Lolly

Epilogue

I was sitting in the green armchair by the window, looking out into the streets. It was late autumn, bordering on winter and I could see the trees that had already shed their leaves and the ones that were still in the process, their leaves still a haze of orange uncertainty. Some of the children were kicking at piles of brown leaves which had littered the ground, their parents urging them to keep walking.
The apartment was peaceful once again. Not moments ago, Ben had been running around playing with anything he could find lying around which even included fruit and one of the old telephones we kept from back when we were younger. I enjoyed having him around but I was glad when things got quiet again and I could hear myself think, or even give myself a chance to. It was hard work being a grandfather. Not as hard as being a father with no form of role model to look up to, but it was no walk in the park either. Yet despite everything, I wouldn't have had it any other way.
I folded my arms across my chest in an attempt to keep more body heat from escaping my sweater. I thought about fetching something warmer to wear.
"There's no milk," cried a voice suddenly from the kitchen.
"There was milk yesterday," I replied. She came out of the kitchen, her white hair tied back from her face, her face frowning and her hands on her hips.
"I told you to get some this morning when you went out before Nat dropped off Ben."
"I completely forgot, I'm sorry," I said. Lolly threw up her hands in frustration.
"You always forget!" She went back into the kitchen.
"I remembered the last time you told me," I said defensively.
"Oh, yeah you did. Three months ago."
"Do you want me to go get some now?" I asked in a reasonable voice.
"Leave it. We'll have to have our tea without milk," she replied.
After a while, she came out holding two mugs and handed one to me. She sat down on the matching armchair opposite me. I looked into my mug. The familiar toffee colour greeted me.   It was darker than I would have normally had it but still.
"I thought you said we were out of milk," I said, surprised to find my tea actually contained some.
"There were a few drops left," she muttered.
"Here, take this, I'll take the black one," I said holding my mug out with one hand and holding out the other to take hers. She drew hers away.
"No, you take yours, I'll take mine," she said firmly, even though I knew how much she hated black tea but would drink it anyway because it was better than nothing.
"But-" I protested.
"But next time, get milk." She lifted her chin and took a sip from her mug. There was no arguing with her now. We drank the rest of our tea in silence.
After a few minutes, I slowly stood up.
"I think I'm heading for a nap," I mumbled.
"Yeah, I'll join you in a bit," she said. I walked over and gently placed a kiss on her soft hair. She looked up at me surprised. I just smiled.
"Thanks for the tea," I said. She nodded and gave a half-smile.
"Whatever," she said and snorted. She placed her now empty mug on the windowsill. And then she slowly stood up to follow me.