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I stood outside Roadblock's house, practically jumping with excitement. The moment the door was flung open, two beautiful little girls leaped out. "Daddy!" They cried and Block caught them both in his arms, laughing. They looked up over his shoulder and I gave them a little wave. "Daddy, who's that?" They asked.
"This is Robyn. She's going to stay with us for a few days and help look after you two." Instantly I was pounced upon. The taller one, Poppy, grabbed me by the arm and started to pull me inside.
"Come on! Come on let's go and play!" The smaller girl who had her hair in braids, laughed and was pushing on my back. This was Daisy, the one who always wore pink. Block laughed as he left me to the mercy of his girls, though I pretty soon had then wrapped around my little finger. When I showed them the present their "daddy" had made for them, they all squealed and sat there for ages just admiring it as I hung it up in their window and made pretty sounds. The shells all neatly polished and varnished hung on fine thread, the metal pipes I had cleaned and shortened to varied lengths chiming against the centrepiece of wood which Block had carved into a smoothed circle with a dolphin engraved into it.
The pearls had been a little more difficult but I eventually managed to thread them on as well, catching the light as the music played softly. "Isn't your daddy the best?" I laughed as they jumped up and down. "Maybe you should go and say thank you to him?" Instantly they were hammering down the stairs and leaping back onto their dad with cries of thank yous'.
Block looked up and mouthed a thanks to me. I grinned at him. So after a full day of entertaining the children, I sat down with them on the sofa, Block wearing his bunny slippers, to watch a Disney movie. I was happier than I could ever remember being. The girls eventually fell asleep so I helped Millie, their mom, put them to bed.
"My husband says only the best about you. Is it true you lost your memory?" She asked gently as she shut the door behind her.
"Yeah. I was in an accident. It's okay though, I'm beginning to remember things." I explained to her, bending the truth a little. "Thanks for letting me stay, I know it was a little last minute."
"Not at all, he told me that you had nowhere else to stay and I couldn't just turn you out, could I? Anyone who fights for the country is welcome in my house. How about some more of that barbequed chicken?" I liked this lady already.
The next day Roadblock took Millie out for the day after I insisted he went. The girls were all too eager to spend some time with me, practically shoving their parents out the door. We had water fights in the garden, sang karaoke on their machine. It kinda stung to know that two kids only aged ten and eight could sing better than you could. Oh well, its karaoke.
We then played my favourite game. Clean the house before the monster ate you. I was the monster. I helped them tidy away their toys to surprise their parents then we went out to the park where I pushed them on the swings until they were giggling nonstop. "You can take us to our dance lesson later!" Poppy said as I pushed them on the round-about.
"You both go to dance class?" I asked with a smile. "What kind?"
"Ballet." Daisy told me. "I go to ballet but Poppy goes to street dance." I grinned at them both.
"I used to dance." Wait, what?
"Really?" They both gasped then grinned at me. "Show us!" I don't remember dancing but I knew it was true. I just knew it.
"Maybe later, when no one else is around." I told them then heard the ice cream truck approaching. "What say you we get some ice cream?" The dancing idea quickly went out of their head. We walked back home with the ice creams, the girls both holding my hands as I didn't want anyone to get any ideas about snatching them from me. Yeah, I was a little protective of them but hey, they were adorable! I loved them already. Block and Millie were back before us and I was glad I had left a note telling them where we were.
"Mom! Robyn bought us ice cream!" Daisy said. "And she said she'll come watch us dance later!"
"Really? That's nice of her." Millie said, beaming. "Did you clean up the entire house for us?"
"Surprise!" We all chorused.
"Although, the plan was to get back before you." I blushed sheepishly. "I got distracted by the swings." Roadblock laughed then ruffled my hair.
"You take good care of them. Better than Duke. You know, he once looked after them for a whole weekend and when I got back, I was pretty sure he had dropped a bomb in this place." He said to me as he began to pack the girls' bags for dance. He was just the best. "Both of them were hyperactive and literally climbing up the walls whilst he was knocked out on the floor."
"Ouch, what happened there?" Block grinned.
"Daisy hit him on the head with a lamp." I burst out laughing. Once we'd had a light snack to eat, Millie got the girls ready before we all walked down to the dance studio. Daisy's lesson was first so we all sat and watched, Poppy playing quietly on her phone but occasionally looked up just to check on her "annoying" sister, as she called her. I knew she loved her really. The longer I watched the little children dance the more I began to remember. I had used to dance in school when I was a kid and even went to an afterschool troupe where we had learned all kinds of styles of dancing.
Daisy was a great ballerina, even as a young girl she had great posture, alignment and was faster at picking things up than the others. In her little leotard, I could imagine her with a pink tutu and twirling for the President himself in a grand theatre.
When class was over she danced over to me with a bright grin. "How was I?"
"I think you're going to make a great dancer one day." I said to her. "Is that what you want to be?" She shook her head.
"No. I want to be a doctor so I can save people's lives." She was just too cute. Millie helped her change whilst Block and I took Poppy to her lesson. She wore casual clothes with enough room to dance in but when we got there, there seemed to be a problem.
There were kids of all ages arguing in the room, the parents trying to coax the younger ones away. "What's going on?" Poppy asked a girl around her height and age.
"Tony has just sent Alex a message. Apparently he's not coming today." Popp's jaw dropped open.
"But the competition is in a week! We don't even have a proper dance routine yet, we're all over the place!" I could sense the distress in Poppy's voice and suddenly I could smell her worry. It was kind of freaky but I brushed it aside.
"What do you mean you don't have a proper dance set?" I asked her, frowning as the others all went silent then looked at me.
"Toby kept on changing his mind about the routine. We're dancing in a competition where the prize money is given to our dance studio and, as you can tell, we desperately need it." The girl who had spoken was right. The studio needed new mirrors, new plastering in the walls and there was definitely some plumbing to be done.
Glancing around all the panicked faces I clapped my hands then took off my jacket, tossing it to Block who blinked in surprise. "Alright, show me what you've got so far." I called then went to stand at the top of the studio, folding my arms.
Some of the kids jumped into position but a few of the older ones just looked at me. "What are you doing?"
"Taking your dance class. If you have a competition in only a week then we have to get moving. So hurry up! Time is precious." They jumped to it. One of the girls started the music then hurried into place. I watched them all closely. All of them had talent, that much was clear but they were all over the place.
The lines didn't work with the timing so they often bumped into one another. The movements were at best, poorly choreographed as they didn't build with the music or even accent the beat. I was horrified by the lack of attention. "Alright stop, we're going to go back to square one." I cut the music and everyone looked at me. "Look, you're all talented but you're not feeling the music." I said then went towards them. "Everyone find a space. Good." Roadblock kicked back then looked at me carefully. "Alright, watch me and I'll keep the count. First we're going to loosen up. You're all wound up like corkscrews." So I put them through the paces.
We loosened up then I began to choreograph a new dance routine. Thankfully it only had to be one entry so I could focus entirely on making this the best dance these guys would ever dance. I asked them to improvise from time to time, seeing what they could do before adding their own flair into it.
I added the new flavours in, incorporating everyone's unique abilities into the routine to show real unification and their quality talent. Although we only had an hour of dance, by break time we had worked through half of the song.
"Alright, take a break, drink some water then we'll pick up again in five." I called and everyone all bounced off to the sides, grinning with excitement. I walked over to Block with one hand on Poppy's shoulder as she jumped on the spot.
"Did you see that? Isn't Robyn great?" She was practically panting for breath so I handed her a bottle of water and she guzzled it down greedily.
"Hey slow down or we'll be seeing it again later." I grinned at her.
"How come you never told us you could dance like that?" Roadblock demanded with a smile, Daisy sitting on his knee.
"I only just remembered today." I answered with a shrug before turning to Millie. "You're a dancer, aren't you?" She blushed a little.
"How did you guess?"
"Well…the girls don't get their dancing skills from Block now, do they?"
"Hey!"
"The point is, you've got talented girls. I think you should help with the class then take over from this Toby guy. He sounds like his heart isn't in it, I think you could do way better." After a little bit of persuading I called for everyone to come back to the dance floor then pulled Millie up with me.
"Alright guys, this is Millie. She's going to help me finish this dance then take over your lessons from Toby. When he comes back, you tell him straight that he's out of the picture." They all nodded in agreement.
"Petunia was going to fire him soon anyway. She's the one who owns the building." The dancer called Alex informed me. Something slammed into my memory and I could see an elderly lady huddled before a fire, wearing no gloves and only a thin scarf and coat against the cold. Petunia. I knew her. That lady was called Petunia.
I wavered on my feet for a second but then snapped out of it. Roadblock was now watching me carefully. "Okay, let's run it through from the top. I want you all to think about what else you want in this dance. Remember, you're only going to perform well if you like what it is you're performing." So we ran it through. Millie whispered suggestions to me and I nodded my head, taking note of what she was saying.
By the end of the session we had a great deal done. These guys were fast learners. Millie had pointed out things that could work better, helped continue the steps and also helped the younger ones with fast movements that they needed to learn. By the end, I was shattered mentally. My mind was reeling with memories from the stage under hot lights to the freezing cold outdoors next. I needed to get some sleep.
Although Poppy and Daisy wanted to play some more and practice dancing with me, I told them that I needed to take a little nap to make my head better before I could help them. The sweet little angels tucked me into my bed then brought me some water and painkillers as well as some lavender oil which they gently rubbed onto my head before leaving me alone. Bless their little hearts.