Chapter 2
Skye woke to crying coming from all directions. Sitting up she saw that Ward had also woken up and was looking around for the source of the noise. Phil was sitting in his cradle at the bottom of their bed crying, with May stood staring into the cot beside him. Noises down the hall way indicated that the other two were also awake.
“I’ll get the older lot dressed. You take Phil and get him dressed, then start breakfast.” Skye sighed.
Ward nodded his agreement before getting out of bed and heading over to the cot. Skye took a moment to appreciate the sight of her SO. He was only wearing boxers and a t-shirt. She knew she should be moving, the noise from the corridor was getting louder, but she couldn’t help watch, if just for a moment. A sudden squeal reminded her of what she should be doing.
“Come on Mel, let’s get dressed.”
She grabbed the young girls hand and led her from the room. Now to find out what the other two were up to.
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Half an hour later everyone was dressed and downstairs. Breakfast was a mucky affair with Skye watching the three older ones while Ward tried to feed Phil and stop him crying. Although initially uncomfortable holding the baby he was now rocking him like a pro, all while trying to feed himself breakfast. Unfortunately even though he had been fed Phil wasn’t happy. Ward had sacrificed his phone to get a little peace. Phil was currently drooling all over it, laughing as he found that he could make it play tunes.
“So what is the plan for after breakfast?” Ward questioned.
“Well everyone needs more clothes and we could do with more food and toys for the kids so I guess it’s shopping.” Skye replied while wiping cereal from Leo’s face.
“OK. Everyone go and clean your teeth. I’ll be checking that you have done it.”
She watched as Mel took Jemma’s hand and they raced upstairs, it appeared she had decided that Jemma needed her protection. Leo followed up after them still trying to beat them up the stairs. It was still weird to Skye that Leo and Jemma didn’t like each other but she would just have to get used to it. Calling May Mel was another example of something she was going to have to get her head around.
“Before you go I have something for you.” Spoke Ward, reaching into his pocket. With Phil busy playing he turned his full attention on her.
“I’m sorry you are going to have to wear them all the time until we get everything solved here. I got to pick them though so I hope you like them. I tried to pick something that you would like.” He continued nervously.
Whatever he had he was really concerned about whether she would like them, which was kind of sweet. From his pocket he pulled out a small box that he handed to her. Opening it careful she saw two rings sitting in the box. The first was a plain platinum ring, slender and simple, that was clearly a wedding ring. Next to it was another platinum ring, but this one also contained diamonds. In the centre was a square cut diamond, with was then surrounded by smaller diamonds in another square shape. Diamonds also were mounted halfway down the band. It was beautiful. They both were.
“If you don’t like it you can always change it.” Ward continued nervously when she didn’t say anything.
“Shhhh. I love them. They are beautiful thank you.” She replied, leaning and placing a soft kiss on his cheek. “Can I see yours?”
He held out his hand, showing a simple platinum band like the one in the box, only this one was slightly thicker. It suited him.
“May I?” He asked reaching for the box in front of her.
Nodding, she watched as he removed both rings from the box before reaching for her hand. It didn’t escape her notice that his hand was trembling slightly as he did this. Gently he slide both rings onto her fingers, before raising her hand to his lips, pressing a gently kiss to it.
“Arghhhhhhhhh” Came the cry from upstairs before Skye could think of anything to reply.
Smiling slightly Ward gently lowered her hand back to the table and stood up.
“I’ll go and find out what happened. It’s my turn to deal with them, you sorted them this morning.”
With that he left the room leaving Skye to gaze at her hand as if she had never seen it before. The rings fit her perfectly and looked like they were meant to sit there. Skye had a feeling that looking after the children might not be her biggest problem with this mission.
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It had been decided that as it was their first outing with the children, they would keep it simple by only going to one shop. Once they had got used to the children and their personalities again then maybe they would go to more shops. They had all piled into the SUV Shield had provided and headed for the nearest store.
Before leaving the house Skye and Ward had agreed that they would both be responsible for two children. He had been left in charge of Phil and Leo, while Skye took care of Mel and Jemma. The girls had gone off to get clothes and toys for all of them, leaving the boys to take care of food. He was worried about the gleam in Skye’s eyes when she had announced this. He had a feeling he was going to get clothes in lots of colours that he would never wear again. But if it made her happy why should he complain.
He had quickly loaded Phil into the baby seat of the trolley and took a firm hold of Leo’s hand. Leo had been gazing around in awe at the store leaving Ward wondering if he had ever been in anywhere as big as this before. He seemed to have a desire to wander off to look at everything so Ward deemed it a good idea to keep a hold of him. Leo could wander off as an adult, who knows how bad he would be as a child.
Wandering up and down he allowed Leo to pick more food than he normally would. It was adorable to watch how excited he was looking at all the different food. It had occurred to him that Leo wouldn’t have seen much of this food before; food in the USA was totally different to Scotland. He had to remember that this Leo now had different experiences to the adult Leo that he knew.
Turning to pick some cereal he let go of Leo’s hand. Turning back to ask if there was any other other cereal he wanted Ward was greeted him an empty isle. Leo was nowhere in sight, with only Phil sat giggling in the trolley. Sighing, Ward quickly dropped the cereal in the trolley before turning to go and track down Leo. He couldn’t tell Skye that he had lost one of their children!
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Skye was having problems of her own. Clothing had quickly been picked for everyone; with plenty of clothes selected so they should all have enough to wear. Jemma was happy, as she had got the PJs she wanted and Mel had chosen another superhero toy. She had simply turned away for one second to pick up a game system that she thought the kids and Ward would like. Turning back she found that both girls had gone.
“Mel? Jemma?” She called, looking around frantically. She couldn’t believe she had lost them. They hadn’t even been with her a day and she had lost them. Not just one, but two of them. She quickly began looking up and down with no sign of them anywhere. Just as she got to the edge of the clothing area she bumped into Ward. He looked as flustered as she felt and clearly only had Phil with him. At least she wasn’t the only one to loose the kids. He had one held down and had still lost one. That made her feel a little better. Maybe he wasn’t good at everything.
“Lost them?” He spoke when seeing her. Nodding her head she began looking up and down with him trying to locate them.
“Can I help you?” Inquired a friendly looking member of staff who had noticed their panic.
“We’ve lost three of our children.” Skye spoke, still scanning the area. She didn’t know what else to call them without blowing any cover they have. So she suddenly had given birth to four kids, apparently she was a very young mum!
“Don’t worry we’ll find them. I’ll put a call out for them.” Reassure the staff member.
A sudden bang had Skye looking at Ward. He clearly had had the same thought. They both quickly headed towards the sounds of the commotion. Skidding to a stop they both took in the sight of the three missing kids. Leo was currently eating his way through a chocolate bunny that was almost as big as he was. He was going to go into sugar shock later, Skye noted absently. May had found a martial art simulator, which she was currently kicking the life out of. Skye saw that she had already managed to pass the high score by quite a bit. Jemma was sat on the floor by the simulator holding a small chemistry set. That would be the cause of the bang.
Skye quickly removed the chemistry set from Jemma before she could cause more damage. Picking her up she placed her in the trolley, which seemed to be the safest place to prevent them running away. She saw Ward had the same idea as he carried Leo and May, with one under each arm. After he had deposited them both in the trolley he turned to Skye,
“I believe it is time for us to leave.”
“Definitely. Please tell me you got more wine?”
“It’s the final thing I need to get. Don’t worry I’m getting plenty.”
Skye smiled at the response and they quickly left the area, pretending they had no idea what had happened. Removing the hankie from Ward’s pocket she removed the remains of the bunny from Leo’s hands and wiped away the remaining evidence of their escape from his face as they walked towards the checkout. How could a simple shopping trip have gone so badly?
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