Memories

Chapter 16

"How was today's physio? Was it as strenuous as yesterday's?" I ask as I pop my head in the door to Savannah's room. She shakes her head with a smile on her face. "Well then, today's fact is that in Sweden, it is officially Anna's day, so I brought you these." I bring the bouquet that I'm holding out from behind my back and her face lights up at the colourful flowers. I walk into the room and hand her the bouquet before putting my things in their usual position. "So, on another note, I'm going to tell you about my birthday today. It wasn't as special as yours, but we still had a good time."

***

"Make a wish!" Maisie called as I blew out the candles on the cake in front of me that Savannah had made me.

I made a wish as the final candle flickered out and Savannah handed me the kitchen knife. I cut two slices and put them onto some plates. "Right there you go. One for you, Maisie and one for you, Savannah; the rest is for me," I teased, pulling the rest of the cake towards me. The look on their faces was hilarious, but I restrained myself from laughing, trying to be serious. "What? Are you not okay with that fact?"

"I want more cake," Maisie announced, on the edge of tears.

"It's okay Maisie moo, I was just joking. Anyways, you already have a large slice on your plate," I responded, cutting another slice for myself. I licked my fingers before picking it up and taking a bite. "This cake is delicious, thank you Savannah. Can I have the rest?"

"No!" It was the first time she'd spoken up. "No, you cannot have the rest of the cake unless you do more exercise to burn it off." I could see mother-mode coming through.

"Would you like another slice though?" Savannah had eaten hers in record time and I thought that I eat quickly.

"Oh, go on then."

I cut all of us another slice and they were gone as quickly as the first. When we'd finished, Maisie was almost instantly hyper even though she'd left the jam and cream on her plate. I finished them off as I put the plates in the dishwasher (it was my cake after all and the innards were the best bits, in my opinion).

After I boxed up the cake and put it in the fridge for it to be consumed later, I returned to the girls in the lounge where they were setting up a game of Mousetrap. It wasn't my favourite game of all time, but Maisie enjoyed setting up and triggering the mousetrap, so we played it regularly. If I had my choice we'd be playing Cluedo or something else detective-y. (I must admit, I'm pretty good at those games.)

In the end, Masie won (as usual) and then we decided to put a movie on so together we agreed on Moana, one of the Disney movies that I could actually stand. It's not that I didn't like them, more that I'd seen them all a dozen times and there's only so many times that you can watch a princess find her perfect prince over and over again. We'd spent the afternoon at the park in the cold, so the warmth provided by the blanket that Maisie insisted upon was welcomed. Savannah had to start cooking dinner, so it was just the two of us. After fifteen minutes or so, Maisie rested her head on my chest and nearly fell asleep. She looked so peaceful as she took in the film, compared to before, when she was running and jumping all over the place. When her eyes finally drooped closed, I took a photo on my phone and saved it as my lock screen wallpaper. I paused the film as Savannah emerged from the kitchen.

"She really likes you, you know?"

"Yeah, I do. I'm just amazed at the fact that she can be so peaceful one moment yet so energetic the next."

"You don't say. When she was a baby, she could be asleep for hours and then screaming her head off. Then, if you fed her, she'd be quiet again." She perched on the armrest at the end of the couch. "I don't know how many hours of sleep I've lost during that first year."