(no subject)
It was hard to pass through the grief, again. So many times he'd fought his way through after a friend or colleague's death, and it never seemed to get any easier.
But in the end, there were distractions to his attentions, in the form of the small person who more or less controls his life these days.
It's almost turning into a game. His wits against that of his scarily smart kid, who has already mastered the opening of child gates, stair gates, child safety locks on cupboards, and the side of his own cot. It's maddening, Guppy considers; when he puts his mind to it, Alex will sit staring at the obstacle for hours, then disarm it.
"Got to keep an eye on that, your Uncle Atton will be having you robbing banks by the time you're six." he says, chaining a padlock onto yet another cupboard in the living room. "Looks like a top secret laboratory in here."
"Wobbin bangs." Alex agrees, with enthusiasm, moving over to the last unpadlocked cupboard, hiding the DVD player and Wii. In front of Guppy's eyes, he pulls it open slightly, sneaks his finger in, pulls down the child-proof catch and opens the door.
"Ooh!" he exclaims, pulling out his favourite Pingu DVD and bringing it over to Daddy. "Pingu!"
"Not right now, this is Quality Time With Daddy." Guppy says. "We're going to play a little game called Satisfying Daddy's Curiousity, which involves finding out how many words you know."
He gets out Coreen's picture cards, and some photos, and starts asking Alex what the pictures are. It turns out to be rather fun, and he jots down a list of anything recognisable.
'Mummy, Daddy, Atton, Kate, Doc, Coreen, Remy ('Emmy'), Pingu, penguin ('Pegwin'), cat, dog, rain, nom, woo (probably doesn't count), hello, byebye, no and bogies'
"Teeper car sore ants." he declares when Guppy holds up a picture of a phone. Guppy frowns slightly in confusion as he tries to decode the phrase, then laughs.
"Phone." he says. "Cheaper Car Insurance is something completely different." He puts the cards away then grins broadly at his son. "You can say nearly twenty words! Who's a smart little cookie?"
Alex grins back, then abruptly turns and walks off into his favourite corner. Guppy and Frogspawn had set him up a little hidey house next to the sofa, cunningly disguised as a covered table. It's quiet and dark in there, with a soft glowy lamp they can turn on - it doesn't get hot, so it's safe. Guppy obliges and turns it on for him, then starts gathering up the photos.
His eyes fall on the one with Doc with Alex when he was in the incubator. It's hard to look at at first, but on reflection, it's a good picture. He puts it on one side, in case Kate would like a copy or they can use it for the memorial service if they have one.
But in the end, there were distractions to his attentions, in the form of the small person who more or less controls his life these days.
It's almost turning into a game. His wits against that of his scarily smart kid, who has already mastered the opening of child gates, stair gates, child safety locks on cupboards, and the side of his own cot. It's maddening, Guppy considers; when he puts his mind to it, Alex will sit staring at the obstacle for hours, then disarm it.
"Got to keep an eye on that, your Uncle Atton will be having you robbing banks by the time you're six." he says, chaining a padlock onto yet another cupboard in the living room. "Looks like a top secret laboratory in here."
"Wobbin bangs." Alex agrees, with enthusiasm, moving over to the last unpadlocked cupboard, hiding the DVD player and Wii. In front of Guppy's eyes, he pulls it open slightly, sneaks his finger in, pulls down the child-proof catch and opens the door.
"Ooh!" he exclaims, pulling out his favourite Pingu DVD and bringing it over to Daddy. "Pingu!"
"Not right now, this is Quality Time With Daddy." Guppy says. "We're going to play a little game called Satisfying Daddy's Curiousity, which involves finding out how many words you know."
He gets out Coreen's picture cards, and some photos, and starts asking Alex what the pictures are. It turns out to be rather fun, and he jots down a list of anything recognisable.
'Mummy, Daddy, Atton, Kate, Doc, Coreen, Remy ('Emmy'), Pingu, penguin ('Pegwin'), cat, dog, rain, nom, woo (probably doesn't count), hello, byebye, no and bogies'
"Teeper car sore ants." he declares when Guppy holds up a picture of a phone. Guppy frowns slightly in confusion as he tries to decode the phrase, then laughs.
"Phone." he says. "Cheaper Car Insurance is something completely different." He puts the cards away then grins broadly at his son. "You can say nearly twenty words! Who's a smart little cookie?"
Alex grins back, then abruptly turns and walks off into his favourite corner. Guppy and Frogspawn had set him up a little hidey house next to the sofa, cunningly disguised as a covered table. It's quiet and dark in there, with a soft glowy lamp they can turn on - it doesn't get hot, so it's safe. Guppy obliges and turns it on for him, then starts gathering up the photos.
His eyes fall on the one with Doc with Alex when he was in the incubator. It's hard to look at at first, but on reflection, it's a good picture. He puts it on one side, in case Kate would like a copy or they can use it for the memorial service if they have one.