I turn on one of my music playlists – an upbeat one that I created a while ago. Sister Sledge’s ‘We Are Family’ comes on and I smile at the memory of dancing with the girls at a summer barbecue we hosted a few years ago. We used to have impromptu barbecues and parties several times a year, but recently, there just hasn’t been any time for socialising. Maybe that can all change. But I’m probably getting ahead of myself. Sadie has only just arrived in our lives. It’s still early days.
I sail through all the green lights and reach home with a nervous anticipation in my chest to see how the girls have got on with Sadie. I may even cook something from scratch this evening, rather than shoving a ready meal in the microwave. Robert won’t be home until after eight, so I’ll have plenty of time to cobble something together. I put my key in the lock and walk into the hallway. I note the girls’ coats and schoolbags hanging on their pegs, rather than dumped on the bench. Their sports bags packed ready for PE tomorrow. A delicious smell of cooking hits me. I go straight through to the kitchen but it’s empty. It’s also spotless, the counters gleaming, the dishwasher grumbling through a cycle. A large covered oven dish sits on the hob. I lift the lid to see some kind of filling topped with lightly browned mashed potato. My mouth waters.
‘Mummy!’
I replaced the lid and turn as footsteps clatter down the stairs and Katie thunders into the kitchen, hurling herself into my arms.
‘Hello, darling. How are you? How was your day? Goodness I missed you so much.’ I scoop my daughter up into my arms, even though she’s far too heavy to be carried. She’s warm and clean, already in her pyjamas, smelling of bubble bath and shampoo.
‘Good. It was good. Sadie picked us up from school. And we got ice creams on the way home and we had a competition where we counted car colours. But Eva won because she chose silver cars. And it’s not really fair because everyone knows that there are more silver cars. I chose red ones. But Sadie chose yellow, so she came last.’
‘Where are Eva and Sadie?’ I ask, sitting down heavily on a kitchen chair, Katie still clinging on to me, limpet-like.
‘Upstairs. Sadie’s doing Eva’s hair. She said she’ll be finished in two minutes.’
‘Did you have supper yet?’
‘We had cottage pie that Sadie made. It was really nice.’
That explains the dish on the cooker. ‘I thought you hated cottage pie?’
‘No, Mummy.’ She rolls her eyes. ‘I love it. It’s actually my favourite dinner now.’
If Sadie can get my kids to eat new things then she truly is a miracle worker. I plonk Katie on another chair and put the kettle on, letting my daughter prattle on about school, enjoying the fact that I feel so relaxed, and that she seems so happy. A few minutes later, Eva comes down in her dressing gown, her hair in immaculate French braids.
‘Hi, Mum.’
I hold my arms out and she lets me give her a quick squeeze. I kiss the top of her head but she jerks away.
‘Careful of my hair. Sadie braided it so when I take them out tomorrow it will be all wavy.’
‘Lovely. Where is Sadie anyway?’
‘She’s just tidying stuff upstairs. Said she’ll be down in a minute.’
‘Let me go up and say hello, then I’ll come back and you can tell me all about your day. Did you have a good one?’
‘It was all right.’ She shrugs.
‘Just all right?’
‘Lauren was mean.’
‘I thought you two made up.’Ugh, I can’t cope with any more tween drama.Please don’t let this turn into another disaster.
‘We are friends, kind of.’ Eva scowls. ‘But she was saying stuff to Lucy behind my back.’
‘You can come and play with us, Eva,’ Katie says. ‘Me and my friends won’t be mean to you.’
‘That’s very kind, Katie,’ I say. ‘Thank you. Do you think you can go and brush your teeth?’
‘Done it.’
‘Okay, well, do you think you can pop upstairs while I talk to Eva for a minute?’ I need to get to the bottom of what’s going on with Lauren. Try to nip it in the bud before it flares up again.
‘It’s okay,’ Eva says airily. ‘I already spoke to Sadie, and she told me what I should do.’
‘Well that’s nice of her. What did she say?’ I look up to see Sadie coming into the kitchen dressed in sweat pants and a hoodie. She was so quiet on the stairs I didn’t hear her approaching. ‘Hi, Sadie! How are you? I’m just about to make tea. Want some?’
