Page 38 of Love at First Sight

‘We’ll see you in a week, then,’ I say, and Ali gets up to give me a hug.

‘I’ve told Jessie you’ll drive her and Henry next Friday night,’ Ali tells Cal. ‘I hope that’s okay? So you can spend time with Henry?’

This seems like news to Cal. ‘Oh,’ he says. ‘Yeah, sure.’ He looks at me. ‘I’ll get the car cleaned in preparation then. Nobody needs to see how many empty packets of Walkers I deem acceptable car decor.’

‘Ready salted, or salt and vinegar?’ I ask.

‘Worse,’ he says, and I know what he’s going to say before the words leave his mouth.

‘Prawn cocktail?’ I ask, right as he says, ‘Prawn cocktail!’

We laugh, even though it’s not funny.

‘Prawn cocktail crisps?’ Ali says, horrified. ‘God. You think you know somebody …’

15

‘You ready for this?’ I ask Henry at pick-up. He is currently chomping down his snacks on the way to the bus stop. ‘I know Mummy being away isn’t an amazing thing, but what do we always say?’

‘If at first you don’t succeed, give up?’ Henry asks, more focused on his Soreen banana bread than on me.

‘No!’ I say. ‘What? Where did you hear that? It’s if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.’

‘Oh,’ he says, going in for his tuna sandwich now.

‘And anyway,’ I continue, ‘what I was going to say was, two things can be true at once. We can miss Mummy, but we can also have lots of fun together!’

I wrap my arms around him and squeeze, careful not to make him choke on his sarnie. That wouldn’t be a good start.

‘I’m thinking pizza nights, I’m thinking bike rides, I’m thinking watching some ofBlack Pantherbut fast-forwarding the scary parts …’

Thatgets his attention. ‘What aboutEndgame?’ he says. ‘Can we watchEndgamebut skip any bits with Thanos?’

‘Henry!’ I say, putting my arms wide in a show of excitement. ‘We can do whatever we want!’

Henry and I begin our big holiday by getting into pyjamas at 4 p.m., even though it’s still light outside and I’ve offered him both park time and a bike ride.

‘It’s too hot,’ he tells me, in that very serious way he has when his mind is made up. ‘Mummy draws all the blinds and leaves the screen door open, and then we put both the fans on.’ It’s funny, Ali O’Hara is as famous as a Brit can get within their own country, but England being England, nobody has air conditioning. English celebs: they melt in the summer just like the rest of us.

‘Then that’s what we’ll do,’ I say. ‘You hungry for pizza yet? I’ll order in, since we have our fun money …’

‘From Domino’s?!’ Henry asks, excitedly.

‘I mean, if we have to …’ I say. ‘I do think the place on the corner is nicer …’

‘Domino’s!’ Henry cries, because he loves it when he thinks he’s convinced me of something. I have previously tried to develop his taste for pizza into something more artisan, telling him that the pizza from the place on the corner is made by actual Italian people, which is where pizza is from,andit’s made with an extra-special ingredient that Domino’s pizza isn’t: love.

‘I don’t think I like pizzas made with love’ was his reply, and so the salt factory known as Domino’s it is.

‘Can I read a bedtime story to you?’ Henry asks, as we prep for our party by procuring drinks and napkins and mats for the table. ‘I read a bedtime story to Mummy sometimes. Now I’m getting good.’

‘Absolutely,’ I say, aware that he’s probably alreadyworrying about a bedtime without his mum, running through his little head how it will be, what it will be like. ‘We can do anything you want. It’s been a while since somebody read me a bedtime story, so I am very up for that. What a good idea!’

Henry nods, satisfied.

‘And even if you already know this, I’m going to tell you again: I know you’d prefer Mummy here, and that’s okay. It can be super tricky to be brave when we miss people. But I love you very much, and I have the most special job in the world, which is keeping you safe. You know who gets to decide the ways they feel safe? You. You decide. I think I know you pretty well, so I know some of the ways you feel safe and happy, but if I miss anything you just tell me, okay?’

‘I’ll readThe Koala Who Could,’ Henry says, almost as if he hasn’t heard anything I’ve just said. ‘We did it in English at school and I already knew the book because we have it at home. The koala clings on to the tree, like this!’ He does an impression of holding on to a tree, squeezing his eyes shut and making a high-pitched ‘squeak’ noise. ‘It’s set in Australia. Do you know where Australia is?’

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