"Mummy! Mummy!"
Satine walked into the main room of her small house. Yes, her house was small but it was perfect for Satine and her five-year-old son (Five years and three quarters, according to him), Olivier. There was a kitchen connected to an area with a small fireplace and a table for two. That led to the second room that was their bedroom.
"Yes, Olivier?" Satine sat down at the table next to Olivier.
"Look at what I drew, Mummy!" He proudly held up a piece of paper.
"Let's see what we have here," she said with a smile. "There's you and that must be me..."
Olivier danced in his seat with excitement.
"Who's that next to me, Olivier?" Satine asked.
"That's daddy!" Olivier squealed. "I kinda had to guess on what he looked like..."
Satine smiled to herself. He had drawn Christian perfectly. After all, Olivier was basically a smaller version of him. It makes sense his depiction of him was like that. "You drew him perfectly!"
Olivier's green eyes sparkled, just like Christian's would. "Why isn't daddy here?"
Satine sighed. "Olivier, I've told you before. Mummy made a mistake and daddy decided it... was best to leave."
Olivier sighed too. "Oookay," he said, sounding unconvinced.
Satine chuckled as she stood up to go into the kitchen.
"Mummy, can you tell me about daddy?"
"What would you like to hear?" Satine asked softly, turning to face him.
"Hmm..." Olivier thought hard, cocking his head. "When you first met him!"
Satine thought for a moment, sitting back on her chair. "It was just a day, just an ordinary day. Just trying to get by..."
"And daddy?" Olivier cried excitedly.
"Just a boy, just an ordinary boy," she started to sing softly. "But he was looking to the sky. And as he asked if I would come along I started to realize that everyday he finds just what he's looking for." She tapped Olivier's nose, causing him to go into a fit of giggles. "Like a shooting star he shines!"
"He said, take my hand, live while you can," Satine sang as she picked Olivier up and started to dance around the small room. "Don't you see your dreams are right in the palm of your hand?"
"Mummy! Mummy!" Olivier shrieked. "You're embarrassing me!"
Laughing, she set him down on the table. "And as he spoke, he spoke ordinary words although they did not feel! For I felt what I had not felt before."
Olivier gasped. "What was that, Mummy?"
She leaned in and whispered in his ear. "Love!"
"Ewwww!" he shrieked, jumping off the table and running to the other room.
"You'd swear those words could heal!" she sang, following him into the room. "And as I looked up into those eyes, his vision borrows mine." She sat down and peeked under the blanket where Olivier was hiding. "And to know he's no stranger..."
"Daddy's not a stranger, you silly!" Olivier squealed.
"Of course not!" Satine said. "For I feel I've held him for all of time!"
"And he said, take my hand, live while you can!" She leaned in and kissed Olivier on the cheek.
"Yuckie!" He started to scrub his cheek furiously with the blanket.
Satine picked Olivier up and set him in her lap. "Don't you see your dreams are right in the palm of your hand?" She put her hand against his, letting him count her fingers. "Right in the palm of your hand..."
"Just a dream, just an ordinary dream," Satine sang while playing with Olivier's dark brown hair. "As I wake in bed..."
"It was just a dream?" Olivier shrieked.
"And that boy, that ordinary boy," Satine smiled widely. "Or was it all in my head? Did he ask if I would come along? It all seemed so real!"
Olivier climbed onto the bed and started to play with Satine's red curls.
"But as I looked to the door, I saw that boy standing there with a deal –"
"See, I told you it wasn't a dream!" Olivier said triumphantly.
"And he said, take my hand, live while you can," Satine continued. "Don't you see your dreams are right in the palm of your hand?"
"It was just a day, just an ordinary day. Just trying to get by," Satine sang, memories of that magical night beginning to flow through her mind. "And he was just a boy, just an ordinary boy. But he was looking to the sky..."
Olivier stood up on the bed and wrapped his small arms around his mother's neck. "You really love daddy, don't you?"
Satine sighed. "Yes, Olivier, I do love your daddy, very much."
"Daddy isn't dead, is he?" he asked.
Satine gasped. "Of course not!" she said, hoping with all her heart that it was true. She stood up and walked towards the kitchen.
"Mummy?"
"Yes, Olivier?" she asked.
"Did Daddy –"
"Olivier, I think that's enough questions about daddy."
~*~
Satine held onto Olivier's small hand as they walked through the park that they secretly had called their own. Olivier kicked his ball along the path with them. Satine loved the outfit Olivier was wearing today, pale blue sweater with navy blue pants. It matched so well with his dark brown hair and reminded her of Christian.
Satine looked down at her dress and realized it was what she had been wearing when she last saw Christian. Amazed that it still fit her, she had slipped it on at last minute this morning.
"Uh-oh," Olivier said quietly. Satine looked up to see his ball rolling down the hill towards a man that was sitting under a willow tree.
"Oh dear," Satine said. She patted Olivier's back. "Well, go get your ball! Don't forget to apologize!" she called as Olivier ran off down the hill. The man gave a shout as the ball hit him on the legs.
Satine sat down on a nearby bench and watched Olivier talk to the man underneath the tree. They stood there for a moment, not moving at all but then Olivier spoke and the man handed him his ball. Once again, they stood there, not moving at all before Olivier turned around and ran up the hill towards Satine.
"Mummy, you won't believe it!" Olivier exclaimed.
Satine chuckled. "What is it?"
"That was daddy!"
Satine's jaw dropped. "What are you talking about, Olivier? That's ridiculous!" Christian couldn't be in London, could he? She thought to herself.
"But it was! It was daddy!" Olivier started to skip down the sidewalk. "He had green eyes like me and said my name!"
Satine took hold of his arm and turned him around. "Can you tell me exactly what he said to you, Olivier?" She knew it was ridiculous to ask a five-year-old this, but she thought she might as well try.
"I said I was sorry and he said it was alright. Then he just started staring at me. It was really weird," Olivier made a face. "Then I asked for my ball and he said 'Here you are, Olivier.'"
Surprised that she got a straight answer out of him, she kneeled down and picked his ball off the ground. "Hmm, it doesn't have your name on it."
"Hey, he's gone!" Olivier pointed to the willow tree. Satine turned around and saw the man had left. "Come on, Olivier," she said quietly, taking his hand. "Let's go home now."
~*~
"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!" Satine sang as Olivier, who had his eyes closed, squirmed in his seat at the kitchen table. "Happy birthday, dear Olivier! Happy birthday to you!"
"Oh!" Olivier exclaimed, opening his eyes looking at the small cake that was in front of him. "It looks yummy!" He smacked his lips and rubbed his hands together.
Satine laughed. "Go on, blow out your candles!"
"You got six candles, right?" he asked, studying the cake.
"Well, you can count them!" Satine said with a smile on her face.
"One...two..." Olivier started counting. "Three…four...five... Hey!" He pointed to the window on the other wall. "It's daddy!"
Satine turned around in her seat and screamed.
There indeed was a man standing in the window, looking in on them.
