"Someone's in a good mood this morning."
Topaz lifted her baby daughter out of her highchair, casting Copper a playful grin as her bandmate sauntered into the kitchen, whistling under her breath as she hunted for breakfast. Copper grinned.
"No mail from you know who." She responded. "I half dreaded the mail coming in this morning, but aside from a credit card statement, I didn't get anything. And I've never been so happy to hear from American Express, let me tell you!"
Topaz chuckled.
"Unless they've begun a crush on you too, of course!" She teased, raising Hollie more comfortably onto her hip and wiping her mouth clean of banana. "There, now you're clean, trouble. I tell you something, Copper - I never knew anyone as bad as Hol for messy eating."
"She's one. Give her a chance." Copper came to join them, ruffling Hollie's short reddy-gold waves playfully. "You just enjoy your food, kid, don't you?"
Hollie put her fingers in her mouth, raising aquamarine eyes to the drummer, then offering a smile.
"Trouble is, when she looks like that, I can't even scold her." Topaz said ruefully. "Half of breakfast ended up on the floor, since Hollie's learnt to flip her food...but she's so damn cute with it it's hard to tell her off."
Copper laughed.
"Like mother, like daughter." She teased. "No matter what you do, Topaz, we always find it hard to stay mad at you!"
"Hey, I'm well behaved these days." Topaz objected. "A responsible single Mom, that's me."
She glanced up at the kitchen clock. "Is anyone else up?"
"Not that I've seen, though Nancy's car isn't here, so I expect she's gone to the studio or something." Copper shook her head, selecting a muffin and sitting down at the kitchen table. "Syl and Sadie are both lost to the world still. Taking advantage of the fact that Music Bizz rescheduled their interview for tomorrow, I'm guessing. It's nice to have a day off, even if it's at short notice, and Aaron is working. I thought I'd drive down to the sea front and spend it at the beach. You and Hollie want to tag along?"
"I do, but I'm not sure about taking Hol to the beach." Topaz eyed her daughter with a troubled gaze. "I mean, it's nothing against her, and I know she'd love to play with the sand and the sea and shells, but you never know who's lurking with a camera, and you know how I feel about Hollie being in the local press."
"Well, equally you can't keep the kid a prisoner." Copper said sensibly. "It won't hurt her for once if she gets a little unwanted attention, so long as you don't make a big deal of it in front of her. She's too young to understand about the press, anyway. I think it'd be a shame to deprive her of normal toddler fun because you're in the public eye."
"Consider me scolded!" Topaz laughed. "All right, you've convinced me. Give me twenty minutes to get my stuff and Hollie's junk and I'll meet you out the front, okay?"
"Sure. I'll leave a note for Sadie and Syl, when they emerge." Copper agreed. "Syl was murmuring something about shopping for new shoes this afternoon anyway, so I don't think they'll mind if we take off. You know Sadie is her shoe-shopping buddy."
"Only because they wear the same size and Syl figures she can school what Sadie buys as well as herself." Topaz giggled. "Okay. See you in a few, huh? Come on, monster. Auntie Copper's taking us to the beach so you can get yourself covered in sand. That sound good to you?"
Hollie gurgled and reached out a small fist for her mother's ponytail, pulling out the hairtie and examining it closely. Topaz rolled her eyes, and Copper laughed.
"But she is precious." She pointed out. "Even when she's being bad!"
Within an hour, the two girls had reached the beach, spreading a big towel out on the golden sand and erecting a parasol to keep the glare of the sun off them. It was another scorching February day, and everyone who was not at work seemed to be taking advantage of the fine weather to spend some time at the seaside. Even despite this, however, the two Jewels found they were able to set up their pitch in a secluded part of the beach, and Topaz was soon immersed in teaching Hollie the best way to build a sandcastle.
Copper spread out on the towel, watching them.
"You know, watching you with Hollie makes me really really hope that Aaron and I have kids of our own." She said after a while. "I know she's hard work, and I know sometimes you're at your wit's end with her, but she's so cute. It makes me broody."
"There's no hurry, surely?" Topaz glanced up, dabbing a blob of sand onto her daughter's nose and making the infant giggle. "I was only twenty two when Hol came - you're not twenty four till June, and a lot of women these days don't start a family till they're in their late twenties or early thirties. It's not like you have to get pregnant the moment you get hitched, you know."
"I know, but I'm impatient. Besides, it won't happen that way." Copper grimaced. "Once Aaron and I are settled in our own place and everything is cool, we're going to consult a specialist together and see what our options are. It's not going to happen the way Hollie happened for you, so we might as well be clued in about the choices before we have to make them."
"Well, you know if you want any babysitting practice, I've a great candidate for you here." Topaz grinned. "Okay, Hol, now we turn the pail this way around....and tap it with the shovel. See? Like this...Oh, Hol, you're getting sand all over me! You're supposed to hit that, not my sandals!"
"Maybe she is a bit young to learn." Copper giggled, sprawling on her stomach and reaching over to lift the bucket. "There, Hol. See? You've a little castle."
Hollie pursed her lips, eying it thoughtfully. Then she grabbed her beloved ragdoll, perching her on the top.
"Doll." She said importantly. Topaz laughed.
"Well, we have a damsel in distress." She said playfully. "And we certainly have a monster she needs to be rescued from, don't we, squirt?" She tickled the baby.
"I'm gonna take a wander down to the sea, I think." Copper decided. "I'll see you in a few, okay?"
"Sure. Don't get lost on the way!" Topaz glanced up, nodding her head. Copper grinned, getting to her feet.
"Try not to." she bantered back, sliding her flipflops onto her feet and heading across the soft sand to the water's edge. Lost in thought, she did not notice the man with his camera, perched behind one of the large seaweed covered rocks that littered the terrain. As she dipped her toes in the sea, he raised his camera, hitting the zoom and then beginning to take pictures.
She was even more beautiful up close.
"I wish you were close enough to touch." He whispered, setting down his camera. "But now you have my address, at least. You can write to me...we can be friends, then you'll understand why that Pelligrini jerk is so wrong for you. I just have to be patient. I know you're too sweet to break my heart...I know that everything is just going to be fine. Just wait, Copper. You and I - we have so much to do together. Trust me."