Retrospective ~TW~

Chapter 8

I woke up, my head slowly rising and falling with the chest that I was laying atop. I stretched and in my hazy state, grabbed the white shirt. I had a mild headache, probably from the tension of yesterday. I heard a chuckle and immediately knew the situation I was in.

"Good morning little one." His deep morning voice made me feel a way I couldn't describe. I groan and bury my head back down into his side, my headache and hatred of mornings making me want to stay here forever. "Our flight in at 2pm."

"That isn't enough time." I rasp out and roll over onto my back dramatically, splaying my arms out. Unintentionally, my hand slaps Toto a bit and I can't help but giggle as he grunts in shock.

"Did you just slap me Amelia?" He taunts and rolls onto his side. His hair is messy and he's grinning like a cheshire cat. I shrug and he immediately rolls towards me and begins tickling my side. I start laughing and wiggling to try and escape the onslaught of attack, but my attempts are futile. "Say you're sorry."

"Never." I jest back, which only makes the attack worse. Instead of trying to escape, I turn my attention to tickling him. Running my hands down his side, I feel him tense and he begins to laugh harder as well. He collapses to the side on his back. We were both catching our breath when we hear Jack stirring. 

I get up and walk to his crib, checking to see if he is awake. When I notice he is, I pick him up and then walk back to the bed. I lie down with him on top of my chest. Toto leans over and kisses his head, "good morning, Jacky." Jack grumbles in response, also not excited to be awake so early.

After lying in bed together talking and joking together, we begin to get up and get ready for the day. We decide to go down to the pool for a quick swim and then come back up to pack for the flight back. We eat a quick breakfast and then head down to the pool.

Walking out, I notice Lewis is already lounging on the pool chairs with a drink beside him. I approach him and take a seat next to him, placing down all of our belongings. Jack is next to me and I pull his shirt off and begin applying sunscreen to his back and face. "Morning Lewis. Sleep well?"

"Like a baby." Once I finish applying the sunscreen, Jack runs off towards Toto, who jumps into the pool. He turns to Jack and motions for him to jump towards him. Jack doesn't hesitate and immediately leaps towards his dad who has no trouble catching him. "You and Toto obviously made up."

I take my sundress off and lay down on the chair, appreciating the opportunity to soak in some sun and warmth. "I think he realised he was being a bit of a dick. Not only that but he didn't understand why I am doing what I do." I pull my sunglasses up as I look at Lewis. A waiter approaches with a glass of water and I thank her.

"Which is?" He pushes me. I take a sip of my water and put it back down on the table. I look over to make sure they are out of ears distance and look back over at Lewis whose glasses were resting on his nose and shielding his eyes from the sun behind me.

"When I got back to the room, I explained to him an interaction I had with Susie only a short period before she committed suicide. She made me promise to take care of them if anything ever happened. Obviously in the moment I didn't realise the connotations behind it but hindsight showed me that it was a sign and I was guilty that I didn't see it."

"So you are keeping your promise." He nods and looks towards Toto who is throwing Jack up in the air and catching him as he splashes into the water.  "To make up for the guilt or because you want to?" He presses as he turns his attention back to me. Lewis had this ability to make me open up and it was something that I appreciated. 

"Both." I reply as I look ahead of me, staring at the water as it glimmers with the sunlight. "I want to keep my promise to her of course. But Toto, Susie and Jack gave me a family. I ran from my problems to escape my own pain and they gave me a safe haven. Those two mean so much to me regardless of the promise I made I wouldn't change what I do for them."