Between English Earth and Sky

In the time it took Arthur to return home, Lilli and Margaret had gone through a rousing round of Candyland in which the little girl mercilessly destroyed her mother in not one but two rounds. Lilli could hardly believe how devilishly the child laughed whenever her mother drew bad cards. She truly is her father’s daughter.

They were about to start a third game when a little zen sand garden caught Margaret’s attention. Lilli was grateful for that because while the girl dug–under careful instructions from her mother to not spill any–she had the opportunity to begin making supper. Tonight seems as good a night as any to make Arthur’s beloved tikka masala. She notices while she’s rinsing down the rice that a torrential downpour has begun and immediately begins to fret over her husband. One check to the umbrella stand is all she needs to know that he failed to bring one with him. Honestly, that man…

She just put the rice on to cook when Arthur makes an appearance and right away she’s there with an armful of those freshly laundered towels to help him. The bags can sit in the entryway for the moment. Lilli is going to use this as an excuse to lovingly run her hands over her handsome husband while she dries him to the best of her ability. 

“You really need to start carrying umbrellas with you, love,” she chides him, knowing full well it will do no good. Every downpour she reminds him and every time he forgets. It’s one of their many rituals, same as skirting around each other in the bathroom when getting ready in the morning. “Go upstairs and take a hot shower. Supper will be ready, soon. And please, love, hang up the towel to dry it. Don’t leave it on the floor.”

“Right, sorry...” Lilli’s face is flushed and her hair is hanging in wispy golden curls around her face, and she seems to be in the zone, or else Arthur would be tempted to grab her towel-filled hands, say the shower could wait, and kiss her until the ice cream melted. As it is, he leaves it at a kiss on top of her head and runs upstairs with the towel. 

“Out!” he says to the dogs, who have, for some reason, decided the shower is lately a prime spot for a nap, and after they scurry off he takes a quick shower.

His hair is still wet when he comes back down, but with all the heat from the kitchen and the residual heat from the house baking in the sun all day, it’s a relief. “You didn’t forget to put the I-C-E C-R-E-A-M in the freezer, did you?” he asks Lilli as he quickly throws the cooking dishes into the dishwasher.

“It’s all right, Gretchen.” Lilli kisses her daughter’s cheek to help soothe the poor thing. She seems less fussy after talking with her father. She’s such a daddy’s girl…probably because she has him wrapped around her finger. She’s the spitting image of her mother in that way. 

“Daddy will keep the mean goblin away. You don’t have to worry about him coming back to hurt you.” She shoots Arthur a glare that says he better not contradict her otherwise they’ll never get Margaret to sleep through the night. “In fact, Daddy is going to the store right now to pick up some magic sprays to take care of the big meanie. And to get Mama some cookie ice cream.”

“Well, he -- “ Arthur was totally about to say otherwise, but that look from Lilli shuts him right down, thank goodness. Magic sprays? That’ll be the roach poison, then. Unless any fairies hanging about want to lend a hand...anyone? Feel like putting an annoying goblin in its place? Then again, it’s been a while since he heard from any fairy (and even longer since he heard from their Queen -- which, on second thought, is a bit of a relief because she has a habit of only turning up when things are going to hell in a handbasket). 

Of course the noise outside wakes Margaret up and she comes to her mother, fussing and whimpering about being woken up for a nap. Perfect. Now Lilli will never be able to get her back to her sleep. Her “Mama’s Get Stuff Done” hour is over. Arthur is so putting away those towels when he comes back in because she’s not doing it at night. 

She comes outside, carrying the fussing child on her hip, watching as her husband douses the ground in fungicide and swears at the missing goblin. “Did you make him go away, love?”

“Just for now, but I’m sure he’ll be back,” Arthur grumbles, spraying one last small blast for good measure and capping the stuff. “You can’t see him, can you, Gretchen?”

Margaret shakes her head.

“Ah.” Perhaps it’s still too early to tell whether she has the same sight for the supernatural as he does. Or perhaps she doesn’t. A prospect which worries him more, as the question of her mortality is still hanging over him, unaddressed and unanswered. “Well, even if you could, you’d know better than to run off with him, wouldn’t you?”

Rubbing her eyes, she nods.

“Oh, Arthur, just use the fungicide.” Lilli said as though a goblin infestation were the most natural thing in the world. She had no idea if fungicide worked but she recalled hearing vague mentions about goblins and fungicides together. Maybe it would work. “Otherwise we’ll have to make a trip to the store and I just put Margaret down for a nap.”

“If we have them, it will be in one of the higher up cupboards.” They have a small child running around on any given day. They can’t afford to keep poisons at a level when she can reach. “You have to use it, though. I don’t like dealing with dead rodents.” 

Arthur: Numbed through pain