Flutter

Flutter: Quatroze (2/2)

 Peyton was dashing about, trying to avoid Annabelle. She was threatening her brother with blue-berry stained fingers, scrunching her face and waving her chubby arms. The young wolf was no more scary than a newborn pup. While the scene was hilarious to Nora - who was struggling to smother her laughter - Peyton was more than put out. Peyton, dressed up in a spiffy new outfit, was horrified at the thought of having blue fingerprints spoiling it. So Peyton let out screams of peril as Anna toddled after him.

 "Auntie Nora! Make her stop!" Peyton yelled, grabbing onto Nora's lower leg and cowering. Nora scooped up Annabelle just before she manage to reach Peyton.

"Now Anna, it's not very nice to tease your brother." Nora said, attempting to be stern.

"I just wanted to give him a hug." Annabelle stated innocently, batting her eyelashes.

"That may be, but I don't think he'd appreciate a hug until your hands are washed." Nora replied, placing Annabelle back on the ground. "Now, come on guys. We have to get these blueberries back to Mary soon so that we can have pie! There won't be any pie if you keep eating them all!"

The thought of a pie-less dinner made the two refocus on their task. They'd been out by the thickets for nearly an hour and a very simple chore was made not so simple by the kids.  Half the bushes were void of berries but they weren't in the baskets. Rather, many of the pickings ended up in the bellies of the Peyton and Anna. Even Nora from time to time found herself sampling the juicy, sweet,  scrumptious fruit. Now, they were definitely going to have to make up for lost time.

Fifteen to twenty minutes passed, and another basket was filled in record time. the children were once again approaching the tail end of their attention spans.  Nora looked at the sky and approximated that it was mid-way throughout the afternoon and high time that the rambunctious two were should be put down for a nap. Nora could use one too, for the late August heat was beating over head and making her drowsy. A cool breeze shifted the air and Nora caught wind of an unsuspected scent. Nora's heart raced - just the smell of Quinton was enough of a stimulate her brain into producing hormones. Turning her head to face Gillans, she watched his figure climbing the hill towards them. Nora gave him a slight wave as he neared and he nodded his head in recognition, his gaze unwavering. She turned back to her task, hoping that that would cause her heart to return to normal. The children ran towards him and encircled his legs, babbling about their day. Nora watched from the corner of her eyes as he stood there, listening to their rambles until they drifted off elsewhere, entranced by low flying dragonflies.

She picked at the bush, her movements robotic, feigning focus. Quinton silently came to stand besides her, his body overwhelming. He remained still a while, his hand coming up to graze the leaves of the bush.

"Blueberry picking...what gave you such a notion?" He asked finally, his voice soft, yet serious. Nora looked up at his face then. He bent his head towards her, silent and expecting.

"More like who...Mary mentioned that she wanted to make pie and I thought it would be a fun thing to do with the kids!" Nora shrugged.

Quinton said nothing again and rather chose to stare at Nora. Nora was utterly confused and decided to forgo the rest of the berries and escape his scrutiny.

"W-well, I better be off then. I have to put the kids down for a nap." Nora began, reaching down to pick up the baskets. Quinton touched her elbow which caused her to jerk.

"There's no need. The children are quite capable of returning back to the house on their own."

"That may be so, but I have to brings these berries to Mary and -"

"Mary and the cooks can stand to wait a couple more minutes."

"Oh. I suppose." Nora conceded, figuring that there was no way around this.