Dancing In The Moonlight

14. Baby Jesus

"You know what I miss?"

"What's that, baby?"

"Greggs sausage rolls and cigarettes."

"What's a cig-ah-ret?"

Mairi cast her eye over her youngest son. The three Sully children were playing in the little stream with Spider. She and Jake were sitting against a thick low branch, her toes dipping into the cold water.

"I know!" Spider shouted. "My mama says it's a cancer stick!"

Jake choked back a laugh as Mairi sat up, a wide grin on her face.

"You're right, Spider! They're really really bad for your health, but I used to like them." Mairi smiled to herself as she thought back to her last ever tab with Trudy, leaning against a link bed with a broken collarbone. It had been euphoric. Two in a row. 

Neteyam made a face as Kiri pulled on Lo'ak's tail. "Why?"

"Um, they had a plant in them called nicotine, it's addictive and makes you want to have them?"

"But why?"

All four of the children looked between the two parents. Jake nipped Mairi's side and grinned, raising his brows.

They were in their asking stage. Everything Mairi and Jake said was questioned. Literally. Everything. Lo'ak had asked why he had to drink water the other day, and everything Mairi had said simply wasn't enough for him.

"I know I know! They make you feel good!" Spider said enthusiastically, nodding his head. "Is that right, peach?"

Mairi bit her lip as she looked at the boy. He was more than just Socorro's kid to her now. Her own mother had taken him in when the humans left, and she thought of him as an odd little brother. He was around her own children so much that he may as well have been one of hers.

Peach was a nickname her mam used to call her when she was little. She'd said it once in front of Spider, and now the kid didn't call her anything else.

"That's right, little dude!" Mairi gave him a thumbs up and a cheesy grin. Spider clapped his hands together. Lo'ak scrunched his face, looking much like his father.

"But why?"

"Why what, baby?" Mairi was going to smash her face into a tree. Repeatedly.

"Why does it make you feel good?" Lo'ak continued.

"Tell you what, when you're twelve I'll let you try one and you can see what the fuss is all about." Jake's stash of tabs were still in her old room at the base, she was pretty sure. Not that she was actually going to let her children smoke anything.

Lo'ak squealed with joy and started splashing water around his siblings, who had all started shouting that they wanted to try a 'ret' too.

Jake squeezed her hand. "Twelve, babygirl?"

"Hey, you were a dirty ol' smoker in all. Don't pin this all on me. It was a private conversation that our kids eavesdropped in." She smiled when he kissed the side of her head, and made sure the next one kissed her lips.

"Twelve's just a little bit young, don't you think?" he said against her mouth.

"Ew! Mammy and Daddy are kissing!"

Laughter rang out from both of them as the kids started retching and slapping Jake and Mairi's feet. 

"Aye, the kissy monster got your daddy!" Mairi shouted, shoving Jake away from her and leaping into the stream. The kids howled with laughter as she scooped up a shit ton of water and flung it at him.