Read Online My Son by Marie Kelly - Free Book Online

hour in the kitchen eating yet another delicious meal.  During this they had talked about the following day.  Marc had listened intently as Kelly relayed stories of p revious visits to petting farms, watching as her lovely eyes had sparkled as she told them.
    After the meal Marc had excused himself, saying that if he wanted to take a day off then he had better spend some time that night going through reports and organising work, and once more Kelly had joined him up the stairs intent on finishing her illustration for her publisher.

CHAPTER FOUR
    The next morning when Max had awoken and dressed, they had all met in the kitchen.  Beth had produced cards and presents from all of the other staff and they watched as he had opened the presents with much help from Kelly.  As he sat surrounded with new cuddly toys and chunky cars Kelly had given him her gift, a large cuddly lion, which when squeezed made a friendly roaring noise.  Max had giggled while manically squeezing the toy and passing it to everybody else to squeeze for him.  Finally Marc had asked them all to come outside, where they had found a large soft play ground for toddlers.  Contained within the brightly coloured border and mesh tent was an explorer’s dream, with soft shapes allowing the small boy to move over them in safety, while tunnels let him crawl through to the other side. Soft balls which when put into what resembled a tower would fly out making the child laugh with pleasure, his small hands moving with excitement as he had looked around at the crowd giggling.  For a while they watched as he had sped around it clambering over and under to his little hearts content.
    F inally they had all returned to the kitchen where they had enjoyed breakfast before heading off to the petting farm, Marc looking on in amazement as she had appeared at the car laden with buggy, changing bag and a variety of toys.
    “ How many days are we going for” he had asked in surprised amusement as she smiled back “There is no such thing as travelling light with a child - think yourself lucky – I’m only taking the essentials”.
    Marc had laughed and then stowed everything in the boot with what looked like a very large hamper.
    “ Personally I think it is a woman thing, you and Beth both want to see me with a broken back”
    Giggling Kelly had mimicked him waking with a stooped back
    “Aw the icle bag is crushing me” she had mocked as Marc had laughed loudly at her antics, before pretending to chase her into the car, which had her leaping in with a small squeal of delight.
    “ By the way” he had said his tone still full of laughter “Do you like the car”
    What wasn’t to like she thought to herself?  A new top of the range saloon she even liked the colour – black.
    “ It’s lovely” she had responded, her eyes opening wide in shock and gasping loudly as he had looked over at her
    “It’s also yours” he said smiling
    “You can’t give me a car” she had exclaimed a frown knitting her brows, seeing as he had looked back at her patiently
    “I’m not giving you a car” he said, hearing the proud note in her voice “ I’m providing you with transport, so that you can take Max places”
    “It’s just a loaner then” she had said thoughtfully
    “For as long as you need it” he had confirmed
    “Well…..I suppose that is alright” she had said, her eyes now taking in every detail of the vehicle while questioning him about what different buttons and knobs did like an excited school girl.  The journey to the petting farm had taken only half an hour and during the trip Max had sat chewing on his toy happily gurgling away to himself.
    When they arrived, Kelly was surprised at how large it was.  Her local petting farm had contained a small area of farm animals, some playground facilities and a small eatery.  This however, had a train, which was being pulled along by a small tractor, what looked like a fair ground, water jets and many different