Page 2 of In This Together

Just as Andrea retorted, pointing a finger at Rod, TJ started to cry, Luke pushed Jackson and the stranger sent the camera flashing.

Hannah laughed. A perfect picture of her family.

Her oldest boys fighting. Her baby crying. Rod bickering with Andrea. Rosalie posing as if she was on a red carpet at a movie premiere, oblivious to the world around her. Sofia trying to appease TJ.

If thiswereHollywood, the four women might be referred to as the ditzy rich one, Rosalie, the bitchy promiscuous one, Andrea, the three-times mom (one accidental) who married the college jock, Hannah, and the slightly quirky, quietly bitter younger sister, Sofia.

On the face of it, Hannah, Andrea and Rosalie might have seemed unlikely friends, and heck, they could drive one another up the wall at times, but they shared a bond as strong as any family.

* * *

Hannah’s small yard wasn’t really big enough to host twenty adults and countless kids after the christening, but the other options had been expensive. She and Rod were far from flush at the best of times but things were tighter than usual whilst she had been on maternity leave. When she’d go back to work next week, they would get abundantly worse, thanks to childcare bills.

That was the thing about three kids with large age gaps between them. Just when she thought they could start to get on track financially, another kid would come along. Her boys were the loves of her life, but they weren’t cheap.

So they had a questionably safe bouncy castle in the yard, Hannah had made party food, Rosalie had generously decorated the place with blue bunting and balloons, and Andrea had supplied a bar load of alcohol.

Happily, the sun was shining. Though it wasn’t the warmest of spring days, sitting directly in the sunlight with a sweater, it was warm enough to have the party between the kitchen and outside.

As people started to arrive from the church – kids making a dash straight to the bouncy castle and adults making a dash directly to the drinks table – Hannah fussed around her kitchen, uncovering bowls of dips and chips and laying them out on the bunting-trimmed kitchen table.

‘What can I do to help?’ Sofia asked, appearing at the kitchen door.

‘There’re a few pizzas in the freezer in the garage, if you wouldn’t mind grabbing them and popping them in the oven?’

‘Sure thing,’ Sofia said, knowing her way around Hannah’s house well enough to get on with the task.

Hannah took a stack of three trays of sandwiches she’d prepared the night before from the fridge.

‘Can I help?’ Hannah’s mom lifted the top two trays from Hannah and set them down on the countertop.

‘Thanks.’

She had a strained relationship with her parents.

They’d never approved of Hannah dropping out of college to have Luke. After his birth, everything they said had felt like ‘We told you so.’

Whilst Rod was away playing football and finishing college, Hannah had struggled to bring up Luke alone. Night after night and all day long, he screamed through colic. Then one night, when Luke was only weeks old, she heard her parents having a blazing row. Her father – herownfather – gave her mother an ultimatum. Either he left, or Hannah left with Luke.

Though they’d all agreed to move on from what had happened after Luke was born, things had never been the same between them. Hannah would always invite them to birthdays, christenings and her annual Christmas gathering, and they would spend too much money on gifts for the kids as a way of making amends for the past, but she would never be able to get past the fact that the people who were supposed to love her unconditionally had kicked her out of their home with her newborn baby.

One thing it had taught Hannah though was that unlike her own mom, she would always put her kids first.

‘You look pretty,’ Hannah said, nodding to her mom’s peach dress and jacket combo.

‘Thank you. You, too.’ She gestured to Hannah’s blue fitted dress, which she’d bought for a friend’s wedding about five years ago and that she had only just managed to squeeze into. She still had a few pounds of post-baby weight to move before she would be back at her happy weight.

‘She always looks pretty,’ Rod said, swooping into the kitchen and planting a kiss on Hannah’s cheek as he snuck his arms around her waist, stole a sandwich, then left again.

‘A little help might be appreciated, Rod,’ Hannah called after him.

‘I’m entertaining, babes,’ he replied through a mouthful of ham and cheese sandwich as he headed back out to the yard. ‘Have we got any more ice?’

Rolling her eyes, Hannah left her mom needlessly rearranging things she had already placed on the kitchen table and headed to the garage.

The door was already open and she could hear Sofia and Jay talking inside.

‘Soph, come on. It’s a kids’ party. There’re a million better places to be. You used to be fun.’

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