My Babydow Life Story
It was a warm day in the summer, with the sun’s rays glaring down into the garden of my modern mansion in the country. I lived there with my gorgeous husband, Dylan. It was a tall, white building with black window frames. In sounds very bleak, but underneath the windows, in the black window boxes, were beautiful flowers of all colours! As it was summer, there were bellflowers, carnations, chrysanthemums, freesias and geraniums in them, and it looked lovely. In the autumn there were camellias, forget-me-nots, lavender and marigolds in them, and in winter, roses, snowdrops, hellebores and winter jasmine. My favourite season of all though, when it came to flowers, was spring, when we had dahlias, hollyhocks, irises and lilacs, all sitting daintily in the window boxes. I was holding Dylan’s hand while sitting on the bench overlooking our gardening patch.
“I love you.” he whispered into my ear.
“I love you too.” I replied, trying not to cry.
“I will miss you so much darling.” This time I couldn’t hold it in any longer, and I started sobbing. It was the last day I would have with him, before he went into the army.
“Do you have to go?” I asked pleadingly through my tears. He sighed.
“You know I do. I want to fight for my country. Stand up and do something.”
“What about the kids?”
“I’ll write. You can send photos. I’ll visit.” His voice sounded heavy, as if he was trying to stay composed himself. That night I fell asleep in his arms, tears still rolling down my cheeks. The next day was even worse. I was in hysterics the whole time. As I waved my soul-mate goodbye, I knew life would never be the same.
A couple of days later, the crying stopped (or at least it was only at night). That was because my first seed, a cabbage seed, had bloomed, and there was my baby, my son...my Ethan! He had these big, blue eyes that looked lovely next to his jet-black hair. He was a very calm, caring, creative child, who loved nothing more than sitting on my lap, drinking milk while I read a story to him, even when he was 3...he was such a Mummy’s boy! He was delighted when he turned 6 months, and another seed bloomed, this time a rose seed. I was ecstatic to have a little girl, and I called her Pearl. She had these grey eyes that looked like little pebbles. Her hair was of the deepest red, and everyday I’d put it into pigtails, making her even more adorable than she normally was! Pearl was rather different from Ethan. She was at her happiest when she was singing and dancing around, like a little performer. Most of the time, Ethan was very shy, whereas Pearl was so outgoing from such a young age, it was astounding!
Life was good. I spent a lot on getting professional portraits done of Ethan and Pearl. I sent them to Dylan, and he would write back, saying we were blessed to have such beautiful children. I told him all about them, going into great detail. They needed a Dad...it must have been so hard for them without one. One night, however, after I’d put Pearl in her cot, and tucked Ethan up in bed, I read my most recent message. I couldn’t believe it! Dylan was coming to visit! I was over the moon! When I told the kids in the morning, they went crazy! They started cheering and clapping so loudly, I should’ve told them off as it was only 7am, and they might have woken the neighbours, but instead I just laughed at them, and joined in. The night before he came home, I poured fertilizer on my most grown cabbage seed, and hoped - really, really hoped – that it would bloom while Dylan was home.
When Dylan came back, it was magical! The kids loved him being home, and he gave them so many hugs and kisses, I lost count. We all went out into the garden, and guess what! The cabbage seed had bloomed! Dylan and I decided to call this baby Jacob, and Jacob had dark blue eyes, the colour of the sky at midnight, and dark brown hair, that I would gel to make it spiky. Even before he’d taken his first steps, he was constantly on the move! He’d wave his arms about, and kick his feet in the air, and in no time, he was on the floor, crawling like a caterpillar. He was such a Daddy's Boy! I think it was probably because he was born when Dylan was home.Obviously it was hard for everyone when Dylan left for the army again, but it somewhat softened the blow having a tiny baby and two little toddlers to cuddle, and concentrate on.
When Jacob was only about 5 or 6 months, two more seeds bloomed – a rose and a cabbage! They weren’t actually twins, but they looked identical, with their bald heads, and their toffee-coloured eyes, and they were born on the same day, so they were more or less twins, and I called them my twins. They were inseparable, and both very vocal babies, always babbling and cooing. They
were both also on the move a lot, so as you can tell they were very hyper babies! After a while, Frankie grew long, dark brown locks, with a cute little fringe, and Freddie had the same colour hair, but it was shorter, and in a side parting. My next froglet was another boy, the handsome little fella I called Alfie. He had very dark eyes, and he was my first blonde baby, taking after his mummy, hair-wise. I gelled it to be even spikier than Jacob's, and it looked adorable. The main difference between him and his youngest older brother, however, was the fact that Alfie was very much a Mummy's Boy, just like Ethan. Dylan loved all the kids the same, but I think Alfie didn't care much for his father, as the one big thing Alfie lacks is imagination. He couldn't think like his siblings, that his Daddy loved him, and was always there for him, even when he was out, fighting for his country. The next baby was another rose - at last - Pixie. Pixie was INCREDIBLY cute! She had these cute, black, rounded pigtails and deep blue eyes.
The day I got Pixie, I had a ring on the doorbell.
"That's strange..." I thought. "I wasn't expecting anyone." I carried Pixie with me, to answer the door, but I almost dropped her when I saw who it was!
"Hello beautiful. Aw, have we got another baby?! Let me give her a cuddle!" It was Dylan! I gave him a massive hug, then passed Pixie to him. I called the others downstairs, and the all ran at him, Ethan clutching his youngest brother. It was such a wonderful scene, I burst into tears! I joined the cuddle, and we stayed like that for almost 5 minutes! I asked Dylan why he was home, and he relipied:
"I thought Ethan was going to school tomorrow...?" I started sobbing again, as I'd managed to forget about it for an hour or so...it had been all I was thinking about for the last couple of weeks.
"Mummy, don't cry." pleaded Ethan, staring at me with his eyes the colour of the sky, on a clear summer's day. I sat on the black leather sofa, and pulled Ethan onto my lap. I kissed his head, and started telling him all about school, while Dylan took this opportunity to play with the younger ones. This was the situation for about an hour, then my fitter-than-fit husband annouced that he was taking us out to dinner! We went to an italian resturant, with Dylan having a spagetti bolangaise, me having a carbonara, while the kids shared two large pizzas: Margerita and Ham and Pineapple. Being a family together, and haviing fun, it felt almost like heaven! The next morning, however, it felt more like hell.
My first little child, going to school. Everyone was crying for practically the whole day! Ethan got a gold uniform, and as I dropped him off, I reminded him that soon his siblings and friends would join him. Dylan told him he was so proud!
"I'll miss you lotsa big bro." sighed Pearl, hugging him.
"Yeah, me too." said Jacob, rubbing his eyes, which were full of tears.
"Me too." said Frankie, holding onto Freddie.
"Me too" said Freddie, holding onto Frankie.
"Ih ooh!" shouted Alfie, trying to join in.
"Ehh." mumbled Pixie, nuzzling into my chest. Once all the kids had given Ethan a final hug, his father lifted him up, and kissed his forehead. Dylan took Pixie, and passed Ethan to me.
"I'll always love you Ethan. Never forget that. ALWAYS. Be very sensible at school, make friends, do your work, but most of all, have fun. Mummy is MEGA proud of you. Now go and make me even prouder, eh?" I said, cradling him, tears spurting down my face, into his soft hair. I kissed him on his head, his forehead, each eyelid, his nose, each cheek, and finally his lips, before placing him back on the ground.
"I love you Mummy. And Daddy. And Pearl, Jacob, Frankie, Freddie, Alfie, and Pixie. I love you all. And I WILL make you proud Mummy!" Ethan exclaimed, then he stood on tiptoes, and kissed me on my tummy (as far up as he could reach). He ran off, waving his little hand. I cried, and cried, and cried. Dylan passed Pixie to Jacob (as Pearl was already holding Alfie), and wrapped his warm arms around me. He rocked me like I was one of the babies, and told me he was here for me. I could hear in his voice though, he was upset too. My suspicions were confirmed when I felt his hot tears rolling onto the back of my neck. We let go of eachother, and walked back to the car. We were silent the whole way home, apart from the quiet sobbing we were all doing. Well, I say quiet sobbing - about halfway through the journey, Pixie started screaming because she was hungry, and Alfie decieded to join in. It was an absolute nightmare.
The next day, Dylan had to go back. He gave me and the kids masses of kisses, and told us he loved us all. He explained this time tomorrow he'd be back with his "Army Mates", fighting for his country. As he gave me the final hug before he left, I whispered in his ear:
"Thanks for your support." I coped okay alone, although I missed Dylan's positivity, and Ethan's help with keeping his siblings entertained. Pearl said she was going to be a "big girl" and be "just like Mummy". She gave me a hand with Jacob, Frankie, Freddie, Alfie and Pixie. Once everyone else was in bed, and I was tucking up Pearl, I thanked her for being such a lovely girl. She told me she was going to send Ethan a letter tomorrow, so could I pretty please help her. The next day, she imagined she was talking to Ethan, while I wrote it down. We all went for a walk, and on the way, I lifted Pearl up, so she could shove her message into the postbox.
Later that night, when only I was awake, I got a phone call.
"11pm! Who would call at this time?!" I thought to myself. I picked it up.
"Excuse me, may I speak to the wife of Dylan Dow please?"
"Speaking."
"Ah, good evening Mrs. Dow. I'm sorry to disturb you at this time of night."
"Oh, no, that's fine! May I ask who this is?"
"Seargent Mud, from the Army. I'm Dylan's boss."
"...What do you want?"
"I'm afraid it's bad news. You may want to sit down." I realized what was going on. I became panicky and a bit angry.
"No, I'm fine, just tell me, what is it, what is it?!" I gabbled. Seargent Mud sighed.
"I'm sorry...Dylan was shot." I gasped. I felt as if I'd been shot.
"He's okay though, right?!"
"No...he's not. I'm so, so, so sorry. I'm afraid Dylan's dead." he said, his voice wobbling at the end. I screamed.
"NO, NO, NO! NOT MY DYLAN! Nooooooooooooo. Why?! I only saw hm yesterday, he was fine! No, no, it can't be. Please tell me it's a joke Seargent, PLEASE!"
"I don't joke about peoples lives, Mrs. Dow. I wish I was joking. He was a valuable member of the army, and I'm sure he was an amazing husband."
"YES, HE WAS! And an amazing Dad. OH NO! What about the kids? They don't have a father anymore! How do I tell them THAT?! Ohhhhh, my love. My poor, poor husband. Please tell me, was he in pain?" I cried, my face swamped with tears, big sobs interupting after every sentance.
"No ma'am, a simple shot to the head. Over in less then a minute."
"Well, at least that's something. I think I'd better go now, Seargent. I've got a long couple of days ahead of me." I said, with my sobs slowing.
"Okay Mrs. Dow. I'm so sorry. Good luck. Your husband was an exemplery man."
I hung up. Telling the kids was just so awful...I don't want to talk about it. Ever.
Over two hundred people turned up to Dylan's funeral. I wore a black dress, just past knee length, and a black jacket with grey roses on it. I also wore a turquoise beaded necklace, and matching bracelet (and earrings). Ethan came back from school for the day. He wore a black suit, a turquoise shirt, and a black tie. Jacob and Alfie wore the same. Pearl and Pixie both wore a black netting dress, with a turquoise ribbon around the waist. Frankie and Freddie wore matching black velvet dungarees, with grey long-sleved tops on, and a turquoise ribbon around their left wrists. They all looked lovely, for such a horrific event. When it was the service, I stood up at the front, and talked all about Dylan's life. I talked about when I wasn't there, but what I'd heard about, like when he was a baby, and he somehow ended up on the roof. I talked about when I'd only just met him, like when he choked on a fish bone, on our first dinner out together. I talked about the period of time just before he went to the army, like when he'd give me a piece of a puzzle everyday, until it was completed, and it was a photo of us, kissing. I talked about when he was in the army, like when he sent the children each a word, and when they put the words together, it spelt out "Daddy loves you all LOADS!". I talked about his final day with us. That was the hardest. As far as funerals go, it was pretty nice. The kids were so well-behaved...their Daddy would be proud.
Jacob coped the worst - everyday he would go in a sulk when he saw we hadn't been sent anything from Dylan, and he insisted we stll wrote to him. I had already explained to the kids that "Daddy has gone to become an angel in heaven", but Jacob just refused to listen. I decided perhaps I should explain in more detail, so one night, when I'd put everyone in bed, I walked into Jake's room, and sat on the end of his bed.
"Hey Jacob."
"Hi Mummy."
"You okay?"
"No."
"...Are you missing Daddy?" Jacob sniffed, and then said quietly:
"Yeah."
"He's very happy now."
"Daddy was happy before."
"I know son...I know." There was a silence.
"Mummy...where is heaven? Can we go there?" Jacob asked, looking into my eyes. I sighed.
"No Jakey, I'm sorry, we can't. Heaven is way up in the sky. It's so far up, we can't see it, not even with the biggest telescope in the world!"
"Oh." His bottom lip wobbled, before he started crying.
"Hey, hey, darling!"
"Why MY DADDY?!" Jacob screamed.
"Shhh, calm down please love, you'll wake up the others." I gave him hug.
"You see son, God wanted Daddy to be an angel, because He needed to make room for more people. He saw how much Daddy loves babies, so He thought Daddy wouldn't mind too much. You know, Daddy might be making room for a new sibling of yours."
"But...but..I don't wanna sibbing! I want Daddaaaaaaaaa" I cuddled up to him and stroked his head until he fell asleep, while saying "I know love, I know" over and over.
He would wake up every night, shouting "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" By the time I'd got to his room, he'd been crying so much, his face was swamped with tears. Inbetween sobs, he'd whisper:
"Daddy. Daddy. Daddy". The poor little lad kept repeating it, until it turned into some strange kid of chant. He carried on doing this for weeks and weeks. All I could do every night, was climb into bed with him, and give him a cuddle, until he would finally fall asleep, just like I had on the day we had the chat.
Time passed, and
the time came to take Pearl to school. Luckily, it was the same school
as Ethan's. When we arrived, he came running up, and launched himself at me.
"Mummy!" he annouced. I laughed, and opened my arms wide. I could see behind him were some more children. As I hugged Ethie, I reconized them as Rebekah and Jarius, Pearly11's kids, as well as Evan, Grace, Bella, Rose and Noah, PoppyLulu's kids.
"Hi Ethan's Mum!" they all chorused. I gave all of them a hug too, as they probably don't get many nowadays. Ethan hugged all his sisters and brothers, and when he got to Pearl, he started talking in a rush.
"Hey Pearl! Hows you? I'm soooooo excited your joining school now. Mrs Willits, my teacher, said I'm meant to miss my lessons today, to take you around, like when a big boy took me round, but I can take you round cos you're my sissy. Yay! You can spend before class, break, lunch and evenings with me, but you're not in my lessons or dorm, cos girls don't share dorms with boys."
"Oh my gosh, I've never heard you speak so much, or so clearly for that matter son."
"I know...heehee!" So we all said farewell to Pearl, and went back home.
The house seemed so empty without Pearl, so...I bloomed another seed! His name was Dylan, in memory of his father, and he looked just like him too, with his brown hair and beautiful green eyes. I didn't know how well Jacob was going to take to him, however, I was very surprised - he ADORED him!
"He's like Daddy! I love you Dilly." he said, stroking his little brothers hair. What surprised me most though, was how he behaved around him. Jacob always insisted on holding Dylan, and bouncing him up and down on his knee, while grinning, and telling him:
"Daddy used to do this wiv me. Daddy would love you lotsa." It was extreamly cute!
