Chapter Twenty Happy Ice Cream

Nikki put the key in the ignition and moved out into the traffic. She couldn't leave the car any longer in the kiss and fly lane but after the stress of the journey to the airport she wasn't ready to face the return journey yet and she needed a toilet. There was nothing at terminal five that looked even vaguely hospitable, but having got lost on the way out, her vision being slightly blurry; she found a billboard advertising a McDonalds not that far away. Ordinarily she didn't care for McDonalds but now it had both things that she needed; a Ladies and ice cream.

She joined the queue to order her McFlurry and took it with shaking hands to a booth near the window. She could see the planes in the distance and the stark boringness of the airport car parks and access roads. Even on a bright day like today it looked faintly seedy and depressing. Terminal Five had been much more up market, but she'd barely had time to even notice it.

She watched a young mother struggle in with a baby in a car seat and small child. The baby was crying and the child beside herself.

"But why does Daddy have to go away AGAIN!" she cried. "He said last time dat he would be back for ages and now he's gone again. I hate it when Daddy's away!"

"It won't be for long darling, and you know Daddy wanted you to be good while he was away."

"But what if I don't feel like being good? I'm sad why can't I be sad? And why do I have to pretend I'm not sad when I am sad?"

"Well other people don't like to see it."

"But if I was laughing dey wouldn't mind would dey?" the little girl challenged her mother.

Nikki gave a wry smile, it had been a while since she'd witnessed such emotional honesty it was quite refreshing.

The girl continued to cry as they inched their way toward the counter.

"Can you be sad a bit less loudly?" asked the harassed mother.

"My brudder's being loud and you're not telling him off," she insisted.

"Jack's hungry darling. Come on now, Daddy always comes back, doesn't he? He always comes back. Now what kind of ice cream would you like? You can't be unhappy and eat ice cream. It's impossible."

The mother collected her order and took the booth across the aisle from Nikki's; she plonked the McFlurry down in front of her daughter, with a pile of napkins and then reached into the car seat for the wailing baby and a cloth. She deftly attached the baby to nurse under her shirt and peace was at once restored to the small family.

"Mummy?"

"Do you dink we'll see der helicopter again on der way home?"

"I hope not. It shouldn't take quite so long to get home."

All was quiet for a while and then the mother added, "You were very patient in the car earlier. I was very proud of you. It was a long wait wasn't it."

"Daddy dought he would miss his plane,"

"I did too," the mother agreed.

"And he said a bad word!"

"Yes he did, but you're not to say it you know."

"I know Mummy!" The girl continued to pick the sweets off the top of her ice cream.

"Thank you for playing with Jack when he woke up."

"Dat's ok."

"Mummy?"

"Yes?"

"Do you dink the people in the squashed car were really hurt?"

"I think they were Lily, that's why they had to be taken to the hospital quickly in the helicopter."

"Mummy?"

"Yes?"

"Dey should give dem some ice cream; dat would make dem feel better."

"I'm not sure ice cream is the best thing after a car accident."

"You said, 'you can't be sad when you're eating ice cream.'" She dangled a dripping mass of ice cream on her plastic spoon as she made her observation.

"It's true Lily, you can't"

"So dey should give der sad people in der squashed car some ice cream," she said.

The mother didn't reply, just shifted the nursing baby into a more comfortable position and took a drink from her bottle of water.

"Mummy?

"Yes?"

"Dat lady over dere's got ice cream and she's still sad." She pointed her ice cream laden spoon towards Nikki.

"Shh!" the mum tried to chastise her daughter, but there was nothing that could cover a four year old's commentary on the world around them. "Maybe she's still eating the sweets and hasn't got to the ice cream yet?"

Lily gave Nikki a hard stare. She could see ice cream on Nikki's spoon, so it definitely wasn't that. To avoid further observations by her daughter the mother said,

"Maybe someone she loves has gone away too," casting Nikki an apologetic glance.

Nikki nodded and smiled at the mother to show she didn't mind the girls chatter. "He's gone away for a very long time," she added.

"What like THREE weeks!" Lily exclaimed.

"Much longer than three weeks," Nikki replied.

She saw the young child open her mouth again, but the look on her mother's face was enough to put her off. Lily went back to eating her ice cream and Nikki disinterestedly plopped the spoon back into hers and stared back out the window. The quiet didn't last long.

"Mummy?"

"Yes, Lily?"

"I need a wee," the mother groaned.

"Don't worry I can go by myself."

The mother looked helplessly at the nursing baby and the paraphernalia that travelling with two children entailed but by then Lily had disappeared. She returned a moment later.

"Der doors stuck, can't open it!" she said in frustration.

The mother looked again at the contented baby and sighed.

"I'll hold the door open for her if you like?" Nikki suggested, getting to her feet. "That is if you don't mind? She can manage on her own can't she?"

"Really? Do you mind?" the mother said.

"No, it's fine, you've got your hands full." Nikki followed Lily back to the Ladies and gave the heavy bathroom door a hefty shove and Lily skipped in to the toilet. She stood holding the door open, still within sight of the girl's mother but also close enough to help the little girl if she needed. The world was a strange place these days.

"I saw the helicopter too," Nikki said to Lily.

"Were you in der big traffic jam?" Lily asked.

"Yes."

"Did your friend say a bad word like Daddy?"

"No, I don't think he did," Nikki answered recalling the stifling silence of the car and reaching in to turn on the hand drier for the little girl.

"You shouldn't be sad when you're eating ice cream you know," Lily said knowledgeably as they made their way back to the seats. "He will come back. Mummy says so."

"Thank you," the mother said, as Lily jumped back up onto the plastic seat and began to scrape the remnants of the ice cream from the cardboard cup. The little boy was now fast asleep across the mother's shoulder looking content and full.

"It was no trouble." Nikki replied. She didn't bother to sit down again; the sweetness of the ice cream was making her stomach feel queasy. She was just opening the exit door when she heard Lily's voice in the distance,

"Mummy, dat nice lady didn't finish her ice cream."

"Maybe she wanted to be sad a bit longer like you did?" Lily's mother suggested.

"But dat's wasting isn't it, you shouldn't waste food, do you dink she'll get any pudding later? I told her not to be sad…I told her, her friend will come back, he will come back won't he Mummy? Dat's what you say, he will come back and HE didn't say a bad word in der traffic jam…"

Happy Ice Cream: Masaaki Endoh (I cheated on this one, just found a song with the title I wanted….) It does contain the words 'dreams do come true,' though in the lyrics ; ) Apologies if you're struggling with Lily's speech just swap the /d/ for a /th/

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed along the way, each one is a smile of inspiration to keep part two going… Inca Mystica, pinkswallowsun, charlotte88, tigpop, kiwiSWfan, Ela Plume-en-sucre, greylostwho, decidedly average, freya82, owl-eats-waffles, Littlefoot19 and water-and-a-flame, sincere thanks and if you haven't reviewed give it a whirl, I don't bite I promise.

Also not sure whether the official disclaimer went on at the beginning so Silent Witness and the characters and now EX characters belong to the BBC, no infringement intended I'm just trying to make them happy, I'm just doing it very slowly. Watch out for part two.