, Natalie had left the house and he showered before throwing on some clothes and heading into the town centre. He wanted to get the baby a little gift before visiting hours, and walked into the baby shop in the centre of Lancaster; there was a lot of choice on clothes, accessories and other baby paraphernalia. He wondered if Tabitha would really need all of the stuff they claimed she would but selected three dresses from their “Summer” collection and put them in a gift bag with a card.
The local hospital was far bigger than he imagined or remembered but the staff pointed him down a corridor when he asked for “Tabitha and baby,” and he poked his head into each ward, one at a time.
Adam looked into the fifth “new baby” ward and saw Natalie sat down in the corner with Sarah and Tabitha. “Are you going in?” A midwife asked a loitering Adam who grunted: he hadn't expected Natalie to be there. “You're in the way.”
“Sorry,” he muttered in response and Sarah turned to see him. She smiled when she caught sight of the young man and beckoned him to get a chair. “Hi,” he breathed and saw Natalie glaring at him. “How is she?”
Tabitha bit her lip and smiled. “She's fine. Have a look.”
Adam leant over a small plastic cot and smiled when he saw the mixed race baby asleep and wrapped in blankets. “Whatcha callin' her?”
“Lara,” came the response. “Lara Sarah Kwame.”
“It's a nice name.”
Tabitha looked at Sarah. “Yeah well, if it was a boy then we would have given it a middle name of Adam,” she told him. “I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you.”
Sarah sighed as Adam blushed. “All I did was nick your bloody Gas and Air.”
“Oi,” Sarah cried. “No swearing in front of the little one. You watch your effin' mouth.” Adam chortled at Sarah who cocked her head to one side. “But thank you, we really mean that. You might be a right bastard at times but you have a soft side.”
Adam went a shade redder and put a small bag on the bed. “A small present,” he announced. “For the baby.”
Tabitha and Sarah exchanged glances. “It better not be a motorcycle helmet, cause she is not, most definitely not, going on your bike,” Sarah said with a grin.
“Cheers,” Tabitha said with a smile and picked up the bag, taking out a card and passing it to Sarah to open and put above her bed. She pulled out a gift bag and opened it tentatively. “They are beautiful,” she cried and she took out three dresses and then turned to look at Adam. “But size one to two years.”
“Yeah,” Adam squeaked. “Well you're a big … well you've got ...” Adam gestured with his hands and Tabitha giggled, staring at him with an expectant look. “Well your baby … it ain't gonna be small, is it?”
Sarah looked at Natalie. “Please tell me that his tact isn't what attracted you to him?”
“No,” Adam replied. “She's still in a mood with me. But it's OK. I move out next week.”
“Good,” replied Natalie instantly. “Can't wait.”
“Natalie,” Sarah cried out in chastisement but Natalie just crossed her arms.
* * * * *
Natalie looked at Adam standing in the doorway. “Pardon?”
“I can fix your car,” he offered. “On Sundays, the Garage is closed but Dad has given me a set of keys.” He spun an oversized key ring around his finger.
Natalie crossed her arms. “I don't want to …”
“What Natalie?” Adam raised his arms out and she sucked in air through her teeth. “Actually accept my help?”
The Scottish girl hummed. “Yeah, well, I s'pose.”
“Look, I said I am sorry. Tabitha's forgiven me, she said so and they were her bloody videos. I've said I'm sorry.”
Natalie sniffed and rubbed her nose. “Ya were perv-ing over her and …”
“OK, I'm not perfect,” Adam told her. “We were bang out of order, but it was just a fucked up situation. You might not see it, but we had a few to drink and it came on. I fucked but I'm only 'uman for Christ's sake.”
Natalie sighed and crossed her arms across her breasts. “It was really intrusive and nasty to do. And to show it to that friend of yours and play with yourself. It's gross.”
“I know. Sorry,” Adam said in a somewhat annoyed voice. “But I wasn't knocking one out. It was Carl.”
Natalie's scowl loosened. “Yeah, but he is your mate. You let him.”
Adam sighed. “Yeah well in it's the past now, ain't it. And if you want to fix your car, we can do.”
Natalie closed her eyes and looked up at him. “So how much do you reckon me car will cost to fix?”
“Forty quid,” Adam told her. “Ya got to do all of 'em, right?” Natalie nodded and Adam gave her a grin. “Sarah told me. But it's always labour that knocks up the price. I've got me Dad to get 'em from his dealer ready for us.”
Natalie took a deep breath and glared at him. “How did you know I'd be happy to let you do it?”
Adam shrugged. “I kind of figured that you would want the car done on the cheap.” Natalie went to interrupt and Adam smirked. “And I guessed that you being a tight-arsed Scot you would put your wallet before your principles and bitchiness.”
Natalie gasped and threw a cushion at the ducking, naked man. He watched it hit the wall behind him and grinned. “Finished? 'Cause we got a car to fix. If you want to, that is.”
“What? Today?”
“Today is Sunday,” Adam replied and jangled the keys. “Unless you want to pay dealer rates.”
Natalie pulled herself up and walked over to the door, pushing past the naked Adam who eyed her naked hips and pert ass as it wandered past him. “Don't even think about what you are thinking,” she told him and Adam chased her up the stairs to get dressed.
Natalie was reluctant to drive her car as “the brakes are fucked” but Adam persuaded her that they had enough life in them to drive down to the garage which he unlocked when he arrived and drove the car into the yard. “Get yourself overalls then,” he told her and pointed to a set hung up on the back wall.
Natalie moaned as she took a greasy blue set off the peg as it was “cold.”
“From fuckin' Scotland,” he replied. “Fuckin' snows up there.”
Natalie grumbled at him as he slung a cleaner set on and zipped them up. He pulled out a old-looking jack and passed it over to the girl watching him. “We'll need that,” he told her and grabbed a tool off the back wall. “And that.”
“Do you know how to do this?” Natalie asked nervously. “Cause I don't want to press my brakes and they fuck up.”
“Sure,” he replied. “They ain't gonna fuck up.”
“Yeah well, that's a fuckin' easy promise to make,” she told him and ran her hands through her hair. “But …”
“Love, loosen your wheel nuts on the passenger side.”
“What? You aren't gonna do it.”
“I'm going to get your new pads. Just loosen your nuts.”
Natalie sighed and p
icked up the tool, peering around it and fitting it over the first wheel nut, pressing down. “Is it anti-clockwise or clockwise,” she shouted into the store room when the nut didn't budge.
“Anti,” came the response and Natalie swore at her car wheel. She fitted the brace back on the nut and pressed down with her entire weight but the wheel nut would not budge.
Adam returned to her swearing and he looked at her. “Come here,” he muttered and extended the tool by six foot before fitting the tool back on the wheel nut. “Try now.”
Natalie grunted and pressed down with the nut turning effortlessly. “Fuckin' … err,” she muttered.
Adam watched as she loosened all of the wheel nuts and he then took the jack to lift up the car. It didn't take long before the car was raised by a few inches and he shortened the tool to remove all the wheel nuts.
Natalie watched in horror as her wheel was removed and set down next to the Scottish girl. He pulled out a small tool and unbolted the callipers before fastening them to the top of the wheel with a wire. “Got ya keys?” Adam asked and Natalie looked at him. “I need to reset the piston on the brake pads, which is a shite-site easier if the brake reservoir is uncapped, which is under the bonnet, which you have the keys for,” he explained.
“Oh,” she muttered and passed him the keys. “Sorry.”
“S'ok. You ain't ever done any maintenance on ya car, right?” Natalie shook her head and Adam walked around to open the bonnet, before unscrewing the cap for the brake fluid. “Push that piston,” he told her and waited for Natalie to tentatively push a small metal bullet in, before Adam rescrewed the cap on, but left the bonnet open.
He unclipped the worn brake pads and passed them to Natalie who held them out in front of her. “It's not a bomb,” Adam told her and Natalie sighed. “You can chuck 'em.”
“But ...”
“But they ain't no good,” she was told firmly and Adam took the first of the pads and slotted them into the callipers before refixing it to the wheel. Natalie watched spell-bound as he fastened the brakes, then the wheel and lowered the car, before tightening the wheel nuts firmly.
“Other side now,” he told her and walked around the car. He got Natalie to do far more of the work and just guided and supervised her as she unclipped the callipers and slid the old pad out. She listened as he gently advised and encouraged her, sitting next to her as she put the new brake pads in.
“Hello?” A voice called and Adam looked up to see a middle-aged lady walk in alongside the car. “Hello. Oh thank God someone's open. I need a new battery.”
Adam rubbed his nose. “I'm sorry. We are not open,” he said calmly and she looked at him.
“Oh. It's just my car wouldn't start and my son had to jump start my car. Could you not have a quick look? Please.”
Adam looked at the blonde-haired woman, cocking her head to one side and Natalie rubbed his hand. “Go have a look,” she told him. “I'll put my wheel back on.”
“Oh thank you, love,” the woman murmured at Natalie, and looked at Adam. “If you wouldn't mind.”
Adam pushed the car into the garage alongside Natalie's vehicle and opened the bonnet, taking a battery tester from the back of the garage and putting the two probes on the battery. “How long have you had the battery, it's dead.”
“Oh,” the lady hummed. “I've never replaced it.”
Adam took a screwdriver and spanner from his pocket and loosened the battery connectors before “checking the water level.” He glanced over at Natalie lowering her car on the jack and their eyes met. She smiled at him and he looked back at the car battery. “We can replace it,” he told her.
“How much is that?”
“Under a hundred, if we have 'em in.”
The lady nodded and sighed. “Go on then.” Adam walked over to the store room and returned with a brand new battery, an identical size as the current battery which he removed from the car by unscrewing a clamp. The new battery sat on the tray and he reconnected the terminals as Natalie sidled up him. “My car's done,” she whispered and he told her to start the lady's car.
It fired up instantly and Adam told Natalie to shut it off while he connected the clamp. “Of course,” he told her as Natalie passed the keys back to the woman. “If the alternator's gone, then the battery won't charge but it'll probably be the battery. They never last too long. And it's an original.”
“Thanks,” she said as he lowered the bonnet. “You are a real life saver.” The car owner smiled. “Oh, I'll just go pay your boss.”
Adam turned to look at the office and saw Natalie leaning against the wall with a grin. “Oh she's not my boss,” he told her quickly. “She's my girl … my fr … it's complicated.”
“Oh,” she muttered and Adam apologised, guiding her to the office, pulling out a sales receipt page and scanning a price list on the side of the table. “Errr … that'll be ninety two pounds then please.”
The lady counted out ten ten pounds notes as Adam wrote out the sales docket and found the drawer locked. “Keep the change,” she told him as he passed her the receipt. “You've saved my life today, nowhere was open.”
“Oh thank you very much,” Adam replied and slid all ten notes through the crack in the drawer.
Natalie watched the lady start her car, back out of the garage and drive away. “Can we go now, or do you want me to be a mechanic?”
“Hell yes,” he said with a grin. “And you do look good in those overalls.”
Natalie laughed. “You're weird,” she told him. “But thanks for getting me the new pads.”
“And fitting them,” Adam continued but Natalie looked at him.
“I fitted 'em myself,” she replied. “If you want a job doing, I gotta do it me-self,” she teased as she removed the overalls. “And I helped you on the battery.”
Adam shook his head: there was no pleasing some people!
Chapter XV
“Sarah,” Anne called and held out her hands to hug her daughter. “Sarah, how are you?”
“I'm fine,” Sarah said frostily. “Tabitha had a little girl, by the way.”
“A girl? Ahh, well, we got Adam's text message but we didn't know any more. How is she?”
“She's fine,” Sarah muttered and held her coffee tightly, looking around the empty coffee shop. “Keeping us awake half the night, but fine.” There was silence for a minute as Sarah looked at her mother. “Well, you wanted to see me?”
“Sarah, I'm sorry if you think we are angry or disappointed with you, we aren't.”
“Dad is.”
“Dad isn't,” Anne responded quickly. “He was shocked, we both were.” Sarah sighed and her mother stared at her. “You're his little girl, he sometimes forgets you might be an adult, but you mean the world to him. And he thinks the world of you. And yes, he's a bit stuck in his ways and he isn't good with things he doesn't understand, but he loves you, and no matter what happens, you can't change that.”
Sarah stared into the bubbles on top of her latte and glanced up. “He was so disappointed when he found out.”
Anne sighed. “Well maybe a bit. He doesn't understand. Or more to the point, he didn't understand. You live in a different world to us at times. He's not comfortable with the idea of you not marrying a nice guy and settling down to start a family and the like. He didn't get it.”
“He thought I was doing wrong,” Sarah replied instantly. “And he has always been prejudiced. He doesn't like Tabitha, he never has done. He just doesn't get it.”
Anne sighed. “He likes Tabitha if she makes his little girl happy.” Anne looked at her daughter and frowned at her. “Honestly, believe me. And he will love you and accept whatever you choose to do with your life. And be proud of you.”
Sarah took a deep breath and tapped the side of her cup. “He … he wishes I wasn't a primary school teacher.”
Anne shook her head. “Not at all. You think that 'cause he tried to steer you towards business, but the day you got your first job, and we
had that meal in that restaurant to celebrate, he didn't shut up about you in the car on the way home. He was made up, Sarah. And you having a girlfriend instead of a boyfriend, isn't going to change that. For either of us.” Anne dabbed at her eyes and looked at her daughter. “Do you really think that you having a Tabitha instead of a Terry for a partner is going to undo 23 years of affection and love? Really?”
Sarah shrugged. “Well …”
“It's such a silly, minor thing,” Anne told her. “He doesn't care, but he does care if he thinks you don't love him.”
“Then why isn't he here?”
“Would you have met me if he was going to be here?” Sarah shrugged. “Now come 'round for dinner on Sunday,” her mother told her. “Please.”
Sarah groaned. “If I have to.”
“You don't have to,” Anne told her. “But we'd want you to. And bring Tabitha as well.”
Sarah snickered. “You must be joking.”
Anne stared at her daughter. “Your father will be on his best behaviour,” she told her. “Cause there isn't many times when I don't get my own way, is there?”
“No,” Sarah begrudgingly admitted.
“Now come give me a hug,” Anne asked. “I hate it when we argue.” Sarah sniffed and got up to embrace her mother.
* * * * *
Adam squinted at the naked girl standing with her arms crossed. “Pardon?”
“A massage,” Natalie promised. “All set up in my room.”
“A massage?” Adam asked and leapt to his feet. “What's this for?”
“A thank you,” Natalie told him. “And, well, I was a bit of a bitch with you at the hospital.” She held out her hand and looked seductively into his eyes. “I guess if Sarah and Tabitha can forgive you and they were their videos then I shouldn't …”
“Be so pig-headed?”
Natalie screwed up her face. “Do you want a massage or not?”
Adam nodded and touched her on the arm. “Of course.” She opened the door to her room and guided the naked man into a calm sanctuary, full of flickering candles and the gentle scent of peaches and lavender. Some soft instrumental music was playing in the background. Natalie guided him onto the bench and poured a generous portion of oil in her hands.
She breathed out with every stroke along his back and Adam sighed with every touch. Adam felt relaxed and almost fell asleep at every motion Natalie made. She had a wonderfully gentle touch that was quite unexpected in someone so prickly and determined.