I do not own the songs in this chapter
…
Sylvia nodded hurriedly and scrambled up off the floor. She almost ran over to the other side of the room and scooped up her son, who had begun to cry loudly. She rocked him and jiggled him in her arms, trying to calm him down. But it had always seemed like Nicky's emotions were linked to hers because he wouldn't stop crying. Sylvia wiped the tears out of her eyes but more tears just replaced them.
She tried singing:
Come stop your crying, it will be alright
Just take my hand, hold it tight
I will protect you from all around you
I will be here, don't you cry.
It worked. Singing had always calmed her down, and it seemed to cheer Nicky up too.
"Doncry!" he babbled.
"It's don't you cry," Sylvia giggled, laughing through her tears. "Do you want me to sing it again?"
"Sing! Sing!"
Sylvia began the seconds verse:
For one so small, you seem so strong
My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm
I will protect you from all around you
I will be here, don't you cry.
Sylvia decided to go into the chorus:
'Cause you'll be in my heart
Yes, you'll be in my heart
From this day on, now and forever more
You'll be in my heart
No matter what they say
You'll be in my heart
Always.
"Hushbye!" Nicky waved his arms in the air when she had finished. "Hushbye!"
Sylvia knew exactly which song he wanted. Smiling, she cleared her throat and sang:
A gentle breeze, from Hushabye Mountain
Softly blows o'er Lullaby Bay
It fills the sails of boats that are waiting
Waiting to sail your worries away.
It was a lullaby that Sylvia had created specifically for Nicky. Until recently, he had had trouble sleeping; none of Sylvia's songs helped him go to sleep, and Sylvia's singing voice was the only thing that calmed him down. Then Sylvia had remembered a place that her parents had made up for her: Hushabye Mountain. According to them, it was where little kids went when they dreamed. It was a land of amazing things, and so Sylvia made up a lullaby based on that.
She sung the second verse:
It isn't far, to Hushabye Mountain
And your boat waits down by the quay
The winds of night so softly are sighing
Soon they will fly your troubles to sea.
Then the chorus:
So close your eyes on Hushabye Mountain
Wave goodbye to cares of the day
And watch your boat from Hushabye Mountain
Sail far away from Lullaby Bay.
She decided to finish the song:
So watch your boat from Hushabye Mountain
Sail far away from Lullaby Bay
Sail far away from Lullaby Bay
Before she had finished the chorus, Nicky was snoozing in her arms. She smiled down at her little son and looked around for a place to put him. She settled for a blue gym mat in the corner of the room. It wasn't ultra-soft but it was softer than the floor, so she placed the small peach-coloured platypus in the middle of the mat and arranged the hurdles around him in case he woke up while she was still away.
When she turned back to Perry, she saw that her trainer was leaning against the wall with his arms folded and his eyes closed. She walked back over to him, took a deep breath, and said, "I'm ready to continue."
Perry said nothing for a minute. "I've never heard either of those songs before."
Sylvia stared at him. "You-you heard?"
"You were singing in an empty gym. Your voice carried."
"Oh…" Sylvia was hesitant to talk to Perry after the way he had treated her. "I-I said I was a singer-songwriter. I wrote them myself."
Perry's eyes opened and he regarded her with some surprise on his face. "You wrote them?"
Sylvia hesitantly nodded.
Perry raised an eyebrow. "They were good."
Inwardly, Sylvia sighed. This was her first compliment from Perry and it wasn't about her training: it was about her songs. Still, it was a start. She perked up a little. "Well, You'll Be In My Heart is preferably supposed to be sung by a male. It should be in a lower octave than I sang it in. Hushabye Mountain is just a lullaby I made up for my son."
"It works," Perry stated. He seemed embarrassed by the compliment he was giving. "Anyway, let's practise that move a few more times and then we'll go onto some new ones."
"Um…exactly what time am I supposed to finish?" Sylvia asked.
"Ten."
"Pm?" gasped Sylvia. "But Nicky's bedtime is at seven!"
"Tough," sneered Perry.
After having almost shown a kind side, it seemed that Perry was back to being hard and mean. Sylvia sighed and prepared herself for the second time for a long day.
…
The first song in this chapter is called You'll Be In My Heart, by Phil Collins. The second is Hushabye Mountain, from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I do not own either of them; I only pretend that Sylvia wrote them herself.
Also: I recommend looking up Alexander Armstrong's rendition of Hushabye Mountain. It's quite deep so don't imagine Sylvia's voice sounding like that XD but it's a great song :)