Chapter Two
1651 Words
Suddenly I heard Sab shouting “I have her, its okay she is okay Emily” I rushed to the sound of his voice, my little girl happily smiling in his arms. She turned to me and smiled, she had the cutest smile in the world, her blond curls hung around her sweet face, her bright blue eyes full of excitement.
“Hidey” she said giggling.
“She was actually under her bed Emily” Sab informed me
I grabbed her and again fell on my knees holding her to me so tight and big tears of relief washed over me. Why had I not tried the obvious place, blind panic had taken over. Nathalie was beside me stroking my back telling me it was all okay.
“Okay time to get this little munchkin fed I think” Nathalie said, I nodded unable to speak.
“Want choco pops” Molly said smiling at her Godmother. Nathalie smiled and whispered, “Okay little munchkin choco pops it is” and we made our way down to the kitchen.
Molly and I had arrived only yesterday, Sab was heading over to Asia for the first race of the season soon, he would again defend his world championship title, he had been Colin's teammate before the fire, and unstoppable even after a horrific crash that almost cost him his life. Nathalie was unable to travel now being 33 weeks pregnant, it was their first little one, although the way they had both looked after Molly and me they knew what to expect. I had agreed to come over to stay with her, whilst Sab was away for four weeks. They hated being apart.
My daughter had my blond curls and blue eyes, but her fathers’ sense of adventure, she was a hand full, and always into some kind of mischief she was a force of nature. We normally lived quietly in our home in Sheffield, although we had plenty of income thanks to Colin's life insurance, times had been tough bringing her up on my own, whilst dealing with the pure grief of losing him so tragically.
Nathalie and Sab did everything they could to help. Nat had often spoken about me moving over to Spain to stay live with them, but to leave behind my memories of my life with Colin was more painful than the loneliness I felt each day.
I looked over at my daughter as she attempted to eat the choco pops with her big girl spoon, she was wearing more than she ate, but, she was determined to do it herself. The chocolate milk was down her pink unicorn pj’s and the table around her was full of chocolate covered crisp rice. I looked at Nat
“Sorry Nat this is getting everywhere” I said heading off to get some kitchen roll to catch some of the mess. Nathalie laughed
“Don’t worry it all cleans up” she smiled at me. My best friend really did love my daughter almost as much as I did. Molly looked up at Sab and smiled then pointed towards the garages outside “Uncle Sab .. Bike” she said.
“After your breakfast and when you are ready” he said lovingly to her. Molly was her fathers child she had already developed Colin's love of motorbikes, her favourite thing to do was to go out into the Garage with her Uncle Sab and sit on them, she was too young to go for a ride just yet but she would sit for hours blurting noises, and the screams when she had to get off were unearthly. Sab would sit patiently behind her as she played until he had to go training. Molly loved it here, having three adults at her beck and call, treating her like a princess pandering to her every whim. My whole life now was to make her happy, to cherish her and enjoy how much she reminded me of Col.
Nathalie looked at me smiling “She looks like you, but oh boy is she like Col” she said I nodded
“I was thinking the same thing Nat” I laughed
“For sure she will be first female world champion” Sab laughed.
He turned to Nat and rubbed her tummy and placed a kiss on her forehead and said “And this little one will be the second Antlia world champion” he teased. Nat looked at him “Maybe our Son will prefer a quieter life like his Mum” she quipped back at him laughing.
“For sure only seven weeks till we find out” he laughed at her, their good-nature loving banter was a joy to be around, it reminded me so much of Col and I, and that was good. Anything that reminded me of him was welcome, keeping his memory alive. Suddenly Nat’s phone buzzed, and she looked a small frown on her face. Sab looked at her concerned
“Sam is on his way; he is staying here until you guy’s head off to Qatar” she informed him. I looked at her also concerned, Sam was Nathalie’s brother, and also my friend from childhood, but for him to be here for the next week indicated that he and Rosa were fighting again. They had an apartment in Barcelona, but things had been difficult lately, Rosa was a PR executive she lived for her Job, she had been working with Colin and Sab but a different team had offered her more money last year to change, and she had taken up the offer. Sam worked with Sab as his assistant, it had caused some issues in their relationship, after a few confidential reports had leaked out. Sam had accused Rosa; she had said it was her Job. I was sure they would figure it out, but Sam was not happy, he felt he cold no longer trust her, and from what Nat had told me she was putting her career and ambitions before her relationship with Sam and his family. Things had gotten tense whenever she was around, everyone having to watch what was said, in case the information was passed to the competition she now worked for.
Breakfast was over and I took Molly up to get washed and changed, I picked out a little pair of blue jeggings with a pink sparkly long sleeve top. It was hotter here at the end of February than in England, but not yet warm enough for t-shirts. She grabbed her favourite cuddly toy and ran out to meet Sab. I took the opportunity for a long shower, it was not often I could relax like this, normally I would have around 5 minuets to shower and change. Molly was not a good sleeper, always on the go, she was still to have a full night’s sleep without waking up every few hours. Again, this was just like Colin, he had not needed much sleep. I had grown used to the sleep deprivation, however, to get a night off every now and then was a relief. Colin's parents had taken her a couple of times, and mine also, but I did not like her to be away from home much. Panic would start to rise as I worried constantly about her. My Doctors had told me that it was partly down to a mild form of PTSD after the fire, along with being a first time Mum. The only people I truly trusted with her was Nathalie and Sab, I knew they had made a commitment to look after both of us, and it was one they both took seriously as my friends and as Molly’s Godparents.
The warm water soothed me after the fright of this morning, it felt good to be able to spend a little longer than normal taking care of myself. It was also very good to be here, and I wished I was able to take Nat up on the offer to move here, but I could not leave my home surrounded by my memories.
I headed downstairs hearing the front door open. “Emily” Sam shouted at me smiling his big bright smile and gave me a hug. “Where is the little terror?” he asked laughing. “Outside with Sab on the bikes again” I laughed
Sam rolled his eyes “just like her Daddy” he smiled at me, The best thing about being around Nat, Sab and Sam was the fact they freely spoke about Colin, mostly people would avoid talking of him, not knowing what to say, even his parents would avoid speaking of him to me. I loved him being remembered, and I loved our daughter being like her daddy. Here we had all the fantastic memories and we would share and talk, even cry together, and that felt good, it was like he was still with us. Sam went over to Nat and said “Don’t get up,” then teased her “You look like a beached whale Nat” he laughed, she hit his arm and pouted pretending to be upset about it, but we all knew she wasn’t she was one of the women who loved being pregnant. She had never been self-obsessed and was proud of her bump.
Sam had a big bag in his hand, and he turned to me and said, “I have a small gift for Molly, can I go give her it?” I laughed; it did not look that small. I nodded
“And here is one for my nephew baby Sam” he said to Nat. She frowned at him “We have told you his name is going to be Marc, after Sab’s grandfather and not Sam”
“Awww go on you know you want to call him Samuel “ he continued just then her bump moved “See he likes it” Sam said joking
“Nope, he was kicking you away” Nat laughed at him.
Sam placed a kiss on her bump and pulled out a large Mickey Mouse then headed out to the garage to see Sab and Molly.
- Writer
