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The following morning, she was foggy-headed due to lack of sleep, barely focusing as she set out the cereal and milk for breakfast. She’d tossed and turned for a good hour and had last seen the clock at five a.m. before she’d eventually got back to sleep. Then, before she felt like she’d slept at all, her alarm went off at seven.
That had definitely not been a good night’s sleep, and she hoped Haiden wasn’t going to make a habit of sleepwalking. It was hard enough having a five-year-old who liked to creep into her bed in the middle of the night, without worrying about a grown man. The whole point of having an adult here instead of a child was that she hadn’t wanted to worry about the responsibility of looking after them.
Ollie emerged into the kitchen, all tousled hair and sleepy eyes, still wearing his batman pyjamas.
“Good morning, kiddo,” she said, trying to make her voice bright so he couldn’t see how tired she was. She didn’t want him to worry. “Sleep well?”
“Uh-huh,” he replied, automatically walking up to her so she could give him a hug, pressing him to her body and kissing the top of his head. He might have lost that wonderful baby smell a long time ago, but she still loved how he smelled after he’d been sleeping.
“Good.” She released him. “Now go and sit down, and help yourself to some cereal, and I’ll put some toast on for you.”
“Will you pour the milk?”
“Of course, I will.”
She put the bread in the toaster and set about finishing making her tea, and she made a cup for Haiden as well. She was going to have to mainline caffeine today if she was going to make it through. Creaking from upstairs, and the sound of the toilet flushing, let her know that her houseguest was up. She poured the milk onto Ollie’s chocolate hoops and added some to the brewing tea as well.
“Mummy, the toast is burning!” Ollie suddenly exclaimed.
Black smoke poured from the top of the toaster, and the smoke alarms went off with a shrill beep.
“Shit!”
“Mummy!” he said, aghast. “That’s a swear word.”
She fished the charcoaled pieces of toast out of the toaster and threw them into the sink. “I know, I know. I’m sorry.”
Damn. She must have pushed the toast down for a second time, thinking it was bread she still needed to toast.
Heavy footsteps thundered down the stairs, and Haiden, appearing as fresh faced and youthful as ever, stepped into the kitchen.
“Does that mean breakfast is ready?” he said with a grin, pointing into the air, clearly meaning the smoke alarm.
She forced herself to smile and tried not to feel resentful at the fact the reason she was so exhausted was because of him.
“Ha ha,” she said, deadpanning, and then handed him a tea towel. “The smoke alarm is out in the hallway. Will you waft this under it? Get some fresh air around it until the beeping stops.”
“Sure.”
He vanished again, and she set about opening the windows and then putting some fresh bread into the toaster. She really couldn’t afford to be throwing food away like this.
The alarm finally went off, and she exhaled a sigh of relief, her shoulders dropping.
“There, all fixed,” Haiden said, reappearing.
“Thanks. Sit down and have some breakfast.”
She finished making fresh toast and offered some tea and juice to Haiden as well.
“Go on upstairs and brush your teeth,” she told Ollie when he’d finished eating, “and find your school shoes, too.”
“Can’t I watch some TV first?” he whined.
“No. You know you don’t get to watch TV during the week.” If she let him, he’d be sitting there, staring at the screen and getting nothing done until well after school had started.
He pouted but hopped up and ran upstairs.
“Well, that was an exciting start to the morning,” Haiden said with that easy grin of his. It was hard to believe this was the same person who’d been staring at her in bed, cold and expressionless, at three in the morning.
Butterflies flipped in her stomach at the idea of mentioning it to him, but she knew she was going to have to. She couldn’t just say nothing.
“Speaking of exciting starts,” she said, “do you remember coming into my room last night?”
His mouth dropped open. “What?”
“Yeah, I think you were sleepwalking. I woke up and you were standing over the bed.”
His expression changed, his features growing hard. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t sleepwalk.”
Her stomach dropped. She’d hoped they’d have been able to laugh about it and smooth things over, but it didn’t seem as though Haiden was going to let her do that. His hackles had come up, and he was clearly defensive, though she couldn’t think why.
“Umm, I’m afraid you do. You were definitely sleepwalking last night. It’s perfectly normal. It’s probably just because of the strange surroundings, and the new start at university. All kinds of pressures can make someone sleepwalk, even if they’ve never done it before, or at least been unaware that they’ve been doing it.”
His blue eyes narrowed. “I told you, I don’t sleepwalk. I never have, and I have no memory of doing so last night. Isn’t there as much of a chance that you dreamed the whole thing.”
His words hit her like a cannonball. She’d never even considered that he might deny what had happened and try to turn it around on her. “What? No! That’s ridiculous. I’m exhausted because I barely slept last night because I was putting you back to bed. I definitely didn’t dream it.”
“Well, I definitely didn’t sleepwalk, so I guess it’s just a matter of one person’s word against the other.” He put down the piece of toast he’d been eating. “I’m going to be late for the bus, so I suggest we just drop the subject.”
She stood in the middle of the kitchen, shocked into silence, as he got to his feet and left the room. A minute later, the front door slammed, and she jumped, her hand clutched to her chest. What the hell had just happened? His reaction had been the last thing she’d been expecting. Did he really think he hadn’t sleepwalked, and she’d dreamed the whole thing? The idea was ludicrous. But why would he get so defensive about it? It wasn’t as though it was something to be ashamed of. He hadn’t done it on purpose.
Ollie reappeared, his shoes actually on his feet. “I brushed my teeth, Mummy.”
“Good boy.”
He looked around. “Did Haiden leave for school already?”
“Yeah, he needed to get in early today.”
She had no idea if that was true or not, but it felt more like he’d left early to avoid her.
With a sigh, she finished her tea, only to get down to the bottom of the cup and discover the teabag lurking at the base. It wasn’t even eight a.m. yet and she could already tell it was going to be one of those days.