| They walked slowly through the trees that were devoid of foliage and now showing their winter face to the world. A chill wind gusted about now and again but both adult and child were well protected and muffled against the cold. As they strolled along, Kevin adjusted his long legged stride in order to keep pace with the smaller legs of Scott trotting along with his childlike gait beside him, Kevin all the while asking several interested and important questions about the Richardson household with Scott explaining matters the best he could. The pair came across a set of swings, unused and forlorn looking as they hung motionless with no children about to make use of them. �Feel like a swing Scotty?� Kevin asked as he seated himself with a shy apprehensive smile on the crosspiece that hung between the two sections of chain that formed the swing�s seat. �I used to feel like I could touch the sky with my feet when I was your age.� Kevin pushed off with his feet and started the swing into its pendulous motion. Scott seated himself but swung aimlessly, twisting the chains in a spiral around each other while scuffing his toes into the dirt below. �I fell off a swing once and broked my arm. It hurt a lot, but it was cool having my cast signed by all my friends at school. Mummy gave me ice cream to make me feel better and Liam was jealous because he wanted a cast on his arm too. Daddy told him if he kept on climbing that tree in our backyard when he wasn�t supposed to, he would probably get a cast of his own one day because he was liable to fall out of the tree.� Scott smiled shyly across from under his dark fringe at Kevin who had slowed his motion and was now listening intently to the boy beside him. �Daddy was right, Liam did fall out of the tree and broked his arm right here� Liam pointed to his wrist with gleeful smile. �Mummy had a fit, but I think she�s really used to us hurting ourselves doing things we shouldn�t be doing now. Daddy tells her boys will be boys, that we�ll do things like fall out of trees and break windows, though it was daddy who broked the last window. He kicked a football straight through it.� Scotty giggled with a mischievous look of appreciation twinkling in his eyes. �Mum was real mad at him, said at his age he should�ve known better. She told him because we�ve broked that many windows between us, he should�ve been a man who fixed windows for a job instead of being a carcanter. Daddy just chased her around the kitchen and made her laugh, then they did this kissing thing, they do that all the time. Do grown ups really have to kiss each other? Looks yuk to me.� Kevin�s lips twitched and he was unable to suppress his grin, his green eyes alight with wry amusement. �You�ll change your mind about that one day kid.� �That�s what my daddy says too, but I dunno� � Scotty scuffed his toe into the dirt again but he looked up at Kevin with a doubtful crooked grin. �You�ll have to trust your dad and I on this one Scotty. One day you�ll like kissing girls.� Kevin reached over and ruffled his hair. He sensed they were striking up some sense of camaraderie, maybe now was the time to tell his tale. �Now speaking of trusting, I guess I ought to try and explain my story to you hey?� Scott nodded thoughtfully; his eyes were alight with curiosity but he muttered sadly. �So you�re not an alien. I would have liked to have met a spaceman from another planet.� He sighed wistfully, then with a cheeky grin added. � But I�m glad you�re not an alien that�s kidnapped daddy though, I would have had to turn you in to the FBI, so they could cut you up and study you. They would put your brain in a glass jar.� He finished with gruesome delight written all over his face. Kevin was highly amused at Scotty�s lively imagination and his green eyes danced as his sense of humour got the better of him. �Bloodthirsty child.� Scott chortled unrepentantly beside him. �Where do you get your ideas from kid?� �From comics, daddy gets them for us, though mummy gets mad at us cause we leave them all over the floor and Annie tried to eat one once and mummy was not happy with us. Liam and I want to go into space one day, be just like Luke Skywalker and Han Solo.� Scotty explained with child like enthusiasm, his eyes alight and glowing with excitement. �Yeah just like I did at your age. I used to play Star Wars with my brother�s Jerry and Tim and my cousin�s Harry and Brian. I was always Darth Vader.� Kevin�s eyes narrowed with a far away look as his thoughts turned to his own childhood and those carefree days. �So how come you�re here and daddy�s not? You look like daddy, you sound like him, you have brother�s and cousin�s with the same names as my dad�s and you don�t like getting out of bed like him either.� Scott added, his face a picture of confusion as he kicked his swing into a slow arc. �I don�t know Scotty. I wish I could tell you more but I can�t, I�m just as confused as you are. What gave me away by the way?� Kevin asked hoping it was not anything that could make his life now too difficult. He would need to be able to live in the other Kevin Richardson�s identity until he found a way of getting back to his own time. The consequences of being stuck here forever were something for the moment he did not want to contemplate, the situation seemed all too topsy-turvy for him to grasp. �Nothing really, I just knew it in here.� A bemused Scott pointed to his heart and Kevin nodded not really understanding either. �So what happened to you?� �Well one moment I was at a party at my cousin Brian�s house, it was Christmas Eve and I was feeling rather sorry for myself and I wandered out into the garden to get some peace and quiet. I was looking at the sky and thinking about the past, see when I was younger I loved a lady just like your mummy but it didn�t work out. I was thinking about her and wondering what she was doing right at that moment.� �Just like mummy?� Scott�s eyes were wide and incredulous. �Exactly like your mummy, her name was Harriet as well, just like mine is also Kevin Scott Richardson.� Kevin explained in his soft-spoken way hoping he was not confusing Scott. �Just like my dad�s. He�s got a cousin called Brian as well.� Scott told Kevin. �Yeah the same cousin as mine, then while I was outside thinking and feeling sorry for myself, these bright lights caught my attention and I was drawn towards them. Then this bright white light seemed to come out of all those coloured lights, it was the Aurora Borealis I think, then there was a big flash and I felt like I�d been kicked by a horse and then I lost consciousness. I woke up in bed with you climbing all over me and it was a shock let me tall you.� Scotty looked up at Kevin with a watery smile. �So what happened to daddy? The child looked worried and he scrubbed a tear away with his sleeve. �I�m guessing that nothing�s really happened to him Scott, just that maybe I�ve been put in his place.� �Why?� �I wish I knew. Maybe to teach me something, to show me what I�ve missed out on by not marrying your mother when I had the chance instead of going off to try and become famous. Maybe I am your father, but something in the fabric of time opened up to change history, to transport me to this time. It�s just as confusing to me, because I�ve been thrown into this life that I know nothing about. So on thinking about this, that�s a good an explanation as any.� Kevin added with a shrug of his shoulders. Scotty stopped swinging and dragged his feet in the dirt to halt his movement; a frown crossed his small forehead as he grappled with Kevin�s theory in his child�s mind. �So then you are my daddy, he�s not gone anywhere, just that the bright light that zapped you and changed your life to this one, but that you are really him not an alien taking his place?� �That�s about the sum of it I guess Scotty? At least as far as I can make out. I�ve been feeling rather sad and lonely lately, so see, maybe deep down in my heart I wanted to have a wife and a family I loved and who loved me, maybe there was this hole in my heart and that light is showing me what I�m missing. Maybe you, your brother and sister and your mum are my future or my present. I mean look at you Scotty, you look exactly like me when I was your age, I might not be the dad you know and love, but I have to be your father Scott, I�m just at the moment a different daddy that you know and love.� A small-gloved hand sneaked its way into Kevin�s larger one offering and seeking comfort and Kevin felt his heart constrict and tighten with some undefinable emotion. So this was what being a father was like, heart-warming shared moments like these, with a child that trusted one unconditionally. Kevin gave Scott�s hand a reassuring squeeze and felt a slight pressure in return. The young child climbed off his swing and came to stand before Kevin, his eyes were watery but he did not let his tears fall, instead he flung himself into Kevin�s arms and sniffed against the outside of his coat. As Kevin tightened his hold about the small body that clung to him, he felt close to tears himself. Suddenly this moment felt so right, a child of his own to love and nurture, to guide through life, a part of himself and Harriet, a person in their own right, but created from love and he wanted this so badly, so much that it was a physical pain within his heart. Then in a small muffled whisper against his chest Scott sniffed. �I love you daddy.� Kevin felt his heart wanting to burst with the happiness from all of those emotions that he was experiencing as those few simple words touched his soul like nothing before. Ignoring the wetness on his own cheek, he clutched the child even closer. �I love you too son.� Scotty pulled away slightly and in wonder touched a tear on his father�s face with his gloved hand. He looked contented as he smiled weakly. �You always cry, mummy says it�s good that you�re not afraid to cry in front of us, that it�ll make us better people for not being afraid to show our feelings.� �Your mother�s right Scotty, it will do, she�s a smart lady you mother.� Kevin stood up and reached for Scott�s hand. �Hungry kid?� �You bet I am dad.� Kevin winked with a sideways grin and twinkling eyes. �Come on Captain Solo, lets go find us something to eat and we better have a good excuse ready for your mother why you weren�t at school today and then you better bring me up to speed with everything I need to know.� Scott grinned conspiratorially. �Sure thing Dad, I mean Chewie.� Then he snickered as an idea came to him. �But I�m not helping you kiss mum.� Kevin barked out a laugh and ruffled his son�s hair with his free hand. �Brat! I rather think I could manage that all by myself kiddo����.� Kevin with a slight start stopped mid sentence. Suddenly he was rather at a loss whether Harriet would notice anything amiss in that department because he had not yet considered the intimacies involved in their day to day relationship and wondered what it would be like to live as man and wife with a woman from his past that he had loved and let go. However, his reflections were interrupted as Scott giggled and pulled a wrinkled disgusted face at his comments; he yanked his hand free from Kevin�s grasp and with a yell scarpered over the grass as fast as his little legs could carry him. �Race ya to the car Dad. You can�t catch me.� Kevin shook his head trying to clear his mind of Harriet and her intoxicating ways as Scott gained a fair lead on him. He pushed his would be wife to the back of his mind as his son�s challenge fired his competitive side. �The devil I can�t.� Kevin called out after his scamp of a son and loped off after him, determined to catch the child before he reached the car, but as he ran, he felt a deep wave of contentment fill his heart. Maybe life in this existence would not be as bad as he first thought. ************************ Over the next few weeks, Kevin found himself slipping easily and comfortably into the family�s routine. He was even coping so far with managing his alter ego�s business. Luckily being able to think quickly on his feet, he was able to bluff his way through, though he thought it more luck than skill. However, Kevin realised he would not be able to keep up this masquerade at work fulltime, he was bound to give himself away eventually. It was inevitable, but so far, he blessed his good luck. It was daily life with Harriet and the children that he found enchanting, taking joy with the small simple everyday matters that family life entailed. Everything from grazed, bloodied knees, Scott and Liam�s spats and the never-ending mischief they continually found themselves in, to Annie�s dirty diapers. Kevin tackled them all with an enthusiasm and a zest that he, and if asked about finding pleasure in such things weeks earlier he probably would have laughed in your face and denied that there was no fun to be found in a mucky diaper. How wrong he was he thought with a rueful chuckle as he sorted out the laundry while Harriet supervised Scott and Liam�s homework. �What�s so funny?� a soft voice behind him made him start in surprise. Kevin turned to find Harriet leaning casually against the doorframe watching him with a quizzical smile touching her lips. �Nothing much.� He found himself grinning across at her, slightly bashful at being caught out. �Just delighting in the laundry.� �You�re running mad if you can find any pleasure in that ever growing pile of dirty clothes.� She pushed off the doorframe and picked up a pair of Scott�s jeans, characteristically smudged at the knees with grass and dirt stains. She wrinkled her nose in mock distaste but her eyes were twinkling. �That child will need new knees before he is much older. I wonder if he actually knows what his feet are used for.� Kevin laughed and removed the dirty jeans from Harriet�s hand. He shoved them into the washing machine and poured the powder on top before turning the dial and starting the wash cycle. � I was the same at his age. I was always dirty, my mother used to despair of us three boys.� He grinned and pulled Harriet into his arms. Dropping a light kiss on her forehead Kevin playfully told her. �Be grateful you�ve only got two male hellions, Annie hopefully will not take after her brothers in the seek and destruct department.� Harriet chuckled and snuggled closer, slipping her arms lightly about her husband�s waist. �You really want to bet on that Richardson?� �Nope, not with that pair showing her the way.� Kevin smiled wryly as he tucked a lock of Harriet�s short blonde hair behind her ear. �Speaking of that pair of rascal�s, where are they?� �Supposedly playing with their Lego before bed, but you know Scott and Liam, if there�s mischief to be found, that pair have an unerring instinct in finding it.� Against his will, Kevin found his smile broadening. He shook his head with a modicum of exasperated admiration. �I forgot to tell you that earlier this afternoon I found the boys rigging up a contraption to pilfer peaches from next door�s peach tree.� �Oh Kev.� Harriet exclaimed. �The boys have been told off time and time again about poaching Mr Nichol�s prize peaches. I swear sometimes I could strangle the little horrors. What did you do?� Kevin puffed out his chest looking very pleased with himself and his solution. �I marched them next door, made them hand over their handiwork to Mr Nichols and made them apologise and beg Mr Nichols pardon. I suggested that a suitable punishment would be for Mr Nichols to suggest a few chores to keep their minds occupied.� Then he rolled his eyes in rueful resignation, but there was an undercurrent of amusement in Kevin�s voice. � Unfortunately Eric is an indulgent neighbour with a couple of adventurous grandson�s of his own and Scott and Liam�s escapades brought back fond memories of his own childhood days raiding fruit trees. He begged that we would not punish the boys too much, as this was only a result of childhood high spirits and that boys would always be boys.� �What are we going to do with them Kevin?� Harriet asked with a wistful shake of her head. �Nothing, Eric�s right. It�s just boyish high spirit�s. Look at how I turned out.� At Harriet�s raised eyebrow Kevin laughed. �Ok don�t answer that.� He playfully picked her up and squeezed her tight until she squealed to be put down. Ignoring Harriet�s protests, a laughing Kevin carried her through to the kitchen where he deposited her upon her feet with a light kiss on her pert upturned nose. �Now what I�d like to do is get that mischievous pair off to bed and then while we have peace and quiet, I�d like to devote some quality time in educating my wife in just how good I turned out.� Harriet gently touched his face, pushing away the long fine dark hair that had flopped across his forehead; her eyes alight with a welcome promise and a tender loving smile tugged at her lips. �I shall endeavour to be a model student.� She escaped his embrace with a chuckle. She made her way towards the lounge room where the sounds of a brotherly squabble were erupting. Kevin with an admiring light in his eyes watched as she walked across the room, he felt his heart beat faster with anticipation; she turned and caught the flash of desire in his eyes. Returning his look, she winked seductively and whispered huskily before she disappeared from view. �I was always very attentive in class.� Her words and the promise in them hung heavily on the air and Kevin found himself flushing. Although in the back of his mind, he wondered if he was playing with fire getting so involved with this life, but he was in too deep now. He realised that he was deeply in love with this woman and his other life was quickly receding into the deep recesses of his mind. |