“Like it was yesterday. The most ridiculous and crazy time of my life.” I still wasn’t sure how I'd ended up meeting someone and moving to a different country for them in the space of a week.
“It was good, wasn’t it?” He nodded approvingly. “I’ll miss this place.”
“If you’re being sentimental, we can keep it.”
“No. It’s time another family lived here and added to its story. We’re here less and less and this is a house that should be lived in.” Another nod, and then a good drink of wine.
I was surprised, really, that he was being so sentimental about it. Grant was pragmatic whereas I was the more mawkish of the two of us, which wasn’t saying much.
“You can announce it to the children then.” Swift move for me there.
“No. Absolutely not. The kids take things much better from you. Send them a message now and let them know there’s a gathering of the fruit of my loins after rugby on Saturday. See what they respond.” He tapped the table. “Those words.Fruit of my loins.”
Our children utterly loved my text messages. They liked to think I was completely incompetent with technology and that their dad and I had no idea about modern life because we were too old.
We let them think that because it meant we could choose to remain oblivious to some of the things they’d done as younger adults. It also meant we could get away with not doing some of the things we didn’t want to, as they’d think we were too incompetent to manage, just like half of them had tried with loading the dishwasher when they were teenagers.
And Grant, he was responsible for half the things I sent, even though we pretended he didn’t have a clue what was going on in our group messages.
“Want to predict who mentions bleach first when I put that?”
He nodded. “Seph. Although I still need the bleach from when I walked into his room and found him tied to the headboard. That was not the finest hour for either of us.”
“Does Georgia know that story?” Georgia was Seph’s wife, although it was still something of a mystery exactly how he’d managed to find someone sensible and intelligent to marry him, let alone take a chance on his genes and breed.
“She will next time I see her.” Grant grinned evilly. He got along well with all of his children-in-law, but particularly Georgia and would say that Rose, her daughter, was his favourite grandchild even though I told him he wasn’t really allowed to have favourites. Although of course we kind of did – they just changed on a daily, or even hourly, basis.
I opened up the app on my phone we used for group messages and went to the one for just the actual children.
Max, Jackson, Claire, Callum, Seph, Payton and Ava.
Our little legacy.
Me: Your father and I would like to call a gathering of the fruit of his loins tomorrow after rugby. Just yourselves please.
It took about thirty seconds for one of them to respond even though they were all meant to be working.
Seph: Need more info than that else I’ll have to start breathing into a paper bag.
Me: No one is ill. Although I’m not sure you (Seph) don’t require an intervention.
Seph: No intervention required. I’m just trying to work out what’s happened with the photocopier.
Max: Is it broken?
Seph: That would be why I’m trying to fix it.
Max: What the fuck have you done now?
Seph: Nothing. It was like this when I came in. I’ve been trying to google what’s wrong with it since about nine this morning.
Max: I thought you had a meeting on the Young case?
Seph: It got cancelled. Their son’s had to go to hospital with a burst appendix.
Max: Nasty. What’s up with the photocopier?
Claire: I think it was Eliza. She was messing with it last night. Sorry.
