Little Ralph~The boy with nine lives

Cake and chaos

The weeks following little Ralph's birth went by in a blissful blur, thankfully, both Mother and baby were now healthy & happy after the chaotic arrival. Though it had been a bit touch and go with Annie's Asthma worsening, due to the stress of early labour & fast paced birth. Family life was very busy, between nursing a newborn, running around after a very energetic 3 year old & helping her husband out in the pub they ran, Annie was running on empty some evenings, Reggie not far behind her, but still they were happy and content with their lot, they knew how lucky they were to have each other & two beautiful, healthy boys. They had planned on having a large family as they both came from large families, but after how much stress the pregnancy, labour & birth had put on Annie's body this time around, her lungs in particular, they decided to bypass that idea & be thankful for their little family of four, plus, the boys already had plenty of cousins for playmates that Annie & Reggie loved like their own anyway.

Time flew by so quickly over the following months that in the blink of an eye it was November already and William's fourth birthday. He had been so excited counting down the days and telling everyone he was going to be four on Sunday, yet here the day was and the place was silent, which was not at all what they both expected, so, puzzled, they got out of bed & crept to his room only to find an empty bed. Knowing the only other place he would be they quietly made their way to little Ralph's new room & both their hearts stilled at the sight before them, William had climbed into the cot with his little brother & was cuddled up to him, stroking his hair, telling him that today was a special day because he was a big boy and now that he was four he was an even better big brother & he wanted Ralph to be the first person he saw today as he was his most favourite person. Little Ralph hung on his big brother's every word, babbling along as William told him all about birthday parties & the birthday song that he would teach him as well as how much fun they were going to have today. Witnessing this moment & watching their brotherly bond melted both their hearts as they stood there with goofy smiles, all emotional but feeling like they were intruding, they quietly retraced their steps back to their room & took advantage of the extra time they had to snuggle up together themselves, these stolen moments were few and far between!

Williams birthday party was on the ground floor of the pub, with it being a Sunday there would be no patrons, so the main doors were locked & as usual it was a family affair, even more so today as they were all there to celebrate Williams special day & the boy was delighted! He and his cousins had the run of the 3 story, Victorian building providing they didn't run or push each other on the stairs, which they didn't for the most part. Of all the cousins, he was closest to his two oldest on his Mother's side, Bertie & Joanie, his Aunt Sarah's children, they were 4 & 2 years older than him, respectively. They were nicknamed the 3 musketeers by their parents, Joanie being the strong willed, fearless leader of the trio, the older & younger boy happily following along & embracing whatever mischief they found themselves in, there was never a dull moment when they were together.

When the time came to blow out the candles on the scrumptious looking cake that Annie and both her sisters had baked & decorated, William declared loudly he was giving the first piece of his cake to the person he loved the most, Little Ralph (of course), Joanie was a little put out by this as she was always his favourite before now, however, she, like everyone else, also adored the baby & she quickly got over it. They had all watched in humour as the baby half devoured, half obliterated the piece, as he had himself a mini cake smash, this quickly turned into a group cake smashing session as the other kids gleefully joined in, as usual it descended into chaos amid shrieks of laughter, like it always did when the triad of mischief were together.

Once the sugar rush wore off & the kids energy levels plummeted, the Mother's wasted no time in bathing them & getting them tucked up in bed, ready for a bedtime story. William was having a sleepover for his birthday, he was super excited, they were going to look at the stars through Williams 3rd story bedroom window (which had great views) & have great fun, whilst Bertie taught them what he knew about the constellations, but none of them saw past 8:30 pm. The little mischief makers were snuggled up & sleeping soundly, looking like little angels.