✔ Mrs Mandray

57. Fathers and Sons

Isabella

Oliver had been unsurprisingly grumpy and clingy when she woke him up. Or rather, he had woken her up at his standard ridiculous o'clock time. Oh she needed her morning cup of tea.

It was easy to ignore everything that had happened yesterday while she sat playing with her son. She knew that the fae looking after her would have questions but for now she just enjoyed the peacefulness of the moment. Smiling as Oliver clip-clopped the toy horse along the stone floor. The Toys had been here when they arrived in the soft living room full of windows. Well... they were more of stone arches rather than windows.

Which she had not appreciated when she first walked up to them and discovered that Oliver could just stumble off the ledge and fall. Seconds later metal railing had appeared in every arch way. The sight had her stumbling back, blinking in surprise at the sudden magic but when she looked around there was no one in sight to have done it.

So she could quite possibly be losing her mind.

Especially considering there seemed to be more and more toys and elaborate play set-ups appearing in the corners of her eyes. Oliver was delighted of course. They were playing some kind of game that she didn't fully understand only that she was both the fearsome dragon, the mysterious witch and the damsel. It was seriously testing her repertoire of funny voices.

"Mummy play!" Oliver pouted, tugging at his mother when he realised she was paying enough attention. "The-the dragon needs to be in- in..." He frowned, concentrating on the story line he was following so Isabella hesitantly moved the stuffed dragon towards the makeshift village. "No! Not there, the dragon lives in the mountain!"

So the dragon stayed in the mountain (the sofa) while the witch began explaining a quest to the hero (bat-bat) who was determined to rescue the damsel (Isabella) from the cave (under the coffee table) where she was held captive.

She's still not sure why the dragon is there but she suspects that it's because Rhys got him the toy.

"Raaaaaahhh." Oliver growled quietly as the dragon dive bombed the village. For a second Isabella found herself tensing at the noise, worried someone would hear the in-human sound. A giddy relief bubble in her chest a second later.

There was no reason to worry about that here. She found herself grinning, roaring and encouraging Oliver to play louder and have fun. He seemed surprised by her change in attitude but eager to play along. They sat there on the plush rug for hours, loudly playing with toys and munching on random snacks that appeared on the coffee table.

Isabella was learning to just accept that the house– palace– seemed to be magical in its own right. Clearly the house picked up on her acceptance and started bringing her more and more fancy foods and breakfast platters. Each plate was received with a 'thank you' from Isabella and a 'oooooo' from Oliver who was gaping at the growing mountain on the coffee table.

"Can I have a brownie?" He was practically jumping in place, eyes gleaming. "Please, please, please."

"Ollie, you need breakfast–" There was a pile of brownies on the table. "No." She glared up at the ceiling and Oliver slumped down with folded arms and a pout. "He needs to have an actual breakfast first."

Half the brownies disappeared on the plate only to be replaced by an apple and banana.

"That's–" She frowned in confusion, glancing between the plate and the ceiling. "That's not a kids breakfast."

Almost hesitantly, the fancy macaron desserts and tarts were slowly replaced by small slices of toast, various cereal bowls, porridge,sausages, french toast and bowls of fruit.