The Fair

  Timothy stared out the window watching the many families walking down the road towards the fair that was taking place over the weekend. He had wanted to go but his father was on call and his step- mother had never been before and was very reluctant to go. Unknown to Timothy, Shelagh had planned for Granny Parker to take him but she had phoned at the last minute to say she was ill and couldn't go.

   Shelagh and Timothy had attempted to play monopoly, when Patrick had been called to a breech birth, in an attempt to distract themselves, but it was pointless. The noise from excited children outside had only made Timothy more grumpy and unwilling to play.

    The telephone rang from the hall, Shelagh went to answer, hearing Timothy sigh heavily and walk back over the window the third time that morning.

  "Hello Turner residence" Shelagh said into the telephone's receiver.

   "Shelagh, " Patrick breathed from the other end. "I'm going to be a few more hours here darling. Don't wait around for me." He knew that she wouldn't go out, even into the garden, in case he came home and needed her comfort.

  Just as she said goodbye and put down the receiver, the doorbell rang.

  "I'll get it!" called Timothy as he ran towards the front door.

"Hello Tim" came a small voice from the door step as Shelagh rounded the corner and stood next to Timothy.

   "Greetings Colin. Oh, and Jean! How lovely it is to see you both " her Scottish tone rang through her voice.

   "We wondered whether Timothy would like to come to the fair with us". Upon seeing the concern in Shelagh's face Colin added, "We'll be careful and stay with mum at all times" Jean smiled reassuringly.

    Timothy turned to his step- mother, put on the sweetest smile he could manage and pleaded

   "Can I, please mum? I've done all my homework and chores for today!"

    Shelagh thought about it for a second and her tight smile turned into a grin. This way she didn't have to go and she could potentially spend some time alone with her husband. Taking her grin as a yes he leapt back to grab his shoes and jumped down onto the path outside of the house to stand next to Colin.

     Jean caught her gaze, only briefly, but noticed she wasn't her usual self. Preoccupied perhaps?

 

     "You're more than welcome to join us Shelagh", hoping that the afternoon spent at the fair would be what she needed,

    "In fact, i'd rather like it if you did come. I'm sure the boys would love to go on lots of rides and my husband wasn't able to come so It'll be nice to have someone to chat to"

    Shelagh didn't want to be rude, but realised she didn't have an excuse not to go either. The housework had been done, Patrick didn't need her to stay, and it was always a treat of fish and chips on Saturday, so dinner did not need to be prepared.

    "Ok" she replied, picking up her shoes from the floor and closing the front door behind her.

   Upon arriving at the fair, Timothy and Colin immediately headed towards the carousel.

    "Wait for us boys! "Shelagh called after them

    "Don't worry."Jean tapped hey on the arm, attempting to relax her." They'll be fine."

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     Landing heavily on the gold sofa when they got home, Shelagh and Timothy both exchanged glances and smiled. It had been a lovely afternoon. Despite initially being hesitant about going on any of the rides, she had gone on three, at Timothy's persistance.

     A little while later shelagh felt a warm sensation in her lips. Opening her eyes slowly she realised that she had fallen asleep and Partick had come home. Returning the brief kiss, she groaned when he left her lips.

    "Hello sweetheart. Have a good day did you?"

    With a wink Patrick settled himself in the space next to her draping his arm around her shoulders.

     "I did. Thank you." she mumbled into his shoulder. "How did the birth go?"

     "It all went smoothly. Just observed really, Nurse Franklin had everything in hand. Perfect baby boy and they are both doing very well. Talking of perfect," he shifted so that Shelagh could face him and caught her chin with his fingers "I want to say hello to my wife properly"

      With that he caught her lips, once again, slowly moving his tongue along her mouth and with a groan she accepted it.

     "Sweetheart," Shelagh breathed between their kisses "I'm rather tired. I think I want to go to bed. Timothy is already asleep."

     Pulling back from their embrace, Patrick studied his wife's face. How far they had come in a matter of a few months. Here was this beautiful, brave person who had come into a marriage with someone she bearly knew, as they had found out, with a teenage step-son and everything she previously knew as her life had changed dramatically. Everyday she had done something new, and today was no exception.

   "Darling?" Shelagh whispered. "Patrick? Please, I want to go to bed"

     He couldn't mistake the fire that had ignited in her eyes. She was his beautiful, brave and bold wife and he lead up up the stairs towards the bedroom.