Page 26 of Good Sisters

‘Good luck with that,’ I murmured.

‘It’s all about nurturing their palate, Julie,’ Gavin, the not-yet-a-parent, lectured me, the mother of four children. ‘If your children only know fresh fruit and vegetables from a young age, they’ll want to eat them for their whole lives. They’ll crave healthy food.’

I resisted the urge to tell him that I’d tried mashed broccoli, carrots and cauliflower but when your kids kept spitting it back at you, the veggie-loving-kid dreams dry up and you end up raising them on pasta.

‘Your bump is massive, Shania. When is the baby coming?’ Liam asked.

‘It’s not massive, it’s a very neat bump,’ I lied. Shania had a small frame and her bump was huge. She looked like she was going to topple over, but no woman wanted the word ‘massive’ associated with her.

‘I’ve still got a couple of months to go, but I feel like a whale. Gavin is being so great. I come home from work to a hot bath, a foot massage and a healthy dinner every night.’ She looked adoringly at him.

‘Just like me.’ Harry snorted.

I bristled. ‘You get dinner, Harry.’

He raised his eyebrows. ‘I’ve had yogurt, cereal and toast for dinner three days this week.’

‘Well, it’s not my bloody fault the boys hoover up all the food in the house. Anyway, your “office” is in the attic so it’s not like you can’t come down and cook your own dinner.’

‘A bath would be nice, and I like the sound of a foot massage.’

‘After giving birth to four boys – including triplets – cooking, cleaning and chasing after them for fifteen years, I’m the one who needs my feet massaged. You can massage your own crusty feet.’

‘I take it that’s a no, then?’

‘Gavin needs less massaging of feet and more working.’ Dad huffed.

‘Gavin can’t take up a job now, George. I need him to look after our baby. I don’t want some stranger raising our child. Work is crazy right now and getting busier by the second. I want Gavin to be at home.’

Dad snorted. ‘Being a kept man isn’t right. Being a housewife is no job for a man.’

‘But it’s all right for a woman?’ Christelle asked.

Dad was on dangerous ground here. Mum was always quick to put him back in his box when he was being an old fogey, as she called it, and smooth things over, especially with Gavin, her pet. I felt a pang of missing her. She was the only one who could properly manage Dad.

‘Women have always been housewives. Some work, but the majority still stay at home and raise their families. Kids need their mothers,’ Dad announced.

Part of me wanted to save him, but another part wanted to sit back and watch.

‘They need their fathers too,’ Shania said evenly.

‘They need their mothers more.’

‘Why?’

‘Because women are nurturers.’

‘Are they, George? Or is that something men made up because we’re the ones who get pregnant and give birth?’ Shania was no walkover.

‘It’s in your nature.’

‘I disagree. I’m not particularly maternal. Gavin is way better with kids than I am. He’s amazing with Clara. I want to work and grow my business, not be at home all day with a baby. Gavin is happy to do that. It makes perfect sense for us to play to our strengths and desires, so what’s the big deal?’

‘It’s just not good for a man to be at home and not earning his own money,’ Dad said stubbornly.

‘What about Kelly and me?’ Christelle asked. ‘Do we both have to stay at home with our baby because we’re both women?’

‘Are you having a baby?’ Harry was shocked.

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