"Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it; not a penny was there in it, only ribbon round it." -Unknown
She could hear the short gasps and groans from the foot of her bed and she buried herself deeper under the mass of covers that surround...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Please, pretty, pretty, pretty, please have a tea party with me." Nellie practically begged, and Lucy looked up from the flower crown she was making, annoyance crossing her face.
"I already said no, Nellie," Lucy stated, her thin fingers weaving two Dutch clovers together. Her brows were furrowed in concentration and she reached over her left side to grab a violet from the bushel of leaves, "I don't want to go inside."
"Then we can have it out here," Nellie exclaimed, exasperated that nobody wanted to have a tea party with her. First Steve said he was too busy, then Luke said he wanted to play with his toys, and then Shirley said she wanted to take pictures, and Theo said no.
Lucy paused and looked up at Nellie, "Promise?"
"Promise!" Nellie beamed, ecstatic that someone finally agreed to have a tea party with her. "I'll go get the tea set and the cookies that Mrs. Dudley made."
Lucy's ears perked up at the cookies and she couldn't stop the smile from crossing her face. Mrs. Dudley rarely let them have sweets before dinner or without Mr. and Mrs. Crain's permission, and Nellie knew that Lucy was a sucker for anything sweet.
"Okay!" Lucy said, clambering to her feet and brushing off her shorts with one hand while the other hand clutched the two flower crowns. Nellie beamed at Lucy once more before turning around and racing towards the house, the wind carrying her hair behind her in an almost regal way.
Spinning on the heel of her foot, Lucy happily made her way over towards the gates that led to the yard. Stopping at the person who sat a few feet away from the gates, Lucy clumsily sat down and handed Luke one of the crowns she made. He stared at her blankly and looked at, what he thought, was a poorly strung ring of flowers.
"I made you a crown." Lucy said when she noticed the look of confusion that was slowly starting to cross over Luke's face as he picked up the flower crown. "Nellie and I are having a tea party, but a princess," She pointed to the crown, which was a mix of violets and Dutch clovers, on her head, "needs a prince."
Lucy locked her fingers together before pressing the fist she had made against her lips, letting out a determined sigh. It was around seven in the morning and she was not in the mood to lose today. Tucking a strand of her wavy, auburn hair back, Lucy pushed up the glasses that rested on the bridge of her nose and stared at the innocent, blue eyes in front of her. The kitchen table the only thing in between the two.
After a few minutes, Lucy broke the silence.
"Okay, Tilly, here's the deal." She said, and her daughter turned and looked at her when she heard her name, her legs kicking the empty air as she sat in her high chair, "I pack our bags, clean the house, the whole shebang, right? You don't have to worry about a single thing. But, here's the part of the deal that matters, you don't make a sound on the plane ride. You can pull my hair, play with my jewelry, we can watch all your favorite shows and movies, but the only catch is that you gotta stay silent."
