Memoirs of a Wild Child by Cassandra P Lewis Page B

can afford to pay for extra baggage allowance, that’s all I can say; there’s so much to take.
    Cooper is a really lovely baby; he’s growing so fast, but he’s a dream. Holly is still totally besotted, but becoming very impatient for him to be able to play with her.
    “Can Cooper build a sandcastle, Mummy?” Holly asks as she sits cross-legged on my bed watching me pack.
    “Not quite yet, baby girl,” I answer, folding my four hundredth baby grow.
    “Can he come swimming with me, though?”
    “Only if me or Daddy are there to hold him, sweetheart, he’s a bit too little to do things on his own just yet, Hollypops.” I smile at her, sympathetic to her desire to have her brother play and run and jump and do all the things that siblings are supposed to do. “Next year he’ll be doing all those things with you though, okay, Monkey?”
    Holly just shrugs and frowns at Cooper, before flopping dramatically down onto her back and sighing, disappointed and so hard done by. I try not to laugh, and instead, pick up my phone, dial my mum’s number and hand Holly the phone, some ‘Nana time’ is just what she needs.
     
    “Okay, have you got everything?” Ben asks for the hundredth time as we load the bags into the boot of the car.
    “Benjamin Long, ask me one more time.” I threaten through gritted teeth as I buckle Holly into her car seat, and he laughs.
    “Just checking, woman.”
    “Get in the car, boy .” I respond sarcastically, before closing Holly’s door and climbing into the passenger seat. “let’s get this show on the road.”
    We head to the airport; Ben drops me, Cooper, and some of the bags off, before taking Holly and going to park the car. An airport worker brings me a trolley and loads my bags onto it while I strap Cooper to my chest. “Thank you so much,” I say genuinely and smile as he tells me it’s no bother and goes on with his day. After a few minutes, I spy Ben, with Holly on his shoulders, pulling the last suitcase and carrying a rucksack on his back, and my heart beats a little faster; he’s incredibly beautiful. I can’t imagine ever not feeling this way about him, especially when I see him with our babies, it’s an incredible feeling.
    “Mummy,” Holly calls loudly, waving frantically with one arm while wrapping the other around Ben’s forehead. I laugh, he looks so uncomfortable, but she’s oblivious. I wave back and laugh harder when two old ladies walking past, point at Holly and start to giggle too. My funny girl.
    We check in, feeling relieved to no longer be carrying a million-and-one bags around, and then go through to departures. Holly has flown quite a few times; back and forth to Portugal, we’ve taken her to Euro Disney and even flew down to Cornwall once, but it’s Cooper’s first time. I remember when we first took Holly on a plane, she was a little older than Cooper and had screamed her little face off when her ears popped.  A lady next to us suggested trying to feed her next time, as it may prevent her ears popping, but luckily, she fell to sleep in time for the return journey, and they didn’t bother her. In fact, they’ve never bothered her on any flight since. I was locked and loaded this time, full boobs, bottle of water and a dummy… just in case.
    “Stop worrying,” Ben says as we start to taxi on the runway, “he’ll be fine.” He holds my hand briefly before leaning over towards the girl and telling her to sit back. She’s in the window seat, with him next to her, and me near the aisle so that I can walk Cooper about if I need to.
    I brace for the screams as we take off. Ben and Holly stick their fingers in their ears and start to pull silly faces at each other, and I pat Cooper’s back, soothing him before it becomes necessary. There’s nothing, as the plane levels out, and Holly sits forward to look at the clouds I look down at the sleeping baby in my arms and smile, the boy’s done good.
    We land in Faro, collect our bags and the