Page 19 of A Good Mother
The victor was never in any doubt.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
GINA
Jimmy appearedon the decking with a bottle of wine and two glasses, barefoot and smiling like the cat who’d found the fridge door open and glugged a carton of cream. The evening was still warm, the sky a dusky blue. And for a reason that neither of them could adequately explain to Max before his bath and bed, to the right, Sammy Sun and to the left, Billy Moon hovered in a planetary face-off, both determined to light up the earth.
Gina was going to google it later, because even she was intrigued by the sun-moon phenomena. Her attention soon turned to her husband, and she smiled at the sight of him as she enjoyed another night off from being soaked in bubbles.
‘What are you looking so pleased with yourself about?’
Jimmy flopped into the chair opposite. ‘BecauseIam a natural at this bedtime malarkey. I’ve even cleaned the bathroom after the slippery dolphins trashed the place. You’ll be most impressed when you see. In fact, you’ll think Babs has been in with her Flash and trusty mop.’
At this Gina raised an eyebrow because never, in all the years she’d known him, had Jimmy been able to clean anything properly but, there was a first time for everything, and the last few days had proved it.
Seventy-two hours after they were confined to barracks, Gina was astounded that her gad-about, workaholic husband had slotted into home-life and seemed to be revelling in their new order. Still, she wasn’t going to get her hopes up or let her guard down just because Jimmy had turned into a domestic god. He would get bored soon, like he had of her.
She watched as he poured them both a drink and thought it best to stroke his male ego and make the most of a nice moment. ‘I’ll go and examine your cleaning prowess in a bit, while you serve dinner that, I have to say, smells lovely.’
Jimmy raised his glass. ‘Only the finest oven chips for madame and yes, that pie from M&S was lovingly removed from its packet by yours truly and will be served with a generous portion of peas, or beans, whatever your heart desires. I will even rustle up some gravy if you’re good.’
‘Okay, stop. You’re getting a bit weird now. Please can I have normal Jimmy back?’ That was a lie because Gina liked this version of him and wished she’d not said it in case it tempted fate. Telling herself it was ridiculous to be superstitious about casual remarks she sipped her wine and realised for the first time in ages she was looking forward to her meal.
‘Is Max watching a DVD?’
‘Yes, that one about the cute dinosaurs. I said you’d go up and turn it off in an hour.’
‘The Land Before Time, and telly-off-time is in half an hour as well you know!’ Gina raised her eyebrows.
‘So, amaze me. Which story did Mimi make you read?’
A loud tut from Jimmy, ‘That bloody bear hunt one. I’msosick of it and no matter how many others I showed her she insisted on that. I told her I’m not reading it tomorrow. In fact, you can… it does my head in.’
Jimmy stretched out his legs and tipped his head back, eyes closed against the fading sunlight, and changed the subject. ‘Don’t you think it’s nice, the peace and quiet? The only thing that spoils it is those birds! They’re so loud. I wish they had volume control, just to turn them down a notch.’
‘Stop complaining. The birdsong is lovely, and you sound like your dad when he moans about people cutting their lawns.’
He smiled because she was right. Gina loved, George, her father-in-law, but Lord, he was a grumpy sod. He drove Alma, his long-suffering wife, mad with his world views, general untidiness, and propensity for losing things and blaming everyone else for pinching his stuff. George didn’t mean anything by it, though. It was his way, rough and ready, salt of the earth and would do anything for his family.
Unlike her far-away mother and fickle father who she rarely saw. She didn’t miss either and referred to them as Debbie and Don. They were neither use nor ornament and so far she’d managed without them.
Don lived in Liverpool with his wife and their two kids, none of whom Gina had any interest in, simply because they had no interest in her. Debbie had moved to Leicester with a lorry driver she met on Plenty of Fish. She’d done a flit before the bailiffs came, and hot-trained it to Leicester without telling a soul. Not even her daughter.
Consequently, Debbie only met Jimmy after he’d proposed to Gina, and it was impossible to avoid a trip to Leicester any longer. They met at Wetherspoons. Gina wasn’t chancing a visit to Debbie’s house, knowing what their old home used to look like.
So, it was a case of, ‘Jimmy, this is Mum. Mum, this is my fiancé, Jimmy.’
Then awkward handshakes and fake smiles as they met Mike. ‘Gina, this is Mike. Mike, get the drinks in, love.’
Chairs were pulled from under the table as Mike did as he was told, then an embarrassing silence was followed by small talk and clock-watching. It was the longest two hours. Long enough to not eat her salad and refuse dessert while Jimmy made a valiant attempt at building bridges.
To be fair Mike was okay, pleasant, seemingly hard-working, a keen gardener and on the cusp of retirement. Gina knew Debbie would stay put, an eye on his pension. In return, Mike would be grateful for a warm body and a regular shag when he got home after a continental run. Harsh but no doubt true.
What her bone-idle mother got up to while he was gone was anyone’s gruesome guess, but it certainly didn’t entail working. Debbie was still bad with her nerves.
Promises were made to ring, and an invite to the wedding would be in the post, followed by tactful reassurances that costs for the big day would be met by the bride and groom. With a look of relief, Debbie, followed obediently by Mike, made a hasty retreat, as did Gina and Jimmy.
In the past seven and a half years, she’d only seen her parents a handful of times. Don refused to be in the same room as her mum so didn’t come to the wedding. Which was why Gina walked herself down the aisle. She hadn’t even contemplated asking Debbie because that would have been a bluff too far.
