Page 40 of The In-Laws

‘I wish Mum would relax. She’s so tense all the time,’ Joni said.

‘And she’s always working. Always,’ Janis said. ‘Her phone is literally glued to her hand.’

‘I think it’s actually part of her hand.’ Joni giggled.

‘Totally.’ Janis laughed.

‘We hid it once because we were angry with her for missing our hockey match and she almost had a nervous breakdown.’

‘Yeah, it was insane.’

Katie slapped their arms playfully. ‘Don’t wind your mother up. She has enough going on. We all do.’

‘But you’re so chill and fun,’ Janis told her.

‘Yeah, you’re never grumpy,’ Joni agreed.

‘Yes, she is. In the mornings Mum can be very grumpy,’ Lucy said, from behind her book.

Thanks, Lucy.

Was she cranky? She didn’t think she was, maybe a bit impatient when she was trying to get them out of the door to school, but what mother wasn’t?

‘Our mum’s never there in the morning. She goes to work before we get up,’ Janis said.

Thank God Jamie had taken Toby home from the salon earlier. Katie had her hands full with this lot. Lucy had insisted on staying with her big girl cousins.

Katie decided to change the subject before she and Melanie were annihilated for bad parenting. ‘Right, let’s get you both ready.’ She handed them long black gowns to cover their clothes.

‘This is so cool. We’re so excited to be allowed highlights at last,’ Janis gushed. ‘And to have the whole place to ourselves!’

‘I can’t believe Mum caved,’ Joni said.

Janis snorted. ‘She only said yes to make herself feel better for missing parents’ night.’

‘True, but it turned out to be a result for us. I wonder what we can get from her if she misses the musical?’ Joni wasn’t one to miss an opportunity.

‘Now, girls, you know your mum works very hard.Sometimes us mums miss things that we really did want to attend.’

‘Like me getting a prize for the best essay,’ Lucy said, glancing up from her book. She was curled up in the couch at the far corner of the salon.

‘Well done, you!’ Janis clapped for her young cousin.

‘We knew you were a brain-box. Mum’s always banging on about how Lucy is such an advanced reader,’ Joni added.

‘Well, I am for my age.’ Lucy didn’t do modesty. ‘Mum was invited to assembly to see me getting the prize but fell back to sleep and missed it.’

The twins turned to Katie, who flushed.

‘Oooh, Katie, that’s bad.’

‘Well, to be fair, the night before I had been out late wining and dining one of Jamie’s big German publishers, so technically I was working, helping him and the agency.’ Katie tried not to sound as defensive as she felt. She knew she’d let Lucy down. She’d woken and almost thrown up when she’d seen the time. Too much wine, and then they’d done shots and espresso martinis … It had got a bit out of hand. Those Germans had liked to party.

Janis twirled a strand of her brown hair around her finger. ‘Mum and Dad never go out together. Do they, Joni?’

Her sister thought for a minute. ‘No, not really.’

‘I dunno how they ended up together. They aresoooooodifferent.’

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