Luke was extremely excited for his birthday - so much so that he was very difficult to get into bed. His energy seemed to rub off on Emma, as she too was not easy to settle. When the bedroom lights were finally out, I finished wrapping the last present (a teddy bear about half the size of Luke) and scattered the entirety of gifts across the living room carpet. Only then was I able to settle down in an armchair with a glass of wine.
I knew there was no point in staying up late, as I would be awoken bright and early in the morning. When excited, Luke was not one for sleeping in late. Or, for that matter, sleeping in until any reasonable time. Luckily, I was well prepared.
Surprisingly, the next day, the alarm woke me up before Luke could. When I went to check on him, he was still peacefully sleeping, probably worn out by the excitement of the day before. His late awakening gave me time to ensure that everything was in order for the "party", before he came bounding down the stairs, closely followed by Emma.
Present-opening was the first activity of the day. Emma sat happily on Simon's knee whilst I joined Luke on the floor. He had taken to gently shaking every present before opening it, and he and Emma set up a game of "guess what is inside". Obviously, Simon and I weren't allowed to play, as we had provided the presents.
"He's so big!" Luke exclaimed when he unwrapped the teddy bear, hugging him tightly. "Thank you mummy!"
He knew that I had bought the bear, because I always gave him a soft toy for his birthday. The teddy bear (who was later christened "Oliver") was said to be the favourite present this year, which made me feel quite pleased. A remote control car made it to second position.
It had worried me that Emma may have felt a bit left out or jealous of all the presents, but she seemed to take things very well. Luke said she could share Oliver, which made her very happy. They pretended to feed him breakfast at the table a while later.
Luke raced around the kitchen like an excited puppy whilst Emma "gave" Oliver a drink. When Luke's friend, Tyler, arrived, he rushed straight to the front door to let him in.
Simon had pumped the bouncy castle up to its full height in the back garden, so the three children went straight there, whilst Simon and I settled back in garden chairs to watch them play. Luke managed to bounce the highest, with Tyler in close second. Emma preferred to walk up and down the length of the bouncy castle, occasionally falling over when the boys jumped too near to her.
At lunch time, I brought out a selection of sandwiches and crisps, so the kids settled down on the grass to eat. When they had finished, Simon disappeared to light the cake and I summoned the three of them into the kitchen. Luke blew out the candles to a chorus of "Happy birthday to you", before I cut it into pieces and handed them out on paper plates.
Luke and Tyler went straight back to the bouncy castle, but Emma had lost interest in it, so asked Luke if she could play with Oliver the teddy bear. He nodded obligingly, so she skipped off into the living room.
"I'll be outside if you need me," I told her.
"Okay, mummy!" she called back.
I stopped in my tracks. Had she just said what I thought I heard? My heart pounded in my chest as I made my way back outside, not hearing a word anybody said to me, as if in a trance. Eventually, I snapped out of it, but a glowing warmth filled me from within as I sat in the gentle breeze.
At that very moment, I properly realised that I had a daughter. Emma belonged to me. I was her mother.
Luke and Tyler tried to get Barney onto the bouncy castle, unsuccessfully. I eventually had to tell them to leave him alone because he was looking a little frustrated, after which he came and settled down in a patch of sunlight by my feet. I scratched the fur behind his ears.
As the breeze died down, bright afternoon sunlight beamed down upon us. I made the boys put sun cream on, for fear of them being burnt, then went to make some cold drinks for everyone.
Pouring out a mixture of dilute fruit juice and lemonade, I added straws and little umbrellas to each glass. I wanted everything to be fun - drinks included. Feeling he would appreciate it, I also filled a bowl with cold water for Barney to lap up. As I was doing this, I gazed out of the window, to see everyone coming inside anyway.
"I want to show Tyler my toys," Luke explained to me, as I handed him a drink.
"Finish your drinks and then you can take him through to see them," I said.
"In fact," Simon added. "Have you opened Tyler's present yet?"
"No!" Luke grinned, as he remembered and ran to fetch it from the hallway.
The present turned out to be a set of LEGO, which Luke and Tyler took upstairs to play with in his room. Remembering that Emma was still in the living room, I grabbed her drink from off the side and took it through to where she was still playing.
"Emma, I've brought you a drink, love," I poked my head around the corner of the door frame. "I'll just leave it on the..."
Emma was sitting in the middle of the carpet. Teddy Oliver was in her lap. He had been decapitated.
I marched across the room to where she was, grabbing the teddy bear and taking him out of her reach. Stuffing oozed out of his open neck like droplets of blood. His head rolled off Emma's knee. She began to speak, but I held a hand up to silence her.
"Why have you done this?" I demanded, thrusting the teddy bear in front of her. The warmth I had felt earlier dissipated and was replaced with anger. "What on earth were you thinking of?!"
"I...I was-" she stood up and edged away from me.
"No!" I cried, cutting her off sharply. "I do not want to hear it! Have you any idea how upset Luke is going to be?"
Just when I thought that things couldn't possibly get any worse, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Rushing out into the corridor, I saw Luke approaching.
"I just need to get Oliver," he said. "I want to show him to Tyler."
I was unable to stop him as he ran into the room, feebly calling "Wait!" as he went. I then watched his face fall as he came to see his poor, headless teddy bear laid on the living room floor.
His lips quivered, tears spilling down his cheeks, as he reached out to hold his teddy. I came up behind him and cradled him to my chest, rocking him back and forth like a little baby.
"It's okay," I assured him as he let out a little wail of sorrow. "I can fix him. I know how to sew, so I can put his head back on."
"Will he...will he be the same?" he whimpered.
"Yes, of course he will," I smiled, as the tears stopped. "He'll be just the same as before."
"No, he won't!" Emma called out from the corner of the room. "It's too late, 'cause he's dead!"
"Go to your room now!" I shouted in fury, standing up abruptly. She walked out sullenly through the door, as I watched in frustration.
"Is it true?" Luke looked up at me, a look of horror upon his face.
"No, don't be silly, teddies can never die," I told him, seeing in his eyes that he immediately believed me. "Come on, Tyler will be waiting for you. Go and play with him, whilst I fix Oliver."
"Thank you, mummy. I love you."
I smiled. When he had disappeared, I got to work with the teddy bear. I had never been a wonderful sewer, but, after finally finding a needle and thread, I managed to begin reattaching the head.
When Tyler had left to go home and Luke was preoccupied watching TV with his dad, I went up to see Emma. I found her in bed, quietly crying to herself.
"I'm sorry," she said immediately. "I didn't mean to hurt anybody. Do you hate me now?"
"Of course I don't!" I held out my arms for her to come for a hug and we settled down together on the bed.
"Are you going to be able to get the head back on?" she asked quietly, hiccupping.
"Yes. Of course." I kissed the top of her head. "Why on earth did you cut it off?"
"I didn't want to do it," she replied. "It wasn't me who wanted to do it."
"What do you mean?" I felt a touch of the anger I earlier felt come back.
"Tod made me do it." Not this again.
Emma apologised to Luke before going to bed. When they were tucked up, I finished sewing the head onto teddy Oliver and tied a ribbon, off one of the birthday presents, around his neck so you couldn't see the stitches. When finished, he looked as good as new.
I took him straight up to Luke's bedroom, placing him at the foot of his bed so that, when he awoke, he would see his teddy straight away. Feeling quite proud of my sewing, I stood and admired my handiwork. Nobody would ever realise that, once, teddy Oliver's head had been hacked clean off with a pair of scissors by Emma. And if they did, they would never understand why.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
