The worst ones glare at me, but their stares are quickly drawn to Niki as he kneels on the floor and beckons Tabi close.
“Have you got the thing to help me?” she asks as she joins him.
Niki pulls a stubby glow stick from his back pocket. He cracks it and threads a string through it. “You know how your mum wears my chain when she’s nervous?”
Tabi nods.
Niki places the threaded glow stick around Tabi’s neck. “Now you’re like your mum. Keep this tucked under your top, but look down when you need a little light. And you’ve got your bracelet that’s like mine.” Niki grabs his Belle bracelet from his pocket. His thick hand strains the elastic until it’s on his wrist. He waggles it, and Tabi shakes hers until it clatters. “It’s okay to get scared. Me and your mummy are here for you.”
“Thank you, Niki,” Tabi says. “Is it okay to hug you? I put hand stuff on before we came out.”
Niki nods, and Tabi wraps her tiny arms around his neck. He hugs her back. It’s not a full-on squeeze, but there’s progress compared to months ago.
Tears brim my eyes, and the parents stare at this Hallmark moment.
“We’d best go in. And if it’s okay with Gregory’s mum, we’ll invite Gregory and his parents to my house one day to meet Graham and play in my pool,” Niki says loud enough for the parents to hear. “If you enjoy yourself today, I’ll add a cinema to the basement so you can go to one whenever you want. How about that?”
I glance at the mean mums whispering amongst themselves.
“Maybe all the kids could come and play one day,” one of them says.
“You’ll have to check with Rosie. She manages my life for me. I wouldn’t cope otherwise. We wouldn’t have made that flight together from Monaco in my jet last month if not for you. It was quite a flight. Thank goodness there’s space for everything we enjoyed.” He gives me double raised eyebrows and smirks at me.
The parents gawk as my cheeks heat and my grin grows. I can’t help but remember our moment in front of the mirror. The mean mums nudge each other as they stare at me. All the mums gather around me as the children walk into the cinema with Gregory’s dad.
“Is he really your boyfriend?”
“He’s so sweet with Tabi.”
“What was the private jet like?”
As soon as the children are out of earshot, Gregory’s mum asks, “Did you do what I think you did on his private jet? No, don’t answer, it’s rude of me, but…”
I nod and we laugh together as she nudges me.
“Is he as big as the gossip websites say?” another mum asks. The audacity!
Niki turns around and winks. “Bigger. Ain’t that right, Rosie?”
I shake my head as I concede. “And he knows exactly what to do with it.”
Gregory’s mum cackles as Niki grabs my hand.
The mums invite me to their houses as we try to leave. Tabi was brilliant in the cinema, and although she was scared of the dark a couple of times, Niki and I took turns standing with her outside the screen until she calmed down. When she returned with him the second time, she was still giggling.
“You did it, nugget. I’m so proud of you,” I say as I strap Tabi into Niki’s car.
“Wedid it, Mummy.” She giggles. “Can we see Graham now? He can swim with me in Niki’s pool.”
Niki’s phone rings as he starts the car.
“Senna, you’re on speaker, and Tabi and Rosie are with me.”
It’s his please-don’t-swear warning.
“Okay.” Her voice wobbles. “You need to drive in Austria.”
“In the grand prix? Is Connor okay? Did he hurt himself at the trampoline park?” Niki asks. He trembles, and I squeeze his thigh.
