Chapter 17 Working Together
It was Monday morning, Anna and I were in the office of my boss. "Hello". he said. "Who's this lovely lady". I did my best to tell him everything, but when I told him that I wanted to give my notice, he seemed a little put out. I did try and explain the situation, and after some thought, he was a little happier. "Look Mike". he said. "I do have a problem, your van is full and ready to go, and I don't have a spare driver. so if you can take this load out and pick up a few cheques that need collecting, then we will call it quits". I looked at Anna, then back at the boss. "Can I take Anna with me". she was looking at me with a smile on her face. "Go on". he said. "You can't stop love, but please, make sure you pick up those cheques".
With Anna alongside me in my van we set off, joined the motorway and headed south, we had 10 drops, so I told Anna we would try and do 5 in the morning and the rest in the afternoon with a stop for a drink and something to eat. We seemed to be working very well together because by the time we needed to stop for lunch we had done 6 drops. Taking Anna to a truck stop I used to use on a regular basis we had a spot of lunch, a bowl of homemade soup with a wedge of bread and a cup of truck stop tea, very strong, and nice and hot. We stayed at the truck stop for about 45 minutes, then headed on to do the last 4 drops, the last being in North Devon, I decided to use the scenic route, so coming from Torquay back into Exeter I took the Crediton road across country into Barnstable where I had to drop off some Ford van panels and pick up a cheque for almost £1000, With Anna sat beside me enjoying the beautiful scenery, I realised, that this woman had been locked up for so long she had never seen our fantastic country, in fact, I got the impression that she had seen more of Malta than even the area she had lived in, the road was a mass of bends, so I had to keep my speed down, but this for Anna made the run so much better, she was having a great time, and when she saw something of interest, she would grab my arm and point it out to me. In Barnstable, we headed for the garage and I dropped off the van parts, Anna in the meantime picked up the cheque and put it into her handbag with the other 7. We left there and I told Anna that as it was getting near the time when there would be a traffic build up on the A361 going into Exeter and joining the M5 I said we would take a route across country that would get us back into Taunton a little bit quicker. Anna looked at me and smiled. "Whatever, I'm having a great time". she said. When we got to South Molton, I joined the B3227and headed home, as we passed through our village Anna grabbed my arm. "Michael isn't that our fish and chip shop". "Yes love". I said, this particular road takes us through our village and then on to into Taunton, would you like me to drop you off at the flat". "No thank you, sweetheart, we started out together, let's finish together". she leaned across and kissed me.
Back in the works yard I parked up and with Anna beside me we made our way into the office, the boss was sat at his desk. "How did it go". he asked, Anna removed the cheques from her handbag and placed them on the desk, the boss looked at each cheque to see that it had been signed, then put them into the office safe. "Thank you you two, you make a good team, if you feel like staying on and working together, I would be more than happy to arrange that". he was looking at us, but knew, we had other plans, we all shook hands and Anna and I left the office, jumped into the car and made our way back to the flat. On the floor of the hall were two letters, one from North Yorkshire and one from the banks head office, I opened the letter from the bank, read it then handed it to Anna to read, she was nodding, the bank had checked though the jewellery, had kept back 8 items that were now in the bank vault in Exeter, the rest had been sold for £500,000, and with the house being up for sale at £500,000 that would add another million to the account. "Things are looking up". Anna said, "Ok love, now open the other letter while I make a cup of tea, you never know, that might be even better news for us love". I opened the letter from up north and read the contents, it said I was being granted my divorce, my ex wife did not want any trouble and was willing to agree to a divorce on the grounds of my adultery with an unnamed woman, and that I would be free to remarry, if I so wished as, from the 10th June, I was asked to sign the enclosed paperwork and return it in the envelope provided. As Anna came into the lounge with the tea on a tray, she said "Well what news, I thought was in the process of signing the form. i looked up at her. "Anna darling, do you still want to be Mrs Palmer, I did say that you would be Mrs Palmer by the summer, so you had better come and read this". Anna sat down alongside me and read the letter, as she was reading it I could see the smile on her face getting bigger and bigger, she handed the letter back to me then put her arms around my neck and kissed me. "My darling Mike, you name the day and I will be ready, I have never been happier than I am today, well I could be when I am wearing that ring and signing as Mrs Palmer, but I will take what I have now, the fact that you will be free in June".
In bed, that night snuggled down with each other Anna said. "Darling we have had a day of everything going right let's not end it by just a kiss and a goodnight". I did not need telling twice, so we made love, and then said goodnight.
April went very fast for us both, the house had been sold for the full asking price and the money went into the account, we booked the wedding for June 14th at 10-30 so all through April we spent our time getting ready for what lay ahead.
May bank holiday was beautiful, very hot and the sky was cloudless, Anna and I took the car to Torquay and spent time enjoying the sunshine, we sat on the harbourside, we had fish and chips followed by an ice cream and a cup of tea, we walked, we played the slot machines, I even won a cuddly toy on the grab machines which Anna held in her arm all afternoon, she said she loved it, and me, I was the lucky one, I got the kiss. We got back to the flat at around 9 and taking a cup of tea with us claimed into bed. "Michael love, the bank is". I didn't need to be told any more, I lay Anna on top of me and we made love, when it was over we were still joined, and Anna was happy to stay as she was, we had only drunk half of our tea, but had made love for almost 3 hours, Anna lifted her heads and looked into my eyes. Michael, I do love you, and I love that we connect perfectly, do you think you have the energy to, say, do it one more time". I lay Anna on the bed then picking up the now cold tea I drank every drop, then rolling on top of her, I carried out her request. We fell asleep in each other's arms.
Chapter 18 Babies On The Way
For some mornings now I had woken alone, Anna would come into the bedroom saying something she had eaten had not agreed with her, I was worried so arranged for her to see my doctor. In the doctor's surgery after a few tests, he looked at us both with a smile on his face. "Well Mr Palmer, it would seem that you are going to be a father". Anna had her mouth open. "How can that be". she asked. "When my ex kicked my baby to death and I had the miscarriage, I was told I could never have children, plus my ex took his pleasure every couple of months with my body, and in 4 years I never fell, so how come now".
The doctor looked at Anna and myself. "Let me try and explain a few things to you both, your body is not just skin and bone, it that but a whole lot more, and one thing it does have is a control system, if you are sick, it will do it's best to heal its self, it has a sort of virus army ready to strike when needed, you get a cold, the army goes to work to stop it, it takes these germs and surrounds them and does its best to kill the germ off, so Anna, may I call you Anna. Every time your ex made love to you, your brain told you body that what had entered it was no good, so the body said ok, let's get shot of it. No pregnancy. However, with Mr Palmer, you found his lovemaking enjoyable, so when Mr Palmer made love to you your brain told the body you were happy so that everything he put inside you was acceptable". "Yes doctor, I understand that, but why now, why not back in March, or even April, why now in May". "Simple". he said. "Your body wasn't truly ready, you had been through an upheaval that needed to be sorted, once back in England, and you set up home with Mr Palmer, you felt secure, you felt loved and most of all you felt wanted, so your whole body relaxed, life felt normal again. You told me, you made love for 3 hours on the bank holiday Monday, let me tell you, if it cannot come out, it has to go to the next level, and that is where those pesky eggs are stored. We need to get you in for a scan, what date will suit you both". "Well doc". I said, we are getting married on the 14th June so if we can do it just before, or just after that date, what do you say". the doctor checked his diary. "Ok, I will see you both here on the 10th June". we shook hands and Anna and I left the surgery.
Outside, Anna was holding my arm. "I do not believe this". she said. "Here I am with a man I truly love, not married yet and about to have a baby in nine months time". "Are you happy". I asked Anna looked at me her face beamed. "Happy, happy, I'm ecstatic, I could happily jump for joy".
Over the coming weeks, the morning sickness stopped and for a while, everything seemed normal. All that stopped on the 10th June, when with Anna laid on this bed type thing and her blouse tucked up just under her bust, then this gel type cream was placed on her tummy, we both looked at the screen, we could see the images on the monitor, there was not one baby, there were two, two heartbeats, four legs and four arms. "What are they". I asked, But was told, if I wanted to know the sex, we would have to wait for the second scan when the babies would be a lot bigger.
Anna and I left the surgery very happy. "Well love". I said. "In four days we get married, so at least when these". I placed my hand on Anna's tummy. "Two are born, they will have a mummy and a daddy with the same name". "Michael love, I never doubted it for one moment, yes they were conceived out of wedlock, but in a loving relationship, but they will be born into the Palmer household where they will find both their parents are kind, gentle but firm, but love them always".
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