Doomsday

chapter three

Mia's dad took her home right before dinner. Autumn had woken up from her nap and was now having her designated hour of television time, which was making Reece himself rather restless. Whilst his mother was cooking dinner, he found himself swinging on one of the chairs by the breakfast bar, watching her every move. "Mummy," he whined softly. "When's it my turn to watch TV? I wanna watch Fireman Sam."

"In half an hour," she responded, not looking up from the tomatoes that she was chopping. Reece wrinkled his nose, sliding off the chair to come and have a look at what she was doing.

"That's ages away. And I don't like tomatoes."

She continued to slice them and shot him a look. "I know you don't. They're for Autumn."

He watched her push the tomatoes to the side with her knife and then put the knife down. "I want to watch the TV," he complained, looking up at her with a pout. His mum sighed, going to grab to plates out of the cupboard.

"It's Autumn's turn, Reece. You have to wait."

Reece sighed passive-aggressively but continued to follow her around regardless. She shot him a sideways glance. "Stop huffing."

He huffed again regardless, sliding down the side of the counter and sitting on the floor with a pout. She rolled her eyes, putting down the plates at the dinner table and then coming back to Reece and kneeling down in front of him. "Come on. Don't be in a strop. Why don't you come and help me finish dinner, hm? You're a big boy, remember?"

Reece stared at her for a long moment, looking a little miserable, but nevertheless nodded and took her hand as she pulled him to his feet and spun him around a little, electing a small squeal from him. He looked up at his mother with a wide smile of pure love and admiration, and she chuckled gently, ruffling his hair. "Can you put some cups down for me, Reece?"

Reece nodded eagerly and rushed over to the cupboard, where he stood on his tip-toes to grab his favourite blue plastic cup and Autumn's dark purple one. He carried them over to the table and put them in their respective places, and looked back at his mother for approval. "Well done," she praised, pulling the pizza out of the oven. His eyes widened.

"Pizza!" Reece exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement as his eyes brimmed with glee. Pizza was his favourite. He giggled, running up to his mother and peering out the counter, watching as she cut the pizza into smaller pieces and laughed softly.

"Yes, Reece. Pizza." She handed him the bowl of tomatoes. "Put these on the table for me, love."

He did as he was told, putting them on the table, but nearer Autumn's side as he knew for a fact he would not be touching those. Reece watched eagerly as his mother placed the pizza down in the middle of the table. "Sit down, Reece. I'm just going to go and get Autumn." He nodded, slipping into his seat happily and waiting for his mother to return with his sister.

Sure enough, moments later she came back in with Autumn on her hip. Autumn looked a bit irritated, clearly not happy to be pulled away from her television time, but her eyes lit up when she saw the food on the table. "Pizza!" she giggled as her mother placed her down in her seat.

"You two are so similar," she snorted softly, running her fingers through the toddler's hair. Reece's mother began to put some food on each of their plates. "Is that an okay amount, Reece?"

Reece looked at the plate of food. "Yeah," he nodded with a small smile, "thank you."

"You're welcome sweetheart," she smiled softly, helping Autumn with her food once Reece was happily eating.

It was quiet moments like this, especially when his father wasn't home, that Reece treasured and enjoyed. His mother was the sweetest soul to exist; her comfort carried a warm aura which felt like a safety blanket around him. Dinner was a calm affair (bar Autumn throwing a tomato on the floor when she decided that she didn't want it anymore). Reece left a single slice of pizza, which pleased his mother. "Well done," she praised, rubbing his shoulder. "You've eaten a good amount. Go and grab yourself a doughnut."

He didn't need to be told twice as he shot up to his feet and went to grab a doughnut from the cupboard. Reece had a look through the different options remaining in the box and picked the biggest one to go and put on a little plate. He carried it over to the table and sat back down. This riled Autumn. "Mummy," she huffed. "I want one."

Reece pulled a face at her, waving the doughnut around in the air before taking a big bite out of it, just to grind on her nerves. He was successful; Autumn let out a reedy whine as she squirmed in her chair. "Reece," said his mother in a warning tone. "Just eat it. There wasn't any need for that."

He smiled innocently and bit back a smirk when Autumn continued to whine irritably and their mother tried to calm her down. "Just one more bite and then you can have a doughnut."

Autumn took a grumpy bite of the pizza and then tossed it back down on the plate. "Good enough," she chuckled, taking the half-eaten plate of food away and discarding it into the bin. She returned a few moments later with a doughnut for her, sliding it across the table to her on the plate. This easily appeased her as she happily began to eat the doughnut, wiping her hands on the tablecloth to clear them of the sugar.

At about six-thirty, they started their bedtime routine. Reece got himself changed into his comfiest pair of pyjamas and brushed his teeth, before dashing into Autumn's bedroom so that he could listen to a story read by their mother too. Whilst Autumn lay comfily underneath the duvet with her teddy bear under her arm, Reece sat at the end of the bed next to his mother, his head resting on her arm as she read, in her usual low, mellifluous voice. Autumn was fast asleep and snoring soft by the end of the story, and Reece was half-asleep himself, too tired to move. "C'mon Reece," his mother said gently. "Bedtime."

He cracked his eyes open slightly, squinting up at her with an exhausted expression as he let out a yawn. She chuckled, combing her fingers through his platinum-blonde hair. Smiling down at him, she put the book away on the wooden bookshelf and scooped him up into her arms, holding him against her hip as she carried him out of Autumn's bedroom, flicking the light off on the way out and shutting the door quietly.

Reece murmured softly, resting his face on her shoulder and yawning. She carried him through to his bedroom, laying him down in bed and tucking him in tightly as he looked up at her with a sleepy smile. "Night mummy."

"Night Reece," she whispered, stroking his cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too," he responded, closing his eyes and drifting off into a slumber.