Chapter 40

Gary's POV

Leaving Yasmin alone for a few minutes, giving her privacy, i notice Mark around the corridor on his mobile. Tip toeing quietly, i stand at the end, poking my nose into his conversation. "She's beautiful, Mum. Everything about her is perfect and i haven't even seen her face to face yet. Trust me, I'm beaming from ear to ear, so is Gary." Swallowing softly, i feel my heart warm whilst listening to Mark's conversation, a warm feeling which i haven't felt since i was in a relationship with Mark. "Gary's been great as per. He's going to make a top Dad, i just know it. We've got a few new scan photos, which hopefully one day soon I'll pop down to Manc to see you and Dad again, to show you our little one. Yeah we decided the name back a few months ago... we're going to call her Hannah. Hannah Barlow. Well we decided that when..." He pauses for a brief moment, exhaling an inaudible deep sigh. "...When we were engaged. Both me and Hannah were going to take Gary's surname...the family of Barlow's. We've been talking today mainly about this day... we even shared a moment... a hug and a hand hold." Even though i can't see his face, i can imagine a slight shade of red appearing on his cheeks. "...He's a good man, Mum. I've just been a stupid so and so. I know he deserves better, but i refuse to let go of him. I love him more than anyone I've ever loved...I'm going to do everything i can to win him back, to make him love me again." Closing my eyes, i rub the palms of my hands against them. Hearing Mark speak about me like this, really does bring happiness into my broken heart, if only... "Gary will probably be busy today, so i guess once we're finished here he'll probably go back home. N...No...Mum... I've told you... i don't live there anymore... i need to give him space if i want to make things work...i need to respect his decisions. Yeah...i hope he will come and visit you and Dad with me too... I'll let you know, but i can't promise anything. OK, I'll speak to you soon, i promise. I might just head back to Rob's and check around for a bit of online baby shopping...i can't resist now, and I'll probably email Gary if i find anything which catches my eye. Speak soon, love you lots...bye for now..." Ending on that, he hangs up. Remaining in the same spot, i stand with my back against the wall, until a voice disturbs me. "G...G...Gary? Are you OK?" A hand shakes my arm, knocking me from my day dream.

"Eh, what?" As soon as i open my eyes, i come face first with a worried looking male. Blinking my eyes a couple of times, his fingers grip around my wrists.
"What's happened?!"
Clearing my throat, i force out a smile. "N...nothing? Yasmin is just getting sorted...and i came looking for you."
Mark looks stunned by my response. "Me? What have i done? I...I was just on the phone to Mum."
"Oh...no i didn't mean it like that... i meant i came looking for you...er... because i wanted to ask you something."
"Sure...go ahead..." Softly he smiles, releasing his hands on me.
"I was just thinking...maybe we could make an afternoon of it, you know? Do a bit of online shopping...together? Order a pizza, just have a chat about the little one... if you're not busy...that is?" I can already see the excitement re appear in Mark's eyes, like he's been dying to hear those words.
"I...I'd love to...that sounds great...Gary..." Shyly he smiles at me, whilst reaching for his suitcase.
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"Well come in then?" Playfully i laugh, as i toss my keys into the bowl which sits beside the door. Nervously Mark enters the house, dragging his case with him.
"Erh...should i?" He points down at his boots.
"Since when do we take shoes off in this house? Well you did use to get on at me about that, but since we're going to have a baby in here, i'm sure wearing shoes around the house isn't going to make half as much mess."
He laughs slightly, dropping his case in the hallway, before following me into the living room. "You've kept the place in good shape, i must admit that."
For me, looking at the now bare walls from where all our photos use to hang, still causes my heart to sink ever since i took them down. "Hmm...thanks." I shrug, whilst walking over towards the dining room table. "I've got some take away menus here, some guy stuffed a bunch through the letter box a couple of days ago, i guess he knows i've been living off them for the past few weeks." Changing the subject, i hand Mark the leaflets.

"You need a proper meal down you." He mumbles under his breath.
"Ayup, didn't think it would be long until Mother Mark would make an appearance." Teasing him, i sit onto the sofa, pulling the laptop out from underneath it. "Can worry for England, you can lad."
"Always..." Flopping down next to me on the sofa, he looks exhausted. A smudge of concern fills my face, looking at Mark's pale skin.
"Tough day?"
He nods vaguely, giving his face a quick rub over. "Could say that, rehab is a pretty draining place... stupid question, but how are you?"
"Yeah, i'm ok i guess. Today shows how lucky i actually am... you know?" Typing my password into the laptop, the welcome screen appears showing the wallpaper. I haven't been on this laptop for a good few months, so i haven't had time to change things on it, including the wallpaper of me and Mark. A black and white photo fills the 15- inch laptop screen. It was taken last year, Mark cradled in my arms, with his eyes firmly closed whilst my face is nuzzled into his hair, with my eyes closed also. It was Valentines night, just before we fell asleep.
"I remember that..." Mark studies the screen. "Valentines..." Sadness fills his face, which reflects against the screen.
"Yeah...that's right..." Faintly i smile, replying with just a whisper.
"Oh that reminds me... I bought you a present... sorry i couldn't celebrate your birthday with you." He bites the inside of his mouth, unsure whether to continue with his sentence.

Scratching my stubble, my hand pats Mark's knee. "Don't worry about that... i went down to Mum's and the family came over. Better than mopping around 'ere. It was shame you had to spend your birthday in that place."
"Awh, sounded sweet... your Mum is just... she's a lovely woman. Oh, i wasn't really in the mood for celebrating mine anyway..." Standing to his feet, still looking extremely fragile, he fetches his suitcase from the hallway. Sitting back beside me on the sofa, he unzips his suitcase.
"Jeez, how long was you actually in that place." I giggle, looking at the heaps of clothing, enough to last him the entire year.
Marginally, a redness appears on his cheeks as he continues to frantically search through his now messy clothing. "Better safe than sorry. Ah...here we go..." Carefully he pulls out a square shaped box, which is neatly wrapped. "Happy belated Birthday, Gaz. I hope its the right one." Handing me the small box, i study the bow and tag which are sellotaped onto the centre of the box. Taking a deep breath, i begin to tear the red shiny paper off, Mark's eyes not looking away from the box. After all the paper has been removed, i'm now left with a black velvet box. A type of jewellery box? "Go ahead...open it..." Mark nudges me gently.

Without wasting time, i do as he says. Pulling up the lid, it reveals something i can recognise with a blink of an eye. Lifting it out of the box, delicately, I hold it in both hands. Its a pedal, the exact pedal i've been banging out about for the past months ever since it was placed online. "Y...You...got it?"
"Turn it over..." He beams, turning my wrists over. "Read it..."
Scanning the writing on the back, again i start to feel overwhelmed. "To G, Have a wonderful Birthday. All my love, Marko." There's silence in the room, as i continue to stare at the gift with a blank facial expression. Mark's pleased looking smile, soon starts to fade the more he looks at me.
"Y...You don't like it... do you?" Swallowing hard, i can feel his emotions tightly wrap around my body, his face shows devastation. "When i think i can't muck up anything else, i now ruin your birthday after you've had a good time with your fami-" Out of nowhere my emotions take over, allowing my guard to loosen, i sling my arms around Mark's shoulders, embracing the smaller, now confused male into a hug. For a second or two, Mark freezes unsure how to react, until finally he returns the hug, nuzzling his nose against my neck.
"I love it... its better than what i imagined... thank you, Mark." Placing the pedal onto the coffee table, i admire it. Mark smiles at the side of me, whilst cramming his clothes back into his suitcase carelessly, causing something to catch my eye. "Are they your certificates from rehab?" Pointing to the purple and golden coloured pieces of paper in Mark's hand.
"Uh huh..." Proudly he smiles.
"Can i?" Reaching out, i take them from Mark's hands. Clearing my throat, i begin to read them out. "This certificate is awarded to Mark Owen, for his good behaviour and learning skills amongst the group. Mark has one hundread percent successfully completed an entire month's trail of rehab. Congratulations." Nodding my head, something inside of my stomach explodes, mainly consisting of pride. "Wow... get you!" Walking over towards the fireplace, i stand both of the certificates in the centre. "I'll pop to town tomorrow and pick two frames up."

Sitting back on the sofa, Mark's body and reaction has froze over my response. "Oh?" Surprise fills his face, i guess he was expecting me to tear them up or something.
"I'm proud of ya mate... that's all." Smiling over at him, i walk into the kitchen to fetch my unopened bottle of wine and some fresh apple juice for Mark. With my hands now full, i walk back into the living room setting them down onto the coffee table. Mark doesn't notice i've walked back in, as his attention is fully focused on his mobile, which he's tapping away on. "Everything alright?" Furrowing my eyebrows into his direction, i unscrew the lid on the wine, before pouring some halfway into my glass.
Almost jumping out of his skin, Mark looks up at me. "N...no...i mean...yes... erh...its Rob."
"Rob as in Robbie? Has something happened?"
"Oh...yeah he's fine...was just asking me what time i wanted picking up from here..." Shuffling to the edge of the sofa, he fills his glass with the sparkling apple juice.
"Ah right...i see. Never really got him down as a worrier before." Tilting my head over my right shoulder, my eyes glance at the clock. 7:48 pm. "Stay here if you like? Its getting a bit late as it is and we haven't even been online yet or had a proper chat, besides you look exhausted especially after being in rehab."
"H...H...here?" Mark stares at my face, checking to see if this is all real and not some sort of joke, which is getting his hopes up.
"Yeah why not? Could do with a catch up and baby talk. Sorry that the sofa bed is all i have to offer, having a bit of a clear out, so the pianos and junk have taken over the spare room."
"Wow...i'd love that...thank you, Gary." Happily he smiles up at me, whilst typing a quick message back to Robbie.

Pouring myself a glass of red, immediately i knock it back. This isn't the cheap supermarket bought stuff, so with a couple of glasses my head will already be swimming, at least it will help settle my nerves, plus tonight is a night for celebration. "I don't know about you, but I'm bloody well starving." Topping up my glass, i park myself beside Mark on the sofa again, flicking through the stack of take away leaflets. "What do you fancy then, Marko? Kebab, curry or a cheeky pizza?" Partly downing my glass, i reach once again for the bottle, filling it back up to the rim. "Think i might have a curry, even if i do live off the bloody things, tonight we can spoil ourselves. Eh?" Handing over the leaflets, i nudge him in the ribs a little harder than what i intend, causing me to loose my grip on the glass due to the wine droplets around the edge, accidentally i drop the entire glass of wine into Mark's lap.
"Ah!" Mark flinches, jumping to his feet, but stopping the wine from dripping onto the cream carpet.
"Oh shit! I'm sorry, i didn't mean for that to happen." Taking hold of Mark's arm, we rush into the kitchen to get him cleaned up.
"Its fine, Gary." Mark chuckles without an ounce of anger in his body. "These needed tossing anyway." Grabbing a handful of kitchen roll, he starts to dab it against his wine stained trousers.
"Trust me to do this. It was only my third glass and already I'm acting like a prat. You have some nightwear to change into, right? Oh, but then again you have clothes here... one sec I'll run and grab you some." Before i get chance to leave the kitchen, i feel myself being pulled back.
"Will you stop fussing Mr Barlow?" Playfully he shakes his head, whilst pulling down the zip on his trousers. "Tonight is a relaxing night, I've got clothes in my case...its fine..." Looking slightly surprised that Mark's so calm about getting undressed so openly in the kitchen, i watch him pull his trousers to his ankles. "Oh...and you're not a prat." Giving me a wink, he now stands against the kitchen worktop in his briefs. The heat starts rising the more i look at him, no this can't be happening, its too soon. Taking a deep breath trying the best i can to calm my nerves, Mark notices my wondering eyes.