“I’ll tell you what, when we get to Iris's house, maybe you can dig the old Abacus out of the attic and show her whatrealfun looks like,” I shot right back, not bothering to even glance in her direction.
She wisely chose to stay silent. I saw Dante’s shoulders move as he smothered a laugh, and I caught his eye once more, grinning back at him.
“You alright, Bee?” I asked softly, turning my attention to her and kissing the top of her head.
She nodded against my stomach.
A thought came to mind. My mother might have a point about responsible parenting, actually.
“Hey… Shouldn’t you be in your car seat?” I asked.
“She’s five, Rachel,” Dante laughed.
“I don’t see what’s funny. You know it’s the law that five-year-olds should be in a car seat, right?”
“She rides a motorbike. I think she’s alright.”
“But if we were to crash—”
“Brilliant. Put scary thoughts into her head,” he sighed.
“I’m not scared, Daddy,” Bee grinned.
“That’s my girl,” he smiled back at her through the mirror.
“It’s not a case of being scared. It’s a case of safety,” I continued.
“Since when the fuck did you become the safety police?”
“She’s right, Dante,” my mother interjected.
There are many things I need from my mother, and her help is not one of them.
“You can shut the fuck up as well,” Dante snapped at her.
“Well… I have never in my life—”
“Put a sock in it, Mother. And since I seem to be the only responsible parental figure here, yes, yes, I am the safety police.”
“Oh, really?” He said sarcastically. “You weren’t being safe when you let Vienna take her for a ride on the moors, but sure, now you’re the safety inspector. When did the promotion happen?”
“Now. Do you wanna see my badge? Hold on, let me just fish it out of my pocket,” I said, pushing my hand into the small pocket of my jacket. “Oh, here it is,” I pulled my hand out, sticking my middle finger up as I did so.
“Rachel!” Bee laughed, slapping a hand over her mouth to cover her giggles. “Can I do that?”
“To your daddy?”
She nodded, her shoulders still shaking with her laughter.
“Go for it,” I challenged, meeting Dante’s smirk.
She sat up and looked at her dad, then at me, then back at her dad again. I could practically see the cogs in her brain moving as she weighed up her options.
“Oh, really, Rachel!” My mother snapped. “Teaching that young girl to swear! It’s ridiculous.”
“Do you want to see ridiculous?” I asked, putting my finger up again, and pretending to pull a lid off it before rubbing it over my lips like lipstick. I placed the pretend lid back on my finger and popped my lips at her, winking down at Bee as I did so.
“You shouldn’t swear, Amy. It’s not ladylike,” my mother said with a sniff. “Rachel is just being silly. She always gets like this when she’s showing off.”
