‘You never take her to any playgroups. Jocelyn’s always on her way to one thing or another.’
‘You don’t have to make me feel bad,’ he mutters.
‘Why wouldn’t you, though?’ I persist.
‘I don’t want to be the widowed dad, all right?’
His sharp tone shuts me up.
‘Sorry,’ he says contritely. ‘I just can’t picture myself sitting in there amongst all those mothers. I know it’s shit. But I haven’t got my head around it yet. It’s not like I don’t do stuff with her.’
‘It would be good for her to socialise with other kids, though, right?’ I say this very gently.
‘If you care so much, why don’t you take her?’ he asks childishly.
Something inside me snaps. ‘All right then, I will.’
‘What?’
‘I’ll take her,’ I say decisively. ‘Is that okay?’
He looks totally thrown. ‘What, now?’
‘Why not? I can get there in time and I can work late to make up for it.’
‘You don’t have to do that—’
‘I want to.’ I’m surprised to find that it’s true. ‘Can I?’
‘Are you actually serious?’
‘I might even be able to catch Jocelyn up if I hurry.’
We stare at each other for a long moment. He’s trying to understand what’s got into me. I’m not even bothering to try to understand it.
‘Okay,’ he says eventually, still slightly thrown.
He helps me get April’s things together and watches as I buckle her into her pram, then stands and stares as we set off down the footpath.
Right decision! April is in herelement!
I giggle as I hold her hands and make them clap together while some madman dances around in front of us with his guitar.
EvenI’mhaving fun. Whoisthis guy? He’s been playing The Beatles, The Stones, The Monkeys... We are rocking it, here.
All the mums are singing along, and the babies are going gaga. When the guitar man gets the bubbles out, the kids go bonkers, bumping into each other in their eagerness to capture the tiny popping balls of glory. Even when two of their heads collide, they don’t cry for long.
I’m still laughing about it when Jocelyn and I walk back home.
‘That was awesome!’ I exclaim.
‘Iknow!’ she replies. ‘Do you reckon you’ll come again next week?’
‘Maybe, if Charlie doesn’t want to.’
‘That would be great!’
She flashes me a warm smile, and I feel quite touched by her enthusiasm. ‘Hey, how’s the book going?’ she asks.
