All Chapters of Not bound by honey: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

13:36 Charlie Everwood was born and handed to his mother and father, Rachel and Jason Everwood.Jason held my hand through every contraction, through every push. And when little Charlie came out, the doctor placed him on my chest. My heart was burning. I had never felt so much heartache at once. Charlie is the last thing I will ever share with Chris, the last piece of him I will ever be able to hold. My tears came flooding again, not just because of the long awaited arrival of our beautiful little boy, but because of how bare this moment was compared to how much I have lost.Jason being there felt strange and wrong. I wanted to bite his head off and chase him away like a dog. He felt like an intruder. But I think he could sense it, because he let go of my hand and kept his distance. The nurse came in to fetch the little one so they could check him and run a few tests. She then turned and looked at Jason.“Are you the dad?”Unsure, Jason looked at me.“Yes, he is the dad.”Jocelyn was

As we laying there, I glanced down and saw blood seeping into the bedding. I had heard it sometimes happens when you lose your virginity, but it still startled me. Jason immediately got up and fetched a towel. We tried to clean it, but there was too much. The more we dabbed, the worse it looked. He picked up the phone and called for fresh bedding without hesitation. I slipped into the bathroom, waiting to see if there would be more. There wasn’t. By the time I came back, the bed had already been remade. He had handled it quietly. We sat down again with our pizza boxes open between us and started talking about random things. My body felt tired. Tender. The adrenaline had worn off and I could feel how much the day and the travel had taken out of me. “Jase, do you mind if we call it a night? I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted.” “Yeah, of course, Rach. I’m exhausted too.” I realised then I was still wearing his shirt. A strange sinking feeling passed through me as I

We were meant to leave the hospital after three days, and during those three days Jason barely left my side unless he absolutely had to. If I am honest, I appreciated the company. Ally took the kids to school and brought them over when they were done. Jason made sure they were fed and dropped them back at Ally’s in the evenings. We let them stay with us at the hospital as long as they wanted.I noticed he moved carefully with them, especially Jocelyn. He asked for permission before anything new. Before holding the baby. Before moving their things. Before stepping in too much. Timothy spoke about Chris a lot, mostly to Jason. I watched closely to see if it would bother him, but it did not. He shared stories about Chris with them, almost like he was helping keep him alive in the room.With me, he kept a bit of distance too. Not in a bad way. Just careful. Like he knew this was not simple.Despite everything Chris had said, a part of me kept wondering if he would at least come and meet h

Current day POV of the Everwood family I wish I could say the last three years had been easy. They were not. We ended up staying in the penthouse for six months. Believe it or not, it is now my favourite place in the world, the children’s too. Determined to give us a clean slate, Jase made a few changes there as well. Our house, on the other hand, has been under renovation for what feels like ages. Today is supposed to be the final day. Thank goodness. I never want to see another contractor again. The ups and downs, the extra costs, the fights, the drama, utter chaos. There is no better description. We changed everything. At first it upset the kids, especially Jocelyn. Remember that storage space we talked about? It was a good idea, except the kids wanted to visit Chris’s things so often that Jase and I realised we needed a closer option. So we built a Wendy house on the property. Its actually more a full cottage than a Wendy house with two bedrooms, an open plan kitchen and loung

A couple of weeks later Jason and I found ourselves together in the kitchen the kids were already in bed. The house was quiet except for the hum of the fridge. I was still rinsing honey jars that long before did not need any rinsing anymore. Jason leaned in the doorway. “You’re scrubbing glass like it insulted you.” “I’m fine, I was just in thought.” “You’re bleeding.” I looked down. The sponge had worn my knuckle raw. For some reason I flinched, startled by nothing at all, and dropped the jar. It shattered in the sink. Jason crossed the room without hesitation and took my hand, guiding it under the tap. He rinsed the blood away and wrapped my knuckle carefully in a dish towel. When he finished, he did not let go immediately. “You don’t have to keep pretending you’re fine,” he said quietly. “I’m not pretending. I am not fine.” “Well neither am I.” I frowned. “What is it?” “I don’t like your supplier.” The words caught me off guard. “What do you mean?” “What’s that guy