Norah watched Freddie and Luna playing in the back garden in his little sandpit while she sat peacefully in a deckchair, soaking up some sun. They looked so happy together.
It made her wonder what it would have been like if she’d had a second. They’d thought it over, her and Max, but in the end, it seemed like there just weren’t the extra resources for another one. Time, energy and money were in short supply. They’d decided to give what they had to Freddie.
Of course, there was an additional reason not to have another, but that went unsaid. Oh, and speaking of her husband, was that the front door?
‘Hey, kids, you OK out here?’ Norah called to them.
‘YEAH!’ they yelled.
Norah went indoors to rip her husband to shreds. However, she did have to find the bugger first.
She eventually tracked him down to the shower, where he was soaping himself casually, like a man who had all the time in the world and nothing to fear.
Norah wanted to take his satisfaction from him. ‘Max,’ she said loudly.
He turned in surprise and nearly slipped. ‘Fuck me, Norah. That’s how necks get broken!’
Norah took the segue with aplomb. ‘No, how necks get broken is by leaving your child with a total stranger and pissing off to work without checking in with your wife.’
He frowned. ‘Did you just threaten to break my neck?’
‘It was a joke. Sort of,’ Norah said.
‘I had an emergency!’ he whined. ‘The weekend manager called to tell me that three people called in sick. I had to serve, for god’s sake. And that woman said you knew her. I thought it would be fine.’
‘You don’t even know her name,’ Norah said, shaking her head.
‘I do. It’s... Daisy?’
‘Poppy.’
‘I knew it was a flower name,’ he said dismissively, stepping out of the shower and grabbing a towel.
‘You don’t even know what you did wrong, do you?’ Norah said.
‘My job’s important, Norah.’
‘More than your child?’ Norah asked.
‘Sometimes, yes!’ he snapped.
Norah stared at him. ‘I’m going downstairs now. So you can be alone with what you just said.’ She walked out of the bathroom.
‘Norah!’ he called after her.
Norah went downstairs just in time to see through the glass front door that Poppy was coming up the path. She opened the door to meet her. ‘Hi,’ she said.
Poppy’s mouth began to form the start of a greeting, and then her brow creased. Confusion took her face, and then horror. She was looking behind Norah. Norah knew what she’d seen before she even turned around and saw her stupid, nude husband jogging down the stairs to finish their row.
‘Christ!’ Max cried as he locked eyes with Poppy, cupping his junk, turned tail (so to speak) and ran upstairs, his buttocks jumping.
Norah turned back to Poppy. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said, clutching her heart in true shame.
But Poppy’s horror had passed, and now she was laughing. ‘I thought I’d seen the last sausage roll of the day, but I guess not.’
Norah wanted to die. ‘The kids are in the backyard; Luna didn’t see it... that... anything.’
‘OK. You alright?’ Poppy asked.
‘No, yes, sorry. Come in.’
Poppy came in, and Norah led her through to the back, where she yelled, ‘Hey, kiddo!’
Luna turned, ‘Hi, Mum! Just playing!’ Then she went back to digging a trench around a sandcastle.
‘She usually runs straight for me. She must love playing with Freddie,’ Poppy noted.
‘He’s a pretty good hang,’ Norah said, still trying to get over her embarrassment.
‘Hey, are you at this party tomorrow?’ Poppy asked.
‘What, Drew? Yeah.’
‘Where the hell is it, by the way?’ Poppy asked. ‘I keep meaning to Google map it.’
‘A farm about twenty-five minutes away. I’ve been there a few times. It’s a good place for the kids. They have animals, of course, but it’s all about the play park. It's epic.’
‘Twenty-five minutes away?’ Poppy repeated.
