Here comes Teddy

About Nana (Fourty-three)

Teddy PoV

I was in bed, laying there as sleep didn't want to come to me, I looked at the clock on my bedroom wall, which said that it was about half 1 in the morning, so I did what no mature adult would do and gave up on sleeping properly that night.

I then heard some little footsteps so I looked up to see Ro coming in from having a nightmare.

"Hey Baby, are you ok?"
"No, Daddy, I miss Nana"
"I miss her too Sweetheart, you know what, I'll get some photos down for you, ok?"
"Ok Daddy"

So I went to turn the light on, walked to my wardrobe, got on the two step ladder to get the box of photos down, then went back into bed and sat Ro on my lap.

"So Baby, where do you want to start with the photos?"
"The earliest photos in the box please"
"Yeah, I can do that for you Sweetheart"

So I gave Ro the first photo that I could remember chronologically, which was of Nana and my Grandpa when they first moved to England as teenagers.

"Who's in this one photo Daddy?"
"That's Nana on the left"
"It is?"
"(Laughs), yeah Baby it is, and that is Nana's husband"
"Is he your Grandad Daddy?"
"Yes Sweetheart, he was"
"Is he dead too Daddy?"
"Yeah Baby, he died when I was your age"
"How old were they in the photo Daddy?"
"I think that they were about 15 or 16 in this photo Buba"

I then kissed the top of Ro's head and handed her the next photo.

"Do you know who's in this one Sweetheart?"
"That's you Daddy"
"Yeah Buba, that's me"
"And I know that's Uncle Georgie because he's the only ginger-"
"(Snorts)"
"It's not funny Daddy"
"I'm sorry Baby"
"That's ok, and I know that's Nana, though I don't know who the baby in the photo is?"
"(Chuckles), The baby in the photo is you Sweetheart"
"Wait!, that's me?!, I was tiny!"
"(Chuckles), yeah well that was because you were born really early Baby"
"How early was I Daddy?"
"Well, you know that your birthday is 26th August?"
"Yeah"
"Well, you were supposed to be born 29th October"
"What!, but why was I born so early?"
"I don't really know Baby, even the Doctors didn't know why you were born early"
"Oh, can I have the next photo please?"
"Sure Baby"

So I passed Ro the next photo, relieved that I did manage to calm Ro down from the nightmare.

"Who's holding me there Daddy?"
"That's your Auntie Violet"
"Is she your sister that died?"
"No Baby, you're thinking of your Auntie Katie"
"Oh, you know you have too many sisters Daddy, right"
"(Snorts), I don't think Nanny would appreciate you saying that Baby"
"Well as long as she doesn't ask me for my opinion on it then it should be all good"
"I guess so Bambina"

We then moved on to the next photo, which was of Ro and I when she was a like a year old, it was my favourite photo of us, because it was the first photo that I got her laughing in.

"Is that me again?"
"Yes Sweetheart, it is you"
"How old was I there?"
"You were about a year old"
"Wait, this is the one that you have in your wallet"
"Yes it is Baby, good spot by you, I do have a copy of it in my wallet, you know it's my favourite photo of you and me"
"Why's that?"
"Because it is the first photo that you were laughing in, every photo before this one you were either crying in or sleeping in"
"But what were we laughing at?"
"Uncle Georgie just squished cake into Nanny's face"
"(Giggles), that does sound funny Daddy"
"It was Baby"

I got another photo out, it was a photo of Ro and Nana at a beach when she was 2 years old.

"Where were we in this photo?"
"We went to Norfolk for your birthday"
"I don't remember this"
"You were only 2 years old at the time Buba"
"It looks pretty there"
"That it does Sweetheart"
"Daddy, do you think that we can go there again one day"
"(Chuckles), sure Buba, if that's what you want to do"

Ro then yawned and curled herself closer to me if that was possible, so I did what any responsible parent would do, which is put their kid back to bed and turning off the lights.

"Ok sleepyhead, time for bed"
"Ok Daddy, good night"
"Good night Sweetheart, don't let the bedbugs bite"
"I can't tell the bedbugs what to do, because they're bugs and I'm a human so we can't talk to each other"
"You're going to get too smart for me one day Buba"
"No, that can't happen, you're my Daddy and so I love you always like you love me always"