Page 48 of Dreams Do Come True

“We’ll not leave you, Lyric, I promise,” I tell him, rubbing his back.

“I as scar,” he says, still hiccupping.

“You were scared we’d left you?” Kean asks softly.

He nods and sniffs again.

A hand suddenly holds out a bunch of tissues. I look up and see Xander.

I smile at him and take them. “Thanks, Xander.”

“Just so you know, Enoch took River to Emily, in case Lyric’s crying scared him,” he tells us.

“Perfect, thanks, Xander,” Kean says.

Xander nods and goes and joins Nora and Connie, playing with bricks.

I wipe Lyric’s face and then hold the tissue by his nose. “Big blow.”

He does, and sighs.

“Sorry, little man. We knew you were safe here and having fun playing. We’ll make sure one or both of us are where you can see us in future,” Kean tells him.

Temp comes over, carrying a plastic bowl with chopped strawberries in it. He kneels down next to us. “Hey, little man. Do you want some strawberries?”

Lyric nods and takes a piece, eating it.

“Was that nice?” Temp asks him.

Lyric nods, picks a piece up and squashes it while handing it to Temp. “Unk Emp,”

I snort out a laugh at the look of disgust on Temp’s face.

“Unk Emp,” Lyric says again.

“Only because it’s you,” Temp says, plucking it out of Lyric’s hand and eating it. “I can’t wait to see you do that to Uncle Ernest.”

Kean and I laugh at that.

“I am so videoing it when that happens,” Kean says.

Adhan walks into the room and looks around, smiling until he sees Lyric. He comes over and drops to his knees beside us. “What happened?”

“He got scared when he couldn’t find either Kean or me,” I tell him.

“We’ll not make that mistake again,” Kean adds.

Adhan touches Lyric’s head. “You okay now, little man?”

Lyric nods and holds out another piece of squashed strawberry.

Adhan takes it and eats it. “Yummy. Make sure you have some,” he looks at us. “The van and driver have left, and Sly and Ebby have unpacked the suitcases and are putting the boys' clothes away.”

“We’ll thank them when we see them,” Kean says.

“Also, River is fast asleep with Mum watching over him. I’m off to the bookshop, do you three want to come?”

I look at Lyric. “What do you say, little man, shall we go on an adventure to see Uncle Ernest and your cousin Alfred?”