Second Time Around

Second Time Around

Simone Jaine

© 2015 Simone Jaine Robinson. All rights reserved.

For Tracey Dylan, the best fan ever,

I put the children in especially for you.

Alec checked the time again then looked at Emeline, his six year old daughter.

“I could always go to school with the lady next door,” Em said hopefully.

“Mrs Rice will be here any minute,” he assured her then took a peek through the timber venetian blinds at the empty driveway he shared with his neighbour. A moment later a leggy blonde walked into view and unlocked the car sitting outside the neighbour’s house. He took in the way her cut-off denim shorts moulded to her backside as she leaned over to tuck a bag into the car.

“On the other hand it wouldn’t hurt to meet the new neighbour,” he decided aloud.

Behind him Em punched her fist in the air.

“Yes!” she cried, picking up her school bag.

“No, not you. I know you haven’t brushed your teeth yet. Off you go,” Alec ordered, gesturing towards the general direction of the bathroom.

“Aww,” Emeline complained but she headed off without another word while Alec opened the front door in anticipation. Mrs Rice had complained about the moving truck blocking the driveway last week but he hadn’t really paid attention at the time.

As he stepped outside Alec idly wondered what had happened to the family who had been living there. He had been sure they had built the house and he didn’t recall seeing a sign anywhere indicating they were selling or renting it out.

Alec hoped that the woman would be able to help him. He was already running late for his first appointment for the day because of Mrs Rice’s tardiness and it wasn’t the first time this had happened. Although she had only worked for him for a month he already regretted hiring her.

Maybe I’m just holding Mrs Rice to impossibly high standards
, he thought impatiently as he fought the urge to check the time.

Mrs Rice’s predecessor, Mrs Weiss, had cared for Em full time since his divorce and had been worth her weight in gold. When Mrs Weiss had decided to move to a small town north of Perth to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren Alec had thought she would be easy enough to replace. He now knew better.

As he walked along the path that joined to his driveway he observed his neighbour heading back into the house. With the way she was dressed he was hopeful that she had no plans to be elsewhere. If he was lucky she wouldn’t mind dropping Em at school.

From the other side of the camellia hedge that separated their properties, there were shouts then a door banging.

“Careful, you’ll wake Cassie,” he heard the woman warn. Two boys with school bags on their backs appeared beyond the camellias and ran towards the waiting car.

Alec froze in his tracks. That couldn’t be right. The woman looked far too young to be the boys’ mother. Then she reappeared carrying a baby car capsule which she fastened into the back seat beside the younger boy who was sitting in a booster seat.

Perhaps she was the family’s live-in babysitter.

As he pondered her role she secured the younger boy’s car seat. When she straightened Alec couldn’t help but notice her generous bust. His eyes travelled down and he frowned when he noticed a paunch protruding above her shorts, visible despite the baggy t-shirt she wore. It seemed the baby was hers.

The woman tweaked the school hat of the younger boy then headed towards the house again, leaving the car door open which gave him a clear view of her sons. The older one looked about ten years old and had pale freckled skin and copper coloured corkscrew curls sticking out in all directions from his head. While Alec watched, the younger one pulled off his hat, exposing straight brown hair that he swept out of his eyes. With his olive toned skin he looked very different to his brother.

Alec’s first thought was that the woman must have been a teenager when the first boy had been born. His second was that the boys couldn’t possibly have the same father. He was tempted to walk up to the car and inspect the baby to see if it looked different again.

The woman had appealed to him but the idea that multiple men had fathered all those kids turned Alec off. As he contemplated whether he should entrust his daughter to this stranger he couldn’t help but wonder where the father of the baby was.

That thought returned his attention to the children waiting in the car. The younger boy who looked to be about Em’s age had started kicking the back of the seat in front of him and the older boy was getting louder in his attempts to stop him.

Alec instinctively headed towards the car, wanting to quieten the boys so they wouldn’t wake the baby but was distracted by Mrs Rice roaring up the driveway in her old Holden.

About time.

He gave her a wave then went indoors to collect his briefcase and kiss Em goodbye. He was back outside before she had got out of the car.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” Mrs Rice said apologetically as he stowed his briefcase on the floor of the front passenger’s seat of his car. “I had a flat tyre.”

“Another one?” Alec asked as he closed the car door. That was the third one in as many weeks. “It’s lucky you are efficient at getting the punctures repaired so you always have a spare,” he added dryly, knowing full well that she was lying. “Maybe you should have a look around your place and see what’s causing them.”

“Yes, I will,” Mrs Rice muttered as he rounded the bonnet of his car to reach the driver’s door. He quickly got in and wound down the window.

“I’ll be back at the usual time Mrs Rice,” he called out through the window even though she hadn’t asked. As he rolled out of the driveway and onto the street he wondered whether his client would still be waiting.

* * *

Halley slid Cassie into her bassinette and drew her arms away. She sighed in relief when the baby didn’t stir. Upstairs, the boys had done their homework and were now arguing over something. She was tempted to intervene then send them outside to play but it was still a little too hot out there. Instead she decided to let them sort out the matter for themselves. She’d know soon enough if one of them decided to disembowel the other.

Halley cracked open the can of creaming soda she had left on the coffee table beside the bassinette and took a healthy gulp, the cool sweetness refreshing in the stuffy heat of the lounge. She wondered if she would get to finish it before the boys discovered she was having a soft drink without offering them one.

Her eyes travelled to Cassie who was sucking the side of her fist in her sleep and once again her chest felt tight when she thought of how her sister Krystal would never get to see her children grow up. She pressed the heel of her free hand to her eyes to stop the tears forming, not wanting to have the boys see her upset if they entered the room.

A tap on the ranch slider door caught her attention and she dropped her hand. Halley looked up and saw the little girl, Em, from next door. She forced a smile as she crossed the room to slide the door open.

“Does Mrs Rice know you’re here?” she asked.

“She’s on the phone and told me to play outside,” Em informed her, stepping into the room with the youthful assurance that her presence would be welcome.

Halley frowned. Mrs Rice seemed to spend all her time chatting to friends or playing games on her phone instead of interacting with Em. In the two months since she had moved in Em had squeezed through a gap in the back fence daily to come and visit. She usually stayed until just before six when Mrs Rice would stand in the back yard and yell for her to come home, minutes before Em’s father usually arrived home from work.

She guessed that most people would grow weary of the neighbour’s child turning up daily uninvited but Halley welcomed Em’s visits. Her presence changed the dynamics between the boys who generally played more quietly and cooperatively when she was around. In addition to that Em was always keen to cuddle and help with Cassie which was always appreciated.

Halley also felt a kindred spirit with Em. Em’s father was hardly ever around and Mrs Rice seemed to neglect her in favour of other activities that should be left until she wasn’t looking after Em. Halley’s mother had once dropped her and Krystal off at their grandmother’s and hadn’t come back for them until years later.

Halley was tempted to keep Em to see whether Mrs Rice would come to the front door when Em didn’t return at her call, or better yet, have her father retrieve her. If he did she would have a few choice things to tell him about his selection of child minder.

Em checked the bassinette and was disappointed to see that Cassie was asleep. She had learned she had to wait for the baby to wake before she was allowed to hold her. Em spied the can in Halley’s hand.

“May I please have a sip?” she asked.

“I can do better than that. How would you like a can to yourself?”

“Yes please,” Em said eagerly and followed Halley into the kitchen.

As Halley took a can from the fridge and handed it to Em she heard the boys thumping down the stairs and resigned herself to getting out another two. By the time they appeared she also had uncovered three blueberry and white chocolate muffins she had made earlier while Cassie had been sleeping. The rest of the muffins were in the freezer, wrapped for school lunches.

Halley gestured for the children to help themselves and stood back as the contents of the plate disappeared. She had stopped asking Em if she would have enough room for dinner ever since Corey who was in the same class as her had said that all Em got to eat at school every day was a single jam sandwich and an apple. He had also told her that Mrs Rice wouldn’t give her anything after school to eat, saying that it would spoil her appetite.

Halley imagined that Em was just as active as the boys and fed her when she arrived without fail every afternoon after school. If Em wasn’t eating her dinner afterwards Halley figured she’d soon hear about it.

She had glimpsed Em’s father a few times, mostly in the mornings as he was racing off to work in a near new car. All that she could say for sure about him was that he was tall, wore expensive looking suits and had medium brown hair with blonde highlights she wasn’t convinced were natural.

She thought that if he could afford all that as well as a babysitter then he should afford be able to feed his daughter properly.

“Go and wash your hands,” she advised the children, wishing she had also remembered to remind them before they had started eating. This parenting thing was difficult. There were so many things she assumed the children would do automatically and they always forgot no matter how many times you reminded them.

As they reached for the kitchen tap she was glad she had bought a liquid soap dispenser. If it hadn’t been there the children would have equated wetting their hands with cleaning them.

Halley headed back to the lounge, not wanting to observe the boys wipe their hands on the backs of each other’s t-shirts instead of using the tea towel. If she saw them do it she would have to say something and in this heat she really wasn’t in the mood for an argument.

She sank onto the couch and took another sip of her creaming soda, disappointed that the edgy chill she had enjoyed earlier had already given way to a temperature that was barely cold. Halley glanced at Cassie in the bassinette beside her, hoping she would sleep long enough to get dinner ready for the boys.

Casey bounded into the room.

“Can we play Twister?” he asked enthusiastically.

Halley thought of the racket they would make and winced.

“It’s a bit hot for that. How about we play that game where we see who can stay quiet the longest?”

“Nah. That game’s boring,” Casey told her.

“Winner gets an extra scoop of ice cream after dinner,” she suggested. At the moment Halley was not above bribery for a little peace. Cassie had howled the place down before she had finally settled and her ears were still ringing.

“Two scoops of ice cream,” Casey countered.

Halley shook her head. There were limits.

“With sprinkles?” Casey negotiated.

“Deal,” Halley agreed with a smile.

“Hey guys! If we can be quiet we get extra ice cream!” Casey yelled up the stairs. “Time starts now!”

Beside her Cassie started whimpering and Halley hastily started jiggling the bassinette, hoping it would settle her back to sleep as she glared after Casey’s departing back. Cassie was just quietening when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it!” Corey bellowed as he thundered down the stairs. When he reached the bottom he poked his head in the lounge. “That didn’t count. I was paused,” he told his aunt.

Halley nodded with resignation as she increased the rate of jiggling and he disappeared. Corey returned to the lounge wide eyed.

“It’s that lady who looks after Em,” he said gravely. “And she wants to speak to you.”