It's Okay Mummy

The girl in the photo on her wall blinked.

August 1966.

Liverpool, England.

3 am.

Colleen woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, in her and her husband’s bedroom next to her door, was a picture of their daughter who had died 1 year prior from measles at the age of 4.

Colleen looked at the photo as if she was waiting for approval of some sort, she realized she really had to go pee, threw on her robe and ran down the hall of her small hallway into her bathroom. She searched through the drawers in her bathroom trying to find a test she bought.

She had finally retrieved it successfully, but not before dropping the porcelain soap dish on the floor.

She heard footsteps down the hallway, then her husband’s youthful British accent.

“Dear, are you okay?” he said.

“Uhm, yes love, I’m quite alright!” she said voice shaky.

“I’m getting you some tea love, to help you sleep.” He replied with compassion.

“Thank you love.” She answered.

As her husband was in the kitchen getting her tea, Colleen made her way back to the bedroom floor, where she looked at her daughter’s picture once again and gasped, making her fall back onto the bedroom. Her husband ran down the hall only to see his wife on the floor with wide eyes and pale face.

“Darling,” he fell to her side to help her up. “What’s wrong?” he asked nervously.

“Jeff, she moved! Alicia (Ali-sia)! She- she blinked! Now- now she’s waving at me!”

“Love, you’ve gone daft, Alicia has been gone for a year, I know we’ve talked of having another-“Colleen cut Jeff off.

“No! Look Jeffery!” she pointed to the picture on the wall, and there she was, waving and smiling at her parents in the frame she was now trapped in.

“Mummy, it’s okay.” Alicia said.

“Colleen dear, am I daft or did you hear her too?” Said Jeff basically horrified.

“I heard.” Said Colleen calmy.

“So, in other words love, we’re both daft…”

“Maybe.” She replied.

“Mum, look where I am!” Alicia said, the picture now moving like a movie, she played, ran, and danced in a field full of peonies, the flowers Alicia was buried with. Alicia swept a bunch in her arms and threw them in the air and giggled, she twirled and giggled even more her little white dress with puffy sleeves flowing in the breeze with each twirl. The time was 5am at this point, and suddenly there was a knock, Jeff went and checked, he came back to the bedroom with a bouquet of peonies.

“Mummy, it’s okay. I want you too, I want a little one around to give the love I couldn’t.”

“Oh Alicia,” Colleen started to cry, sobbing actually.

Jeff looked down at his crying wife, then back at his daughter he never got to know due to him being in war when she was just a baby and only came back when she had just turned four, he was only home for 8 months of her life but loved her like he seen her every day.

“We love you Alicia, and we wouldn’t had talked about it, if we would have known how you felt about it.” Jeff said wiping tears.

“That’s it though, I want you too. Mummy, get the test!! Show me!”

Jeffery helped his weak emotional wife off the floor, and she approached the bathroom. She took her shaky hands and picked up the test, not sure what she was hoping to see.

She showed the test to Alicia first, she started to cry.

“Alicia dear, I thought you wanted this, why are you sad love?” said Colleen.

“Mum, I’m not sad, you can’t be sad in Heaven. These are happy tears.” Alicia said with a giggle.

“Jeffery…” Colleen said giving the test to him, Jeff who was now on the floor was staring at the test like a deer in headlights.

“Colleen, this, are- is this- are we-?” he stammered.

“Yay! I’m getting a baby brother or sister!” Said Alicia with a big beaming smile, her eyes lit up just as bright as the stars in a night sky. “Now, that that’s settled, I have to go.” Colleen seen something coming out of the frame, it had a white glow to it, then a second, Jeff got up and him and Colleen approached the photo to the reaching glow. They soon realized, their daughter had reached out the photo waiting for them to grab her little hands. They both took a hand of hers, kissed it and said goodbye. Alicia’s photo turned back to her portrait. This sweet little girl, button nose, her brown doe shaped eyes, and her little smile that had a missing front tooth.