Paisleys on the sofa jumping from arm to arm in her pyjamas. Cheryl still isn’t back but she said she shouldn’t be too long and when she comes she will be bringing our tea so I’ve fed and bathed Paisley as well as attempting to get her into bed but with it being summer the suns still up so she ran straight back down. I need to get her to bed soon because watching a movie with a chatterbox of a 2 year old isn’t exactly my idea of fun.
“Right bedtime missus”
“I’m not tired” She protests with a yawn but I swing her from the sofa into my arms.
“Yes you are little monkey” She shakes her head and tries to wiggle from my hold. “If we go up now I’ll sing to you”
She stops fighting my hold and looks at me with wide eyes. “Really, mummy?”
“Really” I nod and I carry her upstairs into the guest room we had stayed in last night. It’s not near as tidy as it was just when we got here, it was spotless and now clothes are spread all over the floor and we’ve only been here 24 hours. “You get in bed and I’ll get blankie” I tell her and she climbs into the huge bed and sinks into the pillows. I go over to one of the black bags and pull out her comfort blanket along with her dummy, I hand her them before going over to the window and pulling the curtains closed blocking out the summer night sun.
I shuffle into bed next to her and she yawns and looking up at me through her long eyelashes. “Sing, mummy”
I smile as she lays her head on my chest and I run my fingers through her still wet hair. “Ok,close your eyes then” I whisper.
I close my eyes too and start singing ‘mockingbird’ to her and when I next open them I look down at Paisley and its done the trick. She’s fast asleep, it must have only took a few minutes and she’s snoring softly on my chest. I run my hand over her cheek and hold her close to me for a little while. I hear a cupboard door close downstairs and glance at the clock, its 7:30 I must have dropped off with her. I carefully roll her onto the pillow and I kiss her head before quietly exiting the room and jogging down stairs. Cheryl’s standing in the kitchen scooping rice onto two plates and as I approach her she turns around and flashes me the biggest smile ever.
“Sorry, How long have you been back? I must have dropped off”
“Just 10 minutes, I heard you singing”
“Oh god” I mutter feeling myself turning red.
“I thought my heart was going to burst”
“Let’s never mention that again” I laugh
“you have a lovely voice, you know”
“Stop it you,no I don’t” I say bashfully and she looks at me seriously.
“You do” She insists.
“I put Paisley in the bath I hope that’s ok, she was filthy from being outside all day”
“Of course it is, I told you to make you yourself at home. We can take this through, have you picked a DVD?”
“I have, we’re watching Chucky”
“You’re taking the piss aren’t you?”
“What?” I look at her innocently and she doesn’t look amused.
“Never mind ‘what’, I’ll have nightmares”
“It’s not that scary”
“Aye maybe not to you but it terrifies us, I hate his face”
“He mightn’t like yours either” I laugh and she pouts
“Kimba”
“Come on, I’ll protect you” She looks at me like she’s totally given up and smiles warmly.
