Dreamstone

Saturday Surprise

"See...you do still fit?" Caroline grinned, leaning forwards to kiss my forehead, apparently amused by my muted indignation at being put into the baby seat of our shopping trolley. But she was quite right, of course. Charles had lifted me up with ease and she had guided my flailing legs into the relevant gaps, before he lowered me onto the plastic seat without any difficulty at all, and the stupid seatbelt even fitted across my lap. "So...stop being grumpy and rest...you still look so tired and if you do not even try to take it easy, I will put you down for a nap this afternoon...we are not taking any chances with you, little one."

"Grace and Chloe would fit, too." I pouted, glaring at her, which she ignored, sweeping along the pavement leading to the supermarket, with the girls either side of her and Charles walking a pace or two behind, playing with his phone.

"Grace and Chloe are not worn out...or wandering around in a dream, or nodding off in the car only an hour after waking up," Caroline replied, not giving an inch, as ever. "And it is busy in here...I don't want you getting bumped around...not after Monday."

"I was hot in the car...that is the only reason I was sleepy," I insisted, but she just chuckled and propelled me into the store. I was tired, I suppose. Deepdene was hard work, because Miss Walker was a slave driver, and although I had been in bed by eight every night, in the nursery with the twins, I had not slept that well, without medical assistance. My head would not stop spinning somehow, no matter how hard I tried to make it shut up, and as Caroline settled me back into what seemed to be Catherine's normal routine, I was getting increasingly frustrated by the slow passing of time, desperate for the days to speed by until we could get back to the museum. For the previous two days, Thursday and Friday, I had lived in my Deepdene uniform from the moment Caroline got me up until the moment she undressed us for our bath, and the time in-between was filled with work, our family teas and the constant battle to stop me having accidents. So, I had hoped that our Saturday might be different, but so far, I was not impressed by the Buckingham-Montague's idea of a quiet family day.

"She may be tired, but she sounds more like her old self," Charles commented, checking his messages, before looking up and raising an eyebrow at me.

"She has been a very good little girl, all week...and despite obviously having the grumps this morning, she is going to be a good little girl today, too...aren't you, pickle?" Caroline replied whilst giving me one of the looks I was getting far too accustomed to in my Cate life. She was a strict, caring mother who did not put up with any nonsense from her daughters. And since my father, I mean Charles, had talked about a fresh start, when we had chatted on the Wednesday afternoon, she had made sure that I kept on behaving as I had since my first episode. But that was really not as easy as it had been when I was overwhelmed by my life swap.

"Yes...Mummy." I mumbled, as she fussed over the ribbons in my bunches. She had dressed all three of us in matching outfits, pale blue plaid dresses with pale blue overcoats, and she had put all our hair in bunches, decorated with pale blue ribbons. For a trip to the supermarket.

"I don't mind taking a turn if Catherine wants to walk, Mummy?" Grace suggested, walking beside us with her hand on the handle of the trolley.

"Grace, Catherine needs to take things easy...she can walk later." Caroline said firmly before taking out her shopping list and starting to fill the basket behind me. She let the twins help and sent Charles off to collect specific items, whilst keeping me right under her nose. Which really was starting to annoy me. After three nights of baths with the twins, healthy meals around the kitchen table, half an hour of boring kid's television and early bedtimes, all happening around two hard days at Deepdene, enveloped in the suffocating school uniform all the time, I had been looking forward to relaxing over the weekend, in advance of our trip to the museum. But instead, we were up just after eight, when I discovered that I had another wet diaper, and then got all so dressed up for a boring family trip to the shops. Inner Cate was laughing at me. She seemed to be delighted that I was finally getting the message that she had been trying to give me for five days, but I told myself to ignore her and concentrate on getting to London and the Dreamstone. That was all that mattered, and as I needed to be considered well enough to make the trip, and behaving well enough to deserve it, I swallowed my frustrations and let Caroline baby me.