Teddy

Chapter Twenty Five: Playing house

Mama and Willa left in the morning, and by midday we had already taken Wren to the park, pushed her on the swings and chased her around as she stumbled across the grass. Teddy had even FaceTimed her entire family in Oregon with her, so that she could see their faces.

"My baby" Maria had said as Teddy and Wren popped up on her screen.

"Hey Momma" Teddy said affectionately "How was the peace and quiet this week" she asks.

Maria laughs "too quiet Theodora. I didn't like it... you know I love the yap yap yapping of you all. I'm so used to it now I feel lost without it"

"And now that they've been back for five minutes, how do you feel?" Teddy asks with an amused smile.

Maria rolls her eyes "Deafened again" she reveals with a laugh "Thea came in this morning with Matthias... she says she needs another vacation from the vacation she took... apparently you made her run up some great big hill every morning or something"

"What a loaded lie" Teddy guffaws, mouth falling open "it was one morning and I had to then carry her back up that damned hill" she adds, shaking her head amused, at Thea's over the top and false recollection.

"Well she says different" Maria shrugs " And Calliope is a little travel sick still" she muses.

Teddy turns to me and gives me a knowing look and I smile from the couch, she had told me last night about the pregnancy news. Callie would be looking green for a while yet if she was anything like me, and as I think back to my pregnancy nausea, I grimace. I did not want to do that again anytime soon.

"And Demitra is back in the restaurant today, working the floor for me. Alexi missed her... and Chris too, she is in a very good mood I think the trip did her good"

"That's good momma" Teddy says as she sits on the floor beside Wren, who is handing her every soft toy from her toy hamper until she places them in pretend beds on the couch beside me.

"How is my engoni" Maria asks.

Teddy grabs Wren as she walks away and pulls her back onto her lap, giggling as she does. "She's grown a lot Momma... look at her" she says holding her up for her to inspect "and look at her hair" Teddy says placing her back down and holding the tips of her pig tails up.

"So beautiful" Maria says affectionately and she beams into the camera as Wren takes the phone and toddles off with it "oop I'm going on a little tour of the playroom" Maria observes.

Wren takes her around and babbles at her, mostly inaudible, but some of it you could understand "mama... lala...dddd...cccc..bb"

Teddy sidles up onto the couch beside me "fancy going swimming after lunch" she asks.

I frown "where"

She kisses my lips "the community pool Harper...it's winter I think all outdoor water sources are out" she replies teasingly.

"Wren would love that" I return nudging her shoulder "but do you have a swimsuit" I ask.

She smiles and kisses my cheek "yes I have one in my bag from Turkey"

"Okay... yeah let's have lunch and book it"

***

Teddy's idea of lunch had me in stitches as she attempted to make Wren a meal, fit for a Queen.

"Teddy she won't eat that" I suggest, looking down at the humous, an assortment of fresh foods for dipping into it, including, bread sticks and cucumber fingers with some red peppers.

To the left was an assortment of fruit pieces she has cut into appropriate sizes, grapes sliced into quarters, banana and strawberries with a Greek yoghurt dip. In the centre of the prepared foods were some Greek filo pastries, with spinach and feta cheese, that Teddy had prepared by hand, they had made the house smell insane as they had cooked and now I sat picking at them.