believe her,' Julia laughed. 'I’m telling you, she’s just started handing my CV around to random people and asking them if I can help in any way. Next step, a sandwich board on Liverpool Street.'
'Or maybe a paid ad on LinkedIn,' Amy joked, accepting a cup of milky tea. 'Will anyone hire this daughter? Comes from a good family.'
'Don’t tell her that. You’ll give her ideas. She just doesn’t seem to want to accept that this,' she said, gesturing around the kitchen, 'is my job.' Without a pause she went on to clean Isabelle’s hands with a wet wipe. 'And I love it. Maybe when the kids are all in school. I’m thinking I might teach so I can be off during the holidays.' Julia would be perfect for teaching. Patient, kind and with a way of making everything seem simple, she would be able to inspire some very lucky kids.
Amy sighed, 'Tell me about it. Every time mum calls it’s to ask me what I’m doing. She thinks she’s so subtle, but she really isn’t. She wants to know why I haven’t had kids and why I haven’t gone back to work, ideally all at the same time.'
Julia looked at her tentatively.
'Are you and Harry talking kids yet?'
'Now who sounds like mum?' Amy asked, slightly more sharply than she had intended.
'Only asking,' Julia laughed, putting her hands up in a gesture of surrender. 'Biological clock ticking and all that. Jenny, give that back to Flynn,' her focus shifting in a second towards the far end of the room. 'Mark, don’t let her take that from him.'
Amy watched as Julia’s husband followed his wife’s instructions. He carefully kneeled down to look at his children at their level and, like a hostage negotiator on a mission, managed to agree terms which saw Jenny relinquish the Frozen doll she had taken from her brother. Mark was an incredible dad. Just like Julia, he was filled with patience, but he also had an intrinsic sense of fun and adventure. He was always throwing the kids over his shoulders, their small bodies shaking with giggles and looking even tinier compared to his bulky six foot four frame. What would Harry be like as a dad? She looked over to where he was standing next to Mark, gesticulating elaborately as he held forth his views on one of the latest restaurants he had been to.
As Mark kissed Jenny on the head, a reward for good behaviour, Harry didn’t pause for a moment.
'And I don’t think there’s any excuse for serving sashimi at more than the standard thickness, do you?' Mark, clearly a man for whom the thickness of raw fish held little if any importance, just nodded his head in agreement.
Excited by his victory over his sister, Flynn shook the doll at Harry.
'Olaf is the best snowman because he is magic.' Stopped mid-flow of monologue, Harry looked momentarily confused before smiling and patting his nephew on the head.
'Isn’t that nice.' Flynn seemed a bit confused by the gesture, but in a typical three year-old non-sequitur said, 'Daddy let’s go outside!'
Amy saw her sister watching as well and could see through her eyes the comparison of warm Mark with Harry. She suddenly felt very defensive.
'Harry’s been doing so well at work,' she said, smiling at Izzy as the men went outside with the two other children. 'We’re hoping he gets partnership soon.'
'Wow,' her sister said. She was clearly impressed, but there was something detached about the way she spoke. It was how she always talked about Harry. It was like she was making polite conversation with a stranger at a party. 'That’s great. I saw him on that show this week. My friend Gemma was really excited when I told her he’s my brother-in-law.'
'I’m supposed to see Andrea tomorrow.' It came out part confession, part plea for help.
She knew she could expect sympathy from her sister. Both women found Amy’s mother-in-law terrifying in the extreme. The thought that she had been 'summoned' – for that’s what it was, a summoning – was as bewildering as it was petrifying.
'Any idea
'Or maybe a paid ad on LinkedIn,' Amy joked, accepting a cup of milky tea. 'Will anyone hire this daughter? Comes from a good family.'
'Don’t tell her that. You’ll give her ideas. She just doesn’t seem to want to accept that this,' she said, gesturing around the kitchen, 'is my job.' Without a pause she went on to clean Isabelle’s hands with a wet wipe. 'And I love it. Maybe when the kids are all in school. I’m thinking I might teach so I can be off during the holidays.' Julia would be perfect for teaching. Patient, kind and with a way of making everything seem simple, she would be able to inspire some very lucky kids.
Amy sighed, 'Tell me about it. Every time mum calls it’s to ask me what I’m doing. She thinks she’s so subtle, but she really isn’t. She wants to know why I haven’t had kids and why I haven’t gone back to work, ideally all at the same time.'
Julia looked at her tentatively.
'Are you and Harry talking kids yet?'
'Now who sounds like mum?' Amy asked, slightly more sharply than she had intended.
'Only asking,' Julia laughed, putting her hands up in a gesture of surrender. 'Biological clock ticking and all that. Jenny, give that back to Flynn,' her focus shifting in a second towards the far end of the room. 'Mark, don’t let her take that from him.'
Amy watched as Julia’s husband followed his wife’s instructions. He carefully kneeled down to look at his children at their level and, like a hostage negotiator on a mission, managed to agree terms which saw Jenny relinquish the Frozen doll she had taken from her brother. Mark was an incredible dad. Just like Julia, he was filled with patience, but he also had an intrinsic sense of fun and adventure. He was always throwing the kids over his shoulders, their small bodies shaking with giggles and looking even tinier compared to his bulky six foot four frame. What would Harry be like as a dad? She looked over to where he was standing next to Mark, gesticulating elaborately as he held forth his views on one of the latest restaurants he had been to.
As Mark kissed Jenny on the head, a reward for good behaviour, Harry didn’t pause for a moment.
'And I don’t think there’s any excuse for serving sashimi at more than the standard thickness, do you?' Mark, clearly a man for whom the thickness of raw fish held little if any importance, just nodded his head in agreement.
Excited by his victory over his sister, Flynn shook the doll at Harry.
'Olaf is the best snowman because he is magic.' Stopped mid-flow of monologue, Harry looked momentarily confused before smiling and patting his nephew on the head.
'Isn’t that nice.' Flynn seemed a bit confused by the gesture, but in a typical three year-old non-sequitur said, 'Daddy let’s go outside!'
Amy saw her sister watching as well and could see through her eyes the comparison of warm Mark with Harry. She suddenly felt very defensive.
'Harry’s been doing so well at work,' she said, smiling at Izzy as the men went outside with the two other children. 'We’re hoping he gets partnership soon.'
'Wow,' her sister said. She was clearly impressed, but there was something detached about the way she spoke. It was how she always talked about Harry. It was like she was making polite conversation with a stranger at a party. 'That’s great. I saw him on that show this week. My friend Gemma was really excited when I told her he’s my brother-in-law.'
'I’m supposed to see Andrea tomorrow.' It came out part confession, part plea for help.
She knew she could expect sympathy from her sister. Both women found Amy’s mother-in-law terrifying in the extreme. The thought that she had been 'summoned' – for that’s what it was, a summoning – was as bewildering as it was petrifying.
'Any idea
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