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“Somehow, though you wouldn’t know why, I rather do like it,” she said.
He stood, spreading his arms wide, grinning at her. “Why?” His white dress shirt was rumpled and untucked, and he wore black suit trousers, and she thought privately that he had never looked better.
“I’m not telling you.” Norah threw a pillow at him, which he caught deftly. “We need to clean up before we go downstairs, though.”
They returned the sheets and pillows to their rightful places, and as Norah straightened out the duvet Wally came up behind her, grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down onto the bed with him, laughing. She attempted to resist his tickling, but gave up, and she was weak and breathless with laughter when he subsided onto the bed beside her.
His hand came out to hers, and she took it, turning onto her hip to watch him. In his brown eyes she could see the deep contentment and love that seemed to radiate from him. Norah lifted his hand to her lips and kissed the back of it gently. “I love you,” she whispered, and his smile grew. He rolled towards her, shifting over her so his weight rested on his forearms, and kissed her.
“We need to get downstairs,” she whispered against his lips. “Everyone will start looking for us soon - not to mention Davie.”
He ignored her, dropping light kisses on her lips to shut her up. “D’you really think I care, Nor?” When she laughed, Wally moved his lips to her ear and breathed, “For the record, Norah, asthore, I love you too.”
Norah’s heart seemed to swell with all the love she felt for this man. Picking up on her change of mood, Wally kissed her again, this time firm and hard, putting all his love into it, before breaking away and rolling onto his back. He pulled her with him, so she settled against his side, feeling his arms hug her close.
What felt like hours later, but was barely minutes, Wally roused himself with a sigh. “We probably should go downstairs.”
She laughed. “You took the words out of my mouth,” she teased him, sitting up and stretching her hands above her head. Norah felt his gaze on her and she turned to see him watching her, brown eyes unfathomable.
His hand came out to rest on her hip, and he said, “You’re beautiful.” He still loved her, still wanted her, after all the changes that had been wrought upon her body, even with Davie’s birth. “Nor, I want you to go out there today with your head held high, because nobody can tear you down.” He sat up, lifting one hand to cup the back of her neck and the other to rest on her cheek. “You are loved, so much and by so many, and by none more than me. I swear to you, Norah, you are everything to me. I’m not good at saying big, emotional things, but I felt like you needed to know.”
“Thank you,” she said simply, leaning forward to kiss him again. “That went deep, every word.”
Later, she had sat down in her seat and turned to see Wally coming towards her, bringing Davie, who was lifted onto his chair by his father. Wally sat on Davie’s other side, tall and lean in his suit, including tie and jacket, and his hand went out to her behind Davie’s back, grasping hers comfortingly. He knew what it must be like for her to see her brother married.
Norah would not rather have anyone else as her husband, lover and the father of her son (and please God, another child at some point). With Wally, as Jim had found Tommy, Norah had found her peace, her place on the path unwinding. With this thought in mind, her son beside her and her husband’s hand in hers, Norah turned to watch Jim get married, to face the future.