Lazy days are my favourite kinds of days. The ones where you can just laze around in your jimjams, with yesterday's hair like a nest on the top of your head, and not give a damn about the world outside. Having Isaac enjoying the day with me wasn't so bad either. 

Actually, it was what made the day all the better.

Isaac was off today and seeing as Martha was now working for Sam on a full-time basis, I decided that I was going to be selfish and take the day off, too. It was about time everyone at the shop got used to having Nate in charge because as soon as I was on maternity leave, he was taking over the day to day running of the business. He's been a God send these past two weeks helping me to deal with work related stuff that I wouldn't trust anyone else to run the place in my absence. Knowing that everything there was in safe hands made my time away more enjoyable. 

"You know," Isaac's whispered voice made the hair at the nape of my neck tickle against my skin. "We should probably think of getting up."

You know what I said about vegging out in jimjams, well I may have misled you there. Ever since our sex marathon last week, Isaac and I haven't really got back into the habit of wearing clothes outside of my flat. We haven't been back to Isaac's houseboat in days because neither of us felt comfortable being that, uh, wild between the sheets when Martha was sleeping only a few feet away. Or rather, with the way we were going, she wouldn't have had much sleep anyway.

"I don't want to get up," I grumbled, turning over so that I could see Isaac's face. He had days old stubble decorating his perfectly gorgeous face which prickled my lips whenever I kissed his cheeks and his blue eyes were sparkling with unadulterated desire. Whenever he looked at me with those eyes, it made me go weak at the knees because I knew that he craved me. We'd reached the point that we no longer needed words to communicate, simply a glance would suffice and that would be it. "Stop looking at me like that."

A boyish grin works its way onto Isaac's features and it takes all my willpower not to throw my legs around his waist and beg him to ravish me again. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Charlotte," he said, his voice dangerously low. Sighing, I close my eyes and try to compose myself but it doesn't work. Within seconds, I find myself straddling him as I lean forward to capture his lips with mine, a burning sensation tearing through my core as my body comes alive at his touch. I was never this sexual before but there was something about Isaac... something irresistible. "Miss Delaney, are you trying to seduce me."

"Well, if you have to ask then I suppose I'm not doing a good enough job," I say. Forcing myself to be serious for a moment, I start to move away from Isaac, going to lie back on my side of the bed. "I'll just stop there, then."

Chancing a glance in his direction, I see Isaac smirking to himself as his hands creep under the thin bedsheet that covers. Feeling his warm hands on my thigh, I suck in a sharp breath as my heartbeat intensifies, a clear sign that I was about to wholly give in to him. All he had to do was whisper those magic words to me and that would be it, gone. 

He doesn't say the words, though. He won't say them, either, until I beg him to. He'll torture me with his touch first, bringing me to the edge of ecstasy and only then will he ask me and gladly, I will scream, "Yes, I'm ready!"

As his hands roam my body, familiarising themselves with every inch of me, I concentrate on Isaac's face, taking in how happy he looks. I don't dare tell him this but I remember quite clearly now the night we shared after Sophie and Dan's wedding. I may have been drunk but I wasn't so far out of it that I didn't recall some of the details. 

Isaac was nervous then. When I made my move on him, I wasn't sure what my intentions were, all I knew was that this man was all I wanted and needed at that moment in time. He'd been flirting up a storm with me for weeks beforehand, turning up at the shop just to flash me that cocksure grin of his, and then he had the audacity to bring a drop-dead gorgeous date to my sister's wedding just to irritate me. It worked.

I decided on first glance that I did not like his date. She was the complete opposite of me and was quite simply everything I'd never be. Tall, slim, stunning, blonde... she may as well have walked off the pages of some fashion bible and slipped her arm through Isaac's. She was polite and funny, too. She spoke to me like she really was interested in what I had to say, which was very little. I didn't want to speak to the woman that was trying to steal Isaac away from me, not that I actually wanted him at the time. Maybe I just wanted his attention. 

Anyhow, I was being an idiot, of course. You can just imagine how much of a fool I felt when Isaac's date went on to casually announce she was his sister. Alice Fletcher. This one detail changed everything that night. 

When I led Isaac up to the bedroom, he had to keep asking me if I was sure that this is what I wanted. He was rather concerned about taking advantage of me but I had no such problem. If I'd had a pound for every time I had to tell him that I was a hundred percent sure that this is what I wanted, I'd be richer than my family. 

We fell onto the bed that night just as all the clothes we'd been wearing went flying onto the floor. I wanted to take control but I was denied that privilege when Isaac pinned my arms above my head, his lips moving from my lips to my collarbone and further south again. 

"Isaac?" He murmurs in response as his lips caress the mound of my breast. He looks up at me, a glint in his eye that has me second guessing what it is I want to say. Swallowing the lump that forms in my throat, I take in a deep breath and speak my mind. "I'm glad that I pounced on you that night."

Isaac laughs. "Me too, Lottie."

"No, wait, I'm not finished yet," I hurry to say before Isaac gets too carried away and my mind starts to remember what it was he was doing before I spoke. "It's been six whole months and I haven't said it already so I want to say it now, alright?"

"If you're going to say that you love me," Isaac jokes, rolling his eyes dramatically. 

"Shut up," I tell him. Placing my open hand on his chest, I push against him until he's lying down on the bed and I'm hovering over him. "Be serious and listen to me. You may think this is a joke but I am being deadly serious. Like, deadly, deadly serious. You talk in your sleep. You dunk your toast into your coffee in the morning. You never pick up your dirty socks. You frown when you watch TV no matter whether you're watching a comedy show or a soap opera. You narrow your eyes whenever Martha walks into a room. You tense up whenever I walk out of the room. You sound adorable when you're talking to Nugget first thing in the morning when you think I'm still asleep. You semi get along with my family. You don't apologise for staring at me like you want to rip my clothes off. You always make sure that I'm happy. You say things to me that make my day. You... Look, I know that I'm not an overtly emotional person in the sense that I show affection, but Isaac... You told me last week that you adore me, yeah?"

Isaac nods. "Yes."

"Well, I adore you too," I admit. I feel my cheeks burn at my confession and knowing that Isaac watches me carefully, I avert my eyes. If I look at him, I know that I won't be able to finish speaking my train of thoughts. "I adore you for all the reasons I just said. But..." I sigh heavily. "It's more than that, Isaac. I need you to know that, ok? I'm in this for the long haul and I won't ever hurt you. You used to be so guarded. When you looked at me, you used to just smile with your lips and yeah, that was crazy gorgeous but now you smile at me with all your being but I can still see that part of you doubt this." 

I moved my hand in the space between us. "Please, don't doubt me, Isaac. I'm here and you're not getting rid of me. I... Isaac Lachlan Fletcher, I love you."

I let the words hang in the air, see how they feel now that they are out there in the big wide world. I've been trying to figure out what my feelings are towards Isaac for months now; were we friends, friends with benefits, boyfriend-girlfriend, or were we more than all those things combined? 

This morning, as I woke up next to Isaac, his hand on my stomach, I knew what it was I felt for him. I was too nervous to tell him, though. I was on the verge of pushing those feelings into a box and burying it deep down inside me but then Isaac muttered his own declaration and that was it. I knew. 

"You love me?" Isaac blinked five times as he mulled over my confession. Rubbing a hand down his face, I suddenly felt scared that I'd said the wrong thing. That maybe he didn't feel the same for me. But I knew he did. He said so himself this morning. He just has to say it once again, this time when he's awake and he knows that I'm listening. He jerks upwards at practically runs from the bed before pacing the carpet. "Jesus, Charlotte."

Oh, that is not a good sign. He never 'Charlottes' me unless he's angry or frustrated or about to say something that I'm positive I'm not going to like hearing. 

He continues to pace as the silence begins to smother me. Panic rises in my chest and I need him to say something just so my heart doesn't beat its way out of my chest. "Say something, Isaac, please," I beg him. 

"I just need a minute," he says, his voice thick with emotion. I wish I was one of those people who instinctively knew what that strangled sound meant, but I'm not and so I wait in limbo for a painful five seconds before Isaac stops his movements and comes back to the bed. "About fucking time, Lottie."

His words throw me. "Huh?"

"I said, it's about fucking time you admit it," he grins at me. "Just for the record, I said it first."

"Huh?" I think my ability to formulate words has vanished.

Isaac laughs. "You said that I speak in my sleep. I can well imagine what I've been saying. So, did I? Did I tell you that I love you?"

I nod. Isaac nods, too. Then he kisses me gently. 

"I love you, Lottie. I always did."

I'm not sure if you all knew this but... Charlotte loves Isaac, Isaac loves Charlotte.

I always imagine Charlotte to be more guarded than Isaac which is maybe why some f you have felt like she's not that into him. She is. She's totally into him. 

So, thoughts?

Instead of me asking you the Boy vs Girl question, I have a new one for you and it's kind more like a poll. Here goes-

Who wants to know the sex of the baby BEFORE it is born? 

 As most of you who have been around with me for the past few years, you'll know that I an 'ask and you shall receive' kind of person. If you want something, you ask and generally, I'll give in! So, if most of you want to know, you'll know. If, however, most of you don't want to know, then everyone will have to wait until Nugget's arrival to find out. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU VOTE FOR!

Comment on your answer below:

I WANT TO KNOW

I WANT TO KEEP IT SECRET

Otherwise, sorry for the late in the day update and I'll see you on Wednesday! Have an awesome start to the week!

Sarah, xx