Tomorrow Never Dies

Chapter 26 - "You can't marry him"

*Flora's POV*
Michael was being the best boyfriend I could ask for. If I wanted something, he got it for me. If I asked something, he told me the reply, and he didn't lie to me. He was being so sweet, gentle, caring, and it made me want to cry.

"Mikey?" I asked, and he looked up from playing with my lilac hair. "Can you go and get Mum and Matty please?"

"Of course baby, do you want me to stay outside or can I come back in?"

"Whatever you want," I smiled. He stood up, kissing me quickly, then walked into the waiting room. When Mum and Matty walked in without him, I assumed he had decided to give me some time alone with them.

"Hi, Flower," Matty said quietly, sitting next to me in the chair. Mum hovered at the foot of the bed. Matty shifted his weight, trying to get comfortable, and one of the chair legs split underneath him. He fell to the ground and I burst out laughing. I watched a smile dance on Mum's lips, and he stood up, covering his eyes. "That wasn't at all humiliating."

"It's all of that muscle," I chuckled.

"I'm glad to see you're well enough to laugh at your brother," Mum said.

"I'm always well enough to laugh at him."

"You're so mean," Matty pouted, then smiled at me. "We have a surprise for you."

"What is it?" I asked. He looked at Mum, and they grinned.

"Toby's on his way home now," he said. "He'll be here this time tomorrow." I felt my face light up. I hadn't seen Toby in months - he'd missed Christmas due to being away so I'd not seen him since the start of the academic year in September.

"I've missed him so much," I admitted.

"We all have, petal," Mum smiled. "But he's coming home for a little while to see us all."

"When did you find out?"

"Yesterday, he surprised us all," Matty spoke. "Anyway, I'd best be off, I have training. And Grace is in the waiting room if you want, but be careful, she was giving Michael death glares."

"Send them both in," I told him. Then I looked at Mum. "Go home, get some rest. Look after Joey and Scratch."

"Yes, ma'am," she smiled, then walked out after kissing my forehead. Grace and Michael came in and stood on different sides of the bed. Grace was glaring at Michael, like Matty had said.

"Guess what?" I smiled, trying to ease the tension.

"What?" they responded simultaneously, and the awkwardness skyrocketed.

"Toby's coming home," I grinned.

"Fuck yeah, I've missed him," Grace said.

"You had a crush on him, you were determined to marry him."

"I did," she agreed. "But then I remembered I was married to you and our relationship is monogamous."

"Love you wifey," I said, and she took my hand. I looked to Michael.

"Toby's not gonna try and beat me up like Matthew is he?"

"If you're going to call Matty Matthew you have to call Toby Tobias," I told him. "And no, he's too small for that."

"Oh, good." The tension was still unbelievably high, so I decided to intervene.

"Okay, Grace, what's wrong?"

"He almost fucking killed you!" she exclaimed. "He should have been more careful."

"It's not his fault, I never told him I had an allergy."

"He shouldn't have risked it!" I reached for Michael's hand and squeezed it tight. He rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb and it eased my stress. "And stop defending him, you know it's true."

"Grace, yeah, he should have been more careful," I sighed. I needed to ease the conflict without taking sides. "But I didn't tell him, and so he can't be blamed for what I didn't do."

"You can't marry him," she said, and I looked up at her sharply.

"Why not?" Michael and I both spoke at the same time.

"Because you're already married to me," she said, a prankster's grin plastered on her face.

"That was mean," I shook my head. She smiled, and the room was completely at ease.

***
"Miss Lighthawk, we can discharge you now," a doctor said, waking me up from my slumber. "I'll get a nurse to  take out your IV and then you can disappear." I nodded, then waited for the nurse to come. As always, the removal of the IV caused me more discomfort than having it put in, and as I signed my discharge form I called Michael.

"Hey, babe, can you come and pick me up please?" I asked when he picked up.

"Of course," he said. "I'll take you to your mum's, they're having a little party for Tobias."

"Are you coming?"

"If you invite me as your date," I could hear him smiling.

"Oi mate, come as my date, if we went together it'd be really great," I recited a poem my best friend from high school and I had made up.

"Weirdo," he laughed.

"We were the coolest kids in town. Anyway, shut up and drive, love you bye." I hung up and a few minutes later he turned up in the car park. I climbed into his car, and we drove in a comfortable silence to my mum's house, as I had directed him to a few days before. There was a banner over the door saying 'welcome home' in bright lettering, and inside I could see people gathering. I walked in, not bothering to knock, and went straight into the living room. I kissed Joey's nose when he jumped up at me, and scooped Scratch up as she had decided to occupy my normal seat. My mother noticed we'd walked in and bustled over to see us.

"He's in a taxi on his way from the airport now," she said. I could tell she was nervous, as we didn't know how his time away had changed him as a person. There was a knock on the door, and in walked Toby. I dropped the cat and ran over to him. Matty joined me and we were cuddling in a 'Flora sandwich' just like the old days. The comfort of my brothers' arms made me smile, and I finally felt at home.

*****
here's a short chapter, the next one will be longer though okay

song of the chapter: this ain't a love song by scouting for girls (ive seen them play live once and they used to follow me on twitter but then they unfollowed how RUDE)