Even so, the idea of saying nothing hurt more than I wanted to admit.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Harper
“Haveyou seen Jack’s ghost socks?” Matty asked on Friday evening as he stuck his head around the playroom door where Jack and I were building a rather epic dinosaur zoo. I hadn’t quite managed to convince Jack that the zebras and the T-Rex wouldn’t be able to share an enclosure, so we were fully going down the “animals and dinosaurs were best friends” route.
Except for the polar bear, who had been exiled to the toy box for reasons I didn’t understand.
“They’re in the basket in the utility room. I was going to take them upstairs later,” I said, looking up from my combined penguin-spinosaurus enclosure project. It was coming on rather nicely, if I did say so myself.
“Cool, I’ll grab them. I’m just putting together Jack’s weekend bag.” He was smiling, but it was the pretend sort of cheerful people used when they were trying to convince themselves they were all right. “Jack, Mum will be here in a bit.”
“No! The zoo is not ready,” Jack said as he waved his hand at the construction site in front of him, his other hand wrapped firmly around the DUPLO elephant. “Tell Mummy tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry, mate, but Mummy will be coming in about twenty minutes,” Matty said. “But I know she’ll love your zoo just the way it is.”
I saw Jack’s bottom lip start to wobble, an unhappy frown appearing between his eyebrows as his emotions welled up inside him. “Hey,” I said, gently reaching over to take his hand, encouraging him to look at me. “It’s okay to feel sad and a bit cross that the zoo isn’t the way you want it, but we still have time to do more before she arrives. And you can leave it like this, and you can finish it next week. Then we can take lots of pictures to show Mummy so she can see what it looks like.”
“But… but I want… it’s…” He screwed up his face as he tried to find his words while dealing with the massive emotional fluctuation he was experiencing. For someone who wasn’t quite three, he was handling it well. But I was also aware things could change quickly, and luckily I was prepared for either outcome.
“I know, and it’s okay to want more time. Why don’t you finish the elephants, and then we can make sure all the animals and dinosaurs have all their food ready? What sort of food do you think we should give them? I think maybe the T-Rex and the zebras might like bananas.”
Jack looked at me witheringly, and I had to bite my lip so I didn’t start giggling. “Don’t be silly, Harper. T-Rexes donotlike bananas.”
He sounded so serious that I had to cough into my elbow to mask my laughter. But at least it had gently swayed his focus away from what he couldn’t control. “Oh? I thought they liked bananas. Did you know T-Rexes didn’t like bananas, Daddy?” I asked, glancing over at Matty, who was stood in the door of the playroom grinning.
“I did, because obviously their favourite food is marshmallows.”
“Not marshmallows, Daddy!” Jack laughed and looked between the two of us with a shake of his head, almost like he was muttering,What did I do to be stuck with these two?
“What do they like then?” I asked, letting go of his hand so I could sit cross-legged in front of him and make large thinking gestures, like stroking my chin. “Is it peanut butter? Strawberries? Ooh, is it roast potatoes?”
“No Harper, that’smyfavourite.”
“Ohhh, definitely not for a T-Rex then. Unless you’re a T-Rex in disguise?”
Jack roared and waved his arms, hurling himself into my lap as he pretended to eat me. I couldn’t stop myself from laughing, even if my legs were getting trampled on and his solid toddler feet were very close to my groin.
“That’s enough, tiny T-Rex of terror,” Matty said, scooping Jack up with ease and blowing raspberries on his tummy, making Jack shriek and wriggle.
“But Daddy, I’m a dinosaur!”
“I know, but we don’t eat our friends. Especially not Harper! Otherwise, who is going to watchSootyandOld Bearwith you?” He was still holding Jack in one arm like he weighed nothing, and I suddenly had a newfound appreciation for rugby arms.
“Okay… I’ll eat you!”
“Oh no!” Matty cried, gently putting Jack onto the floor and turning to run away. “You’ll have to catch me first.” He set off, probably going at about a third of his usual pace, and two seconds later Jack followed him, his giggles mixed with dinosaur roars as he attempted to catch his dad.
I stood up, preparing to get totally mixed up in the game, when the musical ringing of the doorbell echoed through the house. “I’ll get it,” I said as I walked towards the front door,although I doubted Matty could hear me over the tiny dinosaur currently chasing him.
Pausing just before the door, I smiled and took a deep breath. I’d spoken to Hannah briefly over a couple of video calls, but this was the first time we’d met in person and while I wasn’t nervous, I did want to make a good impression. And maybe find a way to thank her for defending me.
“Hey,” I said as I pulled open the door. “I’m Harper.”
“Hi, Harper, it’s so good to finally meet you in person!” Hannah held out her hand to shake mine, her grip firm but warm. Despite having seen pictures and heard stories, none of them quite did the woman in front of me justice.
She was tall and slim with long blonde hair pushed back by an enormous pair of designer sunglasses and light brown eyes that instantly reminded me of Jack’s. Her make-up was flawless, and she was wearing a pink summer dress and sandals with gold jewellery that glinted in the sun, a raspberry pink Mulberry handbag over one arm and a large gift bag in the other.
