Page 5 of Forever Ink

Our bedroom was empty, leaving only one other room: the playroom. Pushing open the door, I expected to see Rhys on his mat playing or sitting in the large rocking chair we’d found a few weeks back that had since become Rhys’s favourite reading spot. But the chair was empty, as was the rug.

A soft sound had me turning towards the daybed and the unmistakable Rhys-shaped lump there. I spotted a few blonde curls poking out from the cocoon he’d made of the blankets.

As tempting as it was to let him sleep, we needed to get a move on if we were going to make it to Dad’s farm tonight. Although, it didn’t matter if we didn’t make it tonight. Dad knew with our schedule things could change.

“Hey, baby bear.” The bed squeaked under my weight as I sat down. I gently scratched the soft curls that poked out over the top of the duvet.

“Mmph. Don’t wanna.” Rhys’s voice came out muffled.

“Don’t want to what, baby bear?” I kept gently running my fingers through Rhys’s hair.

The duvet got shoved down and Rhys pouted at me around his pop. Hmm. Something wasn’t right. It wasn’t like Rhys to regress like this and hide under the covers. Normally if he needed little time, there were toys and glitter from one end of the flat to the other, and a lot of giggling and mischief.

“Baby, what’s happened?”

Rhys muttered something around his pop, trying to pull the duvet back over his head.

“Oh, sweetheart. I know sometimes it’s easier to hide away when we’re feeling bad, but I can only help you fix this if you tell Daddy what’s wrong.” I gave a gentle tug on pop’s chain and Rhys’s lips clamped down hard on the rubber nipple.

“Hmm. Not ready to talk, huh? Okay, how about this? I’m going to go and make us some warm drinks and get the heater going, and when you’re ready you come in and join me, okay?” Rhys gave a small nod and pulled pop from his mouth.

“Kiss please, Daddy.”

“Of course, baby bear.” I leaned down, kissing him softly.

His hand came out from under the cover to stroke my beard. “Love you.”

“I love you too baby. Take your time, you went down hard.” I smoothed some of his curls away from his forehead and kissed his brow and cheeks.

“Sammies in here?” Rhys asked softly.

“Course. Just give me a minute to get them made. I’ll still get the heater on, the flat’s gotten cold.”

Rhys frowned. “Sorry, I forgot. Brain needed to slow down.” Rhys’s face was a picture of unhappiness. I pulled him against my chest, hugging him tight.

“Oh, baby, I’m sorry you had a bad afternoon. You just sit back, and I’ll make us some hot drinks and a sandwich.” Rhys gave a nod as I pushed myself up from the bed. “Sit tight and I’ll be right back.” Rhys gave the thumbs up and smiled before he slipped pop back in his mouth and burrowed back under the duvet.

In the kitchen I found that we still had leftover ham and some of the mustard Rhys liked, so I cut up the fresh loaf of bread we had into nice thick slabs, then gave each slice a healthy covering of butter, with ham and mustard next. When the sandwiches were made I cut Rhys’s into small squares, not sure if he was ready to leave little space yet. Now all I had to do was make us something to drink. Opening the cupboard I saw one of the extra tall sippy cups I had gotten Rhys, the one that had the dancing bears, and filled it with his favourite juice. I grabbed myself a bottled water. All the makings plus a small bag of crisps fit on a tray so that I could carry it easily into the playroom.

It was getting darker, so I flicked a few lights on as I moved down the hall, filling the flat with a warm glow. I avoided turning the overhead on in the playroom, not wanting to startle Rhys. Instead I flicked on the bedside table lamp.

“Time to sit up, baby bear. I got us some ham sandwiches and juice.” I set the tray down on my lap as I sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for Rhys to reemerge from his snuggle cocoon.

“Red juice?” Rhys’s head poked out from the duvet.

I nodded, smiling at his hopeful grin. “Red juice and sandwiches cut in the little squares.” I helped him sit up. “Now I want you to eat this and take your time coming up. There is no rush, baby bear, and I get the feeling you really needed some little time.” I handed Rhys one of his sandwich squares which he ate slowly, and I kept doing that until he’d finished his sandwich and had drunk some of his juice.

Rhys sighed and rubbed his belly once he’d drunk the last of his juice, smacking his lips in pleasure.

Moving our plates out of the way, I scooped Rhys up into my lap and spoke into the curls on top of his head. “So I was thinking, if you’re not ready to talk yet, how do you feel about soaking in a bath, relaxing a bit?”

“Yes please. Can I have my boats?”

“You sure can. Do you want to wait in here, or come keep me company while I run the bath?” I asked, cuddling Rhys close to my chest.

“Come with you.”

I helped Rhys to his feet then stood. He looked adorably sleep rumpled, and I couldn’t resist kissing his cheeks, noticing the not so fine fuzz on them. “Hmm, it might be time for another shave. Want me to do that too, baby?”

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