She pursed together her lips and gave a little nod of agreement before exhaling and pulling her golden-brown hair away from her face. ‘I just hope he likes it,’ she shrugged.
‘He’ll love it.’
‘But what if he misses us?’ she frowned, turning to check on his whereabouts, her bottom lip pouting out in the same way our son’s did – it was hard to decide which of them had picked up that little habit from the other. I wondered if she’d always pulled that expression, and whether it was just amplified now I had two gorgeous faces showing their scrummy bottom lips whenever they were worried and looking for comfort. Either way, they both had the ability to melt my heart within seconds. I wanted more than anything to resolve their woes, for them to know I was there, with them unconditionally – that they’d always have me for support. I was never going to be a dad who upped and left, or a husband who deserted his wife without a second thought. But then, why would I when I knew the two of them brought out the best in me and that I had everything I’d ever need within the four walls of my family home? Nothing would ever tempt me into tearing our happy existence apart. I knew that unquestionably.
‘Kate,’ I breathed, unable to stop a smile from spreading across my lips – she really was adorable. ‘We’ve been stood where he left us for the last five minutes and he hasn’t looked round once to check if we’re still here. He’s far too excited about getting up those monkey bars and having a swing.’
‘True,’ she sighed, as she brought her crumpled tissue up to her hazel eyes once more.
‘He’ll be home in a matter of hours, chewing our ears off with every little detail.’
With a nod, she smiled up at me, ‘I know. You’re right. We’ll never be able to shut him up.’
‘Exactly,’ I laughed, leaning forward and planting a kiss on her forehead.
‘Nice to see my wife’s not the only one who’s an emotional wreck,’ Robert mockingly grunted before laughing, as he walked towards us with Maddy clinging on to his arm. Her face was as red and swollen as Kate’s, leaving no doubt that she’d been finding the morning our little ones gained some independence just as tough.
‘Shove off,’ she choked, nudging him with her elbow, before covering her face and dissolving into laughter herself.
‘And to think you used to laugh at your mum for doing the same thing,’ I reminded her.
‘God, I know. I’m an embarrassing mother already!’ she sniffed, taking the tissue Kate was offering her and wiping her dewy face. ‘I swear I saw her roll her eyes at me this morning too. Such attitude! She’s five!’
‘And it’s only the beginning,’ added Kate. ‘It’ll be worse in ten years’ time when they’ve got all those teenage emotions flying around.’
‘They probably won’t even talk to us then,’ Maddy muttered sadly.
‘Yep. And everything will be our fault,’ nodded Kate.
‘Speak for yourself, I’m always going to be the cool dad,’ answered Robert with a grin and a wink in their direction.
‘Of that we’ve got no doubt,’ Maddy replied with an eye roll. ‘Shit – did she get that from me?’
We all laughed at the shock on her face.
‘Seriously, though, I wonder what they are going to be like …’ I marvelled aloud.
A silence fell upon the gathered group of adults, as we looked over at the children in the playground and started dreaming up different versions of the futures that lay ahead of us as we watched our babies grow and develop into fully functioning adults. What would become of us? But more importantly, what would become of them?
I was envious of my innocent little boy starting out on his first big adventure. Because school, no matter how insignificant and annoying it may seem as we get older and can’t wait to get away, sets us on our life’s path. It plants ideas for us to thrive upon, teaches us where we want to go and who we want to be – feeding us the notion that our dreams are limitless, that we can do anything if we believe in it enough and truly set our minds to it. But best of all, it encourages us to seek the friendships of others, to learn to lean on them for support and to console them in return. After all, it’s the people you meet along the way who really make a lasting impression and who will, if you’re lucky, stick with you for the rest of your life.
‘We could spend a lifetime standing here thinking about that,’ mused Robert, breaking the moment. ‘Want to come back to ours for some coffee instead?’
‘We have biscuits!’ grinned Maddy. ‘Chocolate ones!’