CHAPTER THREE. THE TEST
Bandit sighed and shut his eyes for a second after parking the car. His two daughters leaned into his seat peaking up behind him after interchanging worried glances.
"Dad? What happened to you?", asked Bluey tenderly.
"Aww, nothing mate... just a little something on my glasses, that's it".
Bingo frowned, knowing it wasn't.
"Now, you two should get going to your classes, and I need to go to my office. Ill wait for you to take you home once the day is over"
"Uh... ok"
"Bingo, youll do great in your test, hon. You got this!"
"Thanks dad".
Both young women walked in the same direction for some time.
"...Bluey...something happened to dad..."
"I know, in fact, I bet I know what it is"
"Mee too … could you...?"
"Of course, Ill check on him, you got a test in which to focus on. No worries, you go and nail it as always!"
Bingo embraced her sister. "See ya!"
Once her little sister had disappeared into her side of the edifice, Bluey looked back at the car, Bandit was gone.
--
He sat heavily in front of his desk and began to check his agenda for the day. Smiling ruefully, he looked at a photography a top of a shelve. A very young Chilli was smiling to him from there, her body casually reclined into a bicycle in front of a dream like beach that gleamed orange and gold in the last rays of sunlight of the Catlins spring.
Bandit opened a drawer of his desk and took out a flat box; he opened it. Between some postcards and letters there could be seen important mementos for him: a handwritten note by Chilli, a golden felted pen, a draw of him and Bluey... and an echography, he caressed it lightly.
"I have always thought it was you, little mate, you was trying to say hello dont you?".
He sighed, "I wish I had meet you..."
Suddenly his phone rang with a text message.
BLUEY: "Dad... you ok?"
DAD: "Yeah, no worries..."
BLUEY: "Dad... Im sorry if my question made you sad...Bingo and I know it wasn't something on your glasses..."
DAD: "Oh..."
BLUEY: "We both understand... about the pup on your dream... Im sorry"
DAD: "Thank you, but Its Ok Bluey... Im apples fine kiddo, really"
BLUEY: "Do you?"
DAD: "Yes... Are you in your Data and Society class?"
BLUEY: "Yep"
DAD: "Then, please stop texting, sport... I hate when my students do that..."
BLUEY: "OK, OK Professor Heeler!"
DAD: And... thank you...love the both of you...
BLUEY:
He breathed in deeply and smiled, and before closing the box and returning it to its place, he looked at the echography one last time and said: "You would have adored your sisters, little man... I know you are caring for them, wherever you are..."
--
The working hours passed without any novelty.
Bandit and Bluey where waiting for Bingo, who finally got into the car exclaiming, "Boy, Im so tired!!"
"How did it go, Bingo?", smirked Bandit.
"Well enough, I think! … Im so tired about writing about synapsis that I cant do synapsis myself!"
Bluey chuckled. "There, there... all you need is a good night sleep and you'll be your synaptic self again tomorrow morning..."
"Hope so!"
"Ok, now let's go to get your mum!", said Bandit starting to drive.
--
"¿Daaad?"
"Yes Bluey?"
"What happened next?"
"Oh! Yes, you didn't find any pregnancy test at Papatowai, so you came back having decided to wait until you get to go to Owaka!", added Bingo.
"Ahhhh... that"
--
Well, we stayed near the beach house for one day, enjoying the beach and its wonderful waves. I remember I did some surfing while your mother did some drawings of the place...
Having cleared our minds about what we feared in case of a pregnancy the night before, we decided to not to speak about the issue until we get to Owaka, to avoid stress, after all, we were in a vacation trip... So, the next day Joshua's cousins came in to take us to Owaka and the hiking tour we had booked.
--
"Mackenzies dads cousins?!", asked surprised Bluey, while trying not to wag her tail too much.
"Yep, the beach house was Joshua Border Collies aunt property, and she rented it to us at good price knowing I was a friend of her favourite nephew", chuckled Bandit.
Bluey received a text on her phone. "Bingood: My! Now you can elope to Aunty Border Collies house in N.Z! XD".
The older sister just rolled her eyes.
--
So, Lance and Swift Border Collie, took us to Owaka, leaving us in its very centre. We still had some time before the tour, so we went in search of a pharmacy.
We were holding hands when we entered... Aw man! I still remember the feeling of anxiousness when the attendant handed me the test, we bought two, just in case. Your mother smiled, but her tail wagged nervously.
"So... should we look for a bathroom?", I proposed to your mother.
"WHAT?! Bandit Im not doing this in a public bathroom!"
"Ehm... we could go for a coffee and..."
"Not even in a fancy restaurants bathroom!"
"Babe...I want to know..."
"Me too, but whatever the results Ill need privacy for my feelings about it..."
"Oh, ok. That makes sense".
I breathed... I was so anxious. "So... it will be once we are back?"
"Yes".
We walked silently till the meeting point with the guide and other five tourists. She and I immersed in our own thoughts.
The plan was to go via van from there to Catlins Lake, and then hiking to Purakaunui Falls, to return to Owaka. Kids, the landscapes looked like pictures of a dream!
Once the real hiking began, we strayed a little far from the group, because your mother insisted in to take as many pictures as possible.
"Chilli, what if its positive?... should we start living together?"
She smiled sweetly. "Yes, I think it would be the best... we could rent something small; babies don't need too much space at the beginning".
My tail was wagging wildly, she had said yes!
"What if its negative?"
"Well, we continue with our lives as they are", she said matter-of-factly, I concurred.
"Oh, poor Frisky! If the test its positive, she would have to pay all the rent on her own!"
"But", I said, "she would have the perfect excuse to go to live with Bosco!", we chuckled.
"You know, If everything goes smoothly, we may not need to make too many expenses, I think".
"Yeah, if we co-sleep, we will need just an adjacent cradle for a little time, nothing too fancy", she added.
"Righto!"
"...If you are brave enough, we could try reusable nappies, it's cheaper in the long term..."
"I AM brave enough to!", I chortled.
"I would like to breastfeed If I can, that's for free!"
My ears twitched and my heart jumped at that. I looked at her, she was smiling so brightly... it seemed we both noticed at the same time, that we were fantasying about having a child of our own.
She entwined her hand in mine and kissed me adoringly, I sighed. Then she looked abash and averted her gaze to the floor with a candid expression upon her pretty face. I reckon I was smiling so widely that my cheeks hurt.
Your mother has never been one into rushing upon important matters, and there she was, rushing as fast as me!
We kept holding hands as we walked in silence and before we knew it, we arrived at the falls.
It was so beautiful, girls! It looked like a place where fairies could live!
I looked at your mother and we smiled to each other. At that moment I realized that the tests results were irrelevant, for I had already decided that whatever the future might hold, albeit good or bad, I wanted to embrace it beside your mother.
--
Bingo wiped a happy tear from her eyes.
Bluey sighed, with eyes as bright as her sisters. "Dad... that's so beautiful...", she exclaimed.
Bandit smiled, "...Man, it seems I got carried away in the romance of the narrative! Yet its all true, I can tell you that for free."
"But what happened at the end?", asked Bingo.
"Well, once we arrived at the beach house I prepared some tea, and your mother went straight to the bathroom!"
--
She peaked to me before closing the door completely.
"Bandit, whatever it happens, I want to live it with you... I love you", she said.
I smiled, honoured by the trust and love in her eyes.
I waited and waited and...
"It's negative", she said once she came to me, her expression unreadable.
"Oh...". Girls I couldn't believe how disappointed I felt!
"So, we keep on living like always?"
"I guess!", she said smiling a little bit ruefully.
We embraced.
"You know something? You were right, Chilli"
"About what?", she asked to me.
"About taking so many pictures, cause Ill remember this day forever".
--
Bandit parked the car in the customary place.
"I cant see Mum yet"
"Shell come right now, Bingo... look there she is!", exclaimed Bandit, signalling to the entrance of the edifice, where Chilli was walking towards the parking lot along with some co-workers.
Bandit smiled cheekily and lowered his window. "Hey you!! Yes, the pretty one!! I can take you to my place if you want to, babe!!!", he yelled.
His daughters laughed heartily, while their mother huffed despite the grin in her face.
"BANDIT HEELER! That's not appropriate for a workplace!", she said while entering the car.
He chuckled without any guilt.
"Dont know why I bother; you always do the same!", said her while leaning to kiss him on the lips, eyes bright with mischief.
"And you would miss it if I don't do it...", he added smugly.
In the back seat, the Heeler girls looked the interchange with dreamy smiles of their own.
"Hi Mum!", they said.
"Hi girls! How went your day?!"
"Same as always..."
They rode in silence for some time until a curious voice filled the air...
"Muuuum..."
"Yes Bluey?"
"How did you know you wanted to start a family with dad?"
THE END.