‘Okay, then tell me why it will be good forusand why you think we need a holiday, then I’ll consider it.’ Babs blew on her nail polish while she waited, knowing that Pete was under stress, desperate to pitch his jolly-bob dream and win her over.
‘Because… because it might cheer you up and now you’ve lost a bit of weight you’ll enjoy a dip in the pool with the others rather than sitting by the edge and not joining in. I know you don’t like wearing a bikini, but you could get a new cossie.’
He was putting the butter back in the fridge so couldn’t see the look of thunder on Babs’ face, the fool.
‘And you don’t have to cook either, and you’re always complaining about making tea…’ he was floundering and as far as Babs was concerned had more or less drowned and still, in his last breath there’d been no mention of how it would be good forthem.
She could sense him racking his brains when they heard the front door open, followed by the appearance of Isaac and Fiona, abruptly ending the conversation and saving Pete’s skin.
Ignoring his stupid flustered face that she wanted to slap and resisting the urge to ram the ham sandwich down his throat, Babs walked out of the kitchen and into the hall where Fiona and Isaac were slipping off their shoes.
‘Hi, Mum, where’s Dad? Dad, can you come into the lounge…’ As Pete appeared holding his sandwich and as always, no plate, Isaac then shouted up the stairs, ‘Sasha, Demi, come down here will you, me and Fiona want to tell you something.’
Seconds later the Finch family were all gathered in the lounge while two thoughts ran through Babs’ mind. One of them was good. The other, she wasn’t sure about. Holding her breath, she sat next to Sasha and opposite sat Demi on the armchair that didn’t face the telly while King Pete was firmly ensconced in the one that did.
Holding court in front of the fireplace was Isaac, who was holding hands with Fiona, both wearing stupid grins on their faces.
‘Right, fam. We have something really exciting we want to tell you all…’ Isaac left a dramatic pause which was filled by Sasha.
‘You’re moving out, at last, hurray, now can I go back upstairs?’
Isaac scowled. ‘No, it’s not that…’
Bugger, thought Babs. So, it had to be the diamond ring option but before that little gem had time to settle, Isaac blurted out his news.
‘We’re having a baby!’
* * *
They were once again settled back on their respective perches, with Demi being downgraded to the pouffe when Pete told her to let Fiona sit down. Not for one nanosecond did Babs expect him to offer up his smelly old chair. He was now looking decidedly peeved because he was missingDeal or No Deal, and even mouthed, ‘When will tea be ready,’ out of sight of the happy couple, obvs.
He’d seemed genuinely chuffed at first and had hugged Fiona and shook Isaac’s hand. Babs had joined in with the whole family as they’d clapped and whooped and shown their happiness. Yes, of course she was pleased for the two of them and Fiona, bless her, looked radiant and nervous all at once during the announcement.
And it was always lovely having a new baby in a family but there were so many questions buzzing around in her head which resulted in what the kids called her ‘mithered face’ and Demi had noticed.
Leaning forward she whispered over the hubbub of Sasha oohing and ahhing at a grainy image of a blob. ‘Mum, are you okay? Try and smile a bit or they’ll notice.’
Babs immediately tensed and felt guilty so took Demi’s advice and made the effort.
‘So, you’ll have to get organised now you’ve a little one on the way and for a start, I don’t think three of you will fit into that box room. Unless you get bunk beds!’ She thought that sounded okay, jolly but with a hint of sensible, until she noticed a quick exchange between Fiona and Isaac, then wasn’t so sure.
‘Flipping heck, Mum, talk about dropping a hint! We will be out of your hair eventually so don’t worry, but we were hoping we could stay on here while we get organised and find somewhere suitable.’
Isaac was perched on the arm of the chair and slipped his arm around Fiona protectively, the word ‘eventually’ causing alarm bells to ring, and she was about to say so when she saw Fiona give him a nudge and a nod. In the direction of Babs.Oh, Oh.
‘Anyway, we have been making plans and thinking through our options before we told you the news, especially for when the baby arrives. Fiona wants to go back to work as soon as possible because we’ll need two wages coming in to have a decent standard of living so…’
Two sets of eyes were firmly locked onto Babs whose feeling of dread was far worse than anything she’d experienced during the menopause.
‘We were wondering, seeing as private childcare is so expensive, if you would look after the baby during the week and instead of paying a nursery, we’d pay you.’
They were both still locked on, expectant faces waiting for Babs to burst into tears of joy at being given this unexpected honour. So when she remained silent, the awkward void was filled by Pete, who’d suddenly turned into Granddad of the century.
‘Well, I think that’s a brilliant idea, don’t you, Babs? I mean as long as it’s equivalent to what you earn now the advantages are obvious. You’d not have to clean other people’s houses anymore, thank God, and you’d be here all day and get to put your feet up a bit. Sounds like a plan to me.’ He looked rather pleased with his erudite appraisal of the situation, and so did Fiona and Isaac until Babs opened her mouth to speak.
‘And what’s wrong with cleaning people’s houses?’ She glared at Pete but didn’t give him the chance to answer. ‘And what’s all this “thank God,” malarkey? As far as I remember you’ve not done bad out of my job that you’re suddenly looking down on. The job that’s took us on holiday for the last umpteen years, and Christmas and birthdays and other little luxuries that your wage alone doesn’t run to. So before you go making me redundant, I’d like a bit of respect and a say in the matter, thank you very much.’
A beat of dumbfounded silence was followed by Pete blustering his way through what was never going to be an apology, it wasn’t his style. ‘Bloody hell, Babs… I didn’t mean… there’s no need to take the huff…’
