‘Are you sure this is what you want to do? I don’t want you coming back at me and saying I forced you into anything’ Kester starts to empty another drawer from his desk into a plastic storage box.
‘I’m positive’ Helen replies from the depths of a wardrobe on the other side of the room. ‘Once I’d thought about it properly, you were right. It is a waste of money. I probably won’t be able to charge enough in rent to cover the mortgage’ she says, sitting back on her haunches and looking past the open door. ‘But at least it will go some way towards it and that money will be ours to do what we like with’
‘You like with’ he corrects in a mumble, glancing briefly from sorting old bank statements to where she is kneeling.
‘Me? But it was our joint finances that got this whole discussion going in the first place!’ She gives an incredulous laugh.
‘I know…and that was me being a bit of a pig’ Kester shrugs an apology. ‘You were right too. You earn it, it’s yours ’ He tips the empty drawer upside down to tap out the accumulation of dust, avoiding her look of mild exasperation.
‘Then by the same token, what you earn should be yours’ she declares, looking again for the pair to the gym shoe she has in her hand.
‘And it is. I do what I like with it, generally. No different to what I always have’
‘But there are two of us living here now’ Helen consigns the shoe to the growing pile of rubbish.
‘And?’
‘I’m not contributing anything’
‘You do most of the food shopping’
‘And you always pay if we eat out’
‘This is what comes of rushing into marriage’ Kester holds the back of his hand to his forehead ‘Arguments about money’ he groans dramatically.
‘Stoppit’ Helen giggles and delves into the bottom of the wardrobe again, pulling out a crumpled and mildewed running vest. She grimaces and tosses it into the open bin bag.
‘No….joking aside’ Kester says, pushing the empty drawer back into place and standing up. ‘It probably would have been something we’d have talked about if we hadn’t decided to have the shortest engagement on record…’ He surreptitiously retrieves the vest from the bag. ‘Official engagement, that is. We never have talked about the things other couples might have talked about first…money…children…division of housework…Although I got that one sussed pretty damned quick’ he grins
Helen gets to her feet and pulls the vest from the hand held behind his back. ‘I’m sorry…but there is no way that can be raised from the dead. Urgh!’ She returns it to the sack and smiles up at him. ‘Perhaps we should give Jeannie our salaries and she can do the household accounts for us too’ she says, brushing her hands together.
‘You think she’s too old to have my babies?’ Kester muses, his index finger held to his mouth in comic contemplation.
‘Probably…but from her performance the other evening when she was here, that wouldn’t stop her from practising’ she snuffles in reply.
‘When are we going to stop practising?’ he asks.
‘Never, I hope’ Helen ties the top of the sack together and takes it to the door ‘I want to be a very old woman before I…’
‘No…I mean…when are we going to think about starting a family?’
‘Oh dear…are you feeling a little broody? That Lynn has a lot to answer for’ she laughs.
‘Seriously…’
She looks at him in surprise. ‘I don’t know, Kester…I haven’t given it any thought at all. Getting married was a bit of a shock for me, I’m not exactly known for being impulsive and as yet I haven’t really had time to gather my thoughts since’ She pushes her hair behind her ears.
‘But you do want children?’
‘Of course I do’
‘With me?’
‘Preferably…but if the milkman offers me more than a buy one get one free offer on cream, I might take him up on it’
‘Hel-en’ Kester scolds at her flippant response.
‘Well, honestly…who else do you imagine I am going to have them with? Yes, I want a family. Yes, several if we have time. I’m not getting any younger…but no…not right now. I think there is too much going on in our lives for it to be the right time…besides…I rather like the idea of having you to myself for a little while. How did we get from renting Pennywell to babies?’
‘Sorry….’ With one hand on her arm and the other against her cheek, he smiles softly ‘It’s just that it occurred to me that I didn’t know how you felt about it’
‘And do you want children?’
‘Hundreds!’ he grins.
‘Hmm…I’ll see what I can do…’ Helen rolls her eyes and moves away from him to tear off another refuse sack from the roll and shake it open ‘But I can’t promise anything. Can we get back to money now?’
‘Why?’
‘Because I think it needs sorting out’
‘But if you’re going to have to leave work to look after these hundreds of kids, I’ll be paying for everything anyway…so we might as well leave things as they are’ Kester smiles triumphantly.
‘Who says I want to give up work?’ Helen’s eyes narrow.
‘Don’t you?’
‘Shall we make a list of these things we should really have talked through already?’
‘I flatly refuse to leave my children with a nanny. You know how I feel about that without asking’ he growls.
‘I’m not proposing that we should’ Helen responds with an impish smile.
Kester looks at her blankly for a few moments, his mouth opens as realisation dawns. ‘Me?’
Tawny House, Manor Road
The Annexe
Chapter Eighteen
The White Hart,
Woodbury Heights
‘This is quite nice, I’ve not been here before’ Ingrid says, sipping from a glass of soda water and lime.
‘Yeah…I dint want t’go t’one me mates go to, otherwise they’d take the pee summat rotten. I wanna go hoooome’ Charlene wails, her knee jumping so much it wobbles the table above it.
‘What on earth did you say you’d meet him for if you were going to be like this?’
‘I dunno, do I? Felt sorry for him I s’pose’ Her eyes keep straying to the door. ‘What if I don’t like him when he gets here?’
‘Then we have a nice quiet drink, you thank him for coming, say that it was nice to see him again and we leave’ Ingrid tries to inject some calm. ‘He does know I’m going to be here, doesn’t he?’
‘Yeah’ Charlene flushes a little. ‘I said what we was already coming here and that he could come if he wanted. That weren’t really a fib, were it?’
‘Noo…I think we’ll allow you that one’ Ingrid smiles.
‘We?…You int been an’ told Nathan have you?’ Charlene’s glass chatters against her teeth as she tries to take a drink, her eyes anxiously wide. ‘Cos he would be worse’n me Mum!’
‘I haven’t mentioned it to anyone…except my Alex and that was just to tell him where I was going. I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t turn up any minute to check on me’
‘He wouldn’t, would he?’
‘He might!’ Ingrid laughs ‘I don’t often go out on my own these days’ She looks up as the door opens and Charlene jumps.
‘Oh!’ Charlene puts her hand to her chest ‘I thought that were him for a minute’
Ingrid frowns as she watches the newcomer, clad in a checks sports jacket and grey flannel trousers and the far side of middle age heads towards the bar. ‘This Bruno is around Nathan’s age, isn’t he?’ she asks carefully
‘Yeah’ Charlene nods…
‘I’ve just realised that I don’t even know what it is I’m supposed to be watching out for. What does he look like?’
‘Gawd!’ Charlene starts to shake again ‘I can’t remember!’ she wails miserably.
‘Aside from looking a bit old fashioned, I don’t know a thing’
‘He’s sorta…that big’ Charlene holds her hand flat nine inches above the level of her eyes.
‘That makes him about four foot, two’ Ingrid grins.
‘Nooo…When I’m standing up!’ Charlene rolls her eyes and gives her first smile of the evening. ‘He’s got sort a dark hair…bit curly and a bit flat an’ sort a bit sticking up’
‘Mmm’
‘Bit like what my Dad’d have if he’d got any hair. It int like what blokes have their hair now’
‘Anything seems to go, these days’ Ingrid shrugs and takes another sip from her glass.
‘Well, it int like that…..He got glasses…I can remember them…and he’s sort of fat….not fat exactly, he int got no big belly nor nothing but he sort a looks big’ Charlene lifts her shoulders and bends her elbows out at the sides to illustrate what she means.
‘Ah…right…I might sort a recognise him then’ Ingrid smirks.
‘Yeah…’ Charlene nods seriously. ‘I need a wee!’ she says desperately.
‘You’re only nervous, you don’t really want to go’
‘I do…honest’
‘Well, go quick. I don’t want him to come in here and go again because we’re not here or we’ll be here all night waiting when he’s been already’ Ingrid snorts ‘I think I’ve been working with you too long. I don’t understand myself now’
‘What d’you mean?’
‘Doesn’t matter, go and have your wee before it’s too late’
‘I int gonna wet meself!’ Charlene retorts.
‘I meant before he gets here’
