Hold my heart, it's beating for you anyway

Chapter 32

I wake up again to Anwen babbling away in her room. Jaime isn't here again and I assume he's gone downstairs so I grab my dressing gown and go to see the munchkin. I lift her out of her cot and kiss her on top of her head. She smiles at me and my heart melts. I change her nappy and take her downstairs to make her a bottle. Jaime isn't down here. I feel my heart skip a beat. I look out of the window and his car is gone. He must have gone to get me something after all. He'll be back soon, I tell myself. I put Anwen in her bouncy chair and with shaking hands, prepare her milk. I put a bib on her and pick her back up to feed her, holding her close to me the whole time. She soon drifts back off to sleep so I put her back in her bouncy chair and wait on the sofa for Jaime to come back. He will come back. Won't he?
An hour passes and it's still just me and Anwen. She woke up a little while ago and is now lying on the floor playing with her baby gym while I sit on the sofa and weep. I'm scared. Worried. He's been gone so long. Except he hasn't really. I'm just being silly I try telling myself. I want to call him but if he's driving it could be dangerous. I start pacing by the window, jumping at every little sound. The tears won't stop and my face is a mess. I just want him here. Now I'm being neurotic and clingy. I cave in and grab my phone. I unlock it and there's no text messages. No missed calls. I put it back in my pocket and start pacing again. I hear a car door and spin around to see if it's him. It's Tony. I run to the door. He sees the state I'm in and promptly places Scarlett on the floor where she toddles over to Anwen. He takes me in his arms and asks me what's wrong.
"Jaime. Gone all morning. So worried" I manage to gasp out in between the sobs that are making me shake. He guides me to the sofa and goes to make me a drink. As the kettle boils, he comes back through to me and holds me while my crying subsides slightly. He knows what day yesterday was and probably thinks that's why I'm upset.
"The kettle boiled. I'm going to get your drink" Tony says. I nod as he lets go of me. He brings me back a cup of camomile tea, supposed to be calming. I hope so. I feel anything but calm but I have no actual reason. I'm just scared. I feel my eyes going heavy again and a pair of arms carrying me up the stairs.
I wake up to raised voices.
"I wanted it to be a surprise. I didn't think Cate would freak out on me."
"Well she did. A note or a text would have been enough to reassure her. You wouldn't have had to put more than 'gone to get you a surprise' and she wouldn't have freaked out so badly."
On hearing Jaime's voice, I leap out of bed, not caring that I'm still in my pyjamas, and run down the stairs and into his arms, more tears trailing down my still red face.
"I'm so sorry Cate. I wanted to give you the best birthday ever after the awful one last year and I didn't realise you would get so upset about me popping out." I nod and wrap my arms around him. I glance at the clock and see it's nearly midday. Tony has stayed to watch the girls while he waited for Jaime to come back. I turn to him and give him a huge hug and a peck on the cheek.
"Thank you" I whisper. My voice has completely gone after all the crying. He smiles and whispers back "no problem." Then he hands me a package, wrapped in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle paper. I take it in my still slightly shaky hands and sit down on the sofa to open it. It's a carved wooden figurine of a mother and two children. It's beautiful and I smile at him. The tears seem to have died down at last. I place it on a shelf just to the side of the telly, out of reach of little hands. Jaime lifts me up and places me back on the sofa before pulling a dark blue box out of his pocket. He opens it and shows me what's inside. A ring? I'm confused.
"It's an eternity ring. Because I'll love you for all eternity" Jaime tells me as he slips it on the ring finger of my right hand. It's a perfect fit. A tear of happiness rolls down my face which he quickly wipes away.
"Get dressed my lady. The turtle and I are taking our favourite ladies out to lunch" Jaime says, carrying me upstairs.