Chapter Twenty-eight.
I wake just after seven and slowly climb out of bed, careful not to disturb Andy. As I stand his hand reaches out for me but finds my pillow instead and he curls his body around it and goes back to sleep.
I go into the ensuite and have a quick shower before getting dressed and heading to the kitchen for a coffee. Both the kids are up and watching TV. I turn the kettle on and make a cuppa before having a mouthful and going to put a load of washing on.
The kids are both fed and dressed and I'm doing the dishes by the time Andy wanders into the kitchen. He cuddles me from behind and kisses my temple.
"Morning" he says to me.
"Hey sleepy head. Do you want a drink or something?" I ask him.
"Um, yeah, a cup of coffee would be good. Do you think I can have a quick shower first though?"
"Yeah, sure. You know where the towels are. How do you have your coffee?"
"White with three sugars please," he says before heading back to the bedroom.
When I hear the shower turn off I re-boil the kettle and pour his coffee. He walks into the kitchen and takes a mouthful.
"Ahhh that's so much better, thank you."
"Your welcome. Do you want something to eat?" I ask him.
"Not just yet. So what have you got planned for today?" he asks me.
"I'm all yours. I only have to make a cake for the party tomorrow but that's just about it. I won't decorate it until the morning."
"How long will that take you then?" he asks me.
"About an hour probably to make it and another hour in the morning to ice it. Why's that?"
"I've got to go get a new shirt for dinner tonight and I was going to ask the twins if they wanted to come with me, if that's okay with you?"
"Yeah, that'd be great actually. I was wondering how I was going to make the cake with them at home."
"Should I go ask them?"
"Yeah, come on," I say grabbing his hand and pulling him into the living room.
"Hey you two, Andy wants to ask you guys a favour," I say to them.
They both look at Andy and he says, "I have to buy a new shirt for dinner tonight and I was wondering if you guys can come with me to help me pick one that your Mum will like?"
"Yes please," says Lilly. Max nods his head.
Andy says, "Okay, well we'll go in just a minute okay. Do you want me to ask Bradie if he wants to come too?"
Lilly nods her head and Max says, "yeah, ask Bradie to come. Lilly loves Bradie," in a teasing voice.
"Max don't be mean," I say to him.
He's grinning and I notice Andy is having a bit of a problem holding back his smile. Lilly is looking embarrassed and I feel sorry for her.
"Come on Lilly, let's go do your hair while Andy gives Bradie a call."
Andy nods at me and pulls his phone out of his pocket as I take Lilly to her room.
"Do you want me to braid it for you?" I ask her.
"Yes please" she says I sit her on the floor whilst I sit on her bed and start doing her hair.
"Elle?" Andy sings out.
"In Lilly's room" I say.
Andy sticks his head around the corner and says, "That looks complicated."
"It is at first. What did Bradie say?"
"He's coming with us. When the kids are ready we'll go next-door and head in to the shops. Do you need anything?" he asks me.
"No thanks, I'm good," I say as I tie up the braid. Lilly and I stand and walk out behind Andy to see if Max is ready to go.
He's putting his shoes on and then they're out the front door with Andy in tow. I get a quick peck before waving goodbye and getting to work on the cake.
Whilst it's cooking I hang the washing out and when I come back inside I hear my phone buzzing.
Andy has sent me a picture of Lilly dressed in a beautiful purple dress and Max in a checked dress shirt both holding their thumbs up for the camera.
My phone buzzes again and it's a message this time.
I hope you don't mind but Bradie and I might have been in a bit of a shopping mood. Couldn't resist :)
I send one back asking if he's got himself a shirt.
Yep, we're all set for tonight. Be home in twenty minutes. XI reply with see you soon. X
I put my phone down and put the cake into a container and take it out the back to the fridge. I grab a can of diet coke whilst I'm there and go back inside to clean up the kitchen.
I'm sitting on the front door step reading my book when the guys pull up their driveway.
I stand and walk over to the fence as they all climb out. Both Lilly and Max are carrying shopping bags and they are both beaming.
"Mum, you should see what Andy and Bradie bought for us!" Lilly calls out to me.
"Morning Elle" says Bradie.
"Morning, looks like you guys had a good time" I say to them all.
"It was the best mum. Andy took me to this shop with just all boys clothing and they had these really cool shirts and stuff," says Max.
I look at Andy and he shrugs his shoulders at me as he's walking toward the fence. He leans over and kisses me and says, "Missed you. I hope you don't mind us doing that with the kids. They were just so excited and we couldn't help ourselves."
"I hope you didn't spend a fortune on them."
"Nah, not at all."
"So do I get to see what you bought for tonight?"
"Nope, it's a surprise, right Max?" he says to my son.
"Yep. I helped pick it out and everything," Max tells me.
"Okay then. I guess I'll have to wait for tonight. Are you guys coming over?" I ask Andy and Bradie.
"We'll be there in a minute. I just want to put my stuff away first," says Andy.
Bradie nods in agreement and I take the kids inside with me.
"I hope you guys were well behaved and said thankyou for everything" I say to them both.
"We did. Look what they bought me" Lilly says pulling her dress out to show me. It's a beautiful purple colour and is made from a very light silky fabric. She's holding it against her body and spinning around with it looking ecstatic.
"Oh Lilly, that is beautiful. I'm sure you'll be the prettiest girl at the party tomorrow."
She smiles and hugs me before I tell her to take it to her room and hang it up.
Max pulls his shirt out of his bag and I see now that it's black and white checked with a fine stripe of red through it. He also pulls out a little tie that you attach to the shirt with Velcro.
"That is real smart Max. You're going to look perfect tomorrow" I say to him. "Come on, let go hang it up so it doesn't get creased."
When we come out of his room we can hear the guys talking as they walk up to the front door.
"Come in" I sing out to them.
"Hey, we were just talking about going to the beach and having fish and chips for lunch, what do you reckon?" Bradie asks me.
"Yay" says Lilly from behind me as she comes out of her room.
"That sounds great. I'll just put on a clean shit and be right with you," I say turning for the bedroom. When I turn around to close the door I see Andy is right behind me.
"Can I help you?" I say with a grin.
"I was going to ask you the same thing actually."
"Are you trying to be cute?" I say to him.
"Yep, is it working?" he replies.
"Get your arse in here," I say dragging him through the doorway and closing it behind him.
He tackles me and throws me over his shoulder and down onto the bed whilst I'm screaming.
"Shhhh, you're going to get the kids worried if you keep that up," he says to me.
Sure enough I can hear Max through the door. "Mum, are you alright?"
"I'm fine mate, Andy just scared me that's all. I'm fine though. I'll be out in a minute okay. Go keep an eye on Bradie and Lilly for me okay?"
"Sure Mum."
"See what you did? I spent all morning trying to become that kid's buddy and you scream once and he's all over me," says Andy.
"What's going to happen when you make me scream multiple times then?" I say with a grin.
"Lets hope he's not within earshot hey," Andy says before bending down to me and kissing me.
"Come on guys" I hear Bradie sing out from the other room.
"I'd better change my shirt," I say.
"Here, let me help you out of that" says Andy.
"Get away, you do that and we'll have all three of them banging on the door next."
I get up and grab a new shirt and quickly change. I brush my hair and tie it up before grabbing Andy off the bed and going back out to the others.
"Hey, I'm ready now" I say and Bradie is grinning at me.
"Have a bit of trouble in there did you?" he says to me.
"Nope. Just fighting off attacks from ninjas" I say.
Bradie bursts out laughing and Andy starts giggling.
"What?" I say to them both.
"We had this debate in Cambodia about a headband I wore one day. The production assistant didn't like it, anyhow, everyone was making ninja jokes all day about it and asking me to do ninja things," Andy tells me.
"Ahhh, now I understand what was so funny."
"What's a ninja Andy?" Max asks him.
We all go out the front door whilst Andy does his best to explain. We get into my car and Bradie is sandwiched between the kids in the back seat.
"So where are we going then?" I ask them and they direct me to a shop they know near the beach. We play silly games in the car like eye-spy but using colours instead.
Andy calls ahead and orders our lunch and by the time we get there it's ready to be picked up. We cross the road and go down to the beach and find a spot in the shade to sit and eat.
After lunch we play for a while and have sandcastle building competitions. Bradie and Andy fight over who has the better castle and they end up knocking each other's over.
The kids and I sit back and watch them until they notice how quiet we are.
They both look pretty sheepish and realise that they're behaving like bigger kids than Max and Lilly.
"Sorry guys" Bradie says quickly followed by Andy's apology.
I glance at my watch and see it's just after three. "How about we go grab an ice-cream before we head home?"
We all stand and take our rubbish to the bin before heading back across the road to the ice-cream parlour. We wander along the footpath and window shop. The kids are really enjoying spending time with the guys and I realise they don't have much of a male role model in their lives at the moment.
When we've made a circuit and are back at the car, we all head home again.
After cleaning our feet out the back I take the kids inside to get their bags ready and they head over to the neighbours house with Bradie after kissing me goodbye.
Andy gives me a kiss and tells me to come over next door when I'm ready. They've booked a limo for the evening and we are travelling in with his parents and Bradie.
I give him another kiss and tell him I'll see him soon before heading for the shower.
.
