Baby on Board

Family Ties

Creeping into the bedroom, I see the mound underneath the sheets and force myself to swallow the laughter that rumbles in my chest. Looking over my shoulder, I double check that no one is around before sneaking into the room, tiptoeing to the edge of the bed and throwing myself across the large bed. 

When I don't hear Martha cursing me to hell, I frown and lift my head slightly. Pulling back the covers, I see that the mound is a soft pillow construction and that my daughter is nowhere to be found. Looking around, I try to work out where Martha could be; had she snuck out in the middle of the night? 

"Gotcha!" I heard my daughter's familiar twang shout mere seconds before I felt the pressure of her body crush me. Lying flush to the bed, with my face being smothered by the pillows underneath me, I feel Martha's hands tangle in my hair, tousling it up more. "Your attempt to scare me awake was pathetic, human."

When Martha stills, I use all my strength to flip myself over and glare at her. "Martha, sweetheart? I love you to death, you know that, don't you?" My daughter nods but still has the wisdom to narrow her eyes on me. Smirking at her, I say, "That doesn't mean I'm going to sit back and let you get away with this."

Sensing what I meant, Martha gasps, jumps up from the bed and sprints out the door. Following hot on her heels, I chase her around the house, ignoring the stern looks we receive from some of my grandfather's staff. Once we've covered the ground floor, Martha finds the side door that leads out to the garden. I pause briefly and look down at my feet, mentally berating myself for not wearing shoes, but after a second, I see that Martha's making her way through the garden and the distance between us is increasing. 

Not wanting this to be over, I put aside the fact that I'm barefooted and continue to sprint after her, glad that my strides cover three times the area that Martha's do. Nearing her, I see her swerve to where the tennis court and pool are located and follow her, hurdling over a low hedge so that I get to her faster. Wrapping my arms around her, I lift her from the ground and spin us around. Martha screams before falling into a fit of giggles, making me smile. Setting her down, I wrap my arms around her shoulders and pull her into a hug, a moment which sobers us both up. 

"I love you, bindi," I tell her, kissing her temple. Unlooping my arms from her, I motion my head towards the house. "Come on, let's go back inside and grab some breakfast."

Martha nods. "Sure," she agrees. With hindsight, seeing Martha smile wickedly, I should have known she was plotting something. Suddenly, her hands were against my chest and she put all her strength into pushing me away from her. Wanting her to believe that she was that strong, I pretended to fall backwards, expecting to be able to rebalance myself but I misjudged where I was stood. Instead, I fell backwards into the freezing cold water of the pool. Martha laughed hysterically, doubling over with tears in her eyes. "Oh, my gosh, that was even better than I imagined. Hey, Daddy? I love you, too. Now, race you back to the house!"

Once I'd managed to drag myself out of the pool, I returned to the house, slopping my way back up to my room so that I could have a really warm shower. Before going to wake Martha up this morning, I'd quickly text Charlotte to let her know how excited I was to see her and Nugget tonight. Of course, she wondered who Nugget was but once I explained that it was a nickname I'd bestowed on the baby, she replied with a see no evil monkey. I had already filled her in on mine and Martha's little road trip across Scotland, including sharing the story of mine and Martha's matching hats.