Second Time Around (5 page)

Alec abandoned the pushchair and raced towards Corey, expecting to hear him scream at any moment. As he did so he tried to think of how he would explain the accident to Halley. She would never let him take the children anywhere on his own again.

He had just reached Corey’s side when the boy rolled over and sat up. Alec saw that his forearm and elbow were grazed and winced. He braced himself for the scream.

Instead, Corey inspected his injured arm then poked it with a finger.

“Ow,” he said as Casey came running up. “Look what I did.” He showed his brother the graze.

“I’ve had worse,” Casey said dismissively. “Do you want to go on the swings?”

“Yeah.” Corey gave his arm a look that seemed like disappointment to Alec then got to his feet. “Come on then,” he shouted. “Let’s go before someone else gets them!”

Alec stood there in amazement as both boys took off in the direction of the swings. Beyond them he saw Em climbing onto a swing and he hurriedly returned to Cassie then jogged the pushchair over to the children.

Nearly an hour later Alec finally convinced the children it was time to go home. It had taken a bribe of buying takeaways on the way home to get them all heading towards the car. He nearly groaned aloud when they all wanted burgers because he had a craving for Butter Chicken and poppadums.

Luckily by the time they reached the restaurant Cassie had nodded off in her car seat and Alec was able to use that as an excuse to go through the drive through, knowing well that if they all went inside to order he would then have to get the children out of the restaurant’s playground. From experience with Em he knew that could take a while as she liked to crawl through the tunnels ‘one last time’.

Casey pointed out that there wasn’t a queue at the counter inside but Alec joined the tail end of the long drive through queue anyway. The moment the car stopped moving Cassie woke up and started grizzling. By the time Alec placed the order she had become louder. Her cries grated on everyone and Alec’s mood wasn’t helped by Casey repeatedly observing how quickly the people going inside to order were served.

When they finally reached the bay to collect their order, Alec’s ears were ringing. He distributed the bags and drinks among the children to prevent arguments then quickly drove home, remembering to park in Halley’s end of the driveway at the last moment.

By the time they reached the porch Halley had realised they were home and held the door open for them all to troop inside. The children raced in clutching their takeaway bags, leaving Alec to explain about the bribe. As he spoke he patted Cassie against his shoulder, intending to hang onto her until her complexion had returned to normal before handing her over to Halley. Cassie had quietened once the car had started up again but her face was still a little blotchy from her earlier outrage.

Halley accepted his explanation with a weary smile and allowed him to enter. The moment he stepped inside the house, Alec breathed in the scents of disinfectant and bleach. He turned around to confront Halley who was closing the door behind him.

“You were supposed to be resting,” he accused softly.

“There was too much to do,” Halley returned as she made her way towards the kitchen. “How could I possibly pass up the opportunity to get things done without continual interruptions?”

As he followed her, the aroma of something delicious wafted out from the kitchen.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realise you’d started dinner,” Alec said apologetically.

“No worries,” Halley said, crossing to the oven and switching it off. “This lasagne will keep for tomorrow.” She turned around and gave him a smile. “That will be one less thing to worry about.”

She gently stroked the back of Cassie’s head.

“I didn’t think you’d be too far away so her bottle is nearly ready.”

Cassie’s head jerked backwards and Alec was disturbed to see that the baby’s face was still blotchy.

“How about I feed her while you eat?” he suggested, not wanting Halley to see evidence of what a lousy parent he was. She would see Corey’s graze soon enough.

“Are you sure?” Halley asked as she retrieved the bottle and tested the temperature.

“Absolutely,” Alec said fervently, taking the bottle from her hand.

With that agreed upon he followed her into the dining room where the children had already pulled the containers out of the paper bags and set them up on placemats in front of each chair.

“Which one is mine?” Halley asked.

“This one,” Em said, patting the seat beside her. “I want you to sit next to me.”

Halley dropped into the chair and took several tentative sips of the lurid green slushy in front of her.

“This tastes better than it looks,” she murmured and noticed Alec smile. The slushy in front of him was a bright blue and he had yet to try it. Instead he was attentively watching Cassie’s face as she drank; her little closed fists tight on the sides of the bottle.

“Aunty Halley, I nearly forgot. Look at this!” Corey said and raised his elbow to show her the graze.

Aunty Halley?
Alec thought with a frown, raising his gaze.

“That’s pretty impressive,” Halley said admiringly then opened the box containing her burger.

“Do you think it’ll bruise?” Corey asked hopefully.

Halley took a bite of her burger and considered his question while she chewed. “I don’t think so but if it does it won’t be as big as the one that Casey got falling off the trampoline at Christmas,” she told him after swallowing.

“Aw,” Corey said, sounding disappointed.

“I didn’t fall, I was trying to do a somersault off the side,” Casey corrected her with irritation. “I would have done it too if the pillows hadn’t made the ground closer.”

“Sure you would,” Corey snickered.

Halley stopped Casey from retorting by putting her hand on his shoulder.

“The next time you two want to play Olympic gymnasts, please don’t. I’m still trying to get grass stains out of the couch cushions.”

With that said she returned to eating her burger.

Alec stared at her, dumbfounded.

If his ex-wife had seen a graze like the one on Corey’s arm on Em she would have gone ballistic at him then would have fussed over Em for the next half hour. Alec wouldn’t have even been able to get a word in edgewise to let her know how it happened. He couldn’t even imagine how Miranda would have reacted if Em had taken her designer couch cushions outside and got grass stains on them.

Alec watched Halley, trying to discern whether she intended to let him have it later after the children were out of earshot. She noticed.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

“Did Corey call you Aunt Halley?” he asked, blurting the first thing that came to mind that didn’t involve wounds and potential repercussions.

“Yes,” Halley said, her eyes suddenly glistening she reached for her drink to take another sip.

Alec couldn’t work out what he had said to upset her.

“She’s my Aunty too,” Casey piped up. “And Cassie’s.”

Alec dropped his gaze to Cassie who was still industriously working her way through the bottle.
Making all that noise earlier must have been hungry work
, he thought absently as he tried to decipher why Halley would be taking care of her nephews and niece on her own. What he came up with made him feel uncomfortable so he changed the subject, deciding to ask Halley to confirm his hypothesis later when the children weren’t around.

“There are ice cream bars in the freezer at our place,” he said. “When you’ve finished your dinner who thinks they can fit one in?”

“Me!” the children yelled out as one.

“Not until you’ve finished,” Halley reminded them as Corey started to slide under the table. “Corey, sit up,” she said firmly as his hand shot up and grabbed the remaining half of his hamburger.

Corey’s head reappeared and he grudgingly retook his seat, his cheeks so puffed out with hamburger that he could barely chew.

“I told you not to do that,” Halley scolded. “One of these days you’re going to choke yourself.”

Alec noted that Corey didn’t seem overly perturbed by the possibility. Halley sighed then turned her attention to Alec.

“Would you like me to take Cassie now so you can have something to eat before it gets any colder?” she asked.

Alec checked Cassie and saw that she had nearly finished the bottle.

“No, I’m right,” he said. “You finish your meal.”

Alec kept an eye on Cassie while everyone else continued to eat; Halley ate at a leisurely pace while the children chomped through the little they had remaining as though they wouldn’t get fed again for a week. As soon as the last of the formula disappeared he plucked the bottle from Cassie and set it on the table.

“You forget how light babies start off,” he remarked as he raised Cassie to his shoulder and started to rub her back.

Halley’s eyes widened and she started to say something but it wasn’t clear.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Casey scolded before she could finish.

Halley shot her nephew an unreadable look then started chewing faster. A few moments later she tried to swallow then started coughing and grabbed her slushy.

“Did it go down the wrong hole?” Em enquired as Casey started pounding on her back while she tried to drink.

“Yes,” Halley coughed between thumps then she swallowed a mouthful of her drink. “Stop it, I’m fine,” Halley told Casey then turned her attention to Alec. “I was trying to tell you that you need a cloth on your shoulder…”

Just then Cassie gave a watery sounding belch and Alec’s shoulder suddenly felt wet and warm.

“Because Cassie has reflux,” Halley finished weakly.

“I think it’s a bit late for the warning,” Alec said ruefully, holding Cassie out for Halley to take. Regurgitated formula dripped down Cassie’s dress and onto his lap. Another tick for breastfeeding, Alec thought, trying not to show his distaste for the odour. At least regurgitated breast milk smelled better from what he could recall.

“I’ll go get changed and I’ll bring the ice cream bars back with me,” he said then quickly left the room before the children could ask to go with him.

When Alec returned he found the children watching a movie in the lounge. He noted that Cassie was wearing fresh clothes in her bouncinette. Em sat beside her with Cassie’s fist wrapped around her finger and Cassie was smiling at her. Cassie appeared tiny beside his daughter and Alec wasn’t surprised. While cleaning himself up he had become convinced that she had thrown up half her body weight over him.

He handed out the ice cream bars then left the children to the movie and moved into the dining room where he found Halley folding the washing. As soon as she saw Alec she stopped what she was doing and led him to the kitchen.

“I’m really sorry about that,” she apologised.

“Don’t worry about it. Em was a baby once. I just forgot what they’re like,” Alec told her. “No harm done.”

“Do you still want your burger? I could microwave it if you want,” Halley offered.

Alec considered his preference between a cold burger and a chewy microwaved one with hot lettuce. Neither appealed.

“I think I’ll pass,” he said.

“But you must be hungry,” Halley protested. “How about I heat you up some of the lasagne I made earlier?”

“Yes, that would be great,” Alec said, pleased with her offer. He would prefer a home cooked meal over a takeaway any day.

He watched as she flipped back a tea towel spread over a roasting pan he hadn’t noticed sitting on the stove top. She deftly scooped out a generous portion, transferred it to a plate and stuck it in the microwave.

“It should be ready in a couple of minutes,” she said, setting the timer.

While they waited for the lasagne to reheat Halley transferred Alec’s burger and half eaten fries to a plate and put them in the fridge.

“You’re not going to throw it away?” he asked in surprise.

“Waste not, want not,” Halley said. “Besides, I think the boys would love to have it for breakfast.”

Considering the number of takeaways Em ate in any given week Alec didn’t think he could comment. In the ensuing silence he searched for a topic to discuss.

“Thank you for taking on the task of looking after Em with such short notice. I really appreciate it,” he said then took a breath. “I hope you don’t think I’m being rude for asking after you’ve already agreed to look after her but do you have any references I could check? I’m sure I won’t find anything untoward,” he quickly added. “It’s just that after Mrs Rice I feel as though I should be more thorough in vetting Em’s carer.”

Halley could understand his concern but she didn’t want him delving into her past. Once people found out more about her they treated her differently.

“I have my CV on my laptop,” she informed him, hoping her revised work history would be enough to satisfy him. “Is it okay if I email it to you?”

“That’d be great,” Alec said, relieved that she wasn’t going to be offended. Now that he had got to know her a little, he knew that Em would be in good hands in Halley’s care but he wanted to see her CV to satisfy some of his own questions without having to ask directly.