“William!” Her voice was husky and she coughed on the word. “I’m so sorry. I completely forgot we were catching up today.”
“William! I’m playing with playdough!” Billy appeared at Juniper’s side and grabbed William’s hand, trying to pull him through the doorway.
“I’m not sure you want to come in here. It’s a den of sickness.” As if to prove her words, Juniper turned away to sneeze into a tissue.
“That’s okay, I never get sick.”
“Enter at your own risk then.”
She stood back to allow him to enter before moving to the overstuffed armchair near the window and curling into it, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. She looked absolutely miserable. “Why don’t you go and have a lie down?”
“Can’t. Billy.”
“I can watch him for a bit.”
It said something about how terrible she must be feeling that she didn’t protest, just got up and walked into the bedroom with a mumbled, “thanks so much,” and closed the door.
William turned to Billy, ensconced at the dining room table with piles of playdough and cutouts spread across the top. “It’s just you and me then, buddy. What are we gonna do?” Billy held up dinosaur shaped cookie cutters in response. “Okay then, playdough it is.”
They passed a good twenty minutes with William passing Billy the tools he needed to make his playdough dinosaur park but then the little boy started getting rowdy, making dinosaur noises as he played and smashing the plastic molds around. No amount of protest from William to keep the noise down made any difference. Billy would settle down for a little while, then the game would get too much for him and he’d get louder and louder. As if to prove William’s point, Juniper came out of her room, shuffling slowly to the kitchen. William pushed to his feet, hurrying to the sink to get her a drink. She smiled her thanks as she took it, sipping tentatively.
“God, my throat feels like it’s on fire.” She put the glass down and just stood there, swaying slightly. William took a half step forwardand pulled her against him, gently rubbing her back. She let her head fall on his chest with a sigh.
“I thought I could get Billy out of the house for a few hours. Maybe take him to the beach so you can get a proper rest?” He asked softly so that Billy couldn’t hear.
She pulled back, managing a small smile. “Sexier words have never been spoken.”
“Hey, mate, you wanna go to the beach?” Billy indicated strongly in the affirmative by clapping his hands loudly and dashing off to his room to get his hat. Juniper moved to follow him, but William grabbed her arm and steered her towards her bedroom. “I can get everything he needs.”
“Okay. His bag’s in the wardrobe, sandals on his shoe shelf and the sunscreen is in the side pocket of his bag. He can get his drink bottle himself. Just make him go to the toilet before you head out.”
They were out the door in under five minutes. William hustled to keep up with Billy as he raced across the lawn towards the gate.
“Take it easy, mate. You gotta hold my hand until we get to the beach.” William only felt slightly ridiculous strolling down the street with a Bluey backpack slung over his shoulder. Honestly, the things a man was prepared to do for the woman he…liked. A lot.
The first hour of play went pretty well. The day was warm without being too hot, the sky clear and bright. Being a weekday, the beach wasn’t too crowded, the seagulls being the main occupants. William was helping Billy pile damp sand as high as it could go when Billy suddenly pushed to his feet, with a mulish frown on his face, and kicked the top off the sandcastle.
“Hey!” William exclaimed, brushing sand off his shorts.Billy kicked again then jumped on the castle, flattening it. “What are you doing?”
“Sandcastles are stupid!”
“Well, you could have said that before we spent the better part of an hour building one!” William was confused. It seemed so out of character for Billy to throw a tantrum and as far as he could tell, it had come entirely out of the blue. “Stop doing that!”
“You can’t tell me what to do!” Billy replied, giving the sand a hard kick in William’s direction.
“Yes, I can!”
“Just coz you love Mummy, doesn’t mean you’re the boss of me!”
William was struck speechless. He sputtered; his mind was absolutely blank. All he could manage was, “What are you talking about?”
“I can see it in your colors.” Billy plopped down on his bottom, crossed his arms and glared at William, his angelic face a picture of obstinacy.
William pushed his fingers through his hair, more than a little overwhelmed. “What would you know about it, you’re not even three years old.”
They had a stare off for a long moment, William totally clueless on what he should do next. Then to his relief, Billy’s face crumpled, and he looked down at his feet. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“Okay.”
