Consequences

Epilogue- Part 100

"I'm not gonna!" Came the petulant comment which was swiftly followed by a full blown pout. "You can't make me!"

"Darcy, that's enough!" Isabelle replied without batting an eyelid. How quickly time flies she thought as she looked across at her husband of five years and threw him a speaking look. His feigned innocent response made Isabelle adopt another approach as she told their four year old daughter, Darcy, "Daddy will help you." In the meantime Isabelle continued to gently encourage Darcy's younger sister, Jaclyn to finish pulling on her pajama bottoms. Jaclyn at two and a half years old now insisted on dressing herself, which was fine, but a rather prolonged process. Which would have been fine if Isabelle and Doug weren't supposed to be heading out in just under half an hour but had yet to get dressed for the evening. 

How had she managed to give birth to two feisty girls? Then Isabelle conceded, that in the nature-nuture debate this wasn't a nature consequence, this was a nurture consequence for Doug Hawke doted on both of his daughters.

The four year old scowled at her mother and holding onto the head of her almost threadbare rag doll, she stomped toward her father.

Doug's laugh was smothered when his four year old daughter who most people said favoured his features, marched over to him and announced. "Daddy it's too early!" She flounced to sit on his lap and said as if it was of great importance, "I'm not sleepy!"

When Isabelle married Doug five years ago, they had sold the Sojour D'Sa house, Isabelle's grandmother had moved into a granny flat on Marina and Rafe's property, and Caro had moved in with Isabelle and Doug and become a family member in the Hawke household. So usually when Isabelle and Doug had a date night Caro stepped in to babysit the children. But tonight she had phoned to say she was caught in traffic on her way back to the house to babysit this evening. Which is how Isabelle and Doug came to find themselves getting their daughters dressed and ready for bed instead of getting themselves ready for their night out.

With Isabelle Doug knew that his scars were of no consequence, but he had in the lead up to her giving birth to their daughter, wondered whether their child would look at him and find him ugly or worse still, scary. But Darcy, like her mother did not seem to see his scars. He and Darcy had the same eyes, and the same long eyelashes. She had his mouth too.  Which made it all the more heartwarming because she favoured him! She would wait on the couch, watching out of the window for his arrival home every evening. Before the door was closed and he'd had a chance to put his case down she and her sister would launch themselves at him and smother him with leg hugs and then when he picked them up they would cover his face with kisses. His daughters laughed at all his corny voices when he gave characters in their stories personalities. They were entranced when he read to them, listening avidly as he told them the story. They were infinitely precious to him, and not surprisingly as Isabelle often told him, he spoilt his girls! He had grown up in an environment where physical contact usually meant a fight. But with his young and growing family physical contact meant hugs and kisses. And the message those hugs and kisses conveyed had him wondering what he'd done to deserve this family.

Doug wrapped his arms around his eldest daughter and cradled her close as he said, "Don't you want to know what happens in the story?" They read most nights when the girls went to bed. Isabelle and Doug took it in turns to read to their daughters at bedtime. It was part of the routine they had established. And on most nights it went smoothly. The girls shared a room, though in reality they could have had their own room and every night Doug or Isabelle read to them once they were tucked into bed. They usually read a few pages, which was enough for the girls. Then both parents kissed them goodnight, a nightlight was left on, and the door was left open with just a slither of light from the corridor. That was the norm. But tonight it looked like Darcy was going to be difficult about going to bed.