‘Better not let your mother see you fraternising with the staff,’ says Luke, returning the kiss. ‘As for the American hello, I’ll give you a traditional Tennison hello later.’ He gives my backside a playful smack as he sidesteps out of my arms and goes to fetch Alice’s bags.
I’m smiling to myself as I turn to go in. As I look up, I see Alice standing at the doorway watching us. I shield my eyes from the early morning sun with one hand and wave to her with the other. She smiles broadly and returns the wave before disappearing inside the house. It’s a much more comforting sight than when I last saw her in the doorway. I give my head a small shake and push the sad memory away. The cold days are in the past. The sun is shining and I feel a warmth within me that has been overshadowed for many years but now is finally breaking free.
Later that evening, when the girls have gone to bed, Hannah being allowed to stay up a bit later than usual because of our guest. Luke tactfully makes his excuses about needing to get some more work done, to leave me, Mum and Alice alone in the living room.
‘I’ll make us some supper,’ says Mum. ‘I’ve got some cheese and crackers. Do you want tea, Clare? Coffee, Alice?’
We both thank Mum and for the first time since Alice arrived, over twelve hours ago, we are on our own.
‘So, how long have you guys been married?’ asks Alice.
‘Oh, erm … must be coming up for eight years now.’
Alice cocks her head. ‘Eight? And how old is Hannah?’
‘Seven. I was four months pregnant when we got married.’ I’m not embarrassed at all by this. It’s not exactly shocking news these days. I suppose it’s only natural that she’s curious about her new family, but all the same, I feel strangely uncomfortable that she might be judging me as she does the maths.
‘Oh, I see,’ she says and smiles knowingly.
‘We would have got married whether I was pregnant or not,’ I add hastily, wishing she’d take that look of amusement off her face. ‘We’d only just started going out but we always say we knew from about our third date that we wanted to be together. It just felt right.’
‘Love at first sight,’ says Alice. ‘Or was it lust?’
I laugh. ‘Too close to call.’
‘Did you have a big church wedding?’ Alice looks over towards the sideboard and scans the various photographs on my own personal rogue’s gallery. They are mostly of the girls with a couple of Mum and one or two of Luke and me. Photographs taken by Luke at birthdays, on walks, on the beach, just snapshots catching everyday events with a naturalness you don’t get with posed studio photos. I suppose it’s the artistic eye he has, where he can capture those special moments, just one photograph of his can say so much.
‘No church wedding,’ I say. ‘Funnily enough, it was Luke who wanted a white wedding but I didn’t want a big fuss. We had a registry office wedding. Very small affair. Family and close friends. We did have a party afterwards, though.’ I get up and go over to the sideboard, picking up a silver frame with a picture of Luke and me on our wedding day. Not that you would have guessed. We just look as if we’re going to a dinner dance. Luke’s wearing a dark-blue suit, pale-blue shirt with a white button-down collar and skinny blue tie and I’m wearing a cream-coloured evening dress with spaghetti-thin straps, a neckline that drapes in delicate folds across my bust. The dress, cut on the bias, reaches the ground. On my wrist I’m wearing a blue corsage to match Luke’s tie.
I pass the photo frame to Alice and she studies the picture. ‘Luke hasn’t changed a bit. Neither have you, actually. And you wouldn’t know you were pregnant. There’s no trace of a bump there.’
‘I was very small. First-time pregnancy and tight stomach muscles. Lucky, I suppose.’
Alice looks me up and down as she hands back the photograph. ‘Still very slim now.’
‘As are you,’ I say, with a smile, replacing the photo frame back on the sideboard. ‘It must be genetic.’
‘Yeah, I guess it is. Did anyone know you were pregnant when you got married?’
I sit back down, wishing she would drop the cross-examination, but I feel obliged to answer. ‘No. We never told anyone. Not even Mum. We waited until after the wedding and then told her.’
‘And she was okay about it?’
‘She didn’t have a lot of choice.’ I lower my voice. ‘She was more annoyed I hadn’t told her straight away. She couldn’t understand why we wanted to get married so quickly. Anyway, after all the fuss had died down, she could not have been happier. She adores the girls.’
‘Your girls are wonderful, as is your mum, I mean, our mum. Luke is pretty awesome too. You have a great family,’ says Alice. Her words are tinged with sadness and I immediately feel guilty for the burst of pride her remark brought.
‘We’re all family now,’ I say. ‘All of us.’
‘Family. All of us. I like that,’ she says, as the corners of her mouth tip to a smile. ‘Family.’
Are you sure you can’t take any time off work?’ asks Mum as we sit down on Sunday morning to have breakfast. Sundays are a much more relaxed affair. There’s no set time for breakfast; we all just get up when we want. The girls have been up for over an hour and already had their fill of cereal and toast. They’re now in the sitting room, Hannah watching TV and Chloe amusing herself with her play-kitchen. I’m not one of those parents who insists they do something structured and educational every minute of their waking hour.
‘I’m sorry, Mum, but I really can’t,’ I say spreading some marmalade on my toast. ‘I’ve a big court date coming up next month. It’s really important and I can’t take any time off at all.’ I pour a cup of tea. ‘We can have a nice day out today, though. I thought we could all go into Brighton. Show Alice the sights.’
Mum’s disappointed look makes way for a smile. ‘That’s a good idea. We could take her to all the places I used to take you two as children. It may jog her memory. There’s the seafront, the pier, the lanes. We could get fish and chips and an ice cream. The girls will enjoy it too. Yes, let’s do that.’
I smile at Mum and reach over, putting my hand on her arm. ‘Mum, you know Alice was very young when she was here – she may not remember anything at all.’
‘I know that.’ Mum pats my hand.
‘I just don’t want you to be too disappointed or to be putting pressure on anyone.’
‘Ooh, looks like I’ve timed this just right. Morning all.’ Luke comes into the kitchen and, with acrylic-covered fingers, swipes a slice of toast from my plate. Blues, greens and yellows make his hands look as if they’re covered in bruises. He’s had another night of working on his new commission. He drops a kiss on my head. ‘How are you?’
‘All good, thanks. How’s the painting coming on?’ I say as I watch Luke pad over to the kettle.
‘Anyone want a cup?’ he asks. ‘Marion?’
Mum shakes her head. ‘No thanks. Put a cup out for Alice, though, I’m sure she’ll be up soon.’
‘Painting is going great, Babe,’ says Luke. He comes to sit down beside me at the table. ‘What’s on the agenda today?’
‘Thought we’d go to Brighton. Show Alice the sights,’ I say. ‘You coming?