Marjoreece - Written In The Stars

To the Nursery

Charlotte glanced out of the window as she went to the fridge to put the milk away. She rolled her eyes and shook her head when she saw him. She'd seen his Range Rover speed into the car park. She hadn't realised it was possible to almost drift a car that size, but Reece had managed to prove her wrong as he pulled in and parked up.

She chuckled as she watched him clamber out of the car, getting caught in the seat belt in his haste and being pulled back into his seat. She stayed put, watching him struggle with the seat belt again before finally getting free and running towards the nursery entrance. Now she started to walk back down. She could tell by the way he was rushing that he was going to get the door code wrong and probably make a few more mistakes before he got to the baby room or the office.

When she got down to the corridor, she looked towards the baby room first. There he was, looking in the window. "They're fine. You'd think they'd always been there."

He jumped when the brunette spoke behind him. "I can't believe I missed them coming in this morning. I'm such a jackass."

She placed a hand on his arm. "You were hurting. Just because you're a dad now doesn't mean you're not allowed to hurt. Maybe you could've handled it better, but you came to your senses. Are you coming in?"

He stood there for a few more seconds. "No. They're settled. I don't want to go in and ruin that. Look at them, Char. They're amazing, aren't they. I don't know how I got so lucky, and I might have already thrown it all away."

"What do you mean?" She asked, looking up at him, confused.

"I did go back last night, Char, but the door was locked. Mia said Marjorie was expecting me back by this morning, but she locked me out, so I don't see how she could have been."

"Reece, she's broken up. Go and talk to her. I think you are both jumping to conclusions about what the other one is thinking. Look, I know you don't want to go to therapy, but Mia has found opening up to me about her past helpful, and we're closer for it. If you don't want to let anyone else in, that's fine, but let Marjorie in. She adores you, I don't know why, but she does."

Reece looked at Charlotte with a hint of hurt behind his eyes. "Ouch!" He said, slightly outraged.

"Oh please, you're too closed off with your emotions. You have anger issues. You're immature and dress like a teenager. Do I need to continue? But she loves you for all those things. Don't push her away dumb dumb!" She stood looking at him, waiting for him to start moving towards the office. "Oh, for goodness sake." She mumbled, forcefully turning him towards the office and pushing him. "Go and talk to her. Fix this!"

He walked slowly towards the office door. His heart pounding in his chest. She had every right to be so angry with him. He hoped he could still make this right. He stopped at the door and looked back at Char. She sighed and frantically gestured for him to go in. He took a deep breath before knocking. "Come in." He heard from inside the office. He slowly pushed the door open and poked his head in. Marjorie didn't look up from her computer. Autumn clocked him straight away as he sheepishly entered.

"You had better have a good excuse for your behaviour." She muttered menacingly as she stood up and walked towards her brother. Reece backed away slightly just as Marjorie looked up.

"Reece! What are you... Autumn! Stop it." She exclaimed, realising her deputy was getting ready to aim a swift kick to Reeces shins. Autumn looked disappointed as she stopped. "Reece, what are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you." He mumbled as Autumn made a beeline for him again. "Aut, Mia already gave me your message, and she didn't go easy."

"I wish to reiterate my point." She said threateningly as she moved closer.

"AUTUMN!" Marjorie shouted, causing the redhead to stop in her tracks. "Can you give us a minute, please?" Autumn glared at her brother as she walked out of the door slowly.

"I'll go and get us lunch from Greggs." Autumn said, not taking her glare off of her brother.

He let out the breath he'd been holding as she pulled the door closed behind her. Marjorie and Reece stood staring at each other for a few seconds before they both started to speak at the same time. "You go first." Reece said, gesturing to Marjorie.

"You slept in your office?" He nodded slowly. "I thought I'd wake up, and you'd be next to me or at least in the spare room or on the sofa. When I realised you weren't I...."

"Marjorie, I came home but thought you didn't want me back or needed space when I realised the door was locked and I couldn't get in. I thought about knocking but thought if you'd gone to the trouble of locking the door, then you didn't want to see me."

"I didn't lock the... Oh my god! After you left, I leaned on the door and then slid down it. I caught my back on something but didn't think anything of it. I bet it was the lock, and I caught the catch."

Reece looked up at her hopefully. "Wait, you didn't lock me out?"

"No! I've probably got the bruise to prove it, too. I would never lock you out for something like that, my love."

He rushed over to her, lifting her shirt slightly at the back. "Are you OK? Did you put ice on it or anything? Let me see." She smiled to herself as he fussed, she relaxed, knowing she hadn't lost him by pushing him too far. Reece suddenly realised what he was doing and pulled her shirt back down. "Sorry, I should've asked if it was OK for me to look." He mumbled sheepishly, backing away from her. She walked over to him and took hold of his hands, drawing his arms around her waist before wrapping hers around his neck. She reached up to place a soft kiss on his lips. "So, I've not messed this up completely?" He asked carefully.

"No, my darling, you haven't. You can't keep running from your emotions, though. I need you, our babies need you, and they need to see a good example of dealing with feelings from both of us. I'm struggling as well, but as long as we've got each other, we'll be alright. I need you to let me in, though. We need you to let us in. If I promise to do that for you, can you do that for me?" She asked, their foreheads pressed together, just enjoying the closeness.

"I've never had anyone to open up to, let alone someone who wanted me to open up. I've always been told to bottle it all up. Just be OK. I can't make any definite promises gorgeous, but I promise to try for you three."

"That's all I ask." She replied, pulling him down into a bruising kiss. They were so caught up in the moment they didn't hear the door open, and Autumn came back in.

She threw the sausage rolls onto the desk before turning around. "I'm going to be sick." She spat at them before turning and leaving the office again.