All I Ever Wanted

Chapter Seventeen

I flip eggs while Mike flips T.V channels. Phoebe is sitting at the kitchen table behind me, scribbling in a colouring book. The picture that was once a mermaid is now disfigured by bright, rainbow coloured lines. I tip the eggs on a plate and move to the round kitchen table. I sit on one of the matching chairs. My plan is to question her about her time with our father so I made eggs, one of Phoebe's favourite foods.

I cut up my egg into small pieces while I wonder about the best way to bring it up. Deciding there is no subtle way to say it I ask her "Where did you and father go?"

She replies "Daddy told me not to tell you. He said he was going to take you there next and he wanted it to be a surprise."

I give her a look and tell her "I won't go anywhere with him. So you might as well tell me."

Phoebe sighs if defeat "I was going to tell you anyway Emma. We went to McDonalds, not some fancy place. He asked me about my favourite things. Like my favourite colour, food and number. He was real nice. I don't understand why you don't like him."

I smile at her and lean over to ruffle her curls. "Your favourite colour is blue because it reminds you of the sea and the sky. You have lots of favourite foods but the main one is eggs. You like them sunny side up. Your favourite number is thirteen because you find it unfair how it's supposed to be unlucky when you don't think that's true.

I don't like our father Phoebe because he should know all those things. He should know without having to ask and if he did know at one point he shouldn't forget. He should be more to you than a cheque that comes through the post every now and then. Money doesn't replace love, no matter how much it is. Love can't be brought because it doesn't have a price."

When I've finished Phoebe just looks at me and says sadly "But he's still our Daddy. He deserves a last chance."

He's already had too many last chances from you Phoebe, I think privately. But I nod and pretend everything's okay. It's not of course. Nothing's been okay for a long time now. But eventually, it will be. No matter how long it takes.

I finish eating and with Phoebe in tow head down the street to visit Grandmother. Grandmother is not is her room today like usual but in the shared living room. We make our way through several other people each person we pass smiles warmly at us. We reach grandmother who hugs us in greeting before introducing us to some friends.

"This is Joyce and Diane." She announces, gesturing to the two ladies sitting beside her.

Diane is small built and holds tightly to her cane like she's afraid to let go. Her hair is short and dusted with silver. Her eyes are a pretty shade of blue. She seems shy when she says, "We've heard so much about you two."

Before we can reply Joyce buts in "Hi girls! Your grandma's told us all about you! Aren't you both adorable!" She exclaims every sentence. Joyce in many ways is the opposite of Diane. Joyce is loud and bossy. Her most noticeable feature is not her golden brown eyes but her bright orange hair. She either left the hair dye in too long or it's supposed to look like her heads on fire.

She doesn't wait for anyone else to talk but just goes on ahead telling us everything about anything. She was probably a huge gossip in high school. I pay little attention to Joyce because it seems she doesn't care if her audience is listening, as long as she has an audience. Instead I focus my attention on the outspoken Diane. Although she speaks less I get the impression what she has to say is more interesting than the story's coming from Joyce's mouth.

Glancing to Grandmother I see she's intently listening to Joyce. Phoebe is trying to listen but it's clear she doesn't understand a lot of what's being said. It's Diane who surprises me the most. When I look to see if she's interested in the one-sided conversation her eyes meet mine, and she's quite clearly uninterested in her friends talk.

When it's clear Joyce will never finish speaking I interrupt, "We're going to go now."

Joyce looks at us offended "You could at least wait for me to finish instead of rudely interrupting!"

I look at Joyce blankly. She's been talking for the last hour and in that time I don't think she paused for breath once, let alone finish. I swear I see Diane roll her eyes. Grandmother just looks appalled. "You'll do nothing of the sort now come to my room so we can have a chat."

I let her lead my into her room. I sit on the end of her bed and Phoebe sits next to her. Phoebe chats away about school and I watch the nurses who keep interrupting. There's a lot more than usual, and they don't knock.

"Why are there so many nurses?" I ask grandmother curiously.

She shrugs. "They have been in and out all morning, taking blood and whatnot. I think it's a check-up to make sure nothing's wrong." She informs. I nod and a few minutes later we leave. As we walk down the street I'm silently pleased nothing disastrous happened today, and I hope that it's a sign of things to come.

When we reach the house a car is parked on the drive. Phoebe and I look at each other in surprise. Unless Mike got his license and brought a car without telling us, we have a guest. I'm walking up to the door when Phoebe pulls on my sleeve. I look her in the eyes and see there alight with mischief.

She gestures for me to follow her and we creep around the side of the house. We stand under the high window and I lift Phoebe up so she can see through the clear glass. She shakes her head and I drop her down. We sneak around the back and peer in the kitchen window.

Mike is sitting opposite a Lady with red hair. She seems vaguely familiar but we can only see the back of her head so it's hard to be sure. Mike is facing us so I try to read his lips without success. Mike is doing a lot of the talking but the Lady doesn't seem bored. Phoebe giggles softly and we both duck down quickly. We share worried glances and wait a minute or two. When we sure no one heard us Phoebe whispers "Mike has girlfriend!" in a teasing tone. We sit up to peek in again. Our eyes widen when we see Mike's lips touch hers. I look away and make sure Phoebe does the same. They deserve privacy.

Then we sneak around to the front of the house. "Should we go in?" Phoebe asks.

I nod my head. "Just be quite and go straight to our room."

We silently flop onto our beds upstairs. I get out a book and pretend to read but really I'm trying to eavesdrop on the conversation downstairs. Phoebe is doing the same. When we hear the Lady leave we catch a little of the conversation, but nothing interesting.

"Goodbye." The Lady says quietly. Her voice is soft and I can barely hear it.

Mike replies "I'll see you later?" But his voice rises and it sounds like a question. There's no answer that I can hear and the sound of footsteps reaches my ears. An engine starts and the silver car pulls away. A few moments later the door slams.