***
“Hi. I’m Mary.” She stretched forth her hand to give Shane a handshake.
“I’m Shane,” Shane said with a dazzling smile as he took Mary’s hand and pressed a kiss on the back of her hand. “Nice to finally meet you, Mary.”
“Oh my God, you’re so handsome.” Mary breathed. “Why are you gay?” She asked, ignoring Chris’ growl and Michael’s laughter. “You should make a lot of babies. With that face… sorry.” She seemed to have come back to her senses. “You are gorgeous.”
“Thank you, Mary. You are beautiful yourself.” Shane said, watching a smile spread across Mary’s face. “As for my being gay…your cousin turned me gay,” Shane said with such a look of innocence Michael roared with laughter whilst Chris looked at Shane as if he’d suddenly sprouted horns.
“You turned him gay?” Mary turned to Chris and screeched. “When did you even become gay yourself? She demanded. But before Chris could even gather his scattered thoughts, Mary turned back to Shane and asked in an urgent whisper which was so intentionally loud, both Chris and Michael heard… “Can you unturn?”
Michael was howling with laughter on the couch. Shane looked bemused. And Chris looked…
“Will you drop the act, Mary?” Chris growled. “She’s dense but not that dense, Shane,” Chris said and groaned when Mary elbowed him.
“Oh my God, I should have recorded this.” Michael laughed.
“Shut up.” Chris squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Dr. Mary Murphy at your service,” Chris told Shane. “As I said, she’s not that dense.”
“So… all that was an act?” Shane asked, looking at a beaming Mary. “Thank God.” Shane breathed. “Because I’m still wondering if it’s possible for anyone to ‘unturn’.” He gave the word quotations with his fingers, drawing a chuckle from Chris.
“I forbid you to unturn, Shane Lewis,” Chris murmured and kissed Shane softly on the cheek.
Mary couldn’t stop grinning. She looked at Shane adoringly. “Aww…how swee…wait!” Her eyes widened. “Did you say, Shane Lewis? The Shane Lewis?”
“The one and only.” Chris drawled.
“You’re going out with Shane Lewis?” Mary’s surprised gasp made all three men laugh.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Mary turned on her husband.
“Would you have believed me?” Michael rolled his eyes.
“No, I wouldn’t have.” She said and turned to face Shane. “So I finally get to see the face behind the name. One day, you’re going to tell me why you stay out of the public eye, Shane.”
“Whenever you’re ready, let me know.” Shane chuckled.
Chris looked at Shane. He realized he didn’t know Shane’s reason behind that either. He made a mental note to ask him when they were alone.
“I’ll hold you to it.” Mary grinned. “I’ve got to go guys. It was a pleasure meeting you, Shane.”
“Likewise,” Shane responded.
“And thanks for the invite to the birthday party,” Mary said, offering her hand to Shane for a handshake but Shane surprised her by giving her a hug instead.
“Can’t wait to meet Melissa and Marcel,” Shane said.
“See you on Friday,” Mary said and hugged Chris. “You owe me.” She growled into Chris’ ear.
“We’ll talk. I promise.” Chris whispered.
“Good. And next time you two decide to fuck each other’s brains out, try not to do it when you’re supposed to be watching a sick person.”
“How did you…”
“That kind of glow…that blissfully sated look can only stem from one thing. And cherry flavoured mouth wash? Really?” With that last parting shot, Mary pulled her husband, who was busily talking on his cell phone, up from the couch and left Chris and Shane with a wave.
“Hey, I wasn’t the one who stocked your cabinets!” Chris shouted after them but Mary didn’t even turn.
“What?” Shane asked a still bemused Chris.
“She could tell we just fucked.” Chris chuckled, shaking his head.
“What?” Shane’s eyes widened. “Michael must have…”
“He wouldn’t,” Chris said, entering Adele’s room. “Oh, thanks for sitting with her, darling,” Chris told the nurse, who batted her lashed at Shane as she went out. Chris growled and went to lie on his back on the couch with his head on the armrest, watching as Shane kissed his daughter.
“Sure about that?” Shane asked as he walked towards the couch. How could Mary have known they’d just fucked if Michael hadn’t told her, Shane thought.
“Positive.” Chris turned on the TV and flipped to the sports channel, where Arsenal was playing against Manchester City.
“Didn’t know Walcott was back,” Shane said as he picked up Chris’ legs off the couch, sat down and placed them on his lap. “So how did Mary know?” Shane didn’t sound worried at all. He slipped his hand beneath Chris’ shirt and drew circles on his tummy, chuckling when he felt a ripple under his palm.
“She said something about there being a glow or a look that clearly showed what we did. Don’t know whether she could tell the style too.” Both men burst into laughter.
“Oh damn! She could tell just by looking at us?” Shane asked as what Chris said dawned on him.
“Don’t beat yourself up. She’s a Psychologist.” Chris drawled. “The little witch reads people for a living. And she’s damned good at what she does too.” The pride in Chris’ voice couldn’t be masked.
“She’s feisty. I like her.” Shane murmured. “I’m hungry. Can’t wait to…” He trailed off when his phone started ringing. “Lizzie.” He murmured before clicking the answer button.
“Hey.”
“Is she up?” Lizzie asked without preamble.
“No. Still sleeping. I’ll call immediately she wakes up okay?”
“Okay.” She said with a sigh. “Talk to you later.” She said and hung up.
“Daddy?” Both Shane and Chris heard Adele’s sleepy voice and rushed to her side.
“Hey princess,” Shane said, hugging Adele to him. “How are you feeling?”
“Hungry.” She said, making Chris laugh. “Hi, Uncle Chris,” Adele said with a brilliant smile.
“Hi, Sweetheart. What do you want to eat?” Chris asked, sitting beside Adele on the bed.
“Pizza.” She responded delightedly. Obviously, she was feeling no pain.
“Immediately, the doctor finishes checking you out, we’re off to Pizza Hut,” Shane said. “How does that sound?”
“Yayyy!” Adele squealed.
Chris had already called Michael so just as Shane started dialing Lizzie’s number, Michael entered and went to see to Adele. In no time at all, the little girl and the two hunks were good to go. Shane reached into his back pocket for his wallet.
“I’ll be right back, Chris. Let me settle…”
“Hey don’t worry about it,” Chris murmured. “It’s on my tab.”
“Chris…”
“She’s mine too, remember?” Chris asked with a raised brow and a challenging flash in his eyes.
Shane gave a slight nod and went to give Michael a one-armed hug as Chris picked Adele up. “Thanks, man,” Shane said to Michael. “I’ll keep you posted on whatever happens.”
“Do that,” Michael said as he walked with them to the door. “Adele, tell Daddy immediately you feel any pain in your arm okay?” Michael said, giving the little girl a kiss on the forehead.
“Okay, Dr. Michael.” She responded with a smile as her tiny arms coiled around Chris’ neck.
In the car, Chris carefully placed Adele in the back seat and buckled her in. Then he went round to the driver’s seat and turned on the engine. “Adele, can you tell me where we’re going?” Chris asked in a singsong voice.
“Pizza Hut.” The little girl shouted.
“I can’t hear you.” Chris shouted too, making Adele laugh and scream ‘Pizza Hut’ again.