by Jo Meadows
‘Sam.’
‘Sam! Her name is Samantha, why can’t people use proper names these days? Anyway she eats far too much of something; she’s fat and that is something you will not be, I can assure you. I’d rather you played with someone else.’
‘Can I have a biscuit?’ asked Michael.
‘I’ve told you it’s time for dinner Michael and you should say may I have a biscuit please. Now go and wash your hands.’
‘May I have a biscuit, please?’ he said, hopefully.
‘Oh alright, but only one, and only because you asked properly. Then you must go and wash your hands for dinner’
‘May I have one please?’ asked Lynnette.
‘No you may not; I’ve told you we need to keep an eye on your weight. You want to grow up pretty like Mummy don’t you?’
‘That’s not fair!’ cried Lynnette. ‘Michael’s got one!’
‘Yes, but Michael isn’t getting fat now is he? Go and wash your hands and stop blubbering.’
***
That had been nearly thirty years ago but as Lynnette and her husband Leo drove to visit her parents with Emily, their daughter fast asleep in the back of the car, she remembered every word and it still hurt after all these years. There had been many other incidents as she’d grown up, but for some reason that was the one that seemed to hurt the most. I suppose when I got older I must have got used to it and probably just came to expect it all the time, she thought.
I do hope this visit goes okay. Every time we go I look forward to seeing them both but within just a few minutes of being there I’m wondering why we bothered. Perhaps this time will be different. They both love Emily, especially her Grandpa, and Emily loves him to bits. She’s always a bit aloof around Mum though. I wonder why, I haven’t noticed anything unusual happening while we’ve been there in the past. I must ask her sometime.
‘You okay?’ asked Leo.
‘Yes, why do you ask?’
‘You seemed to be miles away for a minute back there.’
‘Oh, I was just thinking about this visit. How much further have we got to go?’
‘About another twenty minutes I think. Thinking about your Mum?’
‘Yes I can’t help it; you know how she can be.’
‘I wondered if that was why you were frowning.’
‘Was I? I was just thinking about Emily as well. She always seems so happy to see her Grandpa but she doesn’t seem quite so keen on her Nana. Do you think anything’s gone on there? In the past I mean.’
‘She’s only six and we’ve always been with her, what could have gone on?’
‘I don’t know. You know how Mum can be and the kind of things she says. She seems totally thoughtless at times and if you say anything to her she’ll always have some reason for having said whatever it is she’s said. And, of course, she’s never wrong is she?’
‘Do you think she’s said things to Emily when we’ve not been there?’
‘I’m sure she probably has. I’ll have a little chat with Emily when I get the chance, I don’t want her upset and I want her to know that she can talk to us about anything, especially things she isn’t happy about. You know, I still can’t forget what my Mum said to us when we first took Emily to see them. Do you remember Mum had been ill so it was a few months before we got to go? Mum was all over Emily saying how beautiful she was and then she said, “She’s very pretty and you know I can’t fault you for anything that you’re doing with her. Even her little dress is lovely.” Now why did she feel she even needed to think about finding fault at all?’
‘Hey, that was years ago. Don’t let it wind you up now, we’re nearly there, you need to put on a smiley face.’
‘You’re right. Perhaps it’ll be okay this time. Emily is a year older and perhaps Mum will have mellowed a bit.’ - Not likely, she thought to herself.
Ten minutes later they were rapidly approaching the small town of Calthorpe where her parents had moved some years ago. Why they chose to live here I’ll never understand, thought Lynnette. I suppose it’s got its shops but it’s miles away from any big town or city. Granted it’s on the coast but that’s all its got going for it. It made visiting her parents a lot less appealing, what with the journey being the best part of five hours. Oh well, she thought, they say they like it and I suppose Mum would never admit that moving there had been a big mistake. As they had no transport themselves, and what with Michael now living abroad in Spain, Lynnette thought that her, Leo and Emily ought to make the effort to visit them about once a year. If they didn’t, her parents wouldn’t get to see any of their family, especially as her Mum wouldn’t go out of her way to travel herself. Lynnette had offered to come and pick them up and take them to visit their house for a holiday but she wouldn’t hear a word of it. “Surely you like to come and see us”, had been her Mum’s response. “We have the seaside and it’s really beautiful here. We’re not travelling at our age”. Our age, that’s a laugh Lynnette thought, they’re only in their sixties.
Before she knew it Leo was turning into her parent’s driveway. Oh well, here goes, she thought.
‘Emily, are you ready, have you got your shoes on?’
‘Yes Mummy, I’m ready, can I take my colouring books in with me?’
‘Yes of course you can but you will be careful near Nana’s furniture won’t you?’
‘Yes Mummy, I will. Can we go to the beach later?’
‘We’ll see, your Nana might have some other plans and you know we need to go and check in to the house where we’re staying before it gets too late.’
‘Okay, sorry I forgot, could we go tomorrow then please?’
‘Yes probably, we’ll see.’
As they pulled up in the drive and started to get out of the car, Lynnette’s Dad came out of the house. Emily spotted him immediately and shot across to jump up into his arms. ‘Hi Grandpa!’ she said with a huge smile on her face.
‘Hi Emily, my you’ve grown so much since I last saw you. Or should I say grown up? Come on give your Grandpa a big kiss.’
‘I love you Grandpa,’ she said as she planted a big sloppy kiss on his cheek.
‘I love you too Munchkin. And how are you two?’ he asked as he put Emily down and went across to hug Lynnette and shake Leo’s hand.
‘We’re great Dad, how are you and Mum?’
‘We’re both fine thanks, Emily’s grown so much in the last year hasn’t she?’
‘Yes I suppose she has but we don’t really notice it like you do because we see her every day,’ said Leo. ‘Hey! What did you do to your hand?’
‘Nothing really, I cut it on some broken glass in the cupboard just this morning. It’ll be okay.’
‘How come broken glass was in the cupboard?’ asked Lynnette.
‘God knows, it was only one piece of a broken bottle. I certainly didn’t leave it there. Anyway never mind about my hand, let’s go, we’d better let your Mum know you’re here or she’ll think she’s being ignored. We wouldn’t want that would we?’
‘Is she okay Dad?’
‘Yes, she’s her usual self, if you know what I mean,’ he said with a little wink. ‘It’s great to see you all.’
As they went into the house and David called, ‘They’re here Georgina!’ Lynnette noticed Emily had not followed them through the front door.
‘Come on Emily, let’s go and see your Nana.’
‘Okay, I’m just looking at the new statues.’
Lynnette stepped back outside.
‘Statues? Oh, you mean the garden ornaments. Oh my, Nana has been shopping again hasn’t she? Come on then, we’ll have a proper look later. We don’t want to keep your Nana waiting.’
They went inside and walked through to the living room where Georgina was hugging Leo.
‘How lovely to see you Leon,’ she was saying. ‘Come on, give me a kiss. I haven’t seen you for so long.’
‘How many times Georgina? It’s Leo.’
‘Nonsense, you know how I hate shorte
ned names; you’ll always be Leon to me. Oh there you both are!’ she said as she noticed Lynnette and Emily. ‘I wondered where you’d got to. Come and give your Nana a hug and a kiss Emily, I’ve missed you so much.’
‘Hi Nana,’ said Emily as she reached up to hug her Nana. ‘I’ve missed you too.’
‘It’s “Hello”, not “Hi” Emily. Now you call that a hug? Come on give me a proper one and where’s my kiss?’
‘Sorry Nana, I’ve got a bit of a cold and I don’t want you to catch it.’
‘Never mind about that, come on young lady, kisses all round.’ After putting Emily down Georgina turned to Lynnette. ‘Hello Lynnette, and how are you? You look like you’ve put on a little weight.’
‘Hello Mum, I’m fine thanks and no, I haven’t put on any weight. Are you okay? Your hair looks really nice, have you changed it lately?’
‘Thank you, no I haven’t changed it I just had a little tidy up this morning. See David, your daughter notices these things and she doesn’t even live here.’
‘Sorry Georgina, I was a bit excited this morning, what with my lovely Emily coming to see me.’
‘She’s not your Emily and she’s come to see both of us, haven’t you Emily’
‘Yes Nana, we’ve all come to see you both. Can we go to the beach later if there’s time?’
‘Not today Emily, you’ve just got here. Anyway that won’t do your cold any good now will it?’
‘No Nana, I suppose not.’
‘We’ll see if we can go tomorrow Emily,’ said Lynnette. ‘We’ll have to see what the weather’s doing, won’t we?’
‘Okay Mummy, It had better be really sunny and then Nana and Grandpa can come too.’
‘We’ll see,’ said Georgina. ‘We might have a lot to do tomorrow though; I’ve got some plans for us all. You wouldn’t want me to change them just so you can go to the beach now would you Emily?’
‘No Nana, but I do love the beach.’
After an hour or so of catching up and with Emily quietly playing with her colouring books, Lynnette said that it was probably time for them to go and check into the rented house where they would be staying. And, after a quick goodbye, they were off in the car for the short journey to the other side of the small town. As they drove towards the seafront Emily shouted, ‘Look Mum, look Dad, there’s the sea.’
‘So it is,’ said Lynnette. ‘Well spotted. Emily, why did you tell your Nana that you had a cold? I haven’t noticed that you’ve got one.’
‘I haven’t really. I just don’t like kissing Nana very much.’
‘Oh, why’s that,’ said Lynnette, glancing across at Leo. ‘You kiss Grandpa don’t you?’
‘Yes, but he’s all cuddly and nice. Nana squashes me too hard.’
‘Don’t be silly, she hugs you because she loves you lots.’
‘I know but I don’t like it very much.’
‘Okay, but you shouldn’t tell little lies like you did about having a cold, you know better than that Sweetheart.’
‘Sorry Mummy, I won’t do it again.’
‘Good girl.’
The next morning when they arrived back at her parents they could tell there was a bit of an atmosphere brewing. Tactful as always, Lynnette waited until they were alone in the kitchen before she asked her Dad if there was a problem.
‘It’s nothing, really,’ he said. ‘It’s just that my hand is giving me a bit of grief, I probably didn’t clean it well enough before I put the bandage on yesterday. I think it might be getting infected.’
‘We’d better keep an eye on that, do you want me to have a look or do you want to go down to the doctor’s? We could always get the nurse to redress it and check it over; they’re pretty good down there with little emergencies like this.’
‘No, anyway it’s not an emergency, I’m sure it’ll be okay. Besides, your Mum won’t want her plans ruining now will she? She said it’s my own fault for not looking in the cupboard before I stuck my hand in, but god knows how that glass ended up in there. Talk of the devil,’ he whispered. ‘Would you prefer coffee or tea Georgina?’
‘Tea of course, we never have coffee this early in the day, do we?’
‘Alright, I’m just asking.’
‘You’re not going on about your stupid hand again are you David?’
‘No Mum, he isn’t, I asked him if it was okay.’
‘Serves him right, silly man. Who leaves broken glass in a cupboard for god’s sake? An accident waiting to happen, I’m sure.’
‘How many times? I didn’t leave it there,’ said David.
‘Well who did then? I certainly didn’t and that only leaves you doesn’t it? If you need to get your hand looked at get on with it, we haven’t got all day we’re going out soon.’
‘Okay,’ said Lynnette. ‘Let’s have our drinks and then go out. But Dad, you must keep an eye on that, infections can be serious.’
‘Thanks, I will, I’m sure it’ll be alright.’ With that Georgina went off mumbling to herself something about idiots, wimpy men and pain thresholds.
‘Is she okay Dad, are you sure?’ asked Lynnette.
‘Yes just the same old Georgina I suppose. Sometimes I can’t seem to do anything right. Hey, never mind all that, it’s great to see you,’ he said, giving her a peck on the cheek.
‘It’s great to see you too Dad.’
The rest of the morning flew by and after a visit to Georgina’s favourite shops and a trip to the local garden centre for more new ornaments, it was time for lunch. ‘How about we go to that new pub for lunch today? It will save anyone having to cook. My treat,’ said Leo.
‘What a great idea,’ said Lynnette. ‘Do they have a children’s menu do you think? Would you like to have lunch out in a pub Emily?’
‘Yes please, am I allowed a grown-up meal, I don’t like chicken nuggets? I do like chips though; can I have some chips please?’
‘You can have whatever you want,’ said her Dad. ‘What do you think; shall we go and see what it’s like? Have you guys been there yet Dave?’
‘I’ve heard it’s quite good and not too pricey but no, we haven’t been there. What do you think Georgina? Do you fancy it?’
‘Sounds alright, but don’t think you’re drinking David, you know what you get like when you’ve had a drink. That’s one reason why we don’t go to pubs anymore.’
‘Most pubs do food these days and they all allow families. It’s really good, not too expensive and it makes a change to have a meal out now and again,’ said Leo.
‘Do you take Emily to pubs a lot then?’ asked Georgina.
‘No, only when we go for a nice meal and then it’s not that often,’ said Lynnette. ‘It would get too expensive if we did it a lot.’
‘Pubs aren’t really for children though are they? It shows how standards have slipped since our day, children weren’t allowed and quite right too.’
‘It’s not about standards Mum; pubs have changed so much over the last few years. They tend to be nice bright welcoming places these days. Some even have play areas just for the kids although that one doesn’t seem to. It’ll be lovely, just you wait and see.’
‘Well I hope the menu is good, and Emily; I hope you don’t eat too many chips these days.’
‘Mum, you know we don’t eat junk food, Emily has a really good diet. We only let her have chips as a treat occasionally.’
‘I know you do, but it’s easy to relax and before you know it you’ll be worried about her weight. You always had to watch what you ate didn’t you?’
‘You know I didn’t, it was you that was always reminding me about my weight. I never thought I had a problem.’
‘I think you look gorgeous, Darling,’ said Leo. ‘You’ve got a great figure for your age,’ he laughed, lightening the mood.
‘Why you cheeky monster, age, I’ll give you age. I’m only a few months older than you!’
‘Yes and look at the state of me!’ he chuckled.
As they sat down in the
pub a little later, Lynnette could tell that her Mum was uncomfortable; even a little agitated. ‘Are you alright Mum?’ she asked.
‘Yes, I’m fine, I never really like the menu choices in these places and the portions are always so big. You know I only have a small appetite.’
‘Well, why not have a salad or something like that? They’re usually pretty good. Or, you can always ask for a small portion, I’m sure they’ll be happy to do that.’
‘Yes, you’re right, perhaps I will.’
‘Well Dad, what do you fancy? Anything that’s catching your eye?’
‘I was wondering about the rack of ribs or the chicken wings actually, they both sound rather good. The wings come with hot sauce and they both come with salad.’
‘Go for it Dave!’ said Leo. ‘I think I’ll have the wings; I love hot sauce and, its chips for me! I need to put on a few pounds.’
‘Don’t be silly Leon, you’re in great shape,’ said Georgina.
‘Why thanks Georgina, you’re not so bad yourself.’
‘As for you David, I don’t want you embarrassing yourself, picking up food with your fingers and getting in a mess. I think perhaps a different choice might be an idea, you know what you’re like!’ said Georgina.
‘Hey! Don’t worry Dave; if you order the ribs they bring you a finger bowl and your own bib. It’s great fun. Do you fancy ribs or wings Emily? Then we can all get messy.’
‘Yes please Dad, ribs, and can I have ice-cream if I finish all my dinner?’
‘Of course you can Sweetheart. Actually, I think I’ll have the ribs instead. If I finish all my dinner can I have ice-cream too Mummy?’
‘Only if you’re really good and behave yourself. I think I’m going to have the ribs. What do you say Mum? Shall we all get messy?’
‘You’re all terrible,’ Georgina said with a little smile. ‘I’m having the hunter’s chicken, it sounds rather nice. David, if you do have the ribs, you will be careful won’t you?’
‘Yes Georgie, I will. Thanks.’
‘Don’t call me Georgie, you know I don’t like it and what do you mean thanks? You can have what you want, you know that, I just didn’t want you to get messy and show yourself up but, if everyone else is going to do that then why should you be any different?’
