Once again I'd like to thank all those who reviewed my last chapter. Today, however, I'd like to give a big shout out to LadyWarrior, who's kind words brightened my entire life. This chapter is dedicated to my Mum, maybe she'll find the zoom on the camera so that I'm not constantly looking at photos of ants. So here it is, the next instalment. I hope you enjoy reading it as much I had nutting it out. (It took me three sticks of gum!)
Chapter 4There was a flash beyond my eyelids, followed by a familiar giggle. I groaned and cuddled further into the soft object in my arms. There was another flash and another giggle, and I was compelled to open my eyes to see what was going on. My sight first identified the soft object as Flipsey the bunny. Pushing it away a little my gaze found Laura sitting on the bed not far away. She was beaming at me, so I smiled back. At that very moment, yet another flash filled the room, and Laura giggled. I sat up a little and found the source of the blinding light. Ranger stood at the foot of the bed, camera in hand, grinning at me.
"What are you doing?" I grumbled.
"Documenting my first morning with the knowledge that I'm a father," he replied, snapping off another photo.
"You were already a father," I logicised, yes that was my wonderful morning language coming through.
"I know, but this feels different. I don't want to forget this morning ever. Smile."
The blinding flash stung my eyes once more and I turned my attention to Laura. "How long have you been up?" I asked her.
She shrugged a little. "I woked up when Daddy flushed the toilet. He don't know that he's sposed to wait until everyone's awake before you make noise."
"When was that?" I asked Ranger.
A little sheepish that he was being dobbed on by a three year old he mumbled, "Around five."
"What time is it now?" I asked, almost afraid of the answer. If he said any time before seven o'clock I was going to... okay, I don't know what I was going to do, but it wasn't gonna be nice.
"It's almost seven, Babe. We've had cereal, are you hungry?"
As always, as if on cue, my stomach growled and we all laughed. I ate a bowl of cereal while Laura coloured in the floor next to me. Ranger was watching both of us intently, snapping of a photograph here and there. When I was finished I rinsed my bowl and decided it was shower time. "Come on Loza, time to get clean," I told her, tickling her ribs through the nightie she wore. As she ran toward the bedroom to get our clothes I turned to Ranger and gave him a light peck on the nose. "If that camera comes anywhere near the bathroom, you're gonna really regret it." He nodded his understanding and I left him there.
Laura and I showered together; not an uncommon occurrence. It took less time than bathing her separately and it used less water. When we stepped out, I wrapped a towel around myself while I dried and dressed her, then sent her out with a brush to attempt to tame her own hair. I looked at myself in the mirror, and there was something different about what I saw, I just couldn't put my finger on it. I had the feeling it was somewhere around my eyes. As I emerged from the bathroom several minutes later I could just make out a whispered conversation coming from the living room. Not wanting to disturb, I stood just out of sight, next to the doorway and listened closely.
"I bet you I can," came Ranger's low voice.
"No, you can't," Laura's quietly defiant voice drifted to me. "Only Mummy can do it."
"Can I try?" Ranger asked.
"Nope," Laura replied, and I pictured her shaking her head from side to side.
"What if I... TICKLE YOU!" The last three words were exclaimed at the same moment a bout of high pitched giggles emitted from the little girl. I smiled. This wasn't Ranger, this was Ricardo, the father.
I took my opportunity to step into view, hands on hips. "Are you having fun without me?" I accused lightly. They both stopped what they were doing to look at me, and shook their heads adamantly. "You know what I'd have to do if you were, don't you?" I asked. Again, they shook their heads and I launched myself on them. "I'd have to TICKLE YOU!" Laura squealed in delight, and Ranger was actually laughing, this was the best feeling in the world. Just then another flash clouded my vision, followed by Laura's giggle.
We all turned around to find Tank standing in the doorway with Ranger's camera. "Sorry, guys, couldn't miss the opportunity. Ranger, can I talk to you a moment?"
Ranger immediately sobered and got up off the floor, following Tank into the kitchen. What I could here of their conversation sounded serious. I didn't want think about that, so I turn my attention to Laura. "Have you brushed you hair?" I asked her. She nodded and handed me the brush. "Do you want me to check it for knots and tie it back for you?" Again she nodded. As I secured her hair I enquired as to what they had been talking about before Ranger tickled her.
"He wanted to brush my hair. And I said he can't and he said he could and i said he couldn't and he said he could..."
I let her go on like this for a while before I interrupted. "Why can't he brush your hair?" I asked.
Having finished with her hair, she turned to face me, her brow furrowed. "I don't know him, Mummy. What if he cut it all off instead of brushing it?"
I laughed softly. "Honey, he wouldn't do that; he's your Daddy."
Her brow furrowed a little more with confusion. "What's a Daddy?" she asked.
Oh crap, this wasn't gonna be an easy fix. I was gonna have to answer this very carefully. Think, Stephanie, think. What's the simplest way to explain to a child? Example! Right. "You know how Jenny has a Mummy and a Daddy, and they both take care of her?" I asked. Jenny was a girl from her play group that she was friends with. She nodded thoughtfully. "Well, now you have a Daddy too, he's going to look after you as well."
"Why?" she asked.
See? Didn't I tell you? Not an easy fix. "Because you deserve two parents like everyone else. I don't want you to be disadvantaged."
She thought about this for a moment. "What's disadvantaged? And does everyone have two parents?"
I sighed. "Disadvantaged, is when you don't have the same opportunities as everyone else. Does that make sense?" She gave a short nod. "Everyone has two parents because it takes a Mommy and a Daddy to make a beautiful kid like you."
"Why didn't I have a Daddy before?"
Is there no end to the questioning mind of a child? Of course not, the only way you learn is to ask questions. "You didn't have a Daddy before..." I began, thinking hard and quick. "because Mummy ran away from Daddy before you were born. I was afraid of how he would react."
"Daddy scared you?" she enquired.
"No, honey, he was just, really busy and wouldn't have had time for us." There were little frown lines on her forehead. "Don't worry, Sweetie, he has nothing but time for us now. And he's never going to leave us."
She seemed to accept this, thankfully, because I wasn't sure how many more answers I would be able to give her. "We got blocks?" she asked after a moment.
I let out a breath of relief that she had finally changed the subject. "Sorry, Loz, your blocks are over at Uncle Lester's house. Why don't you look at one of the picture books we brought over." Once she was settled on the bed looking at the book I took the brush into the bathroom and pinned my hair back. When I came back she was nestled into the pillows with Flipsey on her lap, pretending to read to him. I smiled and made my way out to the kitchen to see what was going on.
Tank abruptly stopped talking when I entered the room. I was pretty sure I could guess the topic of conversation. Rolling my eyes in a very Burg fashion, "What's up?"I asked.
Tank looked to Ranger who sighed. "For a start, yes we were talking about you, but that's not really important, I can guarantee it was all good. There's a situation that I need to attend to down in control."
"That's fine. I'm sure I can manage without you for a while," I said.
"The guys really wanna see you, Bombshell. And they're dying to meet Laura, why don't you round up the squirt and come for a visit?" Tank suggested.
I looked to Ranger. "Are you sure we wouldn't be disturbing the men? I mean, surely they better things to do than watch a kid?"
Ranger pulled me close to him, and laid his forehead on mine. "Listen to me Babe, I don't want to lose sight of you yet. I just got you back." And he claimed my lips in a passion filled kiss that shot straight to dormant parts of my body that i had almost forgotten even exist. Almost, not quite, and Ranger was doing a good job of reminding me of their existence right now. I opened my mouth and he slipped his tongue inside. At that point Tank excused himself muttering something about the control room.
When Ranger slipped his fingers under the waistband of my denim skirt I pushed him away a bit. "Ranger," I said, slightly breathless, "Our daughter is in the next room, I think we should take it down a notch or three." He retracted his hands, lacing them behind his head, and nodding his understanding. "I'm sorry. It's just, she's had me to herself her entire life, so suddenly having you in her life might mess with her a bit. She didn't want you to brush her hair this morning because she doesn't know you. We just need to take things slow. She'll warm up to you in her own time."
He nodded again and kissed my ear. "I understand, Babe, its just hard to keep my hands off you. I need to keep reassuring myself that you're real. That you're not some figment of my imagination."
I took his words in with a nod of my own. "I'll go get Laura and we can all go downstairs."
You know how much I love to hear from you all, so don't disappoint me. Let me know what you think so far.
