enola_ray-of-sunshine-2

A RAY OF SUNSHINE by Enola <<< Part 1

PART 2

The next day James called Stacey a couple of hours later he had gone out asking to check if there was any toothpaste tube in the bathroom cabinet since he had forgotten to do it.
“I’d do it if I were at your house,” said Stacey
“You’re not at home?” inquired James surprised,
“Ahem, no. Erica is with her grandmother, remember?”
“With her grandmother?” he asked aloud getting a bit angry. “Do you mind explain what the hell is going on?”
“Your mother-in-law came over one hour ago saying she had called you and that she would take Erica I don’t know where. You didn’t know?”
“I can’t believe it! That’s typical of her.” He was even angrier now.
“Oh god! I’m sorry James, I thought you knew.”
“It’s not your fault Stacey, don’t worry. The problem is my mother-in-law. I’ll deal with her later.”

He was furious when Harriet, his mother-in-law, brought Erica back home. He kissed his child and told her to go and watch telly in the living room since she had to talk to her grandmother. Once the little girl had kissed and said bye to her, James told Harriet to follow him to the kitchen. He closed the door so that Erica wouldn’t hear them.
“Next time you wanna take Erica out I’d be grateful if you called first,” said James harshly.
“I don’t understand why you sound so upset. Erica is my granddaughter but you seem to forget about it all the time. I have every right to spent some time with her but you prefer to leave that poor little girl with a total stranger instead of with me.” She sounded acid as usual.
“Stacey is no stranger,” he said firmly. “She’s her babysitter and Erica likes staying with her. Remember that Erica is MY DAUGHTER and only I decide what’s the best for her. And at the moment, Stacey is.”
His mother-in-law had listen to him in silence and didn’t even speak once he had finished. She walked over to the door and a moment before she opened it she turned over and said, “You’ll regret it James. Sooner or later you’ll realise that that babysitter is not the best thing for your daughter.”

James opened the fridge and took a coke. He needed to calm down; meeting his mother-in-law had always been a fight. He kept on wondering how such a wicked woman had had two lovely daughters like Ruth and Amber. It was no wonder her husband had left her ten years later they had got married, but according to James his father-in-law had stayed with her even too much time.
He poured some milk on a glass and took it to his little girl. He sat down next to her on the sofa and handed her the glass. “Did you have fun with granny Harriet?”
Erica took the glass with both hands and replied, “So-so. I was having more with Stacey. She played the violin. You know, she’s very good. Granny Harriet was very rude to her.”
“Really?”
She nodded her head and sipped a bit of her milk. “She told her to pick up her ‘trifles’ quickly and leave.”
“Damn her!” he murmured under his breath. He kissed his child’s hair and said, “I’ll apologise to her next time.”
“May I call her daddy? I want to know if she’s fine.”
He smiled at her tenderly, “Okay honey, I’ll give you my phone.”
“I don’t need it,” said Erica getting up, “I’ve written her number on my diary.” She rushed upstairs leaving her dad puzzled.

After dinner, having put Erica to bed, James poured himself a drink and sat comfortably on the sofa. He picked up the folder with Nicky’s lyrics that Martin had given to him some days ago and read aloud all of them again. Afterwards he closed the folder and placed it over the coffee table, so he took his mobile and called his friend. They talked for more than one hour, James told Nicky about the constant problems with his mother-in-law who always managed to exasperate him with her claims on Erica’s upbringing and education. Fortunately, the thought of his little girl’s good mood consoled him and helped him to forget about anything else. There was no doubt, Erica was his anchor.

James was upstairs changing when the bell rang. “Stacey would you mind answer the door?” he cried from his bedroom. “That must be Martin.”
Stacey handed her recipe book to Erica and opened the door.
“Hello! I’m Martin,” smiled the blondish guy with stubble standing out of the door, “and you must be Stacey,” he added stretching his hand out.
“Right,” smiled Stacey shaking Martin’s hand. “Please come in. I think James is changing. You know, Erica was right. You look like King Theoden a lot, but you’re quite younger than him.”
Martin gave a short laugh, “So she told you! What about you?”
“I’m Froda.”
“Froda? Oh my god, that’s so funny!” he said keeping on chuckling amused.
“Yeah, you know, all of the female characters were already taken. Erica says I look like Frodo,” sniggered Stacey.
“Well, you’ve got dark curls and the right height, but you’re definitely far prettier than him. Believe me.”
“Oh, thank you,” said Stacey slightly embarrassed. “It’s very kind of you.”

“Hello king Theoden!” called out Erica running to Martin.
“Here’s my sweet little niece Eowyn” Martin bent forward and picked up the little girl, “who gets more and more beautiful. Everything alright sweetie?”
“Yes,” smiled Erica, “but don’t say I’m beautiful or Bridget will be jealous.”
“Don’t worry honey, she knows she’s the most beautiful to me. You’re the second,” he said kissing the little girl on the cheek.
“Hey you! Get your dirty hands off my child,” cried James jokingly coming down the stairs.
“What if I don’t?”
“You’d better not to know.”
“Oh dear! Look, I’m all trembling with fear!” sniggered Martin making Erica and Stacey laugh.
“C’mon, gimme my kid back,” said James getting closer. Erica spread her arms out and wrapped them around her dad’s neck. “So, what are you going to do today?”
“We are making a cake,” said Erica with a lovely big smile, “but we don’t know yet what kind of cake.”
“I bet that whatever cake you make, it’ll be very good. Have fun darling.”

James put his coat on and recommended Stacey to be careful and remembered his little girl not to go close to the oven whilst baking the cake. Erica promised her dad to be good and blew him several kisses. Martin and Stacey shook each other’s hands and he said it had been a great pleasure to meet her.

Once in his car Martin stared at his friend until he realised it.
“What’s up?” asked James whilst fastening his seat belt.
“So Stacey’s an ordinary girl. Have you got blind all at once or what? You know James, you’ve gone out with far more ‘ordinary’ women than her. And don’t tell she’s not your type.”
James was looking out of the window and didn’t speak a word for a while, his head resting in his hand. “Martin start this bloody car up and drive,” he finally said sounding annoyed. “Stacey is my daughter’s babysitter and nothing else. End of story.”
“You should go out with someone.”
“It’s too soon.”
“It’s almost eight months.”
“Yes indeed. It’s too soon, but it’s none of your business anyway,” said James getting angry. “I don’t want to talk about it any longer.”
Martin started his car up and before leaving he said, “Just one more thing. Erica needs a mother but I’m sure you know this better than me. Have you ever wondered if she could ever be fond of someone else as she is of Stacey? Personally, I don’t believe that could happen. Think over it James.”

A delicious smell of cake filled James’s nostrils as he entered home. Stacey and Erica were still in the kitchen; his kid’s babysitter had just taken the cake out from the oven and had put it over the table. He burst out laughing when he saw his little girl with a huge apron on knelt on a chair by the table.
“You’re all covered with flour,” he smiled wiping her face with a cloth, “you need to take a bath honey.”
“Maybe Stacey can bath me,” said the child glancing at her babysitter,
“But maybe she’s got something else to do this evening.”
“I’ll be pleased to,” intervened Stacey with a smile over her face, “if it’s okay with you of course James.”
“You see, I was right,” smiled Erica pleased,
James looked at Stacey and said, “Sure you don’t mind?”
“Not at all,” replied Stacey cheerfully.
“Okay. I’ll go and fill the tub then,” said James whilst leaving the kitchen.
One moment later Erica came down the chair and run after her dad calling him. “Can we ask Stacey to stay for dinner?”
“That’s a brilliant idea darling.”

Before the bath Erica went to her bedroom and chose her clothes to wear after it, a pair of stripped socks, pink knickers and a light green pyjamas with ladybirds on the top. Stacey waited for her in the bathroom and when the child came in she placed her clothes over a stool. Once she had bathed the child Stacey helped her to put her robe on and rubbed her hair with a towel first, then she finished drying it with the hairdryer.

When Erica had got dressed she asked Stacey to give her a piggyback as her dad often did, so the babysitter helped her to climb onto the stool and turned over. She went downstairs slowly afraid of falling over and when she finally went down the last step she sighed with relief. James smiled when he saw them entering the kitchen. Stacey went close to a chair and said,
“End of journey darling! You’re too heavy and I’m too old for these things. My poor back!”
Erica giggled and sat down on the chair.
“You too old?” said James with a laugh whilst finishing to set the table. “What should I say then? I’m 35.”
Stacey sniggered. “Let’s say that’s a question of built then.”
“I agree. By the way honey, have you already told Stacey about next Saturday?”
“No, not yet.”
“What are you waiting for?”
Erica turned towards Stacey and took her hand. “Next Saturday is my birthday, would you come to my party?”
“Yes, I’d be pleased to. Thank you,” said Stacey stroking the child’s hair.
“Good. Now let’s sit down. Dinner’s ready.”

“Daddy can I have a slice of cake now?”
James had a look at her dish and said, “Finish your carrots first.”
“I don’t want anymore.”
“You’ve always eaten them, so why shouldn’t you this time?”
“I want some cake.”
“No carrots no cake.”
“Daddy it’s not fair. Please?” she protested.
“Please, eat your carrots first,” said Stacey in a very sweet voice smiling at her.
Erica looked at her for a while, so took her fork and ate the rest of her carrots under her dad’s astonished eyes.
“That’s incredible,” he smiled, “if I tell you to eat them you don’t but if it’s Stacey you do.”
“She said ‘please’,” replied his daughter grinning cheekily.

Stacey put Erica to bed and when she returned downstairs James invited her to sit in the lounge since he needed to talk to her. “I’d want to apologise for my mother-in-law’s behaviour,” he said rubbing his hands together nervously. “Erica told me she was rude to you last time.”
“Don’t worry,” smiled Stacey warmly, “I guess she doesn’t like me.”
“It’s not you Stacey. She’s the problem. If I called her a witch I’d just paid her a compliment. The two of us have never got on together, but things have never been better with her daughters. When they were younger she did nothing but controlling them and she always had to complain about their friends, jobs and the men they went out with. Now she’d want to do the same with her grandchildren but neither Amber and I nor Ruth and Don have ever allowed her to. I’ve lost count of how many times Amber and I have argued because of her mother poking her nose into our lives. That’s something I can’t stand.”

Now Erica’s words about her grandmother came to mind. Stacey had laughed when the child had said that her granny Harriet was the evil Saruman from ‘The Lord of the Rings’. What James had just told showed that Erica wasn’t joking at all.

“Only Ruth knows this,” added James several moments later, “Amber and I were on the verge of splitting up.”
“I’m sure you miss her a lot and wish you could go back and never argue with her.”
“Yes, if only I could,” he sighed looking at his shoes, “I miss her like mad. Perhaps I’ll fall in love again one day, but I’m sure that I could never love anyone as much as I loved her.”
“You probably won’t. You’ll love her forever and Erica will remind you of her more and more day after day. She looks like her mum a lot,” smiled Stacey genuinely.
“Yeah, she’s got her beautiful hair,” he said with a hint of a smile, “and her sweet smile. ”

“I think I’d better go now,” said Stacey getting up, “it’s getting late.”
James got up as well and glanced at his watch, “Hell, you’re right. Let me call you a cab.”
“Ahem, don’t bother. I’ll take the tube.”
“It’s too late for the tube,”
“It’s no problem, I’ve done it tons of times.”
“Please Stacey, take a cab. It’s safer,” he smiled picking up the phone.
“Okay.”

“Thank you for listening to him. I appreciated it a lot. I think you can understand the way I feel, Erica told me about you and your mum.”
Stacey’s heart sank all of a sudden, her eyes dropped to the floor and she walked over the door to take her coat.
“Did I say anything wrong?” asked James with a hint of concern in his voice going closer,
“Excuse me James, I don’t really feel like talking about it.” Her voice was soft and sad, sad as her big hazel eyes.
“It’s okay, don’t worry. I’m so sorry about it, I shouldn’t have mentioned it. Thanks again for everything, for that amazing cake and for bathing Erica.”
“You’re welcome. It was a pleasure, really. Thanks to you for dinner. I had a great time with you and Erica.”
“It was very nice having you with us.”

Erica couldn’t wait for blowing out the six pink little candles on the top of her huge birthday cake and open all of her presents. Her dad told her that she would do it only when everyone had arrived. Her aunt, uncle and little cousins had been there for half an hour so that aunt Ruth and uncle Don could help her dad to arrange food in dishes and bowls and placed them over the big table in the living room. Shortly after 4 o’clock also Martin arrived with his wife and kids carrying a huge and heavy box that he put down just near all the others as James told him to. His children joined Erica and her little cousins, so she showed them the gifts her father had given her in the morning.

“You know James, it was very nice of you inviting me at Erica’s birthday party,” said his mother-in-law whilst taking her coat off, “I can honestly say that I didn’t expect it.”
James dug his hands deep into his pockets and cleared his throat. “Actually, it was Erica. She chose who to invite, it’s her birthday after all, not mine.”
He strove for being as kind as he could; at least for this time he had no intention to argue with her, otherwise he would end up spoiling his little daughter’s birthday party and he would never forgive himself for that. It was already hard enough without Amber, this was Erica’s first birthday without her mum and he wanted everything to be alright just for her good. At least for today he would endure Harriet’s presence.

“Are you sure you don’t need any help to wash all of this stuff?” asked Ruth entering the kitchen with the last dirty dishes.
“Um, don’t worry Ruth. You can go home now, the kids must be tired. You’ve already done enough, thank you so much,” said James hugging his sister-in-law.
“What’s up James? You look thoughtful.”
“I’m just a bit worried for Stacey, haven’t you found her behaviour strange today? She didn’t stay long and left without saying anything.”
“Yes, I noticed.”
“It was as if she was out of place. When last week Erica invited her she just apparently looked happy about it, but there was something in her eyes, some kind of sadness. She ‘disappeared’ just soon after Erica blew out the candles and some minutes later I found her in Erica’s bedroom with a teddy in her arms. I’m sure she had been crying but she denied it, she said that her eyes were watering because she was probably falling ill.”

“As I told you earlier that’s just what she told me when she was leaving. I’m sorry James, but I don’t know what to say. I don’t know much of her, she’s very reserved, she’s never told me anything about her private life.”
“She’s told something to Erica some time back. She said that she’s never known her father, actually she doesn’t know anything about him ‘cos her mother has never talked about him to her. It seems that she’s argued with her and they don’t talk to each other any longer.”
“They’ve probably argued because of that. Maybe she doesn’t have happy memories about her childhood and this party upset her.”
“Maybe you’re right.”
“Damn it!” exclaimed Ruth when something that had happened earlier came to mind. “Or maybe it was something my mother told her. When I was looking for more glasses I saw Stacey coming out from here and she looked rather sad. I asked if everything was okay and she replied it was. But there was my mum too in here. I bet that she told Stacey something not nice at all. Even though this happened just a little earlier Stacey left.”
“So there must be more behind her weird behaviour.”
“I guess we’ll never know.”

As soon as Ruth, Don and the children left, James carried Erica upstairs and helped to remove her clothes and wear her pyjamas. “Did you enjoy yourself darling?”
“Yes, but I missed mummy so much,” replied his little daughter holding one of her teddy bears she always slept with.
“I know darling,” he said softly kissing her on the forehead, “it wasn’t the same without her.”
“Yeah, I’m also sorry that Stacey wasn’t fine. I wish she had stayed a bit more. I want to call her tomorrow.”
“Okay. Now sleep,” he smiled sweetly tucking her in. “Good night my love. Sweet dreams.”

Once downstairs James took his mobile and called Stacey. He could wait until tomorrow to know if she was fine. “Hi Stacey, it’s James.”
“I know. Saw your name on my phone screen. Hi by the way.”
“Ahem, I was wondering if it’s alright. You didn’t look at ease this evening.”
“As I said earlier, I think I’ve caught some flu bug and I’m feeling pretty down,” replied Stacey in a low voice. “I’ll be better within a few days. Excuse me for leaving without either saying bye or thank you. It was very rude of me.”
“Don’t worry. I don’t want you to take this call as some kind of rebuke because it isn’t. I was just a wee worried for you, that’s all. I really hope you’ll get well soon.”
“Thank you James.”
“Take care of yourself.”
“I will.”
James didn’t know why, but Stacey’s explanations didn’t convince him at all.

It was a warm sunny spring Friday afternoon and Erica pleaded with Stacey to take her to the park. She called James first to know if he would agree but his mobile was off. She was extremely sorry for the child but she let her understand that she couldn’t take her to the park without her father’s approval. Erica suggested that they could go out and that Stacey phoned her dad again later but he babysitter was unshakable. The little girl saddened and Stacey’s heart bled for her; she couldn’t bear to see that lovely kid like that. She called Ruth then and asked for an opinion. Ruth reassured her saying that she was sure that James wouldn’t see anything wrong with it. She told her to take her niece to the park and not to worry; she herself would try to phone her brother-in-law and inform him that she had given her consent to her.

Only half an hour later Ruth got another phone call from Stacey. She was sobbing frantically and Ruth could hardly understand what you was saying. She just managed to learn that Erica had disappeared. She left work immediately and joined Stacey who, in the meantime, had called the police. She had already told the two policemen what had happened and now she had to tell everything to Ruth. She was desperate; she was crying her heart out and her whole body trembled. She said that Erica was playing on the swings and asked to buy her an ice cream from the nearby stand, so she went to buy the ice creams leaving the child playing. She constantly kept an eye on her, then she paid for the ice creams and when she turned over Erica wasn’t on the swings anymore. She looked around and also asked some children and their parents if they had seen her, but nobody could tell her anything. She threw away the ice creams and searched for Erica screaming her name as louder as she could.

James’s phone was still off. Fortunately, Ruth had ‘Hall or Nothing’ number, so called there saying who she was and that she desperately needed to talk to James. Several moments later, finally Ruth managed to talk to him and he wanted to know every single detail. When he got there with martin he was literally out of control. He assailed Stacey grabbing her by the arms shaking her with strength. “How could you? How dared you take her here without my consent? Get out of my sight! I don’t want to see you again.”
Never ever Stacey had seen so much rage into someone’s eyes. Martin and one of the policemen could hardly pull him away from her. He struggled to get free whilst keeping on cursing and snarling at Stacey that he hated her with all his heart.
Martin hugged his friend and tried hard to calm him down. “We’ll find her James,” he went on repeating to comfort him. James wailed desperately in his manager’s arms; he was terrified at the thought the something bad might happened to his little girl. She was now somewhere alone and frightened looking for him and he didn’t know what to do.

Stacey was still shaken up; Ruth tried to console her but she couldn’t set her mind at rest. She felt responsible for it and was fully aware that she shouldn’t have gone out without James’s permission. Ruth suggested going home since her brother-in-law didn’t want her around. She promised to call when she got any news. At that very moment Stacey’s mobile rang and when she answered it she heard Erica’s crying voice calling her name.
“Erica? Where are you darling?” she said aloud,
“Stacey I got lost,” sobbed the child. At that very moment James got closer and snatched the phone from her hand.
“Erica honey, it’s daddy. Where are you?”
“At the park with a woman and her children. I saw a doggy and ran after it and got lost.”

Having known that she was fine, James told his daughter to give the phone to the woman so that he could talk to her. When he finished he threw Stacey’s mobile to the ground and before going away with Martin and the policemen, he snarled at her: “Piss off I said!”
Ruth bent down and picked the mobile up, so she handed it to Stacey. “He’s still shattered,” she said rubbing Stacey’s back affectionately, “he didn’t really mean those things. He’ll cool off soon, don’t worry. Come, I drive you home.”
Stacey shook her head several times, “Thanks, I’ll go by foot. Please, tell him I’m terribly sorry.”
“Don’t worry, I’m going to explain him everything.”

Erica was stroking a white dog when her dad found her. He held her in his arms tightly for several moments whilst tears began to roll down his cheeks again. He thanked the woman for calling and looking after his little daughter.
“It was my duty doing it,” said the fair woman smiling at him, “I’ve got three children so I can understand how a parent must feel in such a situation. I’d be terrified at the thought that something bad happen to one of them. I heard her crying and calling out the name Stacey, so I went closer and she told me she was playing on the swings with her babysitter. When she went and buy her an ice cream Erica saw our dog and ran after him and got lost. I asked for your number but she just remembered half of it. She was so frightened poor thing. Then she took out her diary from her rucksack and showed me her babysitter’s mobile number.”

James was angry and disappointed. He had relied on Stacey to look after his little girl, the most important thing he had ever had, and he felt betrayed. He had trusted her, he had considered her a very responsible and reliable person, but she had showed herself unable to deal with the task. There was another thing he couldn’t accept; his mother-in-law had foreseen it, she had told him that sooner or later he would realise that Stacey wasn’t the best thing for his child. Sadly, he had to admit that she had been right. The explanations that Ruth kept on giving him were vain. Nothing she said succeeded in changing his mind; Stacey would never babysit Erica again.

Part 3 >>>

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