Ten to the power of thirty three

Chapter eighteen

Chapter eighteen

The next day Ezra and Rebecca stayed in the house, simply looking after Alex and yet throughout the time Rebecca kept wondering whether the disappearance of the dog statues next door could be linked to them. She worried about it for days even though there was no suggestion that they were suspects or even that the police were investigating. Nothing came of Ezra’s revenge on the dog statues, and so they thought they had finally shown the hag next door that they would not be trifled with.

Two months later and it was Alex’s first birthday. The living room was full of balloons all of which had strings dangling down from their perch on the ceiling. A giant garland hung over the door, with the simple message of happy birthday in rainbow letters. There were presents piled up by the sofa. Ezra would pick up a present and hand it to Alex who was sat on the sofa between them. From there Rebecca and Alex would open the present. He received as many new toys and he did clothes and by the end of it Alex was sitting on a beautiful wooden rocking horse. The horse was of chestnut wood, with realistic mane and tail of a black synthetic hair. It’s hooves were of a lighter pine wood and it’s eyes were lifeless and yet almost seemed expressive at the same time. As Alex rocked back and forth, grinning and giggling to himself, Ezra walked into the kitchen. He returned a moment later with a gigantic chocolate cake, with chocolate fudge icing glooping over the edges of the cake and down to the plate. It had one giant musical candle in the centre of the cake.

Rebecca and Ezra sang the traditional song as Ezra carried the cake in and as he got the cake to Alex, Alex blew the candle out. Of course being a baby, when he blew out the candle vast amounts of spittle flew over the cake as well, making it unappetising but as his parents Rebecca and Ezra didn’t care. After the cake Alex was so tired from the excitement of his birthday, that when he went to bed that night he fell to sleep within seconds of his head hitting the pillow (though he was almost asleep before as he lay in Ezra’s arms while he carried him up to bed).

The day after his birthday Alex as he crawled around the living room floor made it to Rebecca and as she spoke to him, Alex grabbed hold of her jeans and began to pull himself up to see her. As her face came into his view he smiled to her with such joy that it was only matched by Rebecca’s, a mother’s love for her child. He got onto his feet, still holding onto her jeans to keep himself stable as he stared into her brown eyes with love.

‘Such a clever little guy, you want to come up?’ Rebecca asked Alex, not really expecting him to talk as he hadn’t yet. She began to reach down to pick him up and yet Alex spoke his first word there and then.

‘No’ Alex said, as if in answer to his mum’s question. Hearing Alex’s first word made Rebecca pause and grin before she squealed in such happiness.

‘Ezra, darling come here’ she shouted, and it sounded so urgent that Ezra ran in.

‘What is it?’ Ezra asked, confused why he’d had to run in. As he looked, he could see Alex holding himself up by Rebecca’s jeans but nothing that would have warranted him being shouted to come in, but just as that moment Alex looked to his father.

‘No’ Alex said again with such attitude it was humorous as he was also so small. He pouted as he stared now at his dad and his mum.

‘You got your mum’s attitude I see’ Ezra said to Alex, grinning as Alex replied again with the only word that he knew.

At that moment as they all stood in the living room there was a knock on the door and both adults looked at the direction of the sound with dread. They both worried that it would be then racist from next door, but Rebecca also worried that it could be the police about the stone dogs even though that had been months ago.