Chapter LXX

''What was I thinking, letting Mary talk me into this?'' Anna moaned, already feeling tired before she had even left. ''Do I really have to go?'' She turned to look at John.

''Well, I believe this weekend is all about you, so you sort of have to,'' John chuckled. Anna had literally forbidden Mary to throw her a hen party. Not in her condition, she had told her. She could not party or drink, so there was really no point in it. In the end, Mary had decided to treat Anna and all of her girlfriends to a wellness and spa weekend, combined with a baby shower, in Edinburgh.

''But I don't want to leave,'' Anna whimpered, and buried her face into his neck, nipping at his skin. Truth be told, all she wanted was to stay at home with him in bed, especially as Gracie was spending the weekend with James and Freddie in York. Anna had asked Jane to relocate with her to the Ripon office and, as her relationship with Anna's brother was becoming more and more serious, Jane really had no reason to stay in London.

''Anna...'' John closed his eyes as she sucked gently on the skin under his left ear. ''...yeah, maybe you don't need to go, after all.'' He leaned down and covered her eager lips with his.

''Mm-m-m...'' she mumbled into his mouth, giggling as he tried to pull her as close as was possible in her condition.

''I love you being pregnant, but I cannot wait to hug you without this little something between us,'' John teased, one of his hands finding its way to her belly.

''Tell me about it.'' Of all the advantages and disadvantages that pregnancy had brought into their lives, not being able to properly disappear into her fiancé's comforting bear hug had been the worst for Anna.

''Soon,'' he winked with a grin.

''Anna!? We're here!'' Mary's voice called from outside, accompanied by frenzied knocking on the locked front door. ''Anna! Come on, we need to go!''

Mary pressed her face against the window, peering inside. ''John! Let go of her - we need to leave!'' she shouted, having caught a glimpse of them embracing in the hall.

''Just a second!'' John yelled back. Turning to Anna, he said gently, ''Promise me you'll have fun this weekend.'' He knew this trip wasn't easy for Anna, but with the wedding scheduled for the following week and with the twins' due date so close, he really wanted her to relax and enjoy this special time with her girlfriends.

''Only if you promise me you'll behave yourself.'' Just like Anna, John was also going away with his friends. Robert, as John's best man, for some reason had decided his best mate needed to spend his last weekend of freedom in dear old Dublin. John had protested but, like Mary, Robert would not take no for an answer, especially since they were going to fly to Ireland in his private jet.

''Behave? Well, I don't know. I can be a really bad boy sometimes…'' he growled, in a way that made Anna want to stay home with him even more.

''John, don't…'' Her hormones had already led to them christening every single room in the house, except Gracie's room and the nursery, in the space of just three days, and the way he was nuzzling her neck told Anna that they would be making love in the hall shortly, if she didn't pull herself away from him.

''Maybe they can wait a couple of minutes more,'' John purred and captured her lips again. It was meant to be just a gentle goodbye kiss, but Anna took it to the next level, slipping her tongue between his soft lips. Who knows what might have happened, had Mary not started banging on the door again.

''ANNA, FOR GOD'S SAKE! Get off of him and let's go!''

''I'm coming!'' Anna broke the kiss and rested her forehead against John's chest.

''Not yet…'' John could not keep himself from protesting one last time.

''Stop…!'' Anna pushed him away desperately. He could be absolutely impossible sometimes.

''Let's get you out there, or Mary might break through the door.'' John grabbed her suitcase and opened the front door.

''Finally!'' Mary barked, and took the suitcase out of John's hand. ''Come on, Anna, get yourself into the car! We're getting a very late start, and I can't let us be late for our brunch.''

''I love you, John.''

''Love you more.'' John smiled, kissing first her lips and then her round belly. ''Take care of your mummy, all right?'' he whispered against it.

''Anna!''

''I'm coming, Mary!'' Anna called back, before addressing John one last time. ''See you in a few days.''

''A few days…'' John smiled at her dreamily, his eyes following her as she finally made her way to Mary's car.

xXx

''Have I told you lately how much I loooove you?'' a more than slightly inebriated Tom said to John at the bar in one of the many pubs they had visited in the last few hours.

''Not in the last 10 minutes, no,'' John laughed, as Tom wrapped his hand around his shoulder.

''Well, I do!'' Tom placed a sloppy kiss on John's cheek. ''Very, veeeeery much!''

''All right, Tom, leave the man alone,'' said Robert, rolling his eyes.

''Oh, don't worry, Papa. I love you too!'' Tom laughed and kissed Robert on the cheek. ''Next round is on me!'' he yelled, causing the whole pub to erupt in cheers. ''Thomas! James! Where are you!?'' He walked into the crowd, leaving John and Robert alone for a minute until Matthew stumbled past them.

''Matthew…'' Robert tugged his son-in-law by the arm. ''…for the love of god, don't let him do anything stupid. Sybil will kill me if I don't bring him home in one piece.''

''I'm on it!'' Matthew giggled, then burped, obviously not in any better state than Tom. ''But first I need to use the loo. Excuse me.'' His face turned green just before he ran towards the toilets.

''What was I thinking bringing you here?'' Robert turned to John, who only chuckled. ''They're like wild animals, all of them!''

''We weren't any different at their age,'' John reminded him, and took a sip of his iced tea. Even though he hadn't had a single drink in the two days they had been in Dublin, John was happy to see his friends having a good time. Robert had really outdone himself with this trip.

''Wha-…'' Robert started to protest, then paused. ''…yeah, you're right.''

''See?'' John smiled. If the boys only knew how many times Cora had left both of them at parties, because they had been either too drunk or too into the party mood to leave. They'd had their share of fun, that's for sure.

''I just hope Sybil doesn't find out about this. I promised her I would make sure he doesn't overdo it.''

''Well, judging from my last phone call with Anna, Sybil already knows,'' John told him. ''Tom called her last night…at four in the morning.''

''I'm a dead man!'' Robert huffed. ''Well, what's done is done.'' He took another sip of his beer.

''Tell that to Anna when she finds out what Tom did to me,'' John teased. It had been just past five in the morning when John had been woken by a sudden, very sharp pain. John had been sleeping shirtless and, for some reason, Tom had taken it into his head to wax John's chest. John had no idea how he had managed it, but Tom, with a little help from Matthew, had removed a good portion of his chest hair, from the middle of his chest all the way down to his belly button…claiming they had wanted to make him sexier for his bride-to-be.

''Yeah, good luck explaining that to her!'' Robert guffawed, just as he had when he had seen what his sons-in-law had done to his best mate.

''Bloody idiots,'' John chuckled, taking another sip of his drink.

''Come on, let's get something to eat,'' Robert suggested. It was just after ten in the evening, but after spending the last two days and nights in countless pubs, mainly making sure Tom didn't get himself into trouble with his fellow Irishmen, Robert was dying to go somewhere quieter so he could at least have a normal conversation with John.

''Sure. Let's get out of here. They can find their own way back to the hotel. Plus Thomas doesn't look all that drunk.'' John pointed to Thomas, who at that moment started jumping up and down in front of the little stage, while a pub band played Irish music. ''Or maybe not.''

''Just leave them.'' Robert grabbed his jacket, paid for their drinks, and walked out, John following him.

''I'm so sorry, you know,'' he said, when they were walking down the pavement.

''What for?'' John looked at him, unzipping his inner jacket pocket to get his mobile.

''You know, for all of this.'' Robert shrugged his shoulders. ''I was supposed to give you the best stag do ever, and here we are, babysitting a bunch of drunken idiots. Or rather ditching them. Cora was right, I'm too old for this. Don't tell her I said that…'' Robert turned to his right and realized that John wasn't at his side.

''John?'' He turned around, and saw him standing a few feet away staring at his mobile. ''What's going on?'' Robert made his way over. ''John?!''

''Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck!'' Robert heard him repeat when he got closer, but it was as if John had never heard him. ''JOHN!? WHAT IS IT!?''

''I need to get to Edinburgh!'' John snapped his head up, looking pale.

''What? Why? What's wrong? Has Anna sent you a photo of herself and a stripper or something?'' Robert chortled, but John did not have time for jokes.

''She went into labour!'' John almost shouted. Upon checking his mobile, he had discovered 53 unread texts and 67 missed calls from all of the women with Anna, from Mary to Cora, trying to reach him. ''TWO HOURS AGO!''

''WHAT!?'' Robert started panicking.

No, no, no. He could not miss this! He couldn't not be there for her!? John thought, as he frantically dialled Mary's number. It took only a few beeps before Mary picked up.

''WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!'' Mary yelled so loudly that even Robert heard her.

''WHAT'S GOING ON? WHERE'S ANNA? IS SHE OK? AND HOW ABOUT THE BABIES, ARE THEY ALL RIGHT? DID SHE…?'' John bombarded her with questions until Mary raised her voice again.

''SHE'S FINE, JOHN! SHE'S STILL IN LABOUR! IT MIGHT TAKE A WHILE, BUT FOR GOD'S SAKE GET YOURSELF OVER HERE! WE ARE AT THE ROYAL INFIRMARY IN EDINBURGH!''

''COMING!'' was the last thing John was able to say as Mary ended the call. ''Robert, I need to…''

''Come on, I'll phone the pilot from the cab,'' Robert replied, already standing by the taxi that was waiting to take them to the airport.

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dear reader...only two chapters to go... :'''''')