Page 54 of The 3am Shattered Mums' Club

‘Are you actually going to say anything that isn’t an insult? Like where you’ve been, what you’re doing, erm, oh, or how’s Max, you know, your son?’

‘I know how Max is, he’s a baby. He eats, sleeps and shits. When he’s a bit bigger and off the knockers, I can start taking more of an interest, can’t I? I mean what do you want from me, Soph?’

Sophy shook her head in astonishment. ‘I mean, I just don’t know what to say, Jeff. You tell me, you’re the one with the cryptic “we need to talk” messages. Well, you’re here, so talk.’

Jeff gave her a smarmy look as if to say,Get off your high horse, love.

‘I said let’s talk cos we need to talk. This is my house, and I haven’t even lived in it for the last few days.’

‘That was your choice, Jeff.’

‘Well, you sort of had something to do with it.’

Sophy looked puzzled. ‘Mmm, I’m not sure how, Jeff, I mean I was asking a perfectly normal thing, for you to make it legal, me living here, for us to share the house we live in withourson, and you just upped and left.’

Jeff looked sheepish. ‘Yeah, well, things have got a bit complicated, haven’t they? And yeah, I left, but it’s all been a bit weird at the moment ever since Max came along, and well, if I’m honest, since you began spending time with those girls.’

Sophy looked perplexed. ‘Mel and Aisha?’

‘Yes, those two.’

‘What the hell have they got to do with us, with any of this?’

‘Cos since you met them, you’ve changed. Everything is about you and them and you barely stop to think about me and my feelings and what I need.’

Was it Sophy’s imagination or did Jeff sound a tiny bit whingy?

‘What you need?’ Sophy asked. She would dance to his tune for a few minutes – maybe she might get something back.

‘Yeah, you know, like sex and stuff.’

Sophy closed her eyes and shook her head.

‘So, you’re telling me, we don’t have sex any more because I made two new friends?’

Jeff took a long swig of his wine.

‘We don’t have sex becauseI just had a baby!’ Sophy shouted the last part, and she saw Jeff physically recoil.

‘All right, chill out.’ He put his wine glass down on the counter. ‘I told you, my head’s a mess. I just know I would feel better if you weren’t seeing those girls so much. I don’t think they’re having a good influence on you.’

Sophy did a really quick shake of her head. ‘So, when you say “not see them so much”, what does that mean exactly? I should only see them once a week, or only when you say I can?’

Jeff took a deep breath. ‘I just think, Sophy, that if you and I are going to work – like I presume you want us to, otherwise why would you have washed your hair and put make-up on? – then you need to concentrate on us as a family, just you, me and Max. So, when I say I don’t think you should see them as much, what I am actually saying is, I don’t think you should see them. Ever again.’

* * *

‘He said what?’ Aisha poured herself a glass of Prosecco. She had brought the booze, and Mel had brought the nibbles.

After Jeff had left, under the guise of Sophy thinking about his words, she had messaged the girls, and they agreed coffee was not going to cut it; this was a conversation that required wine. The next evening, Mel had jumped in an Uber and picked Aisha up on the way. Max was nestled at Sophy’s breast. She was thankful she had decided not to give bottle feeding a go, because right now, she needed the comfort feeds as much as Max did. The girls had arrived and were given a quick tour of the house, which took less than a minute, and then Sophy talked about the extension for a few minutes, mentioning Niall’s name a few times. Sophy was sure she saw Aisha steal a look at Mel when she thought she hadn’t noticed. She had only mentioned Niall so she wasn’t just monologuing about a bloody extension, which sounded so boring and middle class. Niall’s presence in describing the work being done seemed to add a sense of joviality to what was, to her, an incredibly boring subject.

‘He can’t say that sort of stuff to you, Sophy. Has he lost his marbles? Does he not understand the sisterhood? I mean, I know we haven’t known each other that long, but we’ve made a connection, and I really do class you both as two of my closest friends. And right now, we need each other more than anything. Can he not see that this is all this is? We’re not a cavern of witches conspiring to cut off his dick in his sleep and boil it in a vat of oil. We need one another the way he needs his friends.’ Aisha sat back in her chair in Sophy’s lounge, where they were all sat around the table, which was overflowing with nibbles – Mel had certainly taken her role as the evening’s feeder very seriously.

‘I think he will come around. I think he just needs time out and then he’ll come back,’ Aisha added.

‘Do you think?’ Sophy said to Aisha.

Aisha nodded and crammed a handful of honey-roasted cashew nuts into her mouth. ‘I really do,’ she said, nuts falling down her chin.

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