Saved By The Firefighter
Chapter 62

Joanne's Point of View.

I grab hold of the pan of cooking vegetables taking it off the stove, heading to the sink to drain the water. Looking at the vegetables, they are slightly over done, and a little bit soggy. s**t, I am not on my game today, and I have Ben and Lucy coming over for tea tonight. I think Cal and the little ones are coming as well. I begin to serve the dinner onto the plates, only to see I am around half an hour early in preparing the dinner. Yeah, definitely off my game today.

The thing is, I am nervous, well that is a slight understatement, I am shitting a brick about starting work tomorrow. Not because I cannot do the job, because let's face it, yes, I can, probably with my eyes closed, but because I am going to be working in such close proximity of whip-me-with-your-willy Webber.

I plate up the food, then cover them in tin foil before placing them into the oven to keep warm, then begin to clean up the pans, before everyone arrives. "HEY MOTHER!" Ben shouts from the front door.

I cannot help but smile, there is no love quite like a mother's love for her child, it doesn't matter how old they get, they will forever be your babies. "In here," I shout back at him.

I

I hear little feet running down my passageway, and Lucy laughing telling the little ones to calm down. They have been a few times now, and I am kind of an adopted granny to them. I know why they are rushing in to see me, because I always have some sweets sat on the table waiting for them.

"Oh, look Daunte, a kinder bar!" Little Kirstie shouts with glee.

"Keep that till after your dinner. Now say thank you to Joanne," Cal shouts to his kids. He is such a good father, for all he is still quite young, he is doing a great job on his own with the two of them.

"Fank U," two little voices say up at me.

"You are both very welcome." I grin down at them, wondering when it is too soon to get excited for Ben and Lucy to produce me a grandchild. Yeah, probably a little to soon yet.

"Hey Joanne. Do you need a hand?" Lucy grins at me.

"Nope, I got my timings all mixed up, so it is all ready, and a bit over cooked." I shrug at her.

"You really are nervous about tomorrow." Lucy grins at me.

"Meh." I shrug, trying to brush it off, but I know I am not fooling anyone.

"Did you speak with Josie yesterday? How is she?" I ask because, yes, I want to know, but I also want to change the subject.

"Yeah, she is perfectly fine. Boss told her to take tomorrow's night shift off, but she has refused, you know Josie." Ben laughed.

"It is a good job you were there." I sigh, not wanting to think about what would have happened if my son and daughter-in-law had not been staying in the hotel.

"Anyway, I know it is a little bit early, but dinner is ready." I grin at them all.

"Then can I eat my sweeties?" Kirsty asks, her big blue eyes wide.

"Yes, then you can eat your sweeties." I laugh.

I take the children's plates out of the oven first, unwrapping them, and leave them on the side to cool, as I sort out everyone else's food. Once I have everyone served, I take a seat at the table, suddenly not hungry. Yeah, I love my food, so I am definitely stressed out about tomorrow.

"So, what time does the boss want you tomorrow? I can drive you in," Ben offers.

"He wants me in for around 3pm, working till you guys start shift at 6pm. Just so he can go through everything he wants me to do." I shrug, moving a piece of broccoli around the plate. I do not even want to eat my Yorkshire pudding; I am that nervous.

"I will drop you off, then go pick Lucy up from work, bring her home, then head back. You will need to get home by yourself though," Ben informs me.

"No need, I can catch the bus," I protest.

"You could, but you know as well as I do you want the lift." Ben chuckles.

Okay, my son has me there, I really do want the lift, it will give me extra time to have a melt-down about what I am going to wear.

"Thank you." I grin up at him, as he chuckles, calling me a 'loon'.

"Cal is thinking about applying to join the brigade," Lucy states with pride.

"Wow, that is great." I grin at him; happy he is trying to do something positive with his career and the kids.

"Yeah, I did not know part-time was a thing with the fire brigade. I will need to be full-time for the training, but that is permanent day shift, so if I get in, and pass the medical, I can have the kids in day care. My only issue is finding a job share, and the night shifts." Cal sighed out.

"I have told you, when you are on nights, I will have the kids, it will be only two nights every couple of weeks. It is not a problem." Lucy smiles at her brother, as Ben nods his head in agreement.

"Hey, I don't mind taking a turn, if you are happy for them to stay with me," I offer.

"Well thank you both, but first I need to pass the interview, then the fitness test." Cal smiles.

"Yeah, we will go through the interview questions later if you like," Ben offers him.

Lucy reaches out and squeezes Ben's arm, a warm loving smile on her face, as he looks down at her, his eyes glistening with love.

Okay, so I am turning as mushy as this veg I have overcooked, but honestly, I am so happy for my son I could cry.

"Mother, eat something. It is only the boss. It is not like you don't know him, or the guys on shift. Why are you so nervous?" Ben asks with a frown.

"Oh, no reason, just don't want to let anyone down." I shrug.

What I really mean is, 'Just don't want to make a tit of myself, and get all tongue tied with whip-me, and make it obvious I want to jump his bones,' but that is not something you tell your son.

The food finished, Cal takes the kids to run around the garden. I hear a squeal of delight when they find the old bubble car I had for Ben when he was little, that I got out of the loft, along with a ball, and some other toys I found up there.

Lucy comes to the sink, to help rinse off the plates, before packing up the dishwasher, as Ben goes outside to help Cal with the little ones.

"So, what are you going to wear tomorrow?" Lucy asks with a knowing smirk on her face.

"Not sure. I mean, I want to make an effort, but I don't want to look like I have made too much of an effort, if you get my drift. Plus, I may have put on a few pounds since I last worked, so not sure what still fits." I sigh out.

Lucy lets out a laugh and nods her head at me.

"Maybe something tight, like a sexy secretary. Show off your curves." She giggles.

"Yeah right, there is not a lot sexy about this body. Once upon a time, yes, but now, not so much." I laugh with her.

"Hey, don't put yourself down. When we are finished here, do you want to play dress up? We can find out what looks SEXY but not as if you have made too much effort," Lucy asks, raising her eyebrow at me.

"Yeah, good luck with that." I laugh, as Lucy shakes her head at me, for being so negative about myself.

We head upstairs, and finally after discarding three outfits that no longer fit, we find what Lucy determines as perfect. Me, I am not so sure, all I can see is my belly, but she tells me I look amazing. So ... I guess I will trust her, and just go with it, I don't have many other options anyway.

I wave off Ben, Lucy, Cal and the kids, then head up for a relaxing bath. With my outfit sorted, I make a mental note to purchase some new clothes on my first payday.

I just hope I do not do what I normally do, tomorrow, when I see whip-me, which is either become a mute, or talk so much and so fast, saying wildly inappropriate things to cover my nervousness. As I strip down, ready to get into the bath, I make the mistake of looking in the long mirror, yeah, that is not good! Shaking my head to rid the negative thoughts, I climb into the bath, then pick up my phone to do a little reading on an app I have found to take my mind off tomorrow.

I am just beginning to get into the story, about a young girl who has just found out she is a werewolf and mated to her headmaster, when my phone begins to ring.

f**k me, it is whip-me calling. s**t. Calm down Joanne, calm down.

"Hi," I say, trying to keep my tone light, but my voice is high pitched even to my own ears.

"Hi Joanne. How are you getting to the station tomorrow?" Whip-me asks.

"Oh, Ben said he will bring me, before picking up Lucy from work then coming back for his shift," I ramble, again speaking far to quickly for a normal person. "Well, I can pick you up at 2:30 if you like, save Ben a trip," his deep voice asks. Oh, s**t that voice does something to me. f**k. Calm down Joanne, calm down!

"Erm, yeah, that would be great, thank you," I respond trying to sound like a normal person.

"Okay, see you then. I am looking forward to having you," Whip-me states.

Okay, so my mouth is open before my brain can engage.

"Woah there, maybe a drink before you have me."

SHIT... Shit....shit...

Then I hear a deep laugh, and let out a breath, good, he is not going to fire me before I start because I said that.

"At work," he corrects himself.

"Isn't there a law against that." I laugh, oh crap, really, I really need to shut my mouth. "And now I will go." I say, as he chuckles once more.

"Okay, see you tomorrow, Joanne, 2:30," he states and hangs up the call.

I quickly drop Ben a text - so whip me is picking me up from here at half-two, so you don't need to give me a lift xxx

Then I drop Lucy one as well, just to tell her what I have done.

Just spoke to whip-me, made a complete tit of myself, when he said he was looking forward to having me, told him I needed a drink first. s**t why do I cease to function correctly when that s*x god is around. Xxx Ben - was that text for me? And LOON! X

Great, just great, now my son knows I have the hots for whip-me. Could this be anymore embarrassing?

My phone pings again, so I take a quick look, hoping Ben isn't going to tell me off for having a crush at over half-a-century years of age, on his boss, and soon to be my boss.

Whip-me If you want a drink before I have you in the office, be ready for mid-day and we can go for lunch. Xxx

HOLY f**k A DUCK!