Carnival Games

"Come on let's go!" Maggie called out from the front door.

Her siblings rushed down the stairs. George was carrying Margot and the twins ran past him and out the door.

They were all ready and dressed hours before they were supposed to leave for the carnival that their papa promised to take them to. The carnival was going to stay in town for only three days and one day has already passed.

"Papa walk faster! You're being very slow!" Sam had the window rolled down and his head was poked out the side of the car, calling for his father that was making his way slowly over to them with that ever prominent limp and cane in hand.

He laughed at all their excitement and made his way to the passenger side.

"Is everybody ready to go?" He looked back at them, their faces were all lit up.

"We're waiting on Ms.Annabel." George said.

"Mama said she's not coming." Sam spoke up.

Everyone turned to look at him and Richard drew in a sharp breath.

"She's not mama." Maggie said, glaring at him.

"Call her Ms.Annabel." George shifted Margot on his lap and rested his head on the window, feeling uncomfortable.

Richard cleared his throat and shifted in his seat.

"Why isn't she coming?" He asked and ignored the look the driver was giving him. He could't yet drive with his leg still being bad.

"Really? That's all you have to say? You're not even going to correct him?" Maggie's cheeks grew red in anger. "Our mama is dead. There is no other mama."

She climbed over the twins, opened the door and rushed back into the house shouting over her shoulders for them to go on without her.

"We'll wait. She'll calm down and come back." Richard  leaned his head back and sighed. "You kids can go play on the grass until she gets back."

"Hey, I was just about to rush out and hand you guys this basket of sweets Samantha made." Annabel said when she saw Maggie rushing in.

"You're a liar!" Maggie screamed at her and ran up the stairs with tears running down her face.

A hurt expression made its way on Annabel's face and she looked out through the open front door of the house to see what was happening.

Her and Richard held eye contact for a few seconds before she hurried after Maggie.

"Gigi?" She softly knocked on her bedroom door and opened it, immediately ducking at a pillow being hurled at her head. "I understand you're upset about something, but that wasn't very nice."

She picked up the pillow and went over to the couch the girl was sitting on.

"What have I done to make you feel like I'm a liar?"

She didn't answer her.

"I won't know what I've done wrong if you don't tell me."

She still didn't answer her.

"Look, I'm sorry for whatever you think it is I lied about, but I probably didn't. I'm not one to lie and you know that."

"But you would lie about wanting to replace our mother."

"And why would I do that?"

"So you could get father to fall in love with you and steal his money. You don't even love us and you never really cared about us!" Maggie turned her body away from Annabel and sniffled. She wasn't about to lie to herself and say that she didn't wish Annabel was different than the other governesses that came to look after them, because she did. She hated having people look after them without actually wanting to. Although, she knows she's overreacting.

"That's hurtful of you to say Maggie and ridiculous of you to think." She pulled the girl closer to her and wrapped her arms around her. "I'll repeat it as many times as you need hearing. I'm not here to replace your mother. I never was and never will. No one can, really. And of course I care and love all of you. If I really didn't, do you think I would have tolerated everything you did at the beginning? Don't you think I even would have began to treat you horribly in your father's absence when he wasn't here to over see everything?"

Maggie stayed quiet and rested her head on Annabel's chest. Loving the feeling of having her hand run through her hair in a calming manner.

"Sam called you mama." She whispered what was really bothering her.

"He did that didn't he?" Annabel kissed the top of Maggie's head and pulled back to look at her.

"Sam and Tam lost their mother in a very very critical time for their development. I'm not saying you didn't, but they really needed her to be there for them. I'm not sure if you realised this, but they had to grow up so fast and do things all by themselves a lot faster than they should have for their age. They and Margot crave that motherly feeling more than anyone else, and the second someone shows them a little kindness, love and appreciation, they will most likely get attached to that person and start seeing them as a parental figure."

"But Samantha is also kind to them, so are the maids, why didn't he ever call them mama?"

"It's different. They're not looking after them all day long like I am, now are they? They have chores to do, their main job. Helping the children comes second to that. My main job is to look after them and help them learn and grow, it's only natural that they start feeling like this."

Maggie cuddled closer into Annabel and put her head back on her chest.

"Are they forgetting mama?" Her voice sounded horrified at the idea.

"Margot more than the twins, but I would guess so."

"I'm scared."

"Why's that?" Annabel began combing through Maggie's hair again with her fingers.

"Because I'm forgetting mama."

"Why don't you write down what you remember?"

"I-I can't remember almost anything."

Annabel held the girl closer as she began to cry again.

"Well, I've never met or seen your mama before, but I can kind of tell what she looks like."

"You can?" Maggie sniffled and looked up at her.

"She had blond hair, didn't she? Just like George and Margot. You and the twins have brown hair like your papa. And her eyes were brown like yours, Sam and Margot. And Samantha, she said that you have your mothers ears." She playfully tugged at Maggie's ear and the girl giggled.  "Tam has your mamas nose and I hear she was about this tall."

She lifted her hand up and Maggie nodded.

"I also know more, but first, you need to wash your face. We don't want your siblings waiting too long now do we?"

"What more do you know about mama?" Maggie asked after she was done washing her face and fixing her hair as they walked down the stairs hand in hand.

"Well, I assume she's the one that played the piano because none of you have touched it since I got here. And your papa sits on the left side of the table during tea time, so she must have sat on the right. She loved horses, that's what Phil, the horse handler said. Her horse is still in the barn, her names Biscuit, but she's a very old mare and her back is too sensitive for any riding or harnesses. You could go and brush her if you'd like. See, your mama is everywhere. You just have to look and you will remember."

"Thank you. You're the best ever!" Maggie hugged her tight when they were standing outside and ran to her family who were waiting for her on the grass.

Annabel smiled at them greeting Maggie happily and turned around to go back in.

"Ms.Annabel!"

She turned back around to look at Richard.

"Won't you join us?" He asked.

"I think I'll pass Mr.Pelton." She waved at the kids good bye, glanced at a defeated looking Richard one last time and headed back in.

*

"How are you feeling Gigi?" Richard walked through the carnival with his daughter while George took the younger ones on the carousel.

"I'm okay. Feeling a lot better after crying and talking with Ms.Annabel."

"That's good to hear."

"Yeah, she helped me remember what mama looked like, I was forgetting."

"Forgetting?" It pained him to hear that one of his children was forgetting what their mother looked like, but that was expected. Even he was having a hard time remembering what his late wife's voice sounded like. "I have a picture of mama, would you like to see it?"

She stopped in her tracks and nodded in excitement as he pulled out his wallet and the black and white picture that was inside.

It was a picture of her mama, papa, a much younger George, and baby her being carried in her mamas arms.

"She was right! I do have mamas ears! And oh look, that's the same as Tam Tam's nose. She and Georgie have the same hair too!" Maggie looked at the tiny picture with such love and admiration that he told her she could keep it. She hugged him with excitement and ran to show her older brother that had just stepped off of the carousel.

*

"The squirrel." George popped up out of nowhere beside his father who was staring at the endless stuffed animals option he had to chose from for winning the dart game.

"Squirrel?"

"Yes, she would love it best."

"What made you think I was getting something for Ms.Annabel?"

"I never said it was for her, but there you have it."

Richard and George shared a look.

"It's our secret." George patted his fathers shoulder and walked away.

"Have you decided?" The impatient man running the game said to him.

"Yeah, um, that-that squirrel would do."

*

"If I was a dinosaur-"

"They're extinct." George cut Tam off.

"I know, but if I were one, I'd eat you first."

George flicked a piece of popcorn at her head and she ate it aggressively to show him how she would munch on him.

"Would Margot eat the popcorn or the hot dog?" Their father asked, trying to decide on what he should feed her, he didn't really know what was suitable for her age and he forgot to ask Annabel.

They were all sitting on a picnic table eating lunch.

"I reckon just give her the bun." George said, also having no idea.

"Won't she choke?" Richard asked.

Sam ripped a piece of his hotdog bun off, dipped it in his water and gave it to Margot who happily ate it.

"That could work."

"I'm pretty sure she can eat lots of solid food. Ma-Ms.Annabel doesn't mash anything for her." Maggie said.

"So hotdog." Richard handed Margot just the hotdog with no bun, covered in ketchup and mustard.

Margot happily began to eat it.

None of them knew what they were doing.