Forgiving Friar Park

3. Out of the Blue

George and I are in the living room, having a leisurely day in playing with our daughter.

'This little piggy goes to market, this little piggy stays at home, this little piggy likes roast beef, this little piggy likes none, and this little piggy went...' George teases Louisa will shaking her toes gently. 'WEEEWEEWEEE all the way home!'

Tickling her all over, George laughs as his baby girl squirms and kicks in glee underneath her. I giggle along, and he looks at me with nothing but love in his eyes. I watch him in awe.

Lowering himself down even further onto the floor, he takes a big breath, and proceeds to blow raspberries onto Louisa's stomach, making her squeal even louder. Through all the laughter and screaming, I just about make out the sound of the telephone ringing in the kitchen.

Getting up to answer it, thinking it's probably something important for George.

'Hello?'

'Oh! Errm... is George there by any chance?'

'Maybe...who's asking?'

After a moment of hesitation, the timid female voice replies with 'Pattie.'

'I'm sorry? Who?' My baby brain prevents me from remembering who Pattie is, although the name does sound familiar.

'Eric's girlfriend. You know, Eric Clapton?' She clarifies nervously.

'Oh yeah I remember now. How are you?' I inquire politely.

'Oh I'm alright. I just need to speak to George.' She states bluntly.

Ignoring my confused mind running wild, I excuse myself to go and get George, who has just sprinted into the room, almost tripping over, implying he didn't want me to pry any further.

'It's for y-'

George swiftly grabs the phone from my hand, and speaks into it.

'Hello?' He asks.

I hear a muffled greeting on the other end, causing George to turn to me and signal for me to leave, which I reluctantly do.

Still intrigued as to why she of all people would call out of the blue, I position myself next to the door and place my ear on the hard cold wood.

I only hear parts of the conversation, but the bits I do hear confuse me even more.

'Well I can't talk about that right now, especially not here.' I hear Geo state bluntly.

After a minute of grumbling and the affirmative 'yes' being used several times, I hear him state:

'I'll see what I can do. Just give me an hour.'

Whilst my ear is pressed up against the door, I hear Louisa start to cry so I scramble to her, her being my number one priority.

I pick her up and rock her for a few moments. Grabbing her bottle from the table, I place it lovingly between her lips and she begins to drink from it. Her tiny hands hold my finger as she drifts off to sleep.

The door to the room clicks and in steps her father. He delicately tiptoes to us, evidently more serious than he was earlier when playing with Lou.

He places his hands on my shoulders as he watches his daughter sleep in my arms.

'So what was wrong? She sounded pretty desperate to me.'

'Oh, she just said she wanted Eric to come over to us today. Seems that they've had a barney like.'

'Oh.' I whisper, not quite convinced.

Louisa starts to squirm and gurgle, so I remove the bottle and place it on the table.

'Here, give her to me.' George insists.

I carefully hand her over, George's hands stretching to protect her head and legs.

'There we are, eh?' he whispers to her, soothing her.

I look down at how perfectly she sits in his arms, all snug and warm. George looks happy and content.

'Why don't you head out for a while? Give you a break whilst Eric's here?'

'Anyone would think you were trying to get rid of me.' I half joke, only realising how genuine that comment feels when I've said it.

He chuckles nervously, which marks me as suspicious. Why does he want to get rid of us?

'No, it's just that I know you don't like being trapped in here all day, and I don't think this little one likes it either.' He says, nodding to Lou.

After squinting my eyes, I nod, thinking I could go to the park. I ring Richard up to invite him, Zak, Jason and Lee out as well, thinking they would enjoy playing with Lou.

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