Saturday 5th March 2016, 00:30am
"Oh, you're a silly billy aren't you? If you don't like sleeping on your tummy, why do you keep on rolling over? This is the third time tonight." Sam chuckled softly as she lifted a disturbed, 6 months old Daniel up, out of his cot and she held him against her chest as she laid in bed. In the last week, he had acquired a habit of rolling over in his sleep so that he was lying on his stomach, but within minutes of doing so, he would wake up and begin crying because he wasn't very comfortable and it was a little scary because he sometimes got stuck and couldn't roll back over. It was early hours of the day that the Kent Family moved to their new home and Sam had to admit, she wasn't bothered about Daniel becoming unsettled because of rolling over, because she had been awake anyway thinking about exactly how the day would run. They had various companies delivering new furniture to the new house because they had more rooms to furnish than their one bedroom apartment, and so they needed more furniture. They also had a removals van coming to take what they were taking with them, and then they needed to go to the rubbish tip to take the furniture that they were getting rid off. They had taken Monday-Friday off of work so that they could work on their new home because they needed to paint most of the rooms and decorate the entire house. All at the same time, Sam and Tom had to look after their son who was teething and just beginning to try solid foods, and keep an eye on 4 hyperactive border collies.
It was going to be a stressful week, to say the least.
6am
Tom's alarm started beeping which brought him out of his slumber, and he turned over to wake his wife when he saw that she was already awake and she was lying there, half sitting up as she was propped up by pillows, with Daniel lying face down on her chest, sucking his thumb and he was fast asleep.
"Good morning." Tom croaked as he had a good stretch.
"Morning." Sam replied softly as she stroked the smooth, silky, golden brown hair that was curly just like his father's hair, but the same tone and colour of his mother's.
"Right, I shall get dressed and take the dogs out, play fetch with them in the park and wear them out for a bit if you want to take his royal highness for a shower, sound good?"
"Yeah. But try not to lose the dogs this time."
"I didn't lose them last time! Alex just decided that he wanted to have a drink from a puddle that happened to be on the other side of the park." Tom protested. "Right, let's get cracking." Tom announced as he clapped his hands together which unfortunately (and rather abruptly) woke Daniel up. "Oops." Tom whispered. Daniel pouted his bottoms lip and frowned before he looked directly into Sam's eyes and he gave a smile so both parents let out a sigh of relief.
"Hello, was you having a nice nap?" Sam cooed.
"Right, I'm gonna get going. But I'll see you two very soon." Tom said as he pecked Sam on the lips and then kissed Daniel on the cheek.
"Right, shall we go for a shower seeing as you've created a dribble patch on my pyjama top?" Sam asked.
"Ta." Daniel babbled as he put both of his hands on Sam's chest and pushed himself up a little bit. From anyone else, the action would be inappropriate but Sam knew that Daniel meant no harm. "Well done! Can you do a mini push-up?" Sam said encouragingly to praise his actions. Daniel continued to smile with only his two bottom teeth and one of his front teeth that had come through. He looked quite ridiculous but Sam just found him cute. "Right, come on. We've got to have a shower because we've got plenty to do today." Sam said firmly as she climbed out of bed with Daniel against her chest and she headed to the bathroom.
Tom are arrived home with four exhausted border collies who were panting after spending a good half an hour playing fetch, all chasing to get the same ball, so they went through to the kitchen, had a drink from their bowls and then laid down on the cold tiled floor to cool down. Tom then hung their leads up and went through to the bedroom where he found Sam drying her hair whilst she sat on the bed, and she was guarding Daniel as he very slowly and clumsily attempted to crawl towards his mother from the middle of the double bed.
"He's nearly getting the hang of crawling isn't he?" Tom smirked.
"Yep." Sam nodded as she switched the hair dryer off because her hair was almost dry, and she brushed her long, thick hair through.
"How about, I drive you, Daniel and the dogs to our new home soon? And you can bring a bag of Daniel's things to keep him occupied. Then you can be there for the first delivery, and the dogs can just play in the back garden rather than you and Daniel having to go back and forth. I can help the removals men to take our stuff, then I'll take the rest of it to the tip, and then I can come and join you." Tom suggested.
"Why didn't I think of that?" Sam moaned as she hit herself on the head.
"Pa... Taba... Ba." Daniel babbled and he was almost there so Sam picked him up and sat him in her lap.
"He likes saying 'ah' words doesn't he?" Tom chuckled.
"Mmhmm. Right, how about, seeing as you detest eating avocado but like decorating the floor with it, we mash some ripe banana up for you to try for breakfast?" Sam suggested.
"Oh and of course that's not going to be messy at all is it?" Tom said sarcastically as he walked into the kitchen.
"Shouldn't I be carrying you over the threshold rather than you carrying Daniel?" Tom joked as he unlocked the front door to his new home with the keys that he had just collected from the estate agents. They were down a safe cul de sac and the two storey home, four bedroom with a loft and study hadn't been the first choice for Sam and Tom, but when they had spoken to the estate agents about mortgages, they realised that their high salaries, they could afford a much bigger home. And they had gotten four bedrooms because they wanted to live there for the rest of their lives, rather than have to move if Sam got pregnant again.
"I can't believe that this is finally happening."
"Well hopefully, by the end of this week you'll be tucked up in your brand new bed in our new home without a care in the world." Tom said as he opened the door to their three bedroom house.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me! This is your new house you've been telling me about?!" Fletch laughed and Sam and Tom turned around and saw that on the other side of the quiet road, Fletch was standing with Max on a lead, just coming out of the front door of the house opposite them. That was when Sam realised that she had never actually been to Fletch's house before, though she knew where he lived now.
"Don't tell me you live there." Tom laughed as Fletch came across the road where Sam and Tom's car was parked on the driveway and Sam stood with Daniel, in his white tshirt, jean dungarees and blue trainers, balanced on her hip.
"Yep." He nodded.
"Right, I'd love to chat but we've got lots to do today." Tom stated.
"I could give you a hand if you want." Fletch offered as he had to stop Max from jumping up at their car because inside the boot and back seats were Shadow, Zoe, Panda and Alex.
"Um, I think we're alright. We've got lots to do but it's main just moving stuff and I need all the room in my car that I can get to take stuff to the tip." Tom replied.
"Okay, well if you need anything just give us a shout."
"See ya." Sam waved as Fletch continued walking away with Max on his leash. The couple were just about to enter their new house when they noticed a friendly woman coming onto their driveway.
"Hi, I'm Amanda, I live next door." She greeted.
"Oh right, I'm Tom, this is my wife Sam and our little boy Daniel." Tom said as he shook her hand, Sam couldn't as she was still holding their son.
"He's adorable." She smiled. "How old is he?"
"Six months." Sam stated.
"I've got a son too, though he's five years old, Michael. And I've got a daughter who's 8, Emily. Their Dad is in the army. He was stationed in Afghanistan but when the British troops got pulled out, he was transferred to Sierra Lionne. He's coming home in a couple of weeks." She smiled.
"I used to be stationed in Afghanistan too." Sam admitted. "I was a medic, but now we're both doctors in the emergency department in Holby General." She explained whilst Tom put his arm around Sam's shoulders.
"Well that must've been an exciting job- oh my, I'd better be going, I've got to pick Emily up from stagecoach. It was nice to meet you though." She smiled before she jumped in her car and drove off.
"Right, let's get started then." Tom sighed as he opened the door to their new home. They had been there twice to see the building, but both times it had been filled with furniture owned by the previous family and now it was completely empty. It seemed massive as they looked in the hallway and up the staircase, and all the rooms were empty too. "Right, let's make this house a home." Tom stated as he left the front door open. He went through and opened the back door to their massive garden with a small patio by the back door, then a large area of green grass, and then an area of decking towards the back of the garden where they would soon have a BBQ and deck chairs for the summer.
"What are you doing?" Sam asked curiously.
"Unleashing the beasts." Tom retorted as he went out to the driveway, opened the boot and sent the dogs straight though to the garden where they were occupied with sniffing the new territory. He unpacked the things that they had brought in the car for Daniel and set them up in what would be the living room before Tom gave Sam and Daniel a hug. "Right, the removals people are gonna be at our apartment in about an hour so I'd better get going alright."
"Yep. Just drop me a text every now and then so I know how you're getting on please." Sam requested.
"Okay, you do the same. Let me know when the deliveries turn up. The delivery men will carry stuff wherever you tell them to and set things up so don't worry about having to help them. You just have fun with Daniel and the dogs."
"I will. Bye." Sam smiled as she walked him to the door.
10am
"Does mummy look like a decorator now?" Sam asked as she stood in a pair of old trainers, denim dungarees and a white base layer with her hair tied back in a French plait. But Daniel gave no response as he continued to play with his plush toy border collie and chew on the paw whilst he sat in the middle of the living room on the carpet with his legs straddled so that he could balance. Sam had just received the first delivery and it was from B&Q. So in the living room corner was stacks of paint tubs, new packs of pain brushes, filler and lots more. She knew that Tom wanted her to wait until he arrived after clearing out their old place but she couldn't just sit around all day so she had decided that she was going to start by painting every single wall in the house white because they needed to cover what colours were already there and so she had snuck a pair of work clothes in Daniel's changing bag.
"Ta sa da." Daniel said as he held the toy up to his mother.
"Daniel, as much as I love you, I really don't want your soggy toy."
"Baba."
"Baba? Really? That's very interesting." Sam said encouragingly as she picked the infant up and balanced him on her hip. Sam had one arm underneath his bum to support his waist, whilst in the other hand she put a pack of paintbrushes and a roller on top of a tub of paint, and then she made her way upstairs to the master bedroom with an ensuite. The ensuite had two sinks on a marble surface with cupboards below for toiletries whilst behind that in the large bathroom was a toilet, a bidet, a large bath and a large glass walk in shower with no shower head, only water that came from a grate in the ceiling and it was large enough for Sam and Tom to shower together - the ensuite was almost brand new and nothing needed doing in it, except for them to move their toiletries into it. "When are you gonna say mama?" Sam asked as she gently put Daniel down on the carpet and then she knelt down besides him. But Daniel ignored her as he began disjointedly crawling around again. Thankfully, they were getting a new carpet so it didn't matter that he was dribbling quite a lot. It also meant that Sam could begin painting without having to put some sheets down to protect the floor. "Right, you need to stay still while I paint so... I know. We'll put you in your carrier." Sam concluded as she had to regrettably pick him up and take him back downstairs again - she couldn't leave him unattended even for a minute because he could get himself into all kinds of danger now that he could crawl. She then placed the carrier in the middle of the room, strapped Daniel into it and gave him the mirror that always fascinated him, before she picked up the filler to fill in the gaps where furniture had previously been attached to the wall.
Meanwhile, Tom had taken their old bed and other furniture that would no longer be needed to the tip and had since filled up a removals van with what they were taking to their new place. The man was driving the van whilst Tom drove his car over to their new place and Sam's car was being toed by the van to save the extra journey. They had two single garages so Tom parked his car outside the first one, on the driveway, whilst the removals van parked on the pavement outside of their house.
"If you just wait here a minute mate, I just need to check something." Tom said to the delivery man before he ran into the house with a bag in his hand. He ushered the four border collies out into the back garden and gave each of them their favourite treat: a pig's ear. Yes, they actually ate pig's ears but it kept them occupied for about an hour so after giving one to each of the dogs, he shut the back door and ran upstairs to find Sam painting the walls of one of the four bedrooms and Daniel was chewing on a cold teething ring whilst he sat on her feet so that Sam knew where he was. "Oi, what are you doing?" Tom asked sternly.
"Painting a wall, what does it look like?" Sam replied sarcastically as she turned around so that Tom could see the smears of wall filler and the white paint splashes on her dungarees, as well as the blob on her cheek. "And before you ask, yes I filled the holes in the wall with filler, yes I let it dry first, and yes Daniel is helping. Aren't you Daniel?" Sam smiled as she put the paint brush in the tub and then lifted Daniel up, only he frowned when he dropped his teething ring and it landed in the tub of paint.
"Good shot mate." Tom chuckled but Daniel began crying because his gums were sore and gnawing on the ring had been providing him with pain relief.
"Sshh, it's okay. How about I go and wash my hands and then I'll rub your gums with my finger for you? Come on Daniel, don't cry." Sam pleaded as she made her way into the bathroom. Tom followed her and ensured that Daniel safely sat on the edge of the marble surface that the sinks were on whilst Sam turned the tap on. "Dammit, there's no soap." Sam muttered before she opened the cabinet beneath the sinks to find that in the back of it was a bottle with a bit of hand soap left in it and a roll of toilet paper. "Bingo."
"Right, I'm gonna help the bloke carry our stuff in, are you alright with him for a while?" Tom asked.
"Do I have a choice?" Sam asked rhetorically. "No, thought not." Sam said as she shook the water off of her hands and then used a couple of sheets of toilet paper to dry her hands. "Go on, I've got Mr grumpy pants." Sam stated so Tom disappeared downstairs whilst Sam went and sat on the carpet in the bedroom with Daniel in her lap facing her. She gently rubbed her index finger back and forth on the area of his gum where his left front tooth would soon come through. "There we go, is that better?" Sam asked after several minutes and Daniel just put his arms up in the arm. "What?" Sam asked confusedly.
"Uh uh." He moaned a little as he reached up and so Sam lifted him up a bit and he wrapped his arms around her neck.
"Aw, good boy Daniel. Good boy." Sam praised as her son was hugging her for the first time. She and Tom had hugged him plenty of times, but it was the first time that he had hugged back so she appreciated it so much before he let go and Sam gently sat him back down in her lap. Daniel then grinned and giggled slightly as he put his arms out and attempted to pull Sam's top down. "Are you hungry Daniel? Go on then." Sam said softly as she repositioned Daniel until he was sitting on Sam's thigh - she missed when Daniel couldn't sit up and she had to cradle him to feed him, but at the same time, she was relieved that she didn't have to hold him anymore because he was getting heavy.
Daniel waited patiently for Sam to unclip her dungarees on one side, pull her white base layer down and then she unclipped her bra so that he could latch on and begin feeding.
"Mummy and daddy's bed isn't coming for a couple of days because we need to get the room painted first, so you can either sleep in your cot, or you can sleep in the armchair with mummy because daddy is gonna take up the entire sofa." Sam said softly as she rested her chin on top of Daniel's head. She had no intention of giving up breastfeeding anytime soon because she loved the close bond that it gave her with her son. "Mummy and daddy are having a takeaway for dinner, but I'm gonna do some finger foods especially for you. You can have some toast - but we'll have to make sure that daddy doesn't eat it all - and I'll cut you up some mango and cucumber."
In the evening, Sam and Tom's bedroom was still coated in wet paint, so they were sleeping down in the living room on the furniture that had been delivered that morning. The empty pizza boxes laid on the floor, Tom laid spread out under a blanket across the three seater sofa whilst Sam was curled up in the armchair giving Daniel his final breastfeed of the day. They didn't have a lampshade yet for the main lights and without that, the room was too bright for Daniel to settle down so they had just a LED camping lamp on, in the corner.
"You sure you don't want to sleep on the sofa? I don't mind sleeping in the armchair if you're too squashed." Tom said quietly as he tucked a bit of hair behind her ear; they had moved the armchair right next to the sofa to keep away from the wet walls and so they were very close for the evening.
"No. We're nice and cosy here." Sam smiled. The four dogs were curled up on the carpet in front of their owners and they too had packed up for the night and were resting. "Can you tell your son to hurry up please because I really need the toilet."
"Just take him with you." Tom laughed.
"No, I won't be able to wash my hands."
"Well then Daniel, chop chop or mummy's gonna have to borrow one of your nappies."
"He gave me a hug today. He was sitting in my lap and he just reached up and wrapped his arms around my neck." Sam stated and thankfully, Daniel pulled apart and licked his lips after he filled his stomach with his mother's milk.
"Well that's great isn't it? Daniel, are you gonna come and give daddy a hug so mummy can go to the toilet? Good boy." Tom praised as Sam lifted him over on to the sofa onto his father's chest before she got up and left the room. "Can I have a hug?"
"Uh ah." Daniel said as he heavy handedly swung his arms around Tom's neck; Sam had given him enough praise earlier to make him realise that hugging was something positive to do.
"Thank you." Tom chuckled as he rubbed his hands up and down the infant's back. "Good boy. You've been really well behaved today. Do you like your new home? It's not very pretty at the moment, but you're gonna have your own bedroom, and we're even gonna turn one of the spare bedrooms into a play room for you. And we're gonna fill the garden with a goal post, swimming pool- you name it and we'll get it for you. You're gonna get spoiled so much, and maybe in a couple of years you'll get a little brother or sister... Y'know, you have got such a special mummy and you are so lucky. Now I'll have to explain this to you when you're older so that you can understand, but when I was a baby, my mummy died, and then my dad got into trouble with the police so I was put into care. And I grew up without knowing either of my parents... You are so, so lucky to have a mum like you do because, on the outside she had this hard shell. But you've brought out this softer side of her that I've never seen before and she loves you so so much." Tom explained as he held his most important man in the world against his chest.
"Too right I do." Sam said quietly as she leant in the doorway. "And I love you too, don't ever forget that." Sam whispered before she kissed Tom on the lips. "You know that if you ever want to talk, I'm here for you right?"
"Of course I do, I was just practicing on what I'm gonna have to explain to Daniel one day when he asks where his nan and grandad are." Tom replied. "Come on, I think he's getting sleepy and we both know he's a grumpy little git when he's tired." Tom chuckled as Sam got back into the armchair and she curled up so that Tom could pass her their son. "Night night beautiful." Tom whispered as he pecked Sam on the forehead. "And night night handsome." Tom whispered as he kissed his son goodnight before he flicked the lamp off and they all went to bed.
Coming up: The final result of a week of hard work on their ideal home. Will their hard work give them the home that they desire? Then Daniel goes for his first swimming lesson and he stands up for the first time!
Thanks for reading, please review :)