Take Me Home

BONUS #1 - Fun by the seaside ☀️

Ellie

Dante is helping Isla up ahead at the beach shop, searching through the different buckets and spades. I'm taking a more relaxed pace, waddling towards them with Vittoria by my side.

We have come to Cleethorpes for the day, making the most out of Dante's parents being here. I'm due to give birth any day now, so everyone is on tenterhooks for this little boy to arrive.

Dante is as excited as our baby girl choosing the pink bucket with spotty dogs all over it, making his mother laugh when he riles Isla up so much she's jumping on the spot squealing.

"How is she two?" Vittoria says, pulling out her phone to snap a few pictures.

I often wonder this myself, needing to savour every moment with her. "Three in two months."

"Gosh, time goes by too quickly." Then she's rushing over as Isla stomps her way towards the fishing nets, pulling one out of the display box.

Dante helps her out, grinning down with such pride as her chubby little legs head towards her grandma, bucket in one hand and net in the other, a head of wild curls jiggling about at the edges.

"Mummeeee!" she yells with a lisp, stumbling a stride or two before righting her step and running over to me. "Look at dowes!"

I pull a shocked face as she shows me her bucket first, scrunching her nose when she grins, dropping her net in the process. All out of breath, she bends over to collect it, dropping her bucket next.

"Oh dear," Dante says, throwing me a cute smile before reaching down to collect her now cherished things to give them back to her. "Are you excited for the beach then baby?"

Isla lisps out a long yes, jumping up and down again. "The doggies on the bea!" Gosh do I love her mispronounced words. I'm going to miss them.

Dante is gobbling it all up, beaming from ear to ear as he watches our daughter's excitement. Then a banging in the distance makes her jump, causing for her to rush straight for his legs with the net smacking him in the cheek.

"You're okay," he whispers to her, somehow managing to lift her as she keeps hold of everything. "It was just a silly car tooting."

She scrunches her nose up on a laugh. "Noh, daddeee!"

When his eyes catch mine over the top of her head as he buries his nose in her hair, it's pure love. For her and me. We're as solid as ever, facing the past three years with such solidarity and respect.

"Isla, look at these dollies!" Vittoria shouts waving a rag doll in the air.

It takes less than a second for my girl to shake her head and point to her beloved doll in my hand. "Lushy," she lisps, meaning to say, 'Lucy'.

"Yeah," Dante says sweetly. "Lucy, your best friend."

"Yesssh," she says, loving the doll so much because Hamish's fiancée, Lucy bought her it. "Lushy, best fren!"

I met Lucy while studying at York University, introducing her to Hamish when Dante wanted for me to invite some students to our vet hospitals charity event.

They connected right away, keeping in touch and meeting up on their days off until the distance got to them and Lucy ended up moving in with him full time.

"It has literally a strand of hair on its head. It looks demonic," Vittoria responds, referring to the missing strands Isla pulled out.

I laugh. "But she adores it. And it wears cute vet scrubs like me."