Look at Me - H.S.

~ Chapter 17 ~

I breathe out a contented sigh as I relax back into the cushions of the sofa. Wine in one hand, the other scratching Anne's cat, Skye behind her ear as she snuggles up next to me and the view of the warm orange glow of the sky, as the sun disappears for the night, in front of me.

It's so peaceful out here, no wonder it's Anne's favourite place. The temperature is a little cooler now, which I'm thankful for, it's been a glorious, sunny day today but my under boob sweat and the chub rub on my thighs is no joke. I slip my birks off and swivel my arse slightly so that my back is against the arm and bring my legs up to rest on the cushions, crossing my ankles. Skye leaps off and wonders into the house and I place my now free arm on the back of the chair to rest my temple into the palm of my hand.

Today has been such a brilliant day. It's just so nice to be surrounded by genuine, lovely people.

As soon as we walked through the door, Anne gave us a tour of her beautiful home and showed us to the room that me and the girls would share for the night. It's a stunningly decorated room, simple and minimal but small touches of homeliness dotted around make it so inviting.
Bailey and Elodie were immediately smitten with all the cats in the house and begged me for a good 20 minutes to get one for ourselves, the fact that their dad is allergic made that decision an easy, although disappointing one.

I was shooed out of the kitchen when I tried to help with lunch and decided to take up residence on the patio in the back garden, having to dip in and out of the shade under the wind out awning to stop my pale skin from being burnt to a crisp. Harry being Harry, removed his T-shirt, slathered himself in sunscreen, and soaked up every ray that shone down on him, earning a golden tint to his skin over the course of the day.

The girls spent the majority of their time with Anne, exploring her magnificent garden and making the most of the space they had to run around in, playing football with Harry, practicing cartwheels, which I also joined in on. Harry's rubbish at them and I'm awesome, so that obviously annoyed him.

It wasn't until later in the afternoon when Harry eventually checked the messages on his phone and after pretending to be pissed off for all of 30 seconds, he thankfully saw the funny side of it but not before he bent over in-front of me, practically shoving his curly locks up my bloody nose and insisted I tug on his hair to prove that it in fact was not a wig. After my laughter had settled down I sent a message to Shaun to confirm that we had nothing to worry about, which Harry was grateful for. The fact that I had also sent the photo to Anne and Gemma did not go down too well though. Gemma had great pleasure in threatening Harry with putting it on her Instagram story however, Harry soon diffused that situation by downloading the app himself and proceeded to take a photo of Gemma using one of the filters on a picture Anne had up of her in the house. They called a truce after that.

The conversation soon turned to mocking me for having the mug in the first place, which I shrugged off. They can take the piss all they want, I love that mug.
He then claimed it wasn't fair and he wanted one with my photo on it too. Not happening, sunshine.

After we had all eaten dinner, a delicious vegetarian meal, prepared and cooked by both Anne and Harry, because again, I wasn't allowed to help, the biggest kid here decided it would be fun to start a water fight. The giggles and screams coming from all four of us as we ran around the garden would've definitely disturbed any peace the neighbours had hoped for, luckily they weren't very close by because I honestly would've struggled to give a shit anyways. Sorry, I know that's selfish. We were all just having way too much fun and I didn't want the feeling to end.

I noticed the fondness in Anne's eyes every time I glanced in her direction and she was looking over at my girls with the same look she gives her own children. A loving smile on her face and soft eyes as she watches on with her head slightly tilted to the side, her sunglasses pushed up on top of her head as she relaxes in the ridiculously comfy chairs on the patio. That warmth that she radiates managed to penetrate me, even from a distance and I realised then that she's another person my girls will have to look up to for, hopefully, years to come.