The One and Only (18 page)

‘Right,’ I said. ‘Well, I’ll leave you to discuss that, then.’

I backed out of the door with a final glance at Eve. Her face was composed, but her eyes were laughing. And I knew she knew exactly what I was thinking.

As I sauntered back into the kitchen, Sam started crying. Mum disappeared upstairs, coming back with him in her arms a minute later. She started heating up a bottle. Alice danced up to me, a colouring book in her hand.

‘Is the pretty lady still here?’ She giggled. ‘Is she your girlfriend?’

I reached out and tickled her. ‘Nah,’ I said. ‘You are.’

Then I remembered.

‘Did Trisha have her baby yet?’ I asked Mum.

She turned round. ‘Yup,’ she smiled. ‘At about ten or so this morning. A boy. Nearly nine pounds. I’m taking Alice to see them both later. D’you mind watching Sam then?’

I nodded. ‘Sure.’

‘Thanks, love.’ Mum picked up the bottle and screwed on the teat. ‘Are you hungry?’

I suddenly realised that I was starving. ‘Very,’ I said.

Mum grinned. ‘I’ll do you some lunch,’ she said. ‘You feed the baby.’ She handed me Sam and the bottle and started grilling some bacon. ‘You know what I was saying earlier, Luke? About . . . you know?’

No, Mum. Please. Do you not realise how embarrassing it is for me to discuss my sex life with you?

‘Mmmn.’ I bent over the baby. He was so strong now. His little arms and legs all sturdy and his fist gripping my finger like mad. He wasn’t taking the bottle though. He was looking up at me. Like he wanted to know who I was. I smiled at him. And he smiled back. A real smile.

Wo w.

It occurred to me for the first time that it was going to be really cool having a younger brother. I could show him how to play football. And teach him stupid jokes to impress his friends with. And then, when he was older, I could tell him about girls and how to get them interested. The Six Steps Ryan had taught me – or maybe better ones . . .

I realised Mum was speaking. ‘Sorry?’ I looked up.

She was smiling at me. ‘I was just saying how much I like Eve.’ She paused and her smile grew deeper and somehow both happier and sadder at the same time. ‘And you know what else?’ she said. ‘Your dad would have liked her very much too.’

It was all sorted pretty quickly after that. As I’d suspected, Jonno gave in on everything Eve wanted. Coming back to London to live with her mum. Even going out with me.

It was partly like I’d said – he didn’t want to risk losing her again.

But it was also Eve. She’d changed so much since she ran away from Spain. The confidence I’d noticed that first evening was even stronger now – she knew exactly where she was going and what she wanted.

And what she wanted was to go back to school and apply for a place at art college to start that autumn.

Oh, yes, and me. She wanted me.

Chloe changed her job from full-time to Saturdays and went back to school too. She is the luckiest cow, you know. Really. Despite the fact that she’d missed half a term of school she still got the best results in her class in their exams. She came back home for a while, but she and Mum started arguing again, so she moved out to another cheap house-share – this one more local – and took a second job in the evenings to pay the rent.

She and Ryan are still together. Ryan suddenly got it into his head one day that he wanted to be a music agent. Says he’s gonna leave school in the summer and start off by representing Cal’s new band. He reckons he’ll get them signed up to a record label, no problem.

Mum’s getting better and better – she thinks she’ll be on her anti-depressants for a good while, but at least she’s acting more normally again.

And I’ve got a job too – in this cool indie record shop that just opened on the high street.

I started out determined to earn enough money to buy my own guitar. Cal said that if I had my own instrument and the other guys in his new band were OK with it, I could jam with them sometimes. Maybe, eventually, play at their gigs.

First, though, it was Eve’s birthday in March. I spent everything I’d made so far on buying her art stuff. Special pencils I knew she wanted and this lovely, creamy paper. Plus some frames for her best work. She’s done some amazing pictures of me now. Everyone says she’s really captured me.

I wonder how you do that? Sometimes I look at her sketches of me and it’s the weirdest thing – I can almost tell what I was thinking when she drew me, even though I can’t remember it actually happening.

Sometimes I think Eve knows me better than I know myself.

She had this little party on her birthday in March. It was great. She loved her presents. Then, later, when everyone else had gone, she said she had a present for me.

Wanna know what it was?

Cal’s old guitar. She’d persuaded him to part with it for about fifty quid – most of which she still owed him – even though its worth loads more. She said he’d wanted me to have it because he thinks I’ve got talent.

How cool was that?

My girlfriend has a birthday.

And I get the best present.

Eve.

Always Eve.