On a grey, rainy evening in October, all the lights were out, though it wasn’t Halloween. The entirety of the Creighton Ward Mansion was silent, save for Parker’s heavy breathing as he lay flat out on the sofa, listening to Alan play with Sherbet in another room. He tried not to listen to the sound of little footsteps trampling down the stairs, and rolled over onto his back, grunting like an achy gorilla.
But then, I popped up from behind the sofa and squeaked:
“Parker!”
Being only three years old I didn’t understand why the room was so silent, but Parker chuckled and once again smiled to see me.
“Ah, there’s me little lady!” he laughed, breaking the peace, as he scooped me up into his arms and cuddled me, later nuzzling me and kissing me all over my cheeks. How I squealed with laughter!
But then, Parker put a finger to his lips and softly said,
“Sssssshhhh.”
Always obedient, my lips suddenly snapped shut. There was an extremely long silence, save for the rain drumming on the window outside. Then, my face fell.
“M….mummy?”
Parker sighed and began to tousle my hair gently. He spoke, but in a rather soft, hushed tone compared to his usual jolly demeanor.
“Now now, darling, h’I’m afraid mummy won’t be waking up h’until tomorrow morning.”
“Why?” I asked, my usually excited voice lowered to a whimper.
“Well, h’it all started h’at dinner earlier. You weren’t there, because you were ‘aving a nap with Sherbet h’in your arms. You didn’t ‘ear it, but ‘er ladyship started choking on ‘er roast beef. H’It seemed to ‘ave gone down the wrong way, and she was choking and crying for ‘elp. Luckily we were all there to ‘elp her. Alan quickly banged mummy on the back, while Brains went to fetch some water before you could say ‘FAB’. I then got out h’a box of ‘ankies and encouraged ‘er ladyship to blow ‘er nose. The sound she made was so violent you could ‘ear it h’in Ibiza.”
“Poor mummy…” I whimpered sadly, and snuggled closer to Parker as he lay back down on the sofa. I felt safe with Parker when Lady Penelope was ill in bed or had to go somewhere to meet up with some friends or relations. He knew I was much as a member of the family as mummy did, but most of all, Alan, Brains, MAX and Sherbet thought me a part of the family too.
“Now now, dear, it’s alright,” whispered Parker, stroking my curly brown hair and kissing me on the forehead.
“Mummy’s h’in bed at the moment,” he continued to explain,
“If she wakes up, she might feel a bit dizzy and needing a drink or the loo, but that might be h’okay. We’ll do h’our best to make ‘er our baby the same way we made you h’ours. You are h’our pride and joy, and I don’t know where h’in the name of Grizzly we would be without you to make us smile and be happy.”
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