I blinked at her. “Ozzie was reading to you?” I asked.
“Oh bugger,” she mumbled.
“That was supposed to be our secret,” Ozzie put in.
Poppy made an eek face. “Yeah, we didn’t want to hurt your dad’s feelings, did we, Oz?”
“That’s okay,” I said reassuringly. “You’re reading with Daddy now so I’m sure he won’t be upset, and I wouldn’t tell him if you didn’t want me to. But, Ozzie, why could you read with your auntie and not with Daddy?”
I looked at Poppy and she bit her lip. “Well, I think it’s because Ozzie knows I’m not… Well, I find reading a bit of a bugger if I’m honest.”
“Auntie Poppy can’t read very good,” Ozzie put in.
“Can’t read very well, short stuff,” Poppy corrected automatically.
“That too,” Ozzie said. “So I didn’t have to be worried when I read to her, because I knew she’s not gonna think I’m stupid. And anyway, sometimes Auntie Poppy can’t read the words either.”
Poppy shifted on the sofa, her face flushing red. It was the first time I’d seen her even slightly embarrassed. “Yeah, well. I’venochance now, have I? You’re getting so good you’ve shot up abovemyreading level now.”
“Ah, okay,” I said, giving Poppy a soft look. “Oz, lovie, why don’t you go and get vegetables out of the fridge? You know, you can choose the ones you like.” I’d found this was the best tactic with Ozzie. If he thought he waschoosingto eat broccoli, he would normally partake in more than just a cursory nibble. With kids, it was all about choice and autonomy. Ironically, something I’d never had as a child. Ozzie grinned and shot to his feet to run to the kitchen. I suppressed a sigh. The last time I asked Ozzie to do this, he’d told me there were no vegetables, and I later found a cauliflower in the airing cupboard. But at least it bought me a few moments alone with Poppy.
“Hey, um, Poppy, you know there are some resources I could show you if you were keen?” I turned to her. She was the one to break eye contact this time.
“I won’t waste your time, Clara,” she said in a small voice, so far from her normal self that it was almost jarring. “I’m a bit of a lost cause.”
I frowned. “I’m sure that’s not the case, hun,” I said carefully, but Poppy just shrugged and fiddled with the hem of her jumper. “Does Rafe know?” I’d found that a lot of people with severe dyslexia managed to hide it quite successfully. Even close family members could be unaware.
“He knows I’m thick as two short planks if that’s what you mean,” said Poppy defensively, her normal sunny expression clouding over with pain.
“Poppy, you––”
“He knows I’m dyslexic, but he also knows I’m a lost cause.”
“I could help, you know?” I said very quietly.
Poppy rolled her eyes. “I’ve had tutors before, Clara.”
“Not like me, you haven’t,” I told her. I wasn’t a confident person in general, but knew down to my bones that I was a good teacher. And when it came to helping people to make sense of the muddle dyslexia made of letters and numbers, I was fucking amazing.
Poppy’s eyes flickered with interest for a moment, but then her expression blanked as she looked away.
“Dyslexia doesn’t make you stupid, Poppy,” I said.
“Of course it doesn’t,” shouted Ozzie from the doorway. He was scowling over at us with his arms crossed over his little chest, looking very much like his father. “You don’t think I’m stupid, do you, Auntie Poppy?” he said accusingly.
She looked horrified. “Of course I don’t think you’re stupid, Oz. You’re the cleverest little shi… I mean sugarlump I know. But I’m not like you.”
Ozzie stamped his foot. “Who says? Just because you find your letters hard doesn’t mean you’re not clever. Isn’t that right, Miss Clara?”
“Yes, that’s quite right, Ozzie,” I said with a firm nod.
“It’s just that our brains work different,” Ozzie went on. “It gives us super brains.”
“Super brains?” Poppy asked, her eyebrows going up.
“Sometimes dyslexic people can have more creative flair,” I told Poppy softly. “And they can be more spatially aware, more likely to be visual thinkers. It can give them advantages in all sorts of fields.”
Poppy looked between me and Ozzie, a little of that sunniness leaking back into her expression as she tilted her head to the side.
