Holiday (6 page)

Iris frowned. ‘Huh?’

‘Oh, yes,’ her mum said, ‘you’re not the only one who’s noticed how ordinary his behaviour’s been so far. And you’re not the only one who’s embarrassed, either.’

Now Iris was really surprised. ‘Who else is embarrassed?’

‘Kick is!’ her mum said. ‘After you ran inside, Pa told him to pick himself up and stop making such a racket. And Nan asked him what on earth he’d done to make you so cross. And then Dad made him bring in all the bags by himself.’

Iris was amazed. ‘You were all on my side? But I was sure everyone was totally disappointed in me.’

‘Well, I wouldn’t say we were exactly
proud
of you for whacking your little brother, but we do understand. He’s been one demanding boy.’

Iris gulped and said, ‘So I haven’t wrecked the holiday? Not completely?’

Her mum laughed and hugged her. ‘Honey, it’s a
family
holiday, and you can’t wreck family as easily as that! No, we’re going to have a great holiday. I just need you to take it a little easier and enjoy yourself. It’s not up to you to make sure Kick is behaving. Leave that to Dad and me, OK?’

‘OK,’ Iris smiled.

Iris heard her nan calling out, ‘Is everyone ready for lunch?’

Iris jumped up off the bed. ‘Coming, Nan!’

To Iris’s surprise, before she could say sorry to Kick for hitting him, he came up to her while she was washing her hands for lunch.

‘Sorry, Iris,’ he mumbled. ‘I’ve been a pain.’

‘Wow,’ she said, staring at him. ‘Thanks. I’m sorry, too. And thanks for saying sorry first. That’s cool of you.’

He grinned at her. ‘Yeah, I am cool. Plus, Nan said if I didn’t make up with you she wouldn’t let me have any pudding tonight.’

‘There’s pudding?’ Iris grinned back. ‘Which one?’

‘The chocolate one that makes its own sauce in the dish.’

Iris nodded.‘Oh, yeah, that one’s worth saying the first sorry.’

Iris couldn’t help giggling to herself at the lunch table. It was so obvious that Kick was trying to be on his best behaviour. He was being way too polite.

‘So, what are we doing this afternoon?’ her dad asked.

Iris and Kick looked at each other.

I really don’t want to go to the war memorial
or the art gallery like Mum suggested, but I’m not going to be the one to say so
, Iris thought. She knew Kick was thinking exactly the same thing.

Their dad looked at them both, waiting for someone to say something. Iris bit her lip.

Her dad laughed and turned to her mum. ‘Well, that’s a huge vote of interest from the kids for the idea you came up with, darling!’ he told her.

‘I think it’ll be extremely interesting,’ their mum protested.

Without meaning to, Iris snorted in disbelief.

‘Iris!’ her mum gasped.‘You know, things
can
be more fun than they sound at first. I reckon you kids would be surprised.’

‘Amazed, even,’ said Kick, rolling his eyes.

Iris choked back a giggle. She’d been so focused on Kick being bratty, she’d forgotten how funny he could be.

‘All right then,’ her mum said, throwing her hands up. ‘I’m keeping out of it. You three decide what we’re going to do.’

Iris’s dad grinned. ‘What do you think, kids? Fairy floss at the fun park? Rollerblading in the city gardens? Or how about we find one of those horse-drawn carriages and ride around town?’

Iris wanted to hug him. It was like the holiday had begun all over again, and everyone was getting a second chance. Her mum had been right – the holiday wasn’t wrecked.

I guess that’s what she means about a family
holiday
, Iris thought.

A family holiday didn’t have to be completely perfect, and not everyone had to be completely happy every second of the day. But they were all together, whatever they were doing. Whether that was going roller-blading or having a fight.

Iris had to admit that Kick was still slightly painful some of the time, but then again, he
was
her little brother. It wasn’t his fault he was less mature than her.

Plus, the holiday wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun without him. In fact, his pushiness was even useful. There was no way Iris would have begged for a show bag after spending the whole day at the fun park, but Kick did. And their dad agreed to buy them one each!

And Kick could be sweet, too. Like asking their mum for two dollars at the fudge factory, so he could sneak off and buy Iris a lollipop shaped like a saxophone.

It was even fun sharing a room with him. She thought it might have been spooky if she had to sleep alone. Her nan’s old porcelain doll was pretty in the daytime, but Iris didn’t like how creepy its glass eyes looked in the dark. And there were some weird creaking sounds in the roof, too. But none of that bothered her with Kick in the room.

There was just one problem. The holiday was slipping by too fast now that everything was going so well. The afternoon Iris spent trudging around the science museum in a bad mood had felt like it lasted for six months. But the next six
days
of their holiday were so full of excitement, they went by in a flash.

‘We need more time,’ she complained to Kick. ‘I’m not ready to go back yet. It feels like we just got to Nan and Pa’s.’

‘And I want heaps more time hanging out with Dad without him going off to work,’ Kick said.

‘Exactly,’ Iris agreed.

On the last day, Iris and Kick sadly zipped up their bags. Iris checked under the beds for anything they’d forgotten.

‘Time to go, kids,’ their dad called. ‘Say goodbye to Nan and Pa.’