‘They’re probably in your bedroom,’ Nathan said. ‘Xander, you help your grandma. I’ll go and have a word with Steve.’
‘Are you actually going to talk to him?’ Xander said, as Liz stumbled back into her room. ‘Or are you just saying that to shut her up?’
‘No, I’ll talk to him. Good enough?’
‘Not really.’ Xander was looking past him.
Nathan sighed. ‘You planning to carry on like this until you leave? Because I’m not sure I’m up for another three days of it.’
‘Are you going to think about what I said?’
‘About what? About me moving away? Mate, we’ve been through this –’
‘No, we haven’t. You haven’t even thought about it. But, yeah, whatever. Like you said, I’ll be gone in three days and you’ll be back on your own again and can do whatever you like. Everything back to how you want it.’
‘Mate, this is not how I want it.’
‘Bullshit, you –’
There was a soft tumble from the bedroom that sounded like shoes being dropped and they both looked over. Nathan started for the bedroom door.
‘I’ll go.’ Xander stopped him. ‘You’re supposed to be getting your head straight.’
He disappeared into the bedroom and Nathan stood in the hall alone for a moment.
He was lucky, Nathan thought as he turned away. For years, Xander had never given him a moment’s grief. He went to school, he was polite to old people, he didn’t drink or take drugs, as far as Nathan knew, anyway. He was naturally good-hearted in a way that Nathan was surprised had come from he and Jacqui. If the kid was pushing back now, it wasn’t before time.
Still, it had felt easier when he was younger. He could still clearly remember that day more than sixteen years ago now, when Jacqui had told him she was pregnant. Her eyes had gleamed with delight and they’d both managed to pretend for a while that their marriage wasn’t already on shaky ground.
Nathan heard the toilet flush in the small bathroom down the hall. The chatter still coming from the living room had taken on a slightly different tone. Things were starting to wrap up, Nathan thought. People would be leaving soon. A tray of half-eaten sandwiches had been abandoned precariously on the table by the phone, threatening to topple off. He picked it up and headed for the kitchen.
Jacqui hadn’t been smiling for long though. It had been a hard pregnancy. She’d had severe morning sickness, gagging at the sight of anything but plain rice. It had lasted most of the day and far past the week when the books had promised it would stop. She had lain on the couch in the heat with a bucket by her side, waving away anything Nathan could think to offer.
As Nathan passed the toilet, he heard the lock turn on the door and Katy came out, pale-faced and clutching a balled-up tissue.
‘How are you feeling –?’ He stopped as her bloodshot gaze fell on the sandwich tray in his hands, and she gagged in a way he had last seen more than sixteen years earlier. ‘Oh.’ He breathed out. They stared at each other for a long moment, and he knew by the look in her eyes that he had guessed right. ‘Congratulations?’
She didn’t say anything, just pressed the tissue to her lips.
‘Go and sit down,’ he said. ‘I’ll find Simon for you.’
‘Wait. No.’ Her hand shot out and clutched him above the wrist. Her grip was so firm it was nearly painful. ‘Don’t get Simon.’
‘Why not?’
Katy wiped the corners of her mouth with the back of her hand. ‘For God’s sake. Why do you think?’
For a moment, Nathan tried to convince himself that it could be Bub or even Harry, at a push.
‘Cameron?’ he said, finally.
She nodded.
‘Definitely?’
‘Yes.’
‘No chance at all it could be Simon?’
