If I Could Fly

Surprise

"Daddy! Daddy! Someone's at the door!" Freddie shouts from downstairs.

I groan, rolling over and dragging myself out of bed to the sound of the doorbell.
I've been up for about half an hour, due to Freddie bouncing about, but I have yet to actually get out of bed.

It's a Monday morning, alright, and it's not very often I get to lay in bed past 6:15 on a Monday morning, so I figure I qualify for an extra couple of hours in bed.

I glance at the clock, seeing it's only 7:45 and Liam's not supposed to be here for a few hours yet, but he has a habit of getting here stupidly early, so I shout down to Freddie telling him to open the door. Next thing I know I hear a loud shriek followed by a "Daddy!"

I react quickly, all sorts of worst case scenarios running through my head as I stumble down the stairs to where Freddie is, shaking like he's seen a ghost.

"What is it? Freddie what's wrong? Are you hurt? Did you fall?" I do a quick scan of him, checking him for any damage, though I can't seem to find any.

"Freddie, look at me, can you tell me what's wrong? What happened?" I ask, getting a little frantic now as he offers no sort of explanation, just stares at something behind me.
Come to think of it, his eyes haven't moved from whatever he's staring at, and my head snaps back to see what's caught his attention.

I have to do a double-take  when I see who's standing there. It's Harry, and he has the audacity to look slightly dazed and a little bit guilty.

"Hi" He says weakly, waving a little at the two of us. For the love of God, I think he's actually trying to kill me.

"Crap, Freddie you gave me a bloody heart attack, are you sure you're ok? You're definitely not hurt?" I ask, to which I only get a nod in reply.

I stand up slowly, aware that I am only in an old pair of jogging bottoms that are probably long past their day, but serve their purpose as pyjamas just as well. I haven't even brushed my teeth yet today, so I have no idea what kind of state I'm in and by the way Harry is looking at me, I probably have something down me.

"Erm, Hi, some warning would be good next time please. I kinda just woke up, so, erm, yeh, I'm going to go freshen up a little bit, Freddie try and not cause too much trouble I'll only be a couple of minutes" I say, giving him a stern look before jogging back upstairs.
I brush my teeth quickly and fix my hair a little bit, splashing my face with water and pulling on a loose tank top and some black skinnies. I deem myself presentable now, and head downstairs to find Freddie sat at the kitchen table with Harry, his mini guitar in-hand and singing sweet creature whilst playing along.

It's not perfect bless him but he's worked tirelessly on it for two years now and he's getting very good. I hover by the door, watching the two of them for a minute before I go over to the kettle and put it on to boil.

"Fredster, what do you want for breakfast matey?"

"Coco pops coco pops coco pops coco..."

"Okay, Okay I understand. All bran for you then yep?" I tease

"Noooooooo! Coco pops Daddy C-O-C -O P-O-P-S!" He shouts. I give him a pointed look, raising my eyebrow slightly.

"Pleaaaase?" He wines

"Coco pops it is then, and you Harry?"

"Just a cup of tea would be nice please, I've already had breakfast"

"Coming right up, Milk and one sugar if I remember correctly?"

"Yep"

I busy myself then with chopping up a banana to go with Freddie's coco pops and making some cherry jam on toast for myself. Once done, I carry everything over to the table where Freddie now has his ten favourite cars lined up, best to worst, and is describing in detail why he likes/dislikes each one. Harry smiles up at me gratefully when I place his tea in front of him, and I take a seat on the opposite side of the table to them.

"So, boys, have you been having fun without me?"

"Yes! Harry is my bestest friend now, no more boring Daddy"

"Thanks Freddie, it's always good to be reminded of how completely and utterly boring I am to you" I retort sarcastically and he giggles at his own mischievous behaviour.

"We've had fun Daddy, and guess what?" Freddie says excitedly, kneeling up and trying to stand on his chair.

In the process though he isn't very careful, and accidentally slams his hand down on the edge of his bowl, and the entire bowl of coco pops ends up upside down and all over him.

Everything goes silent for a second, and I close my eyes very, very slowly, rolling my lips in attempt to not loose my patients before it's even gone 8 o'clock.

I open my eyes again in time to see a cluster of coco pops fall from his shoulder and onto the floor.
Deep breaths.

Very slowly, he lifts the bowl out of his lap, placing it back on the table with a thump.

"Sorry" He says quietly
I groan, shaking my head and dropping it into my hands for a second. This kid I swear.

"It's ok, I'll sort it Lou, where's the kitchen roll?" Harry asks and I point to where it is on the counter, though I doubt it'll even touch the edges of the mess he's created. He carries on regardless.

"Come on Mr Messy, let's get you all cleaned up"