Mummy, Daddy and Me

Christmas morning pt2.

Phoebe
"Jessica." Carter warned. She huffed and looked at him with her arms crossed. "It's time to eat your dinner nicely." She shook her head and carried on messing her food about. Carter groaned and looked at me pleadingly. Ellie was eating her dinner nicely, infact she was almost finished. 
"Are you done, Jess?" I asked her. She looked at me, shook her head and went to pick up the gravy boat. 
"I don't think so. Are you going to eat?" Carter interjected, picking it up first. 
"Daddddy! I wan it!" 
"That's not what I asked. Are you going to eat your food?" 
"Daddy!" Jess shrieked and before any of us could stop her, launched across the table. She knocked the gravy boat in Carter's hand, forcing the hot gravy to go all over Carter's outfit and Ellie's hair. Ellie's cried out loudly and jumped back, Carter jumped back also, standing up and Jess just sat back down in her seat, looking sheepish but trying not to laugh. 
"You, young lady can go and stand in the corner," I stated, anger evident in my tone. I pulled back her chair and forced her up. She huffed and shook her head. "I suggest you don't argue with me because I have all the power in the world to take away your new toys which santa brought you." I warned. She huffed and stomped over to the corner, arms crossed and face a huge frown. Ellie was crying and Carter was trying to comfort her. 
"Let's go for a shower, baby," I whispered. I picked Ellie up and Carter stripped off his clothes. Ellie clung to me as I carried her upstairs. 
"Why she naughty?" Ellie asked, sadly, as I sat her on the toilet seat. 
"I'm not sure, love. I'll talk to her once you're lovely and clean." I began taking off her t-shirt and then her pants and the pull up I put her in this morning. She blushed a little but climbed into the shower. She let me leave her whilst she showered, coming out of her headspace a little. Not completely, but enough for me to trust her. I walked past mine and Carter's bedroom and heard him fumbling about, smalling drawers etc. I sighed and put my head around the door. 

"Baby, calm down." I said softly, putting my hands on his bare shoulders. 
"Look!" He exclaimed, turning around and showing me the burn on his stomach. I sighed. 
"You'll be okay." I went to the cupbaord, grabbed a cloth and wet it in the bathroom quikly, just checking up on Ellie also, she was okay, singing to herself. "Look, lay down." Carter lay down on the bed and I pulled his pants and boxers down a little. I put the lukewarm cloth on his burn and he winced. 
"Sh,"I giggled. "You'll be alright. Hold that there and I'll go speak to Jess."I leaned down, kissed his cheek and then got up. "Ellie's in the shower, keep an ear out please." He nodded and picked up his phone, I could tell he was very angry and really, I couldn't blame him. 

I walked downstairs and saw Jess angrily stomping her foot and running her hands up and down her arms. I sighed and went over. I grabbed her waist and spun her. Her face was covered in hot, wet tears. 
"Get off, mummy," she groaned, trying to get away from me. 
"Come on, no," I whispered back. I grabbed her hands in mine and she let out a loud whine. "Let's not hurt yourself, please." I sighed. I picked her up, despite her kicking and fighting and went to sit on the sofa. I sat her on my lap and she huffed and puffed and tried to wiggle away. 
"I no wan a cuddle!" She shouted, suddenly. 
"Baby, mummy needs you to calm down," I said, caressing her hair. 
"No!" She kicked and pushed herself back so she was laying with her back on the sofa and her legs on me. She stopped fighting then. She shut her eyes tight and took a deep, shaky breath. 
"Calm down for me. You're not in loads of trouble. I just want to chat, that's all." I reassured, she did a little nod and I turned the TV on. There was some old films on, just a nice distracting, background noise. 

"Is daddy mad, mama?" she mumbled after about fifteen minutes. She sat up and leaned on her arms. Her used one hand to wipe her face. I couldn't help but notice the redness on her arms from where she was rubbing them. 
"He's hurt darling, that's all." I replied, opening my arms but she shook her head, keeping her distance. 
"Ellie too?" 
"I don't know love. It got on her head, she was in the shower when I came down." 
She pouted and looked at the floor and then at the presents scattered across the floor. She sighed loudly, as if she was holding back more tears. 
"Talk to me, princess. What was going on?" 
"Is silly." 
"Can't have been that silly if it made you that upset." 
"All the food was touching and I couldn't eat it." She sighed and looked at me ashamed. I frowned. 
"That isn't usually a problem bubba." 
"I know mama! It just so much an I didn't know what to do and it was a lot and I couldn't do it," she sighed and pulled her knees to her chest. 
"You just got overwhelmed?" 
She nodded sadly, ashamed of herself. "You're allowed to get overwhelmed baby, you're allowed to take a minute to just adjust yourself to it all. If you'd let us know, mummy would have helped you calm down." 
"B b but it so silly."
"It's not silly at all. Mummy got overwhelmed cooking all the food and I had a cry in the kitchen. These things happen baby, you just need to tell daddy and I so we can help you." 
"Woo cwied?" 
"I did. That's perfectly okay, isn't it?" 
"Mhmms." 
"Yeah, so you're allowed to get upset too." She nodded sadly and moved closer to me, snugling into my side. 
"Mummy and daddy love you more than anything, we understand that you need to take time outs occassionally and if that means, we readjust your whole dinner and make it easier for your brain to handle then that means we do that. You just need to communicate, okay bubba?" 
"Otay mama. I sorry," she looked up at me with sad, puppy eyes. 
"You need to go and apologise to daddy and Ellie as well, okay?" She nodded. 

We entered the bedroom where Carter was laying and Ellie was playing with a new toy she got. They both looked up at us, Ellie excitedly but Carter angrily. He couldn't still be mad? Jss climbed on the bed beside him, unable to read his angry expression. 
"Daddy, I super sorry," she mumbled, looking at him with teary eyes. 
"Okay," he replied. I sighed. Jess looked at me with panic. I just shook my head and nodded at Ellie. Jess turned and crawled to the end of the bed, apologising to Ellie. Obviously, Ellie replied instantly and the girls became instant friends again. 
"Hey, pretty angels," I mumbled, sitting beside them. "Why don't you head downstairs and tidy up a little bit for me?" I suggested. They both nodded and jumped up. They held hands as they left the room, Jess attempting to explain to Ellie why she was upset. I turned to Carter with my hands on my hips. 

"You can't be angry at her forever," I said. 
"Did you punish her?" 
"Punish her? Carter she punishes herself every time she misbehaves andupsets one of us, you know that." 
"She hurt me and Ellie. It's Christmas day."
"So? Her emotions don't just stop on christmas. She got overwhelmed, she didn't know how to communicate it and acted out. I can't help that Carter, neither can she." 
"She needs help," he sighed and covered his face in an exhausted way. 
"She's getting it. The therapists are doing their best. Look, Carter, I understand you're hurt, I understand she hurt you and it's christmas and it's meant to be a family time, blah blah blah but she feels so bad for doing it and the more you give her the cold shoulder, I'm afraid she's going to go in the opposite direction of getting help. You've got to forgive and forget and she'll understand that she's not a bad person and won't misbehave anymore." 
"That makes no sense," he grumbled. 
"Sure it does. She needs positive encouragement, cuddles and forgiveness. She understands what she did was wrong but we also need to understand the reason behind it. We both know, she would never purposely hurt either of us." 
"True." He sighed and sat up, he took the cloth off his burn and sighed. 
"It's not too bad, it should go down in a few days," I mumbled and kissed his temple. 
"I'm sorry. I ust ahte when Christmas day goes wrong," he said and pulled me into his arms. 
"I know. I do too but there's nothing we could have done. Now, we've just got to work harder to make the day better again. I say cake and cuddles and movies." He nodded and smiled before kissing me passionately. 
"Give her big snuggles when we go downstairs, okay?" 
"Okay." 

Everyone was friends again after that. Carter went down and gave Jess and huge cuddle and they chatted about it and Jess kissed Carter's burn better. Ellie helped me clear the table as the food had all gone cold. Then, the little ones and I made a fort whilst Carter cleaned up in the kitchen and sorted dessert and now, we were all under the new, Christmas den with cake and icecream and the best christmas movies we could find. A happy little family. 

Do we want a vacation? I do!