Who’d have thought reading the book every time was such a big deal? And it wasn’t like her club buddy to be so rigid about the rules, either.
It was one of the reasons Madeleine enjoyed the group meetings so much, actually—the gang was a bunch of Knockroe locals, some of whom she’d grown up with, others fellow parents she’d gotten to know since the kids started school, and a great mix of both working and stay-at-home mums and a couple of singletons. All of whom supported her blog and had in fact urged Madeleine to expand the business when both of her children would be at school. So why this holier-than-thou response?
Then the thought struck her as she drove toward her mother-in-law’s house. Had she perhaps hit a nerve with that more recent article, the one about the playgrounds?
She supposed a couple of the women at the club could be miffed about the whole “helicopter parent” thing, and there was always the risk of people assuming Madeleine was writing about them whenever she mentioned real-life instances. But there was no question she thought about any of her friends in that way, and the last thing she’d ever do was use her blog to poke fun at any real person.
She sighed. The downside ofMad Mum’s more controversial slant...
Madeleine really hoped this wasn’t the cause of her friend’s ire, but maybe she’d phone Julie when she and the kids got back from Harriet’s later.
Just in case.
* * *
“I’m just so glad that this ordeal is behind you, sweetheart.” Madeleine smiled as Clara’s grandmother pulled her in close and embraced her in a hug.
Her youngest was still a bit despondent and tired after her ordeal at school today, but, all in all, she had recovered well and seemed excited by her first social outing in weeks. Not the most adventurous jaunt, admittedly, but Madeleine was happy to see some color in her daughter’s cheeks as she embraced her grandmother.
“And you must be feeling considerably better, too,” said Harriet, glancing at Madeleine. It wasn’t a question. “Of course you are. What parent wouldn’t be counting their lucky stars? Measles, my goodness.”
Madeleine nodded and gave a small smile, tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear. She had always gotten along very well with her mother-in-law, but now felt a little uncomfortable. Harriet knew all about what had happened recently—and of course that Clara and Jake had never been vaccinated—but she was never sure how her mother-in-law felt about it.
Madeleine’s own mother thought she was an idiot for declining to vaccinate the kids and, when Jake had come down with measles, had wasted no time in telling her so.
Then again, Harriet had raised a freethinker like Tom and of course had been through it all with Fiona’s kids, too, so perhaps she wasn’t quite as critical of their choice as so many others.
“Too much conflicting information,” Tom had eventually concluded back then when they’d gone over the arguments for and against for the umpteenth time. “Not to mention way too many get-out clauses from the pharma companies. And as for the government,” he spat disdainfully, “only interested in maintaining herd immunity, and couldn’t give a hoot about individuals.”
And while it wasn’t quite so easy for Madeleine to believe that last part about the government not caring, based on research, she tended to agree with him on the other points. Even now, it didn’t seem like a week went by without some related controversy in the news about other vaccinations, like the troubling side effects from the HPV jab in young girls, and the horrible instances of narcolepsy in some children following swine-flu shots.
“And how is the other little girl?” Harriet asked now as she pulled back Clara’s hair and began plaiting it in a French braid.
“Still in the hospital, I’m afraid,” offered Madeleine quietly. “I actually tried to call Kate—the mother—earlier to see how things were.” She really wished she’d had the opportunity to talk to Rosie’s mum personally rather than hide behind voice mail, because she truly didn’t want Kate to think that she didn’t care or was indifferent to their plight. She had just come out of a similar trauma, and she couldn’t even imagine what it would be like if Clara was the one who’d ended up in the hospital.
“And her prognosis?” Harriet pushed, and by her tone Madeleine guessed her mother-in-law had something on her mind. Much like her son, she was very forthcoming with her opinions and while usually Madeleine appreciated that in a person, she wasn’t in the mood for disapproval or recrimination of the kind she’d already gotten from Frank Barrett.
“Getting better, I believe,” she said noncommittally, though she couldn’t be sure whether or not this was true. She just didn’t want to go down this rabbit hole with Harriet now.
Luckily, a sound from upstairs, where Jake was playing, temporarily diverted the other woman’s attention.
“Sweetheart, why don’t you go see what your brother is up to?” Clara’s grandmother urged her gently. “And if it’s just boring boy stuff, come back down and we’ll figure out something fun to do.”
Uh-oh, there’s a lecture coming for sure...
Clara duly headed in the direction of the noise, allowing Harriet to sit back on the sofa and run a hand through her cropped ash-blond hair as she regarded her daughter-in-law.
“You do know, dear, that the outbreak has been mentioned in the local news... Aren’t you worried—given your profile—about people making the connection?”
Madeleine shrugged, surprised. “Even if they did, I don’t see why it would be an issue, Harriet. I mean, even if a connection is made to Clara, it’s not like I’m trying to hide something. Tom and I have always been up-front about our preferences. Not everyone agrees with our stance—I know that—but at the end of the day we have nothing to hide. Besides, it’s hardly a ‘measles outbreak’—only two kids have been affected and one is already better.”
Harriet cocked her head and raised her eyebrows. “You really think people aren’t talking? Only yesterday I heard somebody in the shop downtown discussing it.”
“Talking about what?”
“About the fact that it seems Clara passed a highly infectious—preventable—disease onto a vulnerable classmate. People don’t look too kindly on those who go against conventional medical wisdom, as I’m sure you know—especially educated, intelligent people.”
Madeleine was somewhat stung; firstly, by the idea that people in Knockroe had been talking, but particularly at the thinly veiled insult to her and Tom’s intelligence. She’d thought that Harriet of all people should understand the root of their reasoning.
