“Oh, fantastic. Congratulations, mate,” he says, his voice clear now as he comes on the line. “So, what’s next? Do you know?”
“Cheers. Um, I think I just have to wait. The next bit is the matching, so they have a panel who’ll review all the approved adopters and match with kids whose needs they can meet.”
“Of course, and there’ll be plenty of them needing a home, I imagine?”
“Yeah, I think so. I genuinely just want to be a parent to any one of these kids who needs one. I’m both excited and shitting myself at the same time.” Owen laughs heartily, his deep voice warm as he continues.
“I’d think you were a bit deluded if you weren’t. Anyway, Shell wants you. Hang on. Congratulations again, and keep us posted on how it’s all going, yeah?”
“Of course, and thanks, Owen. I’m so grateful to you both for being there with me the whole way through.”
“No problem,” he drops his voice to an almost whisper as he says, “You know what she’s about to tell you to do, and for what it’s worth, Nash, I think she’s right.”
“I know, I know. Put her back on the phone. Speak to you soon.” There’s a rustle and the sound of muted voices, meaning Shell has no doubt pressed the phone to her chest to try and hide her words to her partner. She soon comes back on the line.
“What did he whisper to you just then?” I laugh at her incredulity.
“Can’t the men in your life have any secrets?”
“No.” Her matter-of-fact tone makes me smile. God, I miss my friend. I wish they were closer.
“He just said you were about to hassle me again about telling my brothers. I know what you think about it, I will tell them, I just... I just want to make sure it’s for real before I do. OK? Can you imagine Cole’s face if I told them and then it all fell apart?” I hear her sigh. She knows as well as I do Cole has never hidden a single emotion from his face a day in his life.
“Yes, babe, and I know they’d all be heartbroken, but they would be heartbroken for you, not because of you. If it does fall apart, which I hope like hell it doesn’t, but if it does, then you’d have them there to lean on. Fuck, sometimes I wish I still lived in that Podunk village of ours soI could box your ears.”
“Sadly, the bright lights of London were too much of a draw for you, my friend.”
“Too true, and look how it turned out. Owen’s loaded and has a massive dick…so I definitely found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”
“What does that make me? The leprechaun?”
“If the buckled hat fits.” She laughs her deep, throaty laugh, and it’s infectious. “What about you? Are you seeing anyone?”
I roll my eyes at yet another expected topic of conversation. “No. It’s not the right time, but…” I trail off, unsure whether to bring up my thoughts from just a little while ago.
“But what?” The phrase ‘dog with a bone’ was invented for Shelley, I swear to God. She won’t let this go now; she’s got the taste of it.
“But,” I hedge, “I was weirdly enough just thinking how nice it would’ve been to have someone here with me to celebrate this news.”
“Of course,” she says sympathetically. “You don’t need to make yourself a monk just to be a parent.”
“I know that, I do. But I just feel like I needto focus on the adoption until it’s all done and dusted.”
“Did your social worker suggest that? Would there be an issue if you found yourself a nice woman? Or man, for that matter?”
Here we go.
I have comfortably known I was bisexual since I was fourteen, and Shelley and I had a crush on the same boy at school. We actually both lost our virginity to him before we started dating each other, a fact that, in retrospect, is a little bit gross. Small town problems. But since we divorced, she’s been on my case to dip my toe in a ‘wider dating pool’ – her words, not mine. This makes a hat trick for this evening’s discussion of our three most repetitive topics of conversation.
“Shell,” I warn.
“I know, I know,” she says, sounding not even a little bit apologetic. “Whatever I may think about you needing to try dating a man aside, did Abigail say there would be an issue with you dating?”
“Not an issue, per se, but she did make it clear that any new, significant people in my life would need to undergo the same character assessment as my family, and I just think it wouldbe a little bit much for a girl, or guy, I’d only just started dating.”
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Oh well,” she sighs. “I guess you’ll just have to find a quick and easy hookup to celebrate with instead.”
And just like that, we’re back to teasing, and the heavy conversation lifts.
