Marjoreece - Written In The Stars

The First Day Back

Reece sat in his office in a daze. He didn't want to be here. He loved his job, but the thought of being at home with Marjorie and his own kids sounded so much better to him than spending the day surrounded by other peoples. He'd been here for three hours and had already had run-ins with two parents. The first was a dad who came in asking how life was as a new father before trying to tell him exactly how Marjorie should raise them both as, as a father, it wasn't his responsibility. It was his job to provide the money and punish them when he thought it was needed and make sure they lived by his rules even if their mother didn't agree. Everything else was 'soft stuff' and their mothers job. Even Reece thought he may have gone too far when in response he told the parent that that explained why his son had absolutely no respect for any of the women in the nursery and always ignored anything they said to them but listened if Reece told him the exact same thing. The father looked proud at this, which meant Reece bit back with "Congratulations on trying to raise a misogynistic arsehole. He has the perfect role modal to become a great one of those." The dad stormed out of the office, muttering something about an email to head office. Reece wasn't bothered as that was now him and Autumn anyway, and no matter which one of them saw the email first, the outcome wouldn't be any better for that parent.

The second was a mother who took the opportunity to flirt with him. He rolled his eyes as she started talking about how he still had needs to be met, and Marjorie would understand that he would have to go somewhere else to have them filled this close to the birth. She approached the side of his desk and leant over, reaching out to grab his shirt and pull him into her, but before she could, he got up and walked out of the office. Leaving her stood there, looking confused and hurt. As he got out into the corridor, he bumped into his deputy.

"Hi Reecey." She said in her sing songy, slightly creepy tone of voice.

Reece said nothing but raised his eyebrow at her. She adjusted her stance slightly and tried again. "I mean Reece."

"Hey, Deliah." He sighed. Looking back into his office where the parent was now leaning on his desk with her arms crossed trying to work out where she'd gone wrong.

"Walking out of a meeting with a parent, that's not like you." Deliah commented, a concerned look crossing her face at how stressed Reece seemed.

"She didn't want a meeting, Deliah. She came in to hit on me, while Marjorie's at home still recovering from giving birth. I don't know where these women get this idea that I would just cheat on Marjorie. Let alone just for the fun of it. I mean, we're engaged. She's just had my babies, does it not seem to them that I'm settled?"

"It's not a reflection on you, Reecey.... Reece.... It's a reflection on them and either their current unhappy relationships or the way they've seen men behave in the past. They don't realise that not all men are like that. Especially not you." Deliah's eyes are now fixed on the mother.

"Thanks, Deliah. I'm gonna go out and get some air. I won't be long."

"Take as long as you need." Deliah replied, walking into the office.

Reece went out to the carpark and sat on the wall for a few minutes, clearing his head. He raised his hands to rub his eyes, a combination of frustration and tiredness taking over him. He heard all the normal nursery sounds. Cars coming and going, prams on the tarmac of the carpark, kids playing in the garden, parents gossiping. He was wishing he was somewhere a little quieter when he felt someone sit on the wall next to him. He sighed, expecting it to be another parent with more advice or even that mother again trying to have another crack at him. He removed his hands from his face, still looking down. He could see the wheels of a pram next to him. He sighed before looking up. At least it was a different parent this time. He looked up to find the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen and gorgeous blue eyes staring back at him. "Alright, my love? How's your day going? We missed you, so we thought we'd come down and say hi."

Reece didn't even say anything. He just pulled Marjorie in closer and kissed her. "You have no idea how much I needed this." He muttered as he broke the kiss, his forehead resting against hers.

"What's happened today then?" She asked him. As she finished speaking, they heard the sound of the nursery door slam. As they turned around, they saw the mother from before. She was looking back at the office window with a scared look on her face. Deliah was standing there watching her walk across the carpark. As she got closer to her car, she spotted Reece and Marjorie. By this point, Reece had his arm around Marjories' shoulders, and she was cuddled into him, gently pushing the pram back and forth so the twins stayed asleep.

"What was that about?" Marjorie asked, noticing the glare that the mother aimed at her and Reece.

"Don't you even worry yourself about that gorgeous. By the looks of it, Deliah has sorted it."

"Oh, OK. Anyway," She paused mid sentence as she bent down and started rummaging underneath the pram. "We brought you lunch." She said with a smile as she held up a Tesco bag.

"I love you." He said, smiling at her. "Let's go eat it in the office. I don't want you three to get too cold out here."

They walked back to Reece's office and were greeted by Deliah. "Hi Marjorie, Reecey, I had a word with that parent that was giving you trouble. I don't think she'll be an issue anymore." Deliah said with a smile. "Oh, you brought the babies! I haven't met them yet. If they're sleeping, I won't wake them, but can I see?"

Marjorie shot Reece a concerned look. She hadn't had many dealings with Deliah, but from what she'd heard from Char, she didn't want to do anything to end up on her bad side. Reece gave her a reassuring smile and nodded. He knew she was eccentric but basically harmless. At least unless you really pissed her off. Marjorie pulled the sun shade back so that Deliah could see the pair asleep in the pram.

"Guys, they're so cute. Are you sure they're yours, Reecey? I've seen the baby pictures. You were never that cute."

Marjorie couldn't hold in her laughter as Reece glared at Deliah. "Don't worry, my darling. I'm sure you were very cute. If you weren't, you grew into your looks because you're definitely handsome now." Marjorie said, trying to soothe his obviously hurt ego.

"Yea, I mean, you're not my type, but you must be fairly attractive for all these parents to keep hitting on you." Deliah added. As she finished speaking, she took the look in Reeces' eyes as a sign she should leave. "Anyway, if you're here. I'm going to go out and get myself some lunch. Have fun, you two." She said before making her getaway.

The couple sat down, Marjorie still giggling at Deliahs comments. "She's not funny." Reece said, sulking a little bit.

Marjorie pulled him in for a kiss. "Now, what did she mean about all these parents? You've only been back a few hours. How many have hit on you?"

"Only one." Reece mumbled sheepishly. "The one we saw storm out looking terrified of Deliah, funnily enough." Reece said, looking round to see Marjories reaction.

She was silent for a minute before she replied. "I thought I needed to worry about her, given what I've heard from Char but if that's the effect she has on the parents that hit on you when I'm not around, I like her."

A/N - So as well as this chapter there is also a collab chapter (that might give a few of you what you've been asking me for here, but can't give you as our Marj needs her recovery time) that has gone up today with a friend of mine, who just so happens to be one of my favourite writers on here an804u. It's in todays chapter of his book Alibi. The chapter is called The Return and it's already live for you to read, and if you haven't read the book yet, you really should (and his other book Generations, one of my favourites!). It is dark, there are trigger warnings and even I've had to trust the process throughout but it is an amazing book and the finale chapter to it will be up on Friday with all the secrets revealed by that point (It's worth the wait!!). It's been a privilege to work on this with you. Can't wait for the next one😉 .