Chapter 50

It was early spring. The forest beyond the freshly painted cottage fence was trimmed with baby leaves and hawthorn blossom. After a busy week appearing on a panel at a midwifery conference, losing out on the pub-quiz crown by one point and smashing a personal best in a 5K run through the trees, I headed downstairs for another big first.

I was having a party. A thirtieth birthday party, in fact.

We would be resurrecting some old family traditions. Isla couldn't wait to blast out Taylor Swift on the karaoke. Mum had insisted on baking a cake, with a big ‘30' candle, using the new oven in the two-bedroom cottage she'd recently moved into with Dad. Nicky had asked whether both those bedrooms were being used, but was told that, even if we were a much closer family these days, some questions were still off-limits.

This evening, however, I had extended my celebrations beyond my immediate family. I found Brayden and Silva already in the kitchen, taking photos of the tray of canapés they'd brought along while Finn pulled faces at Platinum Precious – or Patty, as she'd gradually become known – chortling in the sling on her daddy's back. I heard Toby thundering down the outside stairs, the lighter footsteps of his new girlfriend stepping more carefully behind him. They appeared at the kitchen doors with Hazel, whose face lit up as she started determinedly crawling towards the nana she was named after.

Nicky and Theo were in the garden, where assorted members of Theo's family – my family, as they insisted I call them – kissed me on the cheek or threatened to crack a rib with a suffocating hug. Dad was at the barbecue, chatting to the women from my pub-quiz team, their children chasing each other around the vegetable patch along with Isla and her new best friend, a scruffy rescue dog she'd called Barbie.

Ellis was sitting quietly in the living room, holding her son, Leo, as a shield against the hustle and bustle, while Billy and my mum kept her company. Mum being able to reconnect with Jonah, Ellis and Billy, and taking on the role of stand-in auntie, if not quite the mother she'd once longed to be, had been one of the keys that enabled us all to finally move on. Coming here today was still a big deal for Ellis. A crowd, alcohol, the party atmosphere, the potential of people asking her questions that she wasn't ready to answer, but we'd promised to look after her, and Dad would drive her back home to Hatherstone as soon as she'd had enough.

It took longer to find the one person I was really looking for. Every time I spotted him someone else would stop to wish me a happy birthday, or compliment the garden, the party, or me in my shimmering party dress. The times my heart perked up as I anticipated him crossing the garden towards me, he'd get intercepted by someone saying hello.

As the sun began to sink below the horizon, we gathered around the fire pit, pulling up various chairs as we handed around drinks, blankets and slices of birthday cake. I finally got a chance to say a proper hello to Jonah.

‘Have I said how beautiful you look?' he asked, squeezing in beside me on a comfy garden seat in the shadows, wrapping his arms around my waist to pull me closer.

‘Ooh, only about six times. I reckon you could manage a few more. How beautiful is that?'

He laughed against the back of my head. ‘As beautiful as a newborn baby.'

‘What?' I twisted around, feigning horror. ‘Red-faced and wrinkly? Not a great look for the first day of my thirties.'

‘I was thinking more perfect, soft skin.' He leant forwards and kissed the side of my neck. ‘Clear, innocent eyes… Yeah. The comparison kind of runs out there.' He smirked. ‘Your eyes aren't that innocent, either.'

He thought for a moment as we listened to Shanice from the hair salon smashing her version of Lizzo's ‘Good as Hell'.

‘How about as beautiful as the sunset?' he tried.

‘Better. Not that original when it's right in front of us.'

There was another long silence, then Jonah turned serious.

‘As a diamond?'

‘I like that one,' I started to reply, until I noticed that one of the hands previously around my waist was now holding an open velvet box. ‘Oh. Oh.'

He nestled up against my back. ‘I have loved you for so long, I can't fathom a second of my life without you in it. Libby, I love your kids, your ugly, smelly dog. Your parents and random lodger. I am undone by how you love my brother and sister, and my nephew. A while ago I told you that if you asked me to be a part of your family, I'd say yes. I've given up waiting to be asked; I'm inviting myself in. If you'll have me? Us? I know that coming as a gang means it won't always be easy. But, Libby Franklin, will you marry me?'

‘Pah, who wants easy?' I spun around, my whole body alight with happiness. ‘Clearly not me.'

‘Please answer, before I pass out from stress in front of your whole family.'

‘You mean our family?' I leant forwards and kissed him, relishing the moment a few seconds longer. ‘Yes, Jonah King. Joe Green. I would love nothing more than to marry you.'

We leant forwards to kiss again, but the second our lips met a shout came from across the lawn.

‘Mu-u-u-um! Isla's been sick on the tomato plants and now she won't stop crying! Ugh – and Barbie's trying to eat it!'

‘Are you absolutely sure?' I said, resting my forehead against Jonah's as Isla's wails drifted across the garden.

‘I've never been surer of anything.'

And then he slipped on the ring, gave me that kiss and went to clear up the mess.