Ordinary Amner Hall: The Photo
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It was early morning. William had gone off to airlift sick people to the hospital. Kate was, once again, nestled in her favorite reclining chair, nursing Charlotte. George was snuggling beside her, sucking milk out of a sippy-cup. The telly was tuned into one of his favorites shows. It was a rare moment of stillness.
Before she would sit down to nurse, Kate always made sure she had everything she might need within reach. Her phone, her iPad, the remote and a cup of tea.
She looked around her. She lived in a mammoth of a house. Huge. Ten bedrooms. Twelve bathrooms. It had been a wedding present from William's grandmother. After a major renovation, she loved the place. She hated that it was such a mess. But, she just did not have any desire to get up and do anything about it. There were some good rooms. Like the formal dining room, and the front hall, with it's adjoining sitting room. These were all neat and tidy, just the way the decorator left them. That's because no one ever used them. The rooms they actually lived in were quite messy. Her sitting room, where she and the children spent most of their day, was a small disaster. There was a pile of George's clothes, in the corner, on the floor. She had laundered, and folded them. She had not gotten around to putting them away. The table beside her was ladened with several things. Her paper's and books. Her discarded knitting. Her dirty tea cups and dishes that she needed to take to the kitchen for washing. The telly cabinet was a disarray of cd's, video games, wires, modems, and electronics. The floor was littered with multi-colored play things. The water, in the turtle's aquarium was green. Her desk, by the window, was cluttered with projects she'd started, but, never finished. All the while, the vacuum sat in the corner, mocking her.
The husband and wife team, who had been her household managers, had left her. The advertisement she had placed had yet to yield a suitable replacement. So, she was on her own with the housekeeping. Needless to say, it was not going well.
The nanny was not on duty, while Kate was at home, full time, with the Children. She would only be called in when Kate went back to work. That was the plan, anyway. It might need some rethinking.
It would all be fine, if her mother would come back from Buckleberry. She felt better, had more energy, and was more motivated to get things done, when her mother was with her. But, the unexpected kept her away. Kate was looking forward to Friday, when she had promised to return.
She looked at the camera on the shelf, where William had left it. It's green light blinking, indicating it's fully charged status. George had finished his sippy. He had tossed it aside, and was climbing on the telly cabinet to get a better look at his favorite characters. Kate heaved a heavy sigh. "Hey George!" She called after him, excitedly. "Let take a few snaps with the big camera. Would you like that?"
"Yay! Happy snaps! Happy snaps!" He squealed with enthusiasm. She was happy, he had taken to the request so favorably. He could just have easily gone the other way, and thrown a fit, and refused to cooperate. She had learned, in her short time as his mother, you catch more flies with honey. If she were sweet and cheerful, there was more likely a chance he'd be sweet and cheerful. It worked some, but not all, of the time.
"Ok!" She said, getting up, with Charlotte. "Let's do this, shall we?"
Once she was up and moving, she felt better about BEING up and moving. "Yes! I'm going to actually accomplish something today. I can do this!" She encouraged herself.
She felt like she should bathe the children, before taking a picture for the whole world to see. George had not been bathed for a week or more. He'd make such a fuss, when it came time for hair washing, and Kate hadn't been up for it. He'd also been living in the same pajama's for three days. She had no plans to go out anytime soon. So why go to the hassle of getting him dressed?
Charlotte, had been bathed, and changed more frequently. Only because, she usually had a nappy blow out at least once a day. Even still, she smelled a bit sour.
A bath and a hair wash may put George in a foul mood. "Why risk it? Besides, no one's going to know what they smell like." Was her conclusion.
She was not sure what to wear on them. Into Charlotte's bedroom she went. George followed behind. There was a distinct smell of dirty nappies. She must tell William to empty the bin. She lay Charlotte in her bed, and turned on the mobile above her little head. It did nothing to appease her. She began to howl. Kate worked quickly. From the bureau she chose a plain white jumper. She wanted everyone to focus on her daughter's little face. This would do nicely.
Bottoms. She needed bottoms. Kate continued to search. Charlotte got more upset by the second. "Oh, forget it!" Kate lifted her baby from the crib, and placed her on the changing table. She put the jumper on her, over top of the white pajamas that she was already wearing. She held her up. "There! That's fine! White on white. You look lovely, my Darling Girl." Kate kissed her, and placed her back in her crib. "I know you'll be unhappy." She said, as Charlotte began to whimper, "But, you must deal with it, while I dress your brother. C'mon, George."
George had been playing with Charlotte's toys. "This for George?" He asked, holding up a stuffed monkey wearing plastic shoes.
"No. That's Charlotte's. Leave it here. C'mon. Lets go get dressed for our happy snaps." She beckoned him out of the room.
"Happy snaps! Happy snaps!" He followed her.
In George's closet, Kate picked out blue shorts. She looked for his blue gingham shirt. She realized it was in the dirty clothes basket, covered in food. This almost made her abandon the project. But, alas, she pressed on. She decided on a white button down shirt, with blue trim. "It's going to be a white happy snap, ok, George?"
"OK."
"We'll sit in the white sitting room, on the white settee. White. White. White"
"White. White. White."
She wanted the little blue sandals. They were no where to be found. So, she opted for the black shoes, with the blue knee socks. The boys feet where dirty. No one would know.
Soon, she and the children were downstairs, in the formal sitting room. She had wiped down both their faces with a damp rag, and combed their hair.
She set up the camera on the tripod, while Charlotte lay on the floor beside her. George ran around the room. Her had not been in here before. He wanted to touch all the pretty things.
"No, no, George. Leave that be. Come here. Sit right here." She patted the spot on the settee where she wanted him to place his little bum. He crawled into place. "Do you want to hold Charlotte?"
"Yes. Hold Lotty." He raised his arms.
Kate placed the baby on his lap and propped her up with pillows. "Don't drop her." She remained in arms reach as she snapped away behind the camera. "Get used to that sound," she told them, "You are going to hear tons of it, every where you go, your whole life."
George looked puzzled.
"Do kiss Lotty, George." He obliged. Click, click, click, went her camera.
She moved away from the camera, to stand beside the children. They looked up at her. With remote in hand, she continued to take photos.
George began to tire of the activity. "Too heavy. Too heavy." He began to groan, pushing Charlotte away from him. She began to wail, and Kate snatched her up, before she fell to floor. And, just like that, the shoot was over.
That afternoon she put both children down for a nap, at the same time. They screamed and screamed. Eventually they fell asleep.
She was alone. And it was quiet. It was unusual. She used her time wisely. She uploaded the photos to her computer. She had managed to get about thirty shots. She picked out her favorites, and set about to edit them. Her children were so adorable, she thought. She was proud of herself. She grimaced at the dirty range rover, which was visible through the window. She blurred it, along with everything else in the room. "No one wants to see anything but these two cuties."
Finished. She texted them to William for his approval. No response. He must be busy.
She called Ollie. "I just wanted to let you know, the photo's are done. Yes, I finis
hed editing. I think they look great. Everyone will be pleased. I sent them to William. As soon as I get conformation from him, I'll email them to you. Should be this afternoon, or this evening. At the latest, in the morning."
She climbed the stairs, and tip toed past the children's rooms. In her room, she climbed into her bed and dozed off.
"Ding!" Went her mobile. Most likely, William texting back about the photos. She ignored it.