‘Sorry, Mum,’ Dan said, after several unsuccessful attempts to get Alfie to apologise.
‘Don’t make him apologise, Dan,’ she said. ‘Only if he wants to. It’s meaningless otherwise.’ And with that she swept out of the room to change. Her parting comment was lost on Alfie who sat with a scowl and his arms folded.
‘He’s tired, Dan,’ I said.
‘Stop making excuses, he’s being really naughty and I’m very cross!’ Dan yelled at him, and I saw his little face crumble.
Alfie erupted in tears and ran over to me and lay in my lap sobbing. Dan had been too heavy-handed, as I later pointed out in no uncertain terms. He’d given me a hard time for snapping at the kids by the pool when they were fighting over a bucket, but it was okay for him to yell at Alfie just because he’d accidentally banged into Joy?
Alfie’s meltdown had now caused Freddie to try out some attention-seeking behaviour by pouring his glass of juice on the floor, so Dan yelled at him too. All this gave Ella the perfect opportunity to console Freddie by lifting him on her knee and stroking his hair, which he was a little unsure about because ‘Auntie Ella’ hadn’t so much as looked at him until now.
‘Shall we go for a little walk?’ she asked Freddie.
I immediately bristled. ‘We don’t have time, Ella. The taxi will be here soon,’ I said, thinking: no way are you going wandering around outside with my baby.
‘It’s fine, there’s plenty of time. It’s only half past seven, the taxi isn’t due until eight.’ She said this like I was being fussy, stupid, so I had to put her in her place.
‘He’s tired, he won’t want to walk now.’
‘He’ll love a little walkies, won’t you, Freddie?’ she said.
‘He’s not a dog,’ I snapped.
Her face went quite pink. ‘I’m sorry, Clare. If you’d rather I didn’t take Freddie for a walk, I understand,’ she said. She was playing the victim for the others’ benefit. They were all taking in the scene, it was impossible not to.
‘It’s not that I—’
‘I’ll come with you, we’ll both go,’ Jamie said, picking Freddie up, putting him on his shoulders, and putting me in my place. I felt embarrassed. Why had I been so mean to her, in front of everyone too?
‘Are you sure you’re okay with this, Clare?’ she said, making it an even bigger deal.
‘Yes, yes, it’s fine…’ I said.
‘Oh Clare, I do wish you wouldn’t worry so much, it isn’t good for the lymphatic system, you know? It’s what causes the bloating,’ she said earnestly, like she was addressing Jabba the Hut.
‘My lymphatic system is fine, thank you,’ I said, unsmiling.
Dan shot me a look, but I ignored him. He had no right to chastise me when he’d just caused the boys to go into total meltdown.
Within minutes, Joy was back and danced into the room, doing a twirl. ‘Will I do?’ she asked in a really irritating coquettish way. But having offended Ella, and probably pissed off Jamie, tonight I needed Joy’s support. So I raved about her dress and told her how young she looked, which went on far too long, but I had some making up to do.
Ten minutes later, Jamie and Ella walked back through the door, having taken Freddie for his walk. She was holding him in her arms; he’d clearly been too tired to walk, as I’d suggested. ‘He’s just the sweetest little thing. Can Jamie and I have him?’ Ella asked, with a giggle.
‘No,’ I said too quickly.
The others turned to look at me. My face burned.
No one spoke until Jamie piped up. ‘Just as well. Freddie weighs a tonne, too heavy for me to carry. I’m glad Ella works out – she can carry our kids,’ he said, trying to lift the mood. But I didn’t laugh, and he damn well knew why.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
We all sat looking at each other awkwardly until Joy quickly rallied round and, landing on safe ground, asked Violet, ‘Do you like my dress, darling?’
‘Yes, Granny. It’s such a lovely blue,’ Violet answered, always the diplomat.
‘Violet’s right, it’s a lovely blue,’ I heard myself say. ‘And you know what would look gorgeous with it?’
‘What?’ Joy’s head was to one side. She was smiling. If there was one thing Joy loved talking about more than herself, it was talking about what she was wearing.
‘Your diamond earrings – the ones Bob bought you for your anniversary – they will be stunning against that blue.’