Page 46 of Pitch Prince

“Lasagne?” she countered, scooping out a piece and putting it on a plate. It looked bloody lovely, but I wasn’t in the mood to be distracted by such an ill-thought out peace offering. “Not hungry.”

“Suit yourself. The children should be coming down to tea right now,” she said.

“They’re doing the homework they already should have been doing,” I countered.

“Well I am their grandmother and…”

“And I am their father,” I said, cutting her off. “And I’ve no idea why a lady of your age, who once told me that playing silly games would make their eyes go all funny, is suddenly in possession of a zombie game. Because it certainly isn’t Sarah’s, and I don’t remember buying it for the kids.”

“Well I thought they could do with something new to try,” she said innocently, dishing out lasagne perfectly on each plate in turn.

“And you cleared it with Sarah?” I asked, wondering for the first time if my anger was misplaced.

“A grandmother should be able to make some decisions in her own grandchildren’s lives, surely? Especially when I’ve taken care of them so much over the years.”

Every time I spoke to Elizabeth it made my head ache. But today it was like being jabbed with a million tiny needles, like if she spoke to me long enough she might just actually drive me insane.

“And your decision was to let Logan, an eleven year old boy, play on an eighteen rated game when you know he cries at the sight of gore?”

“Well he needed toughening up,” Elizabeth said passively. She filled herself a glass of water from the jug in the fridge.

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” I asked. “What does Logan need toughening up from?”

“Well, he’s just so…” Elizabeth started. I waited for her to finish, unwilling to speak for fear of what I might say to her that I couldn’t take back.

“Just so what?” asked Sarah from the doorway. Both Elizabeth and I jumped like we’d been stung as we turned to look at her, hands on her hips in a way that looked so like her mother. But her anger was directed at the woman herself, and Elizabeth seemed to lose a bit of her confidence.

“Just…so…sensitive,” said Elizabeth slowly. “Sarah, I didn’t hear you come in! Lasagne?”

“Someone left the front door open,” said Sarah. “So what is it about your own grandson that you felt the need to toughen him up?” She took a step closer to her mother, and I took a step back. I had never seen the two fight and I was almost scared to see it now.

“Well…you see,” Elizabeth glanced toward me. “I’ve heard it runs in the family, and I didn’t want…”

“Didn’t want what?” Sarah asked. “You thought because my husband turned out gay that my own son would? You thought sweet, sensitive Logan might be corrupted into femininity by my rugby playing husband?”

“I just…I was doing what was best!” Elizabeth exploded. “You know he’s going to get bullied at school, the way he is! He’s too sensitive to stand up to bullies and you know it! He needs to survive in the real world!”

I finally found my voice. “And shooting games are how he’s going to do that, are they?”

“Well I couldn’t exactly encourage him into rugby, could I?” Elizabeth muttered. “That never helped you.”

“Out.” Sarah said. “I will talk to you when I have the strength to talk to you, Mum. But until I ask for you to come back, I don’t want you back. I wanted someone who could care for my kids when I needed them to. If you can’t love them unconditionally then I do not want you here at all.”

“But…” Elizabeth started, but Sarah took the plate of lasagne from her and pointed to the door.

“Out,” she repeated, and Elizabeth stalked out. Once we heard the front door close behind her, some of the tension left the room and we both slumped. “Wine?” Sarah asked, and I nodded.

“Thanks for saving me there,” I said.

“No worries. My mother is a piece of work, but you know that already. And she has her uses when it comes to looking after the kids at least.”

“Well I was always off with the rugby teams,” I said. “But I’m home now. If you want your mother less involved in our kids’ lives then I am here to take on the extra burden.”

Sarah passed a big measure of white wine over to me, and I took a gulp. What Sarah didn’t know is that Elizabeth had spoken to my very biggest fear. That who I was could lead to Logan being ostracised, alone. And I wasn’t going to let that happen.

Even if my heart ached for Rhys.

22

---