THE MIRACLE

He left early in the morning, he pulled his clothes on in a hurry and he bided Alex a silent farewell before hurrying out of her house, making sure to leave her a note before he left.

Alex woke at 6am, her body wrapped up in the sheets, her hair in a knot on the top of her head. She stretched out her arms, fingers searching for the body of her late night lover. But her fingers did not find flesh, instead they found the cold sheets that appeared never ending.

Alex say up and yawned, her eyes scanning the room. She got up and washed her face and brushed her teeth. She got dressed in some leggings and a wooly jumper. She combed her hair and left it down.

She headed out into the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea before heading up onto the roof. To get to the roof you had to climb through the window in her bedroom which lead onto an emergency exit metal staircase. She reached the top and stood, looking out across the town, her cup in hand as she scanned the vast sea, eyes squinting in the sunrise.

It was beautiful. And so was she.

Simon had taken himself to the beach. He'd pulled off his shoes and socks while on the pavement and had made his way through the dunes barefooted. He was now stood with his jeans rolled up to his knees, feet and a quarter of his legs in the cold water. It was refreshing to him. He liked a morning visit to the sea.

After 30 minutes of walking through the water along the beach he stopped, and looked over his shoulder. He had no idea why, but he was glad he did, because he found Alex standing their looking at him, her shoes in hand and a picnic blanket tucked under her arm.

"I know how much you love the sea when its cold in the morning, I worked it out, I didn't even need your note you left," She says and Simon smiles to himself, eyes squinting in the morning sun.

"And you saw it fit to bring yourself here? Honestly I would have thought that you'd hate to see me, what with last night and all," Simon comments and she shrugs in return.

"I could never hate you, no matter how hard you tried to make me," Alex says and she and Simon walk up the beach.

Alex lays out the blanket and Simon uses the edge of it to dry his feet, Alex had been smart and worn buckle up sandals down to the beach.

"About last night-"

"Forget it, Simon, it was just another one of our petty mistakes," Alex says and Simon shakes his head.

"I wish it was, Alex, I really do wish it was, but it meant more to me than it should have, it meant more to me than any time with Katie...or any girlfriend before her...I mean...I feel terrible of course...But...I'm glad...I'm glad I did it, I'm glad it happened," Simon explains, his eyes focusing ahead of him, on the soothing waves of water.

Alex was looking at the golden sand, fingers running through it smoothly, making a pattern.

"It meant a lot to me too, you know," Alex says and Simon finally looks round at her.

"Well, thats...Good...Right?"

"No, its not, this isn't how this was supposed to be, it was supposed to be us being separate, but sharing our son. It was supposed to be you getting married and me being by myself," Alex says sharply and Simon gulps back the lump in his throat.

"Right...I understand..." He mutters, eyes moving off Alex yet again.

"I'm sorry, Si," She says, standing up, her hands releasing the final few grains of sand she held, allowing the light wind to whisk them away.

"When do you go back to London?" Alex asks and he stands up too, lacing up his trainers and pulling down his rolled up jeans.

"Later today," He says and Alex nods.

"How long is it till the Wedding?" Alex questions.

"3 months," He says and Alex nods.

"Okay," She says and Simon rolls up her blanket and hands it back to her.

"It was nice, seeing you again," Simon says and Alex nods.

"Do you want to see Nathan again?" Alex asks and Simon smiles.

Alex and Simon take a slow walk to her parents house where Nathan had stayed the night.

Alex unlocks the door and the scent of eggs and bacon cooking fills their noses as they head into the kitchen.

"Morning," Alex smiles, seeing Nathan sat at the table.

"Morning mommy," He says and Simon steps into view, standing a little taller than Alex in the doorway.

"Daddy!" Nathan grins, hopping off his seat and rushing towards the man. Simon picks Nathan up in one swift motion and he hugs his son tightly.

"Staying for breakfast?" Rachel asks the two adults and Alex smiles and nods.

"Sure, mom," She says, sitting down at the table.

Simon sits beside her and Nathan returns to his seat opposite Alex.

Paul Hughes sat at one end of the table, he was indulging in his regular Sunday paper.

"How are you, Mr Hughes?" Simon asks, and Paul puts down his newspaper and smiles at the young lad.

"I'm well, Simon, how are you?" He asks and Simon smiles in return.

"Good, even better now I'm with Nathan and I can smell Rachel's amazing cooking," Simon compliments and Rachel looks over her shoulder and offers the young man a small smile.

Rachel lays out the food on the table like a banquet allowing everyone to tuck in as they please.

"How's the veterinary surgery?" Simon asks Rachel curiously and Rachel smiles.

"Still doing well, I love my job of course," Rachel says, "And what about you, Simon? Alex tells us you're quite popular on the internet?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm a YouTuber, full time of course, so I guess I am popular," Simon chuckles and Paul grins.

"Glad to see you achieving your dreams kiddo, so whats this I hear about a fiancé?" Paul smiles, nudging Simon, and winking.

"Katie, yeah, she's my fiancé," Simon says, his body tensing under Alex's gaze.

"From the way Alex described her-" Alex throws her father a warning glance, "Katie sounds marvellous,"

Alex smiles softly at her father before looking at Simon.

"Really? I thought you and her didn't get off on the right foot?" Simon asks and Alex shrugs.

"She seems cool," Alex says and Simon nods.

"When are you getting married?" Paul asks and Simon smiles.

"3 months," He says and Paul grins.

"Well kiddo, I'm happy for you," Paul says and Alex rolls her eyes as she eats her toast.

Nathan sees her doing it and instinctively copies her, causing Alex to chuckle.

Once everyone had devoured their food Nathan decided to go and watch TV with his father. Rachel went to the conservatory to continue with her knitting, leaving Alex alone with her farther.

"Tell me, Alex, why is it you're so concerned about Simon knowing what you really think of Katie?" He asks, taking a sip of tea afterwards.

"Because...Its complicated, dad," Alex breathes in deeply.

"Don't worry, sweetheart, I'm sure everything will sort its self out," Paul says, taking his daughters hand from across the table.

Alex smiles and looks at her father.

"Thank you for everything dad, you mean the world to me," She says and Paul smiles and nods.

"Anything for my golden girl," He whispers and she smiles at him before standing up and walking towards the living room.

She stands in the doorway, her arms folded across her chest, watching her son and his father laughing at the exact same things on the TV.

"Like father, like son," She mutters, a small smile on her lips as Simon gives her a grin.

This was what perfect meant to Alex- her son having his family around him, Alex craved this more than anything, she would give up her dreams to make her son happy, so in the long run, he could follow his dreams.

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Ayeeeeee thank you for reading!

I hope you all had a great start to 2017 and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

~KatnissBajanCanadian❤

P.S. Who noticed the title change at the start of the chapter?🤔