Chapter 7
Skye was busy trying to fit the baby seat into the car when she heard the person approaching. Turning she saw a lady with blonde hair standing behind her. She recognised her as the neighbour from the house next to theirs. Skye hadn’t had chance to meet her yet so didn’t know her name.
“Hi. I’m Clare. I see you’ve just moved in.”
“Hi. I’m Skye. Yeah, my family have just arrived.” Skye brushed her hands down her jeans before shaking Clare’s hand. Although her and Ward had agreed that they would pretend to be married, they hadn’t agreed anything about names. They had both been calling each other their actual names so they would have to stick with them. Beside, the kids had heard them use their names: using different ones would just confuse them or lead to awkward questions later.
“I just wanted to introduce myself. I would have come over earlier, but I know how hectic it is when you move. Especially with children.”
“Yeah, it has been a little bit mad.” Skye watched as Ward left the house carrying Phil with the rest just in front of him.
“Oh this is my husband, Grant. Grant, this is Clare, she lives next door.”
“Nice to meet you.” Replied Ward, juggling Phil so he could shake her hand. Leo and Jemma were stood clinging to his legs while Mel went and stood beside Skye. Apparently they were scared of strangers.
“And you. Are these all your kids?”
Skye was aware of Clare looking at the kids trying to work out ages of everyone.
“Yeah we got a start early on. We were childhood sweethearts.” Skye lied, hoping it was believable.
“Aww, that is adorable. Well, if you want them to meet some of the kids in the area, just let me know. My two are a similar age to your eldest. I know it’s hard for them to make friends when they move to a new area.”
“Thanks for that. We wanted to get them settled before we introduced them to someone new.”
“Not a problem. Anyway, I can see you are off somewhere, so I’ll leave you to it.”
Skye turned her attention back to the kids and began the task of strapping them in to the car. Phil was relatively easy, as he was quickly restrained in the car seat. The others were more difficult. Jemma and Leo were fighting again so didn’t want to sit together. Mel didn’t want to wear her seatbelt or sit next to Phil. In the end Skye resorted to threatening not to go out at all to get everyone strapped in. Eventually they were all ready to set off. Ward was once again driving because he didn’t like her driving. That was fine with Skye; it meant she chose the music. When played at a certain level she could ignore the fighting in the back. Thankfully it was a short journey.
The fighting stopped suddenly when the kids saw where they were going.
“Bowling? We’re going bowling?” Squeaked Leo.
“Yes, if you can behave.” Answered Ward, manoeuvring the car into a parking space.
“Yes, dad.” Came the reply from everyone in the back, causing Skye to smile.
They quickly gathered the kids, with Ward taking Phil and keeping a hold of Jemma’s hand to stop her running off, while Skye kept a hold of Leo and Mel. They got one lane and proceeded to play. Skye and Ward took it in turns to hold Phil while the other bowled. At one point they even set it up so he could bowl the ball and knock down some pins. Whenever Skye wasn’t bowling she had Mel sat on her lap. Leo seemed to take great delight in sitting on Ward whenever he wasn’t bowling, while Jemma sat in the middle of the floor, blocking everybody, but she was happy. The kids quickly became very competitive with each other, all wanting to win. Skye and Ward watched with fondness while planning their moves with care. They had a bet resting on the winner between them. The winner got to have 4 hours to themselves the next day while the other coped with the kids. Ward was currently winning, but Skye wasn’t far behind.
While they were playing they ordered food, deciding to make a complete day of it. Leo and Mel shared a pizza while Jemma shared chips with Phil. Skye and Ward went for a burger, though a lot of it seemed to be eaten by the kids as they decided they liked it better than their own food. Phil and Leo ended up with food all over their clothes not matter how hard the adults tried to keep them clean. The game ended with Jemma being the surprise winner of the kids and Skye the winner of the adults. She took great delight in teasing Ward about it.
None of them wanted to head back to the house after the game so they stayed in the bowling area but moved to the arcade section. Phil had a great time riding in a car that looked a lot like Lola. Skye took a lot of pictures of him grinning and waving at her on the ride. Mel and Leo were having a dance battle, while Ward was on a driving game with Jemma sat in his lap. She was in charge of the steering while Ward handled the pedals. Skye wasn’t sure who was having more fun. Both were sat giggling as Jemma repeatedly hit every obstacle that she possibly could.
After another couple of hours they headed back home, this time without the battle to get everyone in the car. Once back, Skye put on the Emperor’s New Groove for them to watch, knowing that they would all enjoy it. Seeing that Ward had never seen it before either, she convinced him to sit and watch the film with the children while she cleaned the house. Glancing back into the living room on her way to the kitchen she saw Ward sat with Jemma and Mel cuddled under each arm and Leo lying across the laps of all of them. Phil was lying on Ward’s feet and they were all staring at the screen engrossed. She knew they would like the film. It was a good ending to a fantastic day.
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Ward woke with a start, his breathing rapid. He was covered in sweat. Glancing around he quickly recognised where he was. Skye was lying next to him still fast asleep. It was just a nightmare, even if it had seemed so real. He needed to check on everybody. To ensure himself that everything was all right. Creeping out of the bed so not to wake Skye, he moved over to the cot where Phil was sleeping peacefully. He was lying on his back with one hand clutching his blanket.
Satisfied that he was all right, he moved into Leo’s room. He was still asleep with one hand falling out of the bed clinging to a model he had built on the floor. Ward would guess he had been adding to it before he went to sleep. He then moved on to the girls’ room. Both were also sleeping happily although Jemma was no longer in her own bed but in Mel’s. They were curled together with Mel holding the younger girl close to her. Ward stood for a moment enjoying the peace that watching the girls gave him.
Once he had calmed down he snuck back into the room to try and sleep again. Even though he was certain he had made no noise Skye clearly heard him.
“Ward, is everything ok?”
“Yes, go back to sleep.”
“You were gone a while. Has something happened?”
“I went to check on the kids. But no. Nothing is wrong.”
He felt her move towards him and gently put her hand on his arm. With a sigh he began to explain.
“I had a nightmare. I saw the team being killed. I woke up but it still felt so real. I went to convince myself it wasn’t.”
He could feel himself begin to shake and knew she would be able to feel it too. She pulled him to her, trying to comfort him.
“Oh, Grant.”
“I thought if I checked on everyone I could make the images go away.”
“Did it work?”
“Sort of.”
“Lie down.”
“What?”
“Lie down.” She manoeuvred herself so she was lying back down in the bed with him in her arms.
“Go back to sleep. I’ll be here. Then you’ll know you’re not alone. What you see isn’t real. I’ll be here and you’ll know that. Will that help?”
He nodded, not knowing how to voice his feelings. He concentrated on her breathing using it as an anchor to reality. He felt himself relax.
“Skye.”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you.”
“Anytime Grant. Anytime.”
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