Sea Glass: Marie and Lauryn

Chapter 13

"Look, Pippa, there's a bird's nest," Mac said, pointing up at the trees.

"Really?" she replied excitedly.

"Come on, I'll lift you up so you can see it."

Bending, Mac lifted Pippa to sit on his shoulders, the little girl giggling as he did so. 

Marie smiled. This is what she had wanted for so many years. Her children together as they should be. And, Mac and Pippa were getting along great. She wasn't too surprised; Mac was mature and gentle for his age and Pippa, well, the same.

Then he walked toward the tree and pointed up. 

"Do you think there are babies in there, Mac?" Pippa asked.

"Prolly. You know when I was your age mum used to take me to look at grouse eggs in the spring? Then we would come back and see when the babies were born."

Marie's smile widened, remembering little Mac's amazement some 12 years prior. Her father had done the same with her when she was a young girl in Oxfordshire, and so she always had wanted to pass on her love of the outdoors with her children. But, life had gotten in the way when it came to doing these things with Jack and Pippa and so she hadn't yet. But now that her life had shifted from work and maintaining a façade to which she didn't ascribe anymore, she would.  

"Mummy, can we do that too?" Pippa asked from his shoulders. 

"Of course, Pip." 

Mac looked up at Pippa.

"Would you like to stay up there?"

"Yes, please! It's so nice to be tall for once."

Everyone laughed and they continued walking, Mac and Pippa further up ahead with Marie and Lauryn walking much more slowly for the latter's sake. 

After their talk, she and Mac had gone to the grocery store as the food that she had at the apartment was suited towards two women and a little girl, none of whom had a large appetite. When they returned home, Lauryn and Pippa were taking a nap together, of which Marie was glad since she was sure Lauryn had spent her energy getting the little girl out of the house. 

When they had woken, they talked to Pippa about who Mac was. It was slightly difficult to explain everything to a six-year-old, but Marie said that Mac's mum had died and that, while he lived with his grandparents, she had become his mum. And, that it didn't change how much love she had for Pippa. Unsurprisingly, the little girl accepted everything, simply saying that she hoped Mac wasn't annoying like Jack, making Marie and Lauryn laugh. After their talk, Pippa had asked if they could go to the park.

As they walked, Lauryn had wound her hand around Marie's bicep to keep her balance. It made Marie smile, remembering when she had looked down at couples from their balcony, walking through Hyde Park so freely, wondering if that would ever be them. Even with Lauryn's injury, it now very much was their reality. And, it was even more special because Mac was with them. 

There were still many obstacles ahead. Lauryn's weak state and the question as to whether she would ever work again -- even ever draw again -- something she knew she loved. The trials of Hammersley and his son. The work it would take to improve her and Lauryn's relationships with Jack. The push for acceptance of Lauryn by Marie's mother. And, the repair of the damage to Lauryn's relationship with her brother, Finn...and perhaps with her mother. That particularly angered Marie. Neither had reached out to see how Lauryn was after everything that had happened. Even as she had lain dying. She knew it bothered Lauryn, but she hid it well. But, sometimes she would find Lauryn cuddling Felix on the sofa, knees drawn up to her chest, flipping through old photos on her phone, bottom lip wedged between her teeth. At least Patty and Granda called daily and her other siblings at least once a week now.