Chapter 15

The Old Rectory was everything they had hoped it would be. The grounds were charming even though the garden was obviously dormant for the winter. The house itself was spacious and everything was in very good condition - it could essentially be lived in at once. While George and the real estate agent went through the ground floor, Colin and Hannah checked the many rooms upstairs. "I could live here!" Hannah exclaimed.

"I wish you would," Colin said wistfully.

"Would you?" Hannah asked surprised.

The boy nodded shyly. "I would love that."

"Let's talk to your dad about it then," Hannah said with a little smile. An idea was forming in her mind.

"Are you serious?" Colin gaped.

"Absolutely," Hannah replied. "But let's wait until the agent has left, shall we?"

Colin agreed. He had not expected that reaction to what was merely a slip of the tongue. He was highly intrigued.

The agent was intrigued too - by the 'family'. The boy called the distinguished foreign client 'Dad', while the extremely good looking young woman called him 'George'. A 'younger model', perhaps, but neither of them wore rings. Perhaps Norwegians didn't. Only, the young woman's English sounded different from the males'. The agent wasn't good at accents, but the young woman sometimes sounded like someone out of 'Neighbours'. Anyway, whoever they were, she sensed quickly that there was no need to put on the 'hard sale pitch' and mentally she notched this off as a certain sale.

She wasn't disappointed. "My solicitor will send you our formal offer by close of business tomorrow," George said when they had been round the property twice. "We can settle very quickly and would be willing to take possession essentially immediately."

"I am sure my clients would be agreeable to that. Are you handling the financing yourself or can I interest you in our competitive rates?" the agent asked. She could get a handsome commission if she brokered the financing, but she sensed this client would not need her services.

Once more she was spot on. "Thanks, but no thanks," George replied. "We don't need a mortgage."

The agent kept her composure, but she was impressed. Such sales were rare at the moment. The Old Rectory had been on the market for over two years. The heirs after the previous owners had dropped the original estate agents and contacted her. They had been very reluctant to 'adjust the price' as the euphemism goes, but had finally agreed to set it to her recommended level and now, just two weeks after taking over, she had sold it for the new asking price. She felt pretty pleased with herself. After the boom years where every Tom, Dick and Harry called themselves real estate agents and properties sold themselves, times were tough now. Only those who really knew the market - and worked hard to help sellers set the right price, not the highest - could succeed.

The agent drove off. "I suggest we have a look at the village and see if we can get a bite somewhere," George said.

Colin, at 12 and continually hungry from a prolonged growth spurt, lit up. "Great idea," he said. "I'm starving!"

The village wasn't big and it being Christmas the selection was limited but they found one open cafe that served lunch. When the serving girl had delivered their food, Hannah winked at Colin then turned to his father. "George," she said in a conspiratorial voice. "Colin had a suggestion."

"Yes?" George said - slightly puzzled. Colin usually spoke up for himself.

"Colin said he would like me to live at the Old Rectory too," Hannah said.

"Did you?" George said, looking at Colin who started to go slightly pink.

"Uh huh," he faltered, looking down.

"You know what?" George said. "I've had the same idea myself. I would love having Hannah living with us."

"Really?" Colin asked excitedly and now dared to look at his father.

"Really," George replied with a big smile. He took the plunge. "Listen, I know there are many of them in the new house, but Hannah moving in with us would not require an extra bedroom."

"At least not right away," Hannah added, picking up the thread at once. "In time we might get to use a lot of those rooms though."

It took some time for the implications of that to sink in. Colin was a quick-witted boy, but this was adult stuff way outside his experience. Like George, Hannah marvelled at the chance of presenting their relationship in this way. She studied Colin's face closely. You could see and almost hear the little cog-wheels in his mind spinning. She was - nervously, she had to admit - looking for the boy's initial reaction when comprehension dawned, as she was sure it would.

She need not have worried. At all. A smile, so heartbreakingly sweet and full of joy that it brought tears to Hannah's eyes, formed on Colin's face. "You mean you and Hannah, I mean..." Colin stopped - looking from his father to Hannah and then back while the pink returned to his face.

George held his son's gaze and nodded.

"And you would have, I mean, I would have, eh..." Colin started.

"Little brothers and sisters?" Hannah completed the sentence for him. "Yes Colin. That's the idea. And soon." She looked sideways at George with a smile.

"Cool!" Colin exclaimed. "That is so cool. Oh wow! When did you, I mean how long have you?" Once more he found it difficult to formulate the question.

George smiled. "Forever and just now. It's a little bit complicated." He grinned. "Come to think of it, I haven't even asked!"

"Nor have you," Hannah said, cocking her head.

George turned to Hannah. "Hannah, you know I love you. Will you marry me and look after Colin and me and be the mother of Colin's little brothers and sisters?"

The answer came promptly and without hesitation. "I will George, I love you too."

The simple meal became very festive.

Colin needed to use the toilet before leaving which gave George and Hannah a few moments in relative privacy. "I ought to apologize. That is most certainly not how I had imagined I would declare my love for you and propose," George said with a bemused grin. "In the presence of Colin. And I don't even have a ring for you or anything."

"It was brilliant," Hannah replied. "Brilliant and very romantic. When Colin blurted out that he would like me to live with you we solved a lot of problems. And anyway, I know I'm getting a 'package deal' - you couldn't possibly marry anyone who didn't absolutely love and adore Colin too."