“She made me promise not to tell you that she told me she thought Seph was your boyfriend. Mummy?”
There was a silence when I figured Georgia was trying to pick herself up off the floor. Or working out ways to murder Liv. Maybe both.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“When do I get to have a boyfriend?”
I knew the answer to that: never. In fact, Claire’s husband, Killian, kept threatening to open a boarding school for girls in the middle of Dartmoor where there was no WiFi or mobile phone reception. That was where Rose would be going.
“You get to have a boyfriend when you can tidy your own room, do your washing, make your dinner and put all your toys away when you’ve finished playing with them.”
I knew Rose was now pulling her face because she hated tidying. Two days ago, she’d had a four-year-old sized tantrum when she was told she couldn’t go to the park unless she tidied everything away first. It’d been loud.
“But Mummy!”
“No buts. Are you looking forward to going to the zoo tomorrow?”
“Is Seph still coming with us?”
“If you want him to.”
It went quiet, and I was pretty sure my nerves were having a party.
“I’m glad Seph’s your boyfriend, Mummy, because it means he’ll keep helping me with my homework.”
“Good. I’m glad he helps you too. And I’m glad you like him. Sleep time now. Busy day tomorrow.” There was a brief silence when I knew Georgia was giving her a kiss. “Love you, baby girl.”
“Love you, Mummy. And I love Seph too.”
I think it was at that point I decided what I wanted my future to be.
One of the benefits– and there weren’t that many – of having Callum as a slightly older brother, was that he could get us extras at the zoo. Callum was a vet, specialising in wild animals, although more recently he’d set up his own veterinary practice with his wife, Wren, and they’d pretty much treat anything. They both acted as consultants for London Zoo and other places like that, sometimes going abroad for a few weeks, or even months, to work on the wildlife reserves or carry out some project or other. Callum had been my wingman when we were both single. Now he was handing over passes like they were contraband, only these were for feeding time with the penguins rather than some exclusive nightclub.
How my life had changed.
How my life was better.
“Seph, can you see the elephant?” Rose had hold of my hand and was using her other to point to where the elephant enclosure was.
“I can. We’re going there next.” We’d spent breakfast pouring over the map of the zoo, planning our route, because without a plan we’d be walking about seventy miles from one end to the other while Miss Rose changed her mind about what to see next, and although I knew from how I was brought up you shouldn’t let a kid dictate what to do, it was damned hard to say no when someone was as enthusiastic and excited as Rose.
“Did you know that elephants are always eating?”
“I didn’t know that.” I was used to being bombarded with facts by now.
Georgia caught up with us after dropping some rubbish in the bin. “Sounds a bit like Shay.”
This was true. My cousin had managed to eat most of the contents of my fridge the other night, which had included two steaks and a salmon filet. Georgia had been on the other end of my rant about it, listening to my threats to throw him out and telling me just to order take out and eat it in front of him as revenge. It’d worked.
“Who’s Shay?” Rose looked up at me.
That was a good question. “He’s my cousin. So my mum’s brother’s son.”
“I don’t have any cousins.” She looked sad, as if she’d just realised she’d lost money she never realised she’d had.
“You might do one day. If Auntie Liv has children.” I turned around to see where Georgia was and spotted her walking behind us, just close enough to listen. She gave me a grin that told me I was on my own with this.
“Who else is in your family?”
