Chapter Text
And when I felt like I was an old cardigan
Under someone's bed
You put me on and said I was your favorite
February 28, 2022
Penelope looked up at the semi-detached house in Islington, squinting her eyes against the spring sun, unable to believe that this was now hers.
Well, not hers, exactly. Colin’s. But still. She’d live here. In this house. This wonderful, brick, period house. 3500 square feet. A small garden. A big kitchen. A deep bathtub.
“Remind me again why we needed five bedrooms?” she asked as she felt him come up behind her and snake his arms around her waist. The estate agent had left two minutes ago and ever since then they’d stood on the opposite side of the street, staring up at the house, somewhat dazed but unbelievably happy.
“Four kids, remember?” he mumbled as he kissed the side of her head.
“Right,” she said, her tone serious, nodding along. “You’re insane.”
He laughed and bit her neck softly, which made her squeal and attempt to wiggle out of his arms. But he wouldn’t let her.
“No, only very much enamored with you.”
“How did I let you talk me into this?” she asked, sighing while she rubbed his arms. For some reason she couldn’t remember how she’d agreed to all of this.
“Oh, I didn’t even have to do that much talking,” he laughed, kissing her cheek once more. “The house did all the work.”
She grumbled softly, but had to admit that it was true.
They’d started looking for ‘something bigger’ two months after he’d returned from LA. There had simply been, Penelope hated to admit it, too little space in her apartment. He’d had his stuff sent over from the States and had rented out storage for most of it, but some of the things he loved had simply stood around her apartment in boxes and she’d seen that it had bugged him.
Still, he hadn’t said anything for an entire five weeks (which she very much appreciated) until one morning, when she’d stubbed her toe for the fourth time on the same box, she’d declared that they had to start looking for something bigger.
She’d thought about a two, possibly three bedroom apartment.
He’d thought about a five bedroom house.
She’d dragged him to see an apartment she’d found in her price range.
He’d dragged her to see some kind of mansion that he wanted to buy for them.
She’d sworn she’d never move into any house that cost six million pounds.
So he found one that cost 5.75 million.
And she’d absolutely fallen in love with it.
So he’d bought it.
He was insane.
She loved him.
“I still don’t get why you wouldn’t just sign the damn thing,” Colin mumbled as they continued to stare at it for a bit longer, somehow just enjoying the moment. “It’ll be yours as soon as we marry anyway.”
Penelope looked up at him over her shoulder, frowning. This was a bit of a recurring argument between them - her refusing to be a kept woman and him somehow not getting that through that thick skull of his.
“Let’s just not today, okay?” she said and kissed his jaw. “Today’s a good day. I’m wearing my cardigan, see?”
She opened up her jacket to reveal her yellow cardigan beneath. He looked down and smiled.
“So you are.”
And then, after one more moment of just looking at her, his green eyes somehow shining even brighter than usual, he kissed her.
“Has Colin actually ever held a screwdriver?” Hyacinth asked from her spot on the couch right next to Penelope and Kate four hours later as they watched Anthony try very hard not to kill Colin while the two of them were assembling their bookshelf.
The girls had just finished putting together the huge wardrobe in the bedroom and were now enjoying some much needed rest watching Colin and Anthony still work on the same piece of furniture they’d been working on two hours ago.
“I’m fairly sure he hasn’t,” Penelope grinned and took another sip of her beer. “Although he’d never admit it to Anthony, I think.”
“This literally makes no sense,” Colin grumbled as he looked at the instructions once more, tilting his head ever so slightly in a way that squeezed Penelope’s heart because it was cute and hot simultaneously.
“Oh, you see my dear husband over there waving around with his screwdriver as if he was god’s gift to all handymen?” Kate asked and grabbed another slice of pizza to bite into. “It took him four days to put together Edmund’s crib. Four days. Only for me to be forced to reassemble it again in a night while I was eight months pregnant. But I had to. There were literally screws sticking out.”
“You did what?” Anthony asked as he looked up from his position on the floor, screwdriver in one hand and some piece of wood in the other, absolutely bewildered.
Colin perked up at that, winced and looked down, trying very hard not to burst into laughter at his brother’s expense.
“I remember that,” Hyacinth only grinned.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Kate smiled and blew him a kiss. “But I put it together again and now it’s survived Edmund, Miles and Charlotte.”
He looked at her as if he was genuinely contemplating whether this was worth a fight, then groaned and went back to work on the shelf.
“He literally tells everyone that he put that together,” Hyacinth cackled and reached for some of the bubble wrap just to pop it.
Anthony was just about to open his mouth to reply, when he was interrupted.
“I’m done with the medicine cabinet,” Gregory said as he walked into the room, all the while staring at his phone. “I have to leave soon, though. I’m hanging out with Lucy tonight. She said she might bring Hermione.”
Colin tilted his head again, utterly confused. “You did the whole cabinet?” His voice rose ever so slightly with each word. It made Penelope snort.
“Yeah,” Gregory shrugged, then grinned stupidly as a new text came in.
“You know…” Hyacinth drawled and threw a whole empty pizza box at him. “She’s not interested.”
“Who isn’t?” Gregory asked, finally looking up from the phone when the box hit him just as Colin asked, “The whole thing?”
“Yes, he did the whole thing,” Hyacinth said and threw another empty box in Colin’s direction. “Hermione. She’s not interested. Lucy shouldn’t lead you on like that.”
Colin was still frowning when he asked, “Did you also hang it?” He was obviously still not over the fact that his little brother could assemble a whole cabinet faster than it took him and Anthony to put together a simple bookshelf.
“It’s not Lucy’s fault,” Gregory said, suddenly becoming defensive which made Colin and Penelope both perk up ever so slightly. “She’s never made me any promises. All she said was that she’d introduce us.”
“That’s not true, and you know it. She’s giving you false hope and it’s just rude,” Hyacinth continued while staring at her black nails.
“Stop shitting on Lucy. She’s amazing,” Gregory said, his tone angrier than Penelope had ever heard him.
Hyacinth only shrugged and popped some more bubbles, “Stop being so naive.”
“Only because Gareth is being hot and cold with you right now doesn’t mean it’s like that for me.”
“Don’t bring Gareth into this,” Hyacinth warned just as Anthony said, “Who the fuck is Gareth?”
“Gareth as in Agatha’s nephew?” Colin asked and if she’d been sitting closer to him, Penelope would have hit him. Why did he have to get involved in this?
“Yeah,” Gregory said, back to grinning now that Anthony looked as if he couldn’t decide whether he wanted to scream or cry.
“Oh, he’s great,” Colin grinned, laughing about some memory he obviously shared with Gareth. “He came to visit in LA last year and the boy can kiss, I tell you. We went to this club and it was just... Never mind.”
He suddenly broke off what he was about to say, looking extremely nervous for a fraction of a second, then glanced at Penelope once before going back to his instructions and screwdriver.
There were a few tense seconds of silence in which everyone wondered whether they’d heard him right.
“No, please do continue,” Penelope said with raised eyebrows and amusement in her voice while Kate started laughing, Gregory only smiled into his phone and Hyacinth growled with crossed arms, “Yes, please do.”
“Since when have you been seeing a Gareth ?” Anthony asked once more, putting a weird emphasis on the name, but everyone seemed to ignore him as all eyes were trained on Colin.
“It wasn’t… It was shortly after Marina and I had broken up and we were drunk and kissed and… I’m happy for you, Hy. He’s a great guy. Funny too. Anyone want a beer?” he asked then, quickly getting up off the floor and, wiping his hands off at his jeans, looked at them expectedly.
“Did you just say you kissed my boyfriend?” Hyacinth nearly screeched just as Gregory snorted out an echo of “her boyfriend” and Anthony grumbled, “Who is this Gareth?”
Colin looked at them incredulously, eyebrows raised and when neither of them said anything else but everyone just continued to stare, he sighed, raising his hands and said, “I didn’t know that was a crime.”
Gregory just laughed, high-fiving him while Hyacinth said, “I would have just liked to know”, and Penelope leaned over and asked Hyacinth, “Do you have a picture?”
“You want a picture of Gareth?” she asked, obviously shell-shocked.
“Yes.”
“What for?” Hyacinth asked, scrunching up her face adorably. “So you can picture what they looked like?”
Penelope stared at her for a couple of seconds, contemplating whether she should lie and come up with some other reason for why she wanted to have a mental image of this Gareth.
Then she just shrugged and said, “Yeah.”
And Colin laughed.
It was at 1am that night when Colin and Penelope were lying outside on the little patio that led into the garden, a blanket on the floor, both bundled up in their winter coats but snuggled into each other, looking at the stars and drinking their last beer.
“You know, this is pretty great,” Penelope sighed, kissing his shoulder over his coat before snuggling closer to him and closing her eyes.
“I’m glad we don’t have those troubles anymore, you know?” Colin muttered as he continued to stare up at the sky.
“What troubles?”
“The dating troubles. The ones Hy and Greg have. Asking themselves whether this Lucy or Gareth like them… All of those troubles.”
“Oh I don’t think you need to wonder whether Gareth likes you,” Penelope laughed. “And it was actually Hermione.”
He only raised an eyebrow.
“It was just a fun night for both of us,” he said as he pulled her closer by her jacket so she could rest her arm on his hand. “And Gregory likes Lucy.”
“How fun?” Penelope asked innocently as she propped herself up on her elbow so she could look at him and enjoy how he blushed ever so softly.
“There might have been some touching involved.”
Penelope grinned when he finally looked at her. He didn’t look embarrassed by it by any means, however there was a hint of doubt in the green of his eyes, asking if this was okay for her.
So Penelope bit her lip, when she said, “That’s hot.” And then before he could add anything else, she argued, “And Gregory definitely said Hermione.”
She’d get the whole story another time.
Maybe even from Gareth.
“Sweetheart, let me tell you something,” Colin said. “If someone smiles the way he did looking at her texts, then that’s a sure-fire way of telling they’re in love.”
Penelope remained silent for a second. Now that she thought about it, he was actually right. Gregory had had a stupid ass grin on his face the whole time he’d been texting Lucy. “Claudia, the make-up artist on the last film told me that while I was texting you on set,” Colin laughed and Penelope’s heart suddenly tripped over itself. She didn’t understand how he could still do that to her.
He cupped her cheek in his hand and ran his thumb over it, while she turned her head and kissed the palm of his hand.
“She did?”
“Don’t act so shocked,” he laughed. “I’ve been in love with you ever since you grabbed my hand and dragged me through Ikea.”
She only smiled tearily, the exhaustion of the day catching up with her and making her especially emotional.
He moved then, laying her down on the blanket and hovering over her, kissing her ever so softly, his lips ghosting over hers once, before he whispered, “You don’t have to say anything, baby. I know you’ve been in love with me ever since my first GQ cover.”
She laughed, one loud, clear laugh before he kissed her once more, muttering against her lips, “Now let’s christen that bedroom, shall we?”
March 24, 2022
“I cannot believe you are making me do this,” Penelope grumbled as she fidgeted in her seat and Colin looked at her incredulously and slightly worriedly. She did look a bit pasty.
“You wanted to come!” he exclaimed, but had to laugh at the look she threw him.
They were on their way to his movie premiere, the one he’d shot right there in London last year and he honestly didn’t blame her for being nervous. The only reason he laughed was because she’d claimed for weeks now, up to this day, that she wasn’t nervous at all. That she wouldn’t mind walking the red carpet with him.
He’d known she would mind. He’d asked her if she was sure. He told her it’d be fine if she didn’t want to. He must’ve asked her at least fifty times.
But alas, his fiancée was as stubborn as a mule so now here they were.
“Because I thought it would make you happy!” she whined, letting herself fall back against the seat. “I would have happily just sneaked into the theater. Preferably after the film has already started. The rest of your family gets to do that.”
“It does make me happy,” Colin replied, taking her fidgeting hand and squeezing it while he grinned. “I’ll be there. I promise it won’t be as bad as you think.”
Agatha scowled at Penelope, her eyes pointedly on the beautiful, floor length dark green dress she was wearing.
“Girl, if you wrinkle that dress don’t you dare come after me tomorrow when they talk about it on twitter.”
“They wouldn’t talk about my dress having wrinkles,” Penelope said, rolling her eyes.
Agatha only stared, mouth agape.
“Are you sure you were really working at a tabloid, little one?”
Penelope blushed, the topic still a bit of a sore point to her.
“Maybe I was just exceptionally bad at my job,” she laughed.
“You’ve never been bad at any job as far as I can remember,” Colin smirked, thinking of just this morning and winked while Penelope mouthed ‘STOP’ at him and Agatha cringed.
“No, but in all seriousness,” he said, looking at Agatha now. “Did I tell you how good she’s doing at the book shop?”
“You have. More than once.”
“Well, she is,” he said, then turning towards Penelope. “You are.”
“If you act like this you make me want to quit - if that’s even the right word to use because god knows what I’m doing there - and find another job,” Penelope grumbled, crossing her arms which made Agatha groan because of the wrinkles and Colin groan because of her boobs.
“You’re the manager,” he said, barely concealing the ‘duh’ in his voice.
“Right,” she said, rolling her eyes.
The weeks after their engagement, it had become a habit for Penelope to visit Margaret a few times a week and bring her lunch. Margaret being Margaret had of course seen, not only an exceptional conversationalist in her, but also a great future manager and had basically all but coerced her into taking over the shop while continuing to freelance for a cooking magazine on the side.
Colin knew that at her core she loved it. She loved every second of being in that store and arranging shelves and thinking about ways to get more customers and make people feel welcome and make the place… hers. She did a better job than he could have ever done in a million years but still, he’d never push her.
And right now she still liked to pretend she was there only until she’d figured out what she wanted to do. And he’d play along for her sake.
“We’re here,” Agatha said, looking outside the window just as the limousine was slowing down. “You guys ready?”
Colin looked at Penelope, who’d turned even paler and whose breathing was slightly shallow. He frowned, becoming legitimately worried now.
“Hey, if you really don’t want this we can leave right now,” he said and shot Agatha a look before she could reply with some smart ass remark.
“No!” Penelope yelped and took a deep breath. “I’m fine. I… Let’s do this. Just don’t let me fall.”
“You sure?” he asked, taking her hand and kissing her wrist once.
“Yeah,” she sighed.
He looked at her for a few more seconds, just to reassure himself before he said, “Alright” and nodded at Agatha to open the door.
It was always a bit strange, the first few seconds on a red carpet. The camera flashes were especially bad in the beginning, completely blinding you. The shouting and screaming added to the whole effect making it only natural for anyone who hadn’t done this before to panic. It was a lot.
Colin had done this before. He’d done this for his own films and he’d been to some friends’ premieres and some of Marina’s premieres and he knew how to handle this. He knew which smile to put on and how to stand and how to laugh and he knew to trust Agatha to lead him through the interviews and tell him when it was time to go inside.
Colin knew all of this and he’d enjoyed it which is why his reaction to opening the door caught him completely off guard. Because this time, as he looked back and reached out his hand, waiting for Penelope to step out of the car, he felt panicky. For her.
She took his hand, squeezing it hard as she blinked against the blinding lights and he smiled at her even though his heart felt like it was beating out of his chest.
“You okay?” he mouthed as hundreds of people around him screamed and she glanced up at him, a wobbly smile on her face, and nodded.
He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Just step on my toe and we’ll zip out of there” and then he pulled her along towards the start of the red carpet, laughing as he heard her ask, “What if I do it by accident?”
“Oh my god, Pen,” Hyacinth screeched as they arrived at the restaurant where a small after party was being held. “How was it on the red carpet? I saw what Colin said about you in that interview. Who knew my brother had feelings?”
Penelope blushed, letting go of Colin’s hand and grabbing a glass of water off a waiter who was just passing by.
“It was honestly not as bad as I’d expected it to be,” she said, taking a sip of the water and taking deep breaths.
Colin laughed as Hyacinth pointed out, “You’re still a bit pale.”
“I was unbelievably nervous,” she mumbled just as Benedict joined them, shaking Colin’s hand and kissing Penelope’s cheek.
“Loved the film, Colin,” he said, nodding appreciatively.
“He fell asleep,” Sophie deadpanned as she appeared by his side.
“The kids have been sick all week,” he said in his defense as Colin started laughing. “But I did like the parts I saw.”
“It’s fine,” Colin grinned. “I once fell asleep during my own film premiere, so I get it.”
“It was so nice getting to experience this with you, Colin,” Violet said as she, Kate and Anthony suddenly appeared by their side.
“Next time feel free to walk the carpet with him,” Penelope mumbled into her glass of water.
“Why Agatha over there said that you did fine during the interviews,” Kate said and nodded at Agatha who was standing in the corner, laughing along with her wife Olivia and some guy from editing.
“I feel like I stuttered throughout all of it,” Penelope cringed.
“You did no such thing,” Colin said, kissing the side of her forehead and grinning proudly. “You were actually far more eloquent than me. Can’t wait to do this again sometime.”
He grunted as she elbowed him, then leaned down to drop a quick kiss on her lips.
“I’ll go make the rounds,” he whispered in her ear. “Are you sure you’re okay?” She still looked a bit pale. “You want me to get you another water?”
“I’m okay,” she sighed, smiling softly. “The film was spectacular. I can only agree with everything the early reviews said. You did good, choosing this yourself.”
He looked at her, slightly breathless by how she somehow always managed to cut to the bone of whatever he was feeling. Whatever insecurity lay asleep inside of him.
“Thank you,” he whispered and then turned around to make the rounds. And hide his blush.
April 5, 2022
“I’m not signing a prenup, Penelope,” he sighed while he rolled over on the couch in his living room in LA and Penelope huffed into the phone, standing in their London kitchen at 6:30am, her phone pressed to her ear.
They always called each other in the morning and evening while he was in LA and just talked each other through their days. Usually, it was non consequential shit. But today he’d mentioned her having to sign some final papers for the house and, well, the opportunity had just presented itself. So, she’d brought it up again. She’d brought it up before on a number of occasions before that, as had his lawyer, but he’d always refused to even talk about it.
But it was harder to escape on the phone.
He was currently in the States for a week to promote his film while she’d stayed to take care of the bookshop and because, quite honestly, she couldn’t afford another ticket, even if her freelance job paid her moderately well and Colin’s assistant Nigel had somehow been stuck with the task of convincing her to take her percentage of the shop’s profits each month. It wasn’t a lot, but it was something.
He’d taken her to LA last December, or rather she’d forced him to take her as he’d done nothing but complain about the cold in London. So she’d had enough one day and had decided they were going to take a trip down there. It had coincided quite well with some meetings he had about some potential new projects.
She’d bought her own ticket, even after he’d complained about having to sit in economy, and they’d stayed there for two weeks. Penelope had liked LA, had liked the vivaciousness and electricity of the city, had loved his house in Beverly Hills with the pool, the view and the glass deck, had adored the beach and hiking up to the Hollywood sign and going on those touristy studio tours and taking a picture in front of the Gilmore Girls gazebo while he had that meeting at Warner Bros studios.
They’d even met Marina one evening. She and George had invited them over after she’d seen online that they were in town, and they’d had a nice dinner out on her deck while the babies, a girl and a boy, had been asleep in their strollers next to her. It was slightly strange and a bit awkward, but Penelope was glad they’d done it. She could see why Colin still considered her his friend. She was nice and friendly and funny and there was no way to dislike her once you knew her. She had also apologized to Penelope in private once more about failing to inform Colin of her pregnancy.
After one week in LA he’d told her to pack up her stuff again and they’d packed it all in a car and had driven off, with no real destination in mind, simply enjoying their time with each other in the Californian wilderness.
She’d never been happier in all her life. It had been the absolute best two weeks.
“Why are you… You’re not even considering that it might be a good idea. You haven’t even thought about it,” Penelope whined. It was, quite honestly, a bit strange, this conversation they were having.
Here she was, no longer totally broke (especially now that her mother was truly getting her shit together and was actually holding a job), but still a far cry from being Hollywood-star rich, convincing her Hollywood-star fiance to sign a prenup.
“I have thought about it. A quarter of a second. That’s how long it took me to decide that we don’t need one.”
She sighed and sat down at the breakfast bar, dropping her head into her left hand in frustration while she was waiting for the coffee to finish.
“I don’t want us to need one either, Colin,” she mumbled to which he replied, “Then why are you pushing this?”
He sounded tired and Penelope rubbed her forehead, feeling uncharacteristically frustrated with where this conversation was going. She didn’t understand why it was so hard for her to explain to him that she did not want his money.
“I’m not… I just don’t want you to wake up one day and not only regret marrying me, but regret not signing one. It’s your money. You earned it,” she said.
“Why the fuck would I ever regret marrying you?”
She didn’t say anything, but only breathed into the phone. She didn’t really want to consider why that might ever happen.
“It’s a realistic way to view the world, Colin. Half of all marriages end in divorce.”
“Well, the other half don’t,” he huffed. “I’m… Are you scared you’ll regret marrying me?”
“No, of course not. I could never regret it.”
“Well, why is it so hard for you to grasp that it’s the same way for me?” he asked, his tone revealing a hint of anger now. “Fuck, Pen, even if for some outlandish, god-forsaken reason we decided to split up, I would never, ever regret marrying you. Not once. Not for a second.”
She sighed.
“I feel the same way,” she mumbled softly, almost inaudibly, into the phone. “But it’s your money.”
“Penelope, I am begging you, take my fucking money. It’s not like the amount of money I earn is in any way reasonable or justified,” he said. “If it’s used to make you happy, to make you worry less, to fulfill your dreams, then that’s all I ever really wanted it for anyway.”
She didn’t say anything, biting her thumbnail to calm her twisting stomach.
“Stop biting your nails, I’m not mad at you.”
She couldn’t help but grin. Sometimes she didn’t understand how he knew her so well. But she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“You are,” Penelope said. “I just… I want us to go into this with both eyes open.”
“I am, Penelope. My eyes are open, believe me,” he sighed.
“Okay. I love you.”
“I love you too. Talk to you my tomorrow.”
“Of course. Sleep tight.”
And then he hung up. Penelope sighed, feeling horrible as she hopped down from the bar stool to pour herself a cup of coffee. She was tired because she wasn’t sleeping well, she was nauseous from their argument and the worst of it all was that he was right.
It wasn’t fair of her not to trust him on this. Trust him to make the best decision for himself.
She took a sip of her coffee which made her stomach roll so with a sigh, she poured it out and got dressed for the day.
Four hours later she was sitting in the back office of the bookshop, staring at one specific spot in the corner of the room and concentrating hard. She did not want to throw up. Not here. Not now. Not when Margaret had done nothing but talk about this butter chicken all day.
“Sweetheart, are you okay?” she asked as she dipped naan into the sauce and Penelope forced a smile.
“Just a little queasy,” she mumbled, fighting the urge to press her hand to her mouth.
“It looks like more than that, dumpling,” Margaret said, looking her up and down once before unceremoniously taking another part, obviously not feeling all too bad for Penelope after all. “You look pregnant.”
Penelope swallowed heavily and shook her head.
“I’m not.”
Margaret only looked at her with raised eyebrows. Still chewing.
“That’s what they all say.”
Penelope smiled politely and excused herself, rushing outside into the fresh air to catch her breath. She gulped in the air, sighing when it settled her stomach slightly and took out her phone to check the date.
Only to feel a new wave of sickness approach when she saw it was early April.
And she hadn’t had her period yet.
“You’ve said in a number of interviews that shooting this film felt different to any movie you’d ever made. Why is that?” the interviewer asked.
Colin smiled politely, and put a finger to his mouth, carefully thinking about his answer. He needed to give them something, as Agatha always said, but not too much. They wanted to see the person behind the face, but he didn’t want to reveal too much of his private life.
“Well, there’s a number of factors that play into that. The whole experience truly was a rather personal one for me. One reason is surely because it’s the first drama I’ve ever shot and it’s a very character-centered one. A lot of the film’s message lies not within the words spoken but the emotions felt. So there was some pressure there to deliver,” he explained. “And then there’s the personal side. While we were prepping this film, I met my fiancée and was quite literally falling in love while having to play a character that had just had his heart broken, had to deal with his world crashing around him. So that was, of course, also a bit of a challenge.”
“But one you were quite glad for, I’m sure,” the reporter grinned and Colin laughed. A real laugh.
“Oh, yes. Of course. I wouldn’t change anything for the world. In any case, I think experiencing true love, this kind of all-encompassing love, it put me in an excellent position. Because imagining losing that… It’s not something anyone wants to go through.”
“We should really wrap it up,” Agatha said from behind the screen, pointing at her clock and the reporter nodded.
“It was a pleasure chatting with you, Mr. Bridgerton. I’m glad you seem so happy. Good luck with the film!”
“Thank you,” Colin said as he shook his hand.
As soon as he’d left the room he sighed, blinking against the lights.
“Can someone get me a glass of water?” he asked.
“You look like shit,” Agatha mumbled distractedly as she stepped towards him with a bottle of water in her left hand and her phone in her right one.
“Thanks,” Colin grumbled. “I didn’t sleep well.” He turned towards Nigel, who was standing in the corner of the room and asked, “Did Pen text back?”
His mind was still on the discussion he and Penelope had had last night. Something about the way it had ended didn’t sit right with him. He’d texted her this morning, apologizing for how angry he’d gotten but he hadn’t heard back from her yet.
Nigel shook his head, glancing down at Colin’s phone once and Colin sighed.
“Can we send in the next one?” some guy from the back asked and all the while all Agatha continued to stare at her phone.
“Agatha?” Colin asked, waving a hand in front of her face, but she didn’t reply. He frowned, looking her up and down once. “Is everything okay? Did you get bad news?”
That made her suddenly snap out of it and she looked at him, compassion in his eyes.
“I can’t believe I have to do this to you again.”
“Do what to me again?”
She sighed and held up her phone to show him an image. He was slightly confused at first. The picture was obviously taken from a far distance, since it was rather pixelated, however, Colin recognized the hair immediately. In the picture Penelope was exiting some drug store in London, holding a pink box in her hands.
“What’s…” Colin started, clearly confused until Agatha showed him the headline.
Colin Bridgerton’s fiancée spotted buying pregnancy test
Colin’s stomach dropped and he could feel his mouth open softly, to let out a gush of air. How...? Why hadn’t she…? What?
He was confused. Really fucking confused on why Star News knew that he might become a father before he knew and not quite sure what to say. Or feel. Or think.
“Can we send in the next interviewer?” Some guy in the back asked again and Colin heard Nigel asking them to wait while Colin grasped Agatha’s phone to go through the rest of the pictures.
It really was her. And she really was holding something that looked dangerously like a pregnancy test box.
“When…”
“They published it fifteen minutes ago.”
“I’m....” he stuttered, looking at Agatha who was staring right back at him, her eyes sympathetic. “I need to go.”
He took the wire that was taped to the side of his head, ripping it away, marched towards Nigel to get his phone and stormed out of the interview room, desperately in search of one space in this whole fucking building crawling with reporters that gave him some privacy. Something. A room. A fucking broom closet, if he had to.
“Colin, stop,” he heard Agatha yell and he turned around, just about ready to scream if she asked him to go back. “Follow me.”
He nodded, swallowing heavily as he stomped after her, down two hallways until she opened a door to some sort of office. She held open the door for him and he walked in, breathing heavily while she closed and locked it behind them.
“Colin, you can’t be an asshole,” she started, grabbing his arm and looking at him imploringly. “Don’t be a dick to her.”
He looked at her incredulously.
“I’m not…”
“I can see that you’re angry, but you don’t know the circumstances,” she explained. There was a warning tone in her voice he did not appreciate at all.
This was his relationship. His fiancée. His family.
“The only circumstance I care about is why I had to find out through the media again!” he nearly yelled, but Agatha didn’t back down.
Somehow she only got bigger, stronger, fiercer as she said, “Colin, she might have just found out today as well and you’re five thousand fucking miles away.”
“She still could have told me.”
“You’ve been doing interviews all day. Plus she’s a woman, boy. She’s allowed to make her own decisions about her own body. Stop. Being . A. Dick,” she stressed, glaring at him.
And somehow some of the haze he’d been in these past few minutes lifted. She was right. The way he’d found out sucked, but this was her body.
“Fuck. You’re right,” he breathed out, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m just…”
“And I know you feel blindsided, but think about this from her perspective for a second. If it’s negative, the whole world will now know. She probably wanted to spare you that disappointment and now the whole world might be aware,” she nearly whispered the last part. “That’s tough, Colin.”
It was as if she’d poured a bucket of ice cold water over him. Of course she was right. Colin knew Penelope and he knew she’d be devastated if it was negative even if this hadn’t exactly been planned. Hell, he’d be devastated.
And now they might have to explain that to the whole world.
He took a deep breath and looked at Agatha, nodding and silently thanking her with his eyes.
“I’m staying in case you’re putting your foot in your mouth,” she said and crossed her arms.
Colin nodded, smiling nervously, and dialed Penelope’s number.
It took two seconds, the longest two seconds of his life to connect, but when it did, it rang exactly once before she picked up.
“Hi,” she breathed into the phone and somehow simply hearing her voice made Colin let out a sigh of relief.
“Hi.”
“Did you…” she asked tentatively, and Colin knew what she was going to say so he simply answered, “Yeah.”
There was a beat of silence where neither of them said anything. Then he heard a sniffle and felt his heart constrict.
“I’m sorry about yesterday,” she started and Colin could hear the tears in her eyes. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and take her into his arms but she was fucking five thousand miles away. “You were right.”
“Pen, baby, why are you crying?” he asked, his own voice also choking up as his whole body filled with dread and he sat down on a sofa in the corner of the room. He hadn’t realised how much he really wanted this baby.
“I’m sorry I didn’t wait for you. I didn’t want you to find out this way. I…” she started, but he honestly didn’t care anymore.
“Baby, why are you crying? Did you take it? Was it negative?”
His voice was shaking slightly as he sat there, his head in his hair and his elbow on his knee.
There were two seconds of tense silence before she whispered, “No.”
“No, you didn’t take it?” he breathed, the vice grip that had been squeezing his hard loosening ever so slightly.
Another second of silence in which he thought he might start screaming any second, before she cried, “No, it wasn’t negative. It’s your bloody baby that’s making me weepy.”
It took him a second to fully hear what she’d said. But when he did, he couldn’t help the smile that slowly spread across his face.
“Shit,” he laughed. “Are we… This is real?”
And he could hear the smile in hers as she said, “Yeah.”
Colin heard Agatha move and slowly walk towards the exit, whispering a quick ‘Congratulations’ before she let the door fall closed behind her.
“Are you… Are we happy about this?” he asked because apparently she was still crying.
She sniffled, however, he could hear the smile in her voice when she said, “The European side of us is happy. Is the one currently residing across the great pond happy?”
He laughed. Full on laughed.
“Fuck, Pen. Happy. I’m not happy, I’m fucking ecstatic. This is amazing.”
He wanted nothing more than to hold her. Kiss her. Twirl her around the room. Show her how fucking happy this made him.
A baby. Their baby.
“I wish you were here,” she whispered and he could just imagine her, sitting on the bathroom floor with the test beside her and her hand over her mouth to hide her smile because that’s just how she was.
“God, I wish… I wish I could kiss you right now,” he whispered back. “I might have to kiss Agatha instead.”
“She’ll punch you in the nuts,” Penelope laughed.
“She’ll do that anyway once I tell her I’m going home today . Might as well have earned it.”
Agatha had, in fact, not punched him in the nuts. She had hugged him, had wiped at her eyes blaming allergies and then had cursed him out for a few minutes for making her rearrange his whole promotion schedule. She’d proceeded finally to make him promise to name the child after her by way of penance. He’d beamed, thanked her, grinning, said his goodbyes with a wave, and driven to the airport with a smile on his face the whole way. Meanwhile, Agatha had flipped him off before opening the door to a room full of reporters to tell them they would, in fact, not be interviewing Colin Bridgerton today.
It was now exactly 15 hours later that Colin paid the cabbie at the corner of the street and, checking to see if he still had his phone this time, got out of the car, carefully putting on his hoodie and sunglasses and shouldering his backpack. The paparazzi had been absolutely horrible, both here in London and at LAX, but he still hoped that none of them had figured out where Penelope worked.
He walked down the few tiny side streets to get to the bookshop, once more grateful for his foresight. He’d left all of his stuff in LA, Nigel promising to send it over sometime next week. He didn’t really care too much. All that mattered to him was here in London anyway.
It was 1pm when he arrived in front of the store. He took a second to glance through the storefront and he could feel his heart flip and grow when he saw her. She was in the corner of the room, a big box of new books beside her. Apparently, it was time to rearrange the shelves again. She laughed at something some customer was saying and then turned around, walking all the way to the other side of the room to find some book the man had apparently been asking for.
And she was absolutely glowing.
Colin had always found her beautiful. From the first moment he’d seen her back at Eloise’s apartment he’d noticed how unostentatiously, naturally beautiful she was.
However, now… now, she was something more. Something that absolutely took his breath away. Something that rooted him to the spot, unable to tear his gaze from her. Unable to stop smiling and marvelling and thanking the gods that she’d chosen him.
He stood there for at least two minutes doing nothing but stare at her.
And then, as the customer left the shop, the little bell above the door snapped him out of his stupor and he strode forward, entering the store before the door could fall closed.
She was putting the cash into the register, nodding to something that Margaret was saying in the back office and humming her consent, when he cleared his throat.
Her head snapped up, mouth open for a second before the most brilliant smile spread across her face.
“Hi,” he grinned, feeling like his face might split in half.
“Hey,” she smiled back at him and his heart squeezed tightly upon hearing her voice.
“Fancy seeing you here, baby mama,” Colin said and she giggled before she walked across the room and basically ran into his arms.
He dropped his backpack and enveloped her in his arms immediately, but carefully, burying his face in her neck and breathing her in.
“I’m so happy you’re back,” she breathed, grabbing his hair and kissing the side of his head. “Now I can curse at you when I’m sick.”
“You’ve been sick?” Colin asked, now slightly concerned as he pulled his head back and framed her face with his hands, really looking at her. He knew it was normal for women to be sick during pregnancy. He’d witnessed enough of his mother’s pregnancies to know that. Still, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t worry.
“Horribly so,” she whispered before she leaned forward and kissed him. Once. Twice. Three times.
“I’m sorry,” he said and dropped a kiss on her nose.
“You will be, baby daddy, when you wake up to the sounds of me retching tomorrow morning,” she grinned and with that turned around to walk back to her shelves while he laughed.
June 4, 2022
Colin sighed as he first looked around the suite Anthony and Kate had booked at the hotel, then glanced at his watch. He was uncharacteristically nervous and he didn’t really understand why. He’d been looking forward to this day for nearly his whole life, but now that it was here he suddenly felt… anxious. It’s not like he wanted to get it over with, exactly.
He just couldn’t wait to actually be married.
“You ready?” Anthony asked as he walked in, followed by Benedict and Gregory, the latter righting his tie at the mirror in the corner while Anthony came over to slap Colin on the back.
Colin cleared his throat once to cover that his voice was slightly unsteady, “Yeah. I’ve been ready for a while. Do you have the rings?”
“I’ve got them,” Anthony said while Benedict walked over to tousle Colin’s hair and said, “Can’t believe this one’s finally getting hitched. And he didn’t even make us go to LA for it.”
Colin groaned and walked over to the mirror to comb through his with his hands once more. It wasn’t that he cared about it all that much, but he knew his mum would have him by the balls if one hair looked out of place in the pictures.
“Everyone’s already there?” he asked, not taking his gaze off the mirror.
“Everyone’s waiting,” Gregory said, staring at Colin wordlessly for a few seconds before adding as an afterthought. “I love weddings.”
“Okay...” Colin said, looking at Benedict questioningly who only shrugged. The boy was 21 years old. He had plenty of time to stop two weddings and get married three times over if he wanted to.
“Colin…” Anthony started just as Colin said, “Ant…”
They smiled at each other and Colin couldn’t help but appreciate how easy this felt. A few months ago this whole situation would have ended in an awkward silence between them. Now here they stood, finally on their way towards rebuilding their relationship. Their friendship.
“Thank you. For being my best man,” Colin said, holding out his hand and letting out a surprised little yelp as Anthony pushed it aside and pulled him into a hug.
“Thank you for asking me,” Anthony mumbled behind his back and Colin closed his eyes for a second, wanting to fully appreciate this moment.
“I know I’ve not been the best brother these past few years, but…” he started as soon as they’d let go of each other. However, before Colin could start apologizing for the same thing he’d already apologized for a number of times, Anthony interrupted him and said, “You know that there hasn’t been a moment in my life where I’ve loved you any less because of anything you might or might not have done, right?”
Colin could feel his throat close up and didn’t really know how to reply.
So Anthony said, “Any of us, really,” and looked at Benedict and Greg, who both only stood there nodding.
And Colin only looked at them. At his three brothers who had always been there even when he felt like he didn’t deserve them. Who’d always stood by him even when he hadn’t been aware of it. At Anthony, who’d been the glue that had held them all together throughout all these years. At Benedict, who’d (more often than not) had to be the voice of reason. At Gregory, who’d always brought them laughter, even on the darkest of days.
He looked at all of them and was suddenly overwhelmed by how much he still needed them. How much he didn’t know about life. How much he loved them.
So he didn’t fully trust his voice when he said, “Thank you.”
There were another few seconds of tense silence before...
“Sure thing. Come to me for advice anytime,” Gregory said, holding out his hand for a fist pump and they all burst out laughing.
It was a knock at the door that suddenly burst their little bubble and they all turned towards it simultaneously.
“If your father could see you four now,” his mother said, her voice only slightly unsteady, as she stood frozen at the door.
It was like they all swallowed at the same time, not really sure how to reply to that, so Colin did what he had always done best.
Lighten the mood.
“He’d be embarrassed about the state of this one’s hair,” Colin said while reaching over and tousling Gregory’s locks.
“Fuck off,” Gregory yelped while rushing over to the mirror and Violet hissed, “ Language !”
She walked over (the other three quickly taking a few steps back so she wouldn’t start yanking on their ties or straightening their hair), standing in front of Colin, her hands slightly shaking as she smoothed out his tie.
“Now, boys,” she nearly whispered. “Leave me alone with this one.”
Colin swallowed while Benedict made a face at him and Anthony only grinned. They apparently knew what was about to come and Colin only rolled his eyes at them.
As soon as the others had closed the door behind them, they remained silent for a few moments - not uncomfortably so - her looking him up and down and smiling tearily while he grinned at her.
“You know he would have been so proud of you. For everything you’ve achieved,” she said, her voice dangerously unsteady and Colin swallowed. “For going after your dreams, but never forgetting who you are.”
“Thank you, mum,” he whispered, but apparently she wasn’t done yet.
“And so am I,” she added, now fiddling with his boutonniere. “She’s a wonderful girl and you’re very lucky to have her, but the same goes for her.” She took a step back and dug through her little bag to look for a tissue before continuing. “Now… You must always put each other first and she and the children must be your first priority, Colin.”
“They already are.”
“I know they are but let me say my peace so I can hold it over your head the first time you come running to me for advice,” she said and Colin chuckled. “Marriage is work so work for it. And talk about everything. Even if it’s uncomfortable and it hurts. You have to talk about it.”
He only looked at her, utterly overwhelmed by how amazing she was. Having raised eight children and mourning a husband and making them all feel loved and appreciated and hopeful.
“I’m so lucky to have you as my mum,” Colin only said and when she ‘tsked’ and dabbed at her eyes, he pulled her closer and into a hug. “Thank you.”
“I thank the world every day for blessing me with you eight little terrors,” she sniffled. “Now. We’ve got to leave. You can’t be too late to your own wedding.”
And with one last sniffle and a big exhale, she walked out of the room.
“Where is she?” Colin asked, nervously glancing through the gap in the double doors to look at all the guests squeezed into the fairly small chapel on the cliff in Dorset in the village right next to the quaint little cottage they’d rented all those months ago.
They’d passed it on their walk that weekend and had both fallen in love with it. When they’d thought about where they wanted to get married, this had come to mind right away. Their wedding was to be a small, intimate affair anyway. Why then choose some big church they wouldn’t fill?
Convincing the priest to actually do the ceremony here, however, had been a different story. But it had also been some of Colin’s best work, to be honest. The priest had been adamantly opposed to it when they’d first broached the subject over the phone. He’d said it was too small. It had never been done. He didn’t even know if it was allowed.
And Colin had tried to talk him into it. He’d called twice a week, had talked to him about anything and everything but mostly about how much he wanted to marry this woman and how much she’d love to be married in that little chapel on the cliff.
After two weeks he’d agreed. Probably because he’d simply wanted the calls to stop. But Colin had gotten his way and so there they were.
Him stood outside the chapel, waiting for Kate’s call informing Anthony that she, Eloise, Francesca, Hyacinth, Daphne, Felicity and Penelope were in the limousine and telling him to go inside to wait at the altar.
It was only that it was 3:16 and this whole thing should have started 16 minutes ago and yet they hadn’t heard anything. Kate hadn’t even picked up her phone when they’d tried her, and he was slowly but surely starting to become a bit nervous.
He wasn’t scared that she had somehow gotten cold feet. He knew her and he knew that wasn’t the case. If there was one person on this earth he trusted, it was her.
He was worried that something was wrong. Ever since she’d told him she was pregnant, he’d been happy, delighted, excited, ecstatic. But it had also created this new side of him. The side that worried. A lot.
Everytime she woke up in the morning only to race to the bathroom he worried. Everytime he could see her feeling slightly dizzy he worried. Everytime she didn’t eat because she couldn’t keep anything down he worried. Everytime she slept and cringed and sighed and breathed he worried.
He knew it was stupid and mostly unnecessary and extremely annoying so he tried to hold it in and tone it down and live with it, but he still worried.
So here he stood now, sixteen minutes after his wedding was supposed to have begun. And he worried.
“I’m sure everything’s fine,” Anthony said as he looked at him pacing back and forth in front of the wooden doors of the little chapel. He only glanced at his brother, a tense smile on his face as he nodded. It took everything inside of him not to ask him to call again.
Anthony looked at him, a speck of pity in his eyes, and sighed as he unlocked his phone to call Kate once more.
And to their mutual surprise, she picked up this time.
Colin came to a standstill, nearly ripping Anthony’s hand off as he reached for the phone.
“Is something wrong?” he asked and Kate sighed.
“Colin… Everything’s fine. She’s just… not ready yet.”
Colin frowned, utterly confused. She’d been getting ready for the past three hours. He knew that because she’d complained about it in a text she hadn’t been supposed to send him.
“Why?”
Kate didn’t say anything for a bit, but he heard her close a door before she said, “Look… Can you come and talk to her please?”
And before he even replied, Colin ended the call and motioned for Anthony to follow him as he hopped into the car he’d arrived in and drove down the street towards their cottage.
“Hey sweets,” he said as he entered the room, waiting for everyone else to leave (his mum patting his cheek affectionately on her way out) before he closed the door and finally turned towards her.
And promptly needed a couple of seconds to regain his equilibrium.
Because there she sat, on a little chair in the corner of the one bedroom they’d never used, her eyes and nose slightly red and looking absolutely defeated and still… she’d never looked so beautiful to him.
Her dress was… absolutely stunning. He wouldn’t even know how to begin to describe it but there was lace and a v-neckline and a satin belt, but mostly it was because she was in it.
He stood there, utterly speechless for a full ten seconds before he cleared his throat.
“You are… beautiful,” he said as he took some tentative steps towards her and she sniffled slightly, wiping at her eyes before picking at the skin around her fingers again and not saying anything.
Colin only looked at her, thoroughly confused about what was going on, but also still a bit dazed.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” he finally asked as he went down onto his knees before her, taking both of her hands and bringing them to his mouth to kiss them.
“It’s stupid,” she only sniffled, still avoiding his gaze by staring at their joined hands.
“I’d love to agree with you, but I don’t know what it is that’s wrong.”
She raised an eyebrow when she finally met his eye, making him grin stupidly.
“You’ll laugh.”
“Maybe...” he shrugged. “But then again you’re sitting here crying, so I doubt it.”
She sat there, tight lipped, for a couple more seconds before it burst out of her.
“The dress doesn’t fit.” Her voice caught at the very end, nearly breaking his heart. She swallowed before she continued, “It’s your stupid baby. Everything is bigger than anticipated. My tits and my stomach and everything. Nothing fits right anymore.”
Colin opened his mouth to say something funny about her tits, but she cut him off tearily, “Please don’t joke about loving my boobs right now,” shutting him right up.
“They had to add some fabric at the back so they could actually button it and it’s just… It sucks.”
“I’m sorry that my monster sperm is making you miserable,” Colin mumbled, kissing the ring finger of her left hand, the one that should be wearing their wedding band by now. “And if you say the word, we run away right now and we’ll get married some other place some other time. Just the two of us. But… baby, you look absolutely beautiful. I don’t care about the fabric and the buttons and whatever else there might be wrong in your eyes. I care about you feeling comfortable and you wanting to marry me and you enjoying this day.”
She sniffled, looking him up and down once as he put a piece of hair behind her ear.
“You look all dapper and Hollywood and I’ve got buttons stretching across my whole back.”
He honestly was at a bit of a loss as to what to do or say to make her believe him. To make her see that it didn’t matter. That no one would care.
He looked around the room once, to gather his thoughts, when his gaze fell on some scissors lying on the little make-up table to his right. So he did the only thing he could think of that might make her feel slightly better. He got up, took the scissors and cut off half of his tie.
Penelope gasped.
“What are you doing?”
“Well you’ve got your buttons and I’ve got my tie now. We’re even.”
She shook her head, tears filling her eyes as she got up and walked over to him, putting her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest, right next to his crookedly cut off tie.
“You’re so stupid. I love you so much.”
Colin grinned and laughed, “I’m so glad, because you have to save me from my mum. She’ll want to murder me. She’s been talking about the pictures all day.”
Penelope chuckled and looked up, her chin still resting on his chest.
So he leaned down and kissed her once. Softly. His lips ghosting over hers.
He couldn’t destroy her make-up. He might be able to take his mum, but he wouldn’t be able to take on his mum, Eloise and Kate simultaneously.
“You want to get married now?” he asked, resting his forehead against hers and looking into the eyes of the woman he would have cut off a thousand ties for.
“Yes,” she grinned up at him.
Penelope didn’t remember too much of the actual ceremony. She remembered that her boobs hurt a bit in the dress and that she regretted not having gone to the toilet one last time before getting in the car with Colin and Anthony and driving up to that little chapel.
But she also remembered that she forgot about all of that when she walked down that tiny aisle and when she saw him smile so stupidly.
And for some reason, as she’d walked down that short aisle, the memory that had popped into her head was him opening that door at Eloise’s apartment exactly one year ago and how she’d been starstruck and speechless and how he’d left her without thought the first time he’d smiled at her and it all made her chuckle.
“Why are you laughing?” he’d asked as she’d handed her bouquet to Eloise and turned towards him, the priest waiting till all of the guests had sat down in the tiny booths once more and Charlotte had stopped babbling and grabbing for the flowers at the end of each row.
“I don’t know,” she’d shrugged, smiling at him. “Who would have thought little Penelope Featherington would bag a Hollywood star?”
Colin had laughed then, throwing his head back and Penelope had blushed, suddenly hyper aware that everyone was looking at them.
“I’ve always been yours to bag, Miss Media,” he’d grinned.
The rest of the ceremony had been a blur. All of it had been prim and proper like the priest had suggested (they hadn’t really had much leeway after Colin had basically stalked the man for two weeks), but it didn’t really matter anyway.
They both hadn’t really cared too much about the actual ceremony.
They cared about the being married part.
So now, after they’d had approximately 400,000 pictures taken by some professional photographer Violet had recommended, after Violet had cussed him out for cutting off his tie and had then been all teary-eyed after hearing the reason behind it and after Penelope had thrown up once in the bushes in front of the restaurant because she’d forgotten to eat every two hours, the wedding reception had started.
The restaurant was, like everything about their wedding, quaint and small. However, it was beautifully decorated by Portia and Violet and Lauren, their wedding planner (who had come highly recommended by Benedict and Sophie) and the owners were absolutely thrilled about hosting the wedding of Colin Bridgerton. Penelope hadn’t told him yet that they’d asked her to hang his picture in the restaurant.
Colin had basically sat her down right away, ignoring Lauren’s protests and everyone’s confused glances and had declared the buffet to be open (sending all the waiters and kitchen staff into a frenzy and making all the kids as well as Gregory cheer), only so she could eat right away and wouldn’t have to throw up anymore.
He was adorable.
After she’d had some food to settle her stomach and everyone else had eaten as well, they’d opened up the glass walls that lead to the patio and let the warm, early summer breeze fill the room with salty ocean air they walked around the room to thank everyone for coming, him introducing her to everyone as “his wife” and Penelope rolling their eyes at him even if she secretly loved every second of it.
When they returned to their table where they sat with Felicity, Anthony, Kate, Eloise and Phillip, Anthony grumbled, “If I have to hear you call her ‘your wife’ one more time, I’ll throw you in the ocean.”
Thirty minutes later they were cutting the cake and Penelope warned him not to make any rash decisions right before she nearly took out his eye with her fork when she attempted to push a huge piece of cake into his mouth and he moved out of the way deftly.
“You know my face is my capital, baby,” he grinned then, before snaking his arms around her waist and pulling her closer, taking a bite off the fork inside her hand.
“You keep saying that,” Penelope laughed and kissed him on the cheek while he chewed. “But, you’ve also got a pretty great ass. So we’d be fine.”
He only laughed and winked while Felicity groaned from the sidelines and Eloise fake gagged.
“We’re both sticking with water tonight, aren’t we?” Portia asked as she sat down next to Penelope. She and Colin had had their first dance an hour ago and she’d basically been on the dance floor ever since until Colin had just about ripped her out of Benedict’s arms and shoved her into a seat while he went to dance with Felicity.
She knew he meant well, but Benedict had just hinted that Sophie had recently caught Violet on a date with some guy and she’d really, really wanted to know more.
She was nosy, so what? Sue her.
“Cheers to that,” Penelope said and they clinked glasses, her gaze still trained on Colin and Felicity laughing about something she’d said.
“He really is very sweet, isn’t he?” Portia mused just as Colin basically forced Felicity to step on his toes so they could dance properly, both of them laughing like absolute maniacs the whole time.
They’d had a few drinks.
“He is,” Penelope grinned and couldn’t help but giggle when Felicity slipped, nearly taking him down with her when she held onto his cut-off tie.
“I’m glad you’ve got him and he’s there to take care of you now,” her mum said and put her hand over Penelope’s. “Even if you might find it a bit overbearing sometimes.” Penelope only looked at her slightly confused about what she was hinting at. “I saw the way you were looking at him when he dragged you over here to sit down.”
Penelope smiled, for some reason slightly embarrassed at having been caught.
“But you’ve been taking care of people your whole life. It’s good someone’s watching out for you now,” Portia continued. “And I… I’m here too now. If you need me.”
Penelope took her hand and squeezed.
“I know, mum. Thank you.”
They smiled at each other before both grasping for their glasses of water again and taking a few sips. Penelope didn’t know if she could ever fully forgive her mother for the past few years. Too much had happened. But she’d try her best.
A few moments later, Hyacinth appeared from outside, slightly flushed and looking happy as she turned around, kissed Gareth on the cheek once and disappeared in the direction of the bathrooms. Gareth, on the other hand, sat back down at their table, signalling for a waiter. Penelope glanced at Colin who was still busy teaching Felicity the waltz or some other type of dance, so she took her chance and walked over there.
“Hi,” she said as she plopped down beside him. “I’m Penelope.”
“Yeah, I know,” Gareth grinned. “Seeing as this is your wedding.”
“Right,” Penelope mumbled, flushing ever so slightly. “Now, we don’t have much time and Colin is very tight-lipped about it all so… tell me about that night in LA.”
Gareth, who’d just been taking a sip of his gin and tonic, coughed, choked and spent the next ten seconds fighting for his life while Penelope waited patiently, stealing the occasional glance in Colin’s direction. One of those times, Kate caught her eye, winking at her and grabbing Charlotte from Anthony’s arms and walking over to the dance floor to basically force her into Colin’s. Penelope grinned. It seemed like someone else wanted the whole story as well.
After he’d finally recovered, Gareth turned towards her, red in the face (whether from embarrassment or his fight for survival she didn’t know) and asked, “What night in LA?”
Just then Agatha sat down beside Gareth, asking, “So you’ve met my nephew?”
“I have,” Penelope said, grinning. “Well… Just now. Other than that I’ve only heard stories.”
“Stories?” Agatha asked, frowning slightly. “Boy, if you’ve made a fool of yourself already, I’ll…”
“Oh no,” Penelope quickly interjected. “Just about the one time you invited him to LA and he and Colin hung out?”
Agatha remained silent for a fraction of a second thinking hard, before latching onto Gareth.
“What stories?”
Just at that moment Olivia, Agatha’s wife, sat down beside her and asked her, “Are you torturing your nephew again?”
Penelope couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty about the turn all of this had taken since he obviously looked a bit uncomfortable, but she was also morbidly curious about that night so she prattled on.
“Just so you know, I’m not mad,” she smiled, looking him up and down. “You’re both good-looking. There was some chemistry. I get it.”
Olivia’s mouth was stuck in an o-shape while Gareth only sighed before finally raising his hands and saying, “Okay, okay. I’ll tell. I only didn’t mention it because she,” he pointed at Agatha. “Made me sign an NDA after I told her.”
“You made your own nephew sign an NDA?”
“That’s my job,” Agatha shrugged. “Colin was still officially with Marina at the time.”
“I never had to sign one,” Penelope said, frowning slightly.
“That’s because he was a hopeless case from the start with you, sweetheart,” Agatha reached across the table to squeeze her hand. “It was him who wouldn’t shut up about you .”
“This is a dangerous combination,” Colin said as he suddenly appeared behind Penelope, resting his left hand on her shoulder, making her jump. His right hand was gesturing at everyone on the table. “Hi there, mate,” he said and stretched out his hand towards Gareth. “Great to see you again.”
He took a seat beside Penelope, leaning back against his chair casually and stretching his legs in front of him while he asked a waiter to get him another gin tonic and then grasped for her hand, looking unbelievably comfortable and while the rest of them just stared at him.
“What?” he asked, grinning like a fool and Penelope knew he knew.
So she did the only adult thing there was left to do and pouted.
“I want to know.”
“There’s nothing much to know,” Colin shrugged, grinning innocently. But the effect of his words was severely diminished by Gareth clearing his throat and raising an eyebrow just as Hyacinth sat down next to Colin and Penelope groaned, letting her head drop into her hands on the table.
“Penelope, they kissed and there were hands and mouths involved in the bathroom of some club,” Hyacinth said, rolling her eyes. “It’s more than I have ever wanted to know about my brother, but I got it out of this one last week. I couldn’t let it go either.”
She nodded towards Gareth who rolled his eyes when she stuck out his tongue at him and Penelope couldn’t help but find them very cute.
“ Thank you,” Penelope beamed and clapped her hands in glee. “Finally.”
Agatha rolled her eyes, looking at both of them.
“I’m so happy you’re married now and I won’t have to call in favours anymore to get rid of photos of you kissing someone in public while you’re still very publicly in a relationship with someone else.”
Colin dragged Penelope’s chair closer to him so he could lay his arm across it and say, “Yeah, I’ll only be kissing this one from now on.”
“You better,” Penelope said and laughed as she kissed him.
“It’s ours,” he whispered as he more or less fell down on the beach beside her, orange juice and two champagne flutes in hand.
“What’s ours?” Penelope laughed, finding him adorable. He was definitely way more drunk than he’d wanted to be, owing to the fact that Benedict, Gregory and Eloise had more or less forced drinks down his throat every time he’d called her ‘his wife’.
It was 3am and they’d just returned to the cottage, leaving the few guests who still remained to end the party on their own. They were sitting in the same spot they’d sat in eleven months ago, back when everything had seemed so complicated.
“The cottage,” Colin sighed as he lay down on his back, opening two more buttons of his shirt.
“Wait…” Penelope asked after a few seconds. “What?”
“I bought it,” he said, slurring slightly and waving his hand. “As a wedding present. For both of us.”
Penelope buried her head in her hands. How would she ever manage to make sure this child wasn’t the most spoiled child in history?
“Are you angry?” he asked, attempting to sit up again but falling back down after a few seconds. “Don’t be angry. I thought about how I wanted us to come here every summer and I wanted to play in the sand out there with our kid and how I wanted to spend every single anniversary here with you and I couldn’t not do it. What if someone else bought it?”
She looked at him as he was lying there, arm over his eyes to keep the world from spinning but pouting adorably and even if she had been mad, she wouldn’t have been able to stay angry.
Because at the end of the day everything he did was done out of love.
“I’m not angry,” she whispered over the sound of the waves crashing against the beach as she lifted his arm from his head and kissed him once. “You just have to promise me something?”
“What?” he asked, grinning at her.
“I’m buying the birthday presents for our children.”
September 16, 2022
“I feel a bit like Julia Roberts at the end of Notting Hill,” Penelope sighed happily, looking up at him from where her head was laying on his leg. “Only more pudgy and less beautiful.”
“You are beautiful,” he said, rolling his eyes.
They’d had lunch at a small little café just down the street from this park and Penelope was now lying on a park bench trying to catch the last rays of sunshine, her head on his leg while his hand was idly rubbing her pregnant belly. He was reading a script Agatha had insisted he read while she was reading a book that had arrived at the store last week. She was still proud of the fact that she’d even somehow, miraculously, managed to have the author agree to do a small signing at the store next week.
“No, I wasn’t talking myself down. I was only hyping her up. I don’t think there’s a living breathing being as beautiful as Julia Roberts.”
“Well, I’ll be happy to call her for you and let her know what you think about her,” he muttered distractedly while turning a page.
Penelope sat up quickly, or as quickly as was possible in her state.
“You do not know Julia Roberts. You do not have her number,” she said.
“In fact, I do.”
“Stop.”
“No, I’m serious. I do. Here,” he laughed, pulling out his phone and going through his contacts while she peered over his shoulder.
“Wait, you’ve got Hugh Grant ?” Penelope screeched when he scrolled past the H’s and she basically threw herself at him, motioning for his hand to stop scrolling, his finger now hovering weirdly over the call button.
“Yes,” Colin grinned, looking around them to see if anyway had been disturbed by her rather loud yell about Hugh fucking Grant. “I met him years ago at some charity event in the States. He told me to call him if I was ever back in the UK and wanted to have a good time.”
Colin wiggled his eyebrows while Penelope scrunched up her nose. She’d rather not think about that for too long.
“I can’t believe I had Hugh Grant’s number at the tip of my hands when you were in LA and your phone was here. And I didn’t use it. I could have had a good time with Hugh Grant,” she groaned dramatically and Colin laughed.
“Is one celebrity husband not enough for you?” he grinned while she stuck out her tongue.
“I mean... I guess you’re fine. But Hugh Grant ,” she sighed, purposefully looking at him from the corner of her eye to see how he would react.
“No, I get it. He’s a fine piece of British ass,” Colin laughed and shook his head. “Can’t blame you. In fact, you know what? I’ll call him and tell him my wife wants a good time tonight.”
As he said it, he pressed the ‘Call’ button and put the phone to his ear, grinning evilly. Penelope let out some kind of inhumane sound, something that was more animalistic than human, and dove for his phone.
“Stop it, Colin!” she screeched and attempted to grab for it but he moved out of the way and only laughed.
He put the phone back in his pocket and chucked while he kissed her nose.
“The man is married and has got like… five kids. I’m still working on that latter part.”
“I thought you wanted four. Now we’re at five?” she asked, as he leaned over and kissed her belly. Somehow that still made her blush, especially here in public.
“Four… Five… It’s just numbers, baby,” he grinned.
“For you, maybe,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I’m the one who basically threw up for three months straight only to now be unable to move properly.”
She was in her thirtieth week of pregnancy now and although things had been fine these last few weeks and she’d gotten her energy levels back, things were becoming a tad bit more uncomfortable with each passing day.
“But you look so pretty doing it,” he said and kissed her while she couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculously charming she still found him.
December 24, 2022
“She wants Colin,” Penelope sighed as sat back and yawned. Violet was currently standing in their kitchen, rocking a screaming Agatha in her arms trying to calm her down. It was nice to know that even someone as experienced as Violet sometimes failed at calming down her one-month old, absolutely spoiled daughter.
It was Christmas Eve and the whole family had agreed to spend the night at their place, seeing as Penelope had given birth not even a month ago. Everyone had brought some food and drinks and was currently enjoying their meal in the dining room while Penelope had had to leave in the middle of her dinner to breastfeed Aggie.
“Are you sure?” Violet mumbled before starting to sing and Penelope pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.
“Yeah. She already has a favourite,” Penelope muttered, albeit lovingly. “She’s known me for ten months and him for one but still…”
She liked to stress that little Aggie preferred Colin over her, and it was true to some extent, of course. Still, when it came down to it she had her bonding time what felt like 40 times a day, whenever Aggie needed to eat and Penelope knew he was somewhat, weirdly, jealous of that. So she guessed it was poetic justice that only he could calm her down when she was in one of her moods.
It didn't hurt that she also positively melted every time he so much as looked at their little girl.
“Well, don’t pretend you didn’t love him at first sight as well,” Violet grinned, laughing at Penelope’s expression. “He told me about that poster you used to have of him in your room.”
“There was no poster!” Penelope nearly yelled, rolling her eyes. She’d spent the last year and a half fighting against this rumour he had spread. “He just likes telling everyone there was.”
Violet laughed, only shaking her head slightly.
“Why’s my girl screeching?” Colin asked as he entered the room, kissing Penelope’s head and looking at his mother, still helplessly rocking the baby, with raised eyebrows.
“I told you I got it,” Penelope said. “You can go eat.”
“No,” Colin said. “You go eat, I’ve got her.”
“As your mother, I’m happy to know your daughter’s the one thing that can make you abandon your food,” Violet laughed as she handed the little bundle of screaming joy to him.
“I’d say both my girls can,” Colin said as he pulled Penelope, who’d just gotten up from the chair, closer and kissed her once, all the while rocking Aggie who, miraculously, was beginning to calm down a bit.
“Glad to know I’m not completely forgotten,” Penelope grinned while righting Aggie's cap and kissing her head.
“Never,” Colin said, grinning against Penelope's lips and mumbling, “After all, we’ve still got three more kids to go.”