Lakes - A Blindspot Moment
After a heavy few weeks, I needed a reason to love my job again, so I imagined one...
(Note: this should serve as official proof to @nachosncheeze that I don't just write soul destroying angst)
She knew something was up the second she saw them, watched curiously as they crept through the door, whispering to each other. Kurt paused for long enough for Bethany to slip from his arms, before handing her a small paper-wrapped parcel.
‘I have a surprise for you,’ the girl had announced, proffering the gift only when Jane had closed her eyes, held out her hands.
She hadn’t known what it was at first, didn’t have a chance to investigate further before the girl had excitedly explained that ‘it’s green like your eyes’, and that the person at the shop liked her shoes.
‘She thought they were broken, Mama Jane! But I told her that they’re meant to have lights!’
Jane had smirked, wondering yet again whether there was anywhere to get adult-sized light-up shoes. Maybe Patterson could help.
And then Kurt had stepped up next to her, whispered, ‘it’s one of those bath things’, and she finally understood what was going on.
Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, emotion welling up in her throat as she looked again toward the tiny human in front of her, with her father’s eyes, and his capacity for love.
‘Thank you,’ she’d whispered. ‘I’ve never used one before.’
Bethany had taken her face between her small hands, wiped away a tear, asked if she had glitter in her eye, told her she could help her get it out.
It had taken a bit of negotiation, but they’d eventually convinced the child to eat dinner before they used it, to get completely ready for bed before anything started.
And then they’d gathered in the bathroom, checked the water temperature, waited for the tub to fill completely.
Jane had to be the one to open the bag. Bethany insisted. It was her present after all. So, she did, and she tipped the solid ball into her hand, watching the glittering dust falling from the bag as she upended it.
In the end, it had been Bethany who dropped it into the water, catalysing the fizzing that moved it across the surface. The girl had shrieked once, clapping her hands together, mouth hanging open in glee. Jane had looked from the water to the child to Kurt, saw that he had been watching her the whole time, a look of wonderment on his face.
A smile pulled at the sides of her mouth, her heart full of love and gratitude. They had done this for her, just for her, for no other reason than to make her smile.
Eventually, it had fizzled to a stop, and Kurt then gathered their daughter in his arms, waiting for Jane to kiss her goodnight before they stepped out of the bathroom.
‘Enjoy,’ he’d said on the way out, as if she hadn’t enjoyed every second of this experience already.
It had taken her a moment to figure out what to do with herself, then she’d moved in a daze, a kind of awed shock clinging to her as she finally lowered herself into the comforting embrace of the water.
She’d find out later that the bath bomb had been called Lakes. That it was part of a new range at the store. That there were more where that came from.
But in that moment, all she knew was that she had never before felt so relaxed, so pampered, so special.
It would be days before the glitter fully disappeared from her body, and weeks before Bethany would return to New York, but the first thing they did together on her next visit was to find the Lush store, and venture inside together…