Excerpt: All Things New

If I'd known it was my last day, I would have paid more attention. I'd have turned to Michael in bed and hugged him, full body to full body, making the most of a few extra minutes before getting up. I'd have cooked him cheesy French Toast for breakfast and made the coffee in the machine rather than pouring boiling water onto Nescafe instant. I'd have taken Deedee out shopping and bought her new clothes and shoes which she would have paraded for me while I took lots of photos of her laughing face. I'd have looked into her trusting brown eyes and told he how much I love her and that she means the world to me. I would have sat on the foreshore with Carla and sipped iced tea and reminesced on every moment of our friendship.

But I didn't know and, so, it didn't happen that way.

I pulled away from Michael as soon as the alarm sounded and whipped the quilt from the bed.
“Up you get, lazy bones.” Plucking a clean towel from the pile of laundry still sitting in the middle of the floor, I flung it to him while he struggled into a sitting position. “Come on, get in the shower or you'll be late.”
“Come snuggle with me, Heidi,” Michael said, the words muffled by a wide yawn. “Just for a little while.”
I shook my head and reached for the dressing gown. It smelt slightly of sour milk and porridge but it would do until I could get a load in the machine. “Nope. Snuggling always turns into sex and I really don't have time this morning.”