He looked at me seriously. “I think two was probably enough.”
“I think seven is just right. I wouldn’t send any of you back.” Most days. Some days it was questionable.
“We fit in this house. Any more and it’d be too small.” He gave Ava a kiss on her forehead, her little hand reaching for him.
“I’m not sure you’re right. One day, there won’t be any of you living here. You’ll have all moved out and maybe have families of your own.” I both looked forward to and dreaded that day when this place was empty. I liked the idea of sustained tidiness though.
“Will you and dad still live here then?” He frowned, glancing over at Callum and Seph who were playing quite roughly as they were wont to do.
I thought about the journey we’d taken to get here, those rushed few weeks and how happy they’d made me.
“No, I don’t think we will. This house will need another family who’ll make more stories and laugh in it.” I looked around the room, full of my babies, all of them. “But that won’t be for a long time.”
“When will it be?”
My biggest boy who always had to know.
“I’ll know when it’s time. You’ll see.”
CHAPTER 15
MAX
For once, the bank holiday sunshine was in attendance which would make a massive difference to how the weekend would pan out. It meant we’d be barbecuing, the kids would be lost to the breeze, and everyone would be more at ease. Relaxed.
I pulled up on the drive, the boys and Lucy wide awake and bubbling with excitement because they loved weekends in Oxford, and there was a celebrity cricket match nearby on the Sunday which I’d promised to take them to.
We were met by Rose and Seph, who’d been to their car to collect something that’d been forgotten. Rose looked more grown up each time I saw her, her denim shorts cut offs that looked too trendy and illustrated that she wasn’t far off being a teenager, which meant my youngest brother would soon be a father to a teen.
That was going to be good fodder for taking the piss out of him.
“How long’s it taken you to get here?” Seph asked, looking in his car boot for something that wasn’t there.
“About an hour and a half. I think we missed an accident by about five minutes which Jackson’s ended up stuck in.” I’d left the office fifteen precious minutes before Jacks and that'd been the difference between a dream and a nightmare.
“Good going. We had to stop twice because your namesake drank too much juice and couldn’t wait.” He glared at me like it was my fault.
I’d been bowled over when Seph told me they were calling their twin boy after me. I’d nodded and said something like thank you, then we hadn’t mentioned it since.
“Better than a drenched car seat.” I’d experienced a couple of those, one from Seph himself but we didn’t talk about that either.
“True. Ava’s here already. She got here yesterday with Nancy and Eli and I think she’s staying for the week,” Seph closed the car boot. “It isn’t in here, Rosie. Are you sure your mum didn’t bring it into the house?”
“I’ll go and check.” She walked off, not running like she’d do usually.
“What’s she lost?”
Seph shook his head. “A book. No surprises there. If she can’t find it, she’ll have to find something else to read. It isn’t like there isn’t a library for her to pick from here.”
I laughed because he was right, there was a library and Marie had never thrown away any of our books from when we were kids and teenagers. Rose would have a great time finding the trashy teenage novels Claire and Payts and Ava had read when they were her age. “Judy Blume’sForeverwill still be in there.”
Seph grinned. “I think that book taught me all I know.”
“I pity Georgia then.”
Another grin and then he started helping lug our luggage and children into the house.
By seven we were all together again. Callum and Wren and their three had come over from their nearby farm, some of their land neighbouring Mum and Dad’s which meant they usually walked over the fields, traipsing dirt through the kitchen which didn’t please Marie, but she still enjoyed telling us off even though we were now grown.
