Before we start, can we just take a moment to appreciate the new cover? It was created by izxati and it's so cute. (It's below for you all to see.) Now, I know I always ask about whether or not Charlotte and Isaac will have a boy or girl, but I'm keeping it a secret- to be fair, though you all have a 50-50 chance of getting it right. I kinda drop clues along the way (not too obvious, I hope) and the covers may just be anther clue. So, before I had a pink cover and now this one is blue, just to keep you all guessing!
It was weird to see Isaac and Martha together. They were very similar and it was scary. The same hair colour, the same eyes, the same mannerisms... identical in every way. But what really struck me in all this is really how similar they are considering they've never lived in the same country for longer than a year. Martha's spent all her life in Australia while Isaac has been in London for almost seventeen years. Maybe Martha's personality is all down to genetics. Nature versus nurture.
Oh, God! Is this what my baby's going to end up like?
"Martha, you can't stay indoors again," Isaac says over breakfast. Since Martha's arrival last week, Isaac's been inviting me over more and more so that Martha and I can get to know each other, including asking me to join them this morning. "Honestly, you're so lazy."
"Lazy is a very strong word," Martha counters. Her eyes glisten dangerously and already I'm bracing myself for what's about to happen. Despite only knowing her for a few days, I've already familiarised myself with a few of her tells and this one, the way she looked so alive in the face, told me that she was about to do battle with her father. Again. "I like to call it selective participation."
Isaac snorted. "Call it whatever you want, just don't expect me to give you any cash towards it."
"But-" Martha began to protest. When Isaac levelled an amused stare on her, she promptly closed her mouth and plastered on a sweet smile. This girl knew how to play people and I'd imagined she's had a lot of practice, but Isaac was seemingly immune to her manipulation. "Urgh, you're horrid."
Feeling as if he'd won the battle- but not the war- Isaac leant back in his seat and draped an arm casually over the back of my chair. His fingers grazed the top of my arm, his thumb circling my skin and sending sparks if electric through my body. I wanted to shy away from his touch but the sensation was intoxicating and I couldn't help but crave it more. And did he really have to smell so bloody good? Urgh, what was it about this man that turned me into such a girl?!
"So, what are you going to do today?" Isaac's attention is firmly on his daughter. Thank God, because if he dared to look in my direction, I might just pounce on him and take advantage of him here and now. "Are you going to see your mother?"
"Ew, no!" Martha quickly snapped. "Bitch, are you deluded? Have I been lobotomised? I don't have the energy to pretend to like anyone today and to be honest, while I try to see the best in people, some of those fuckers make it so damned hard. Now, I'm not saying that I hate her because hate is a strong word, but if I were a bird, I know who I'd shit on. That's all I'm saying."
Standing up from the breakfast table, Martha takes her cereal bowl to the sink and rinses it before adding some liquid and washing it thoroughly. All the while, Isaac tried to call out to his daughter. He wore a concerned look on his face but the more she ignored him, the more frustrated Isaac became. He moved his arm from around me and ran his hand through his hair and sighed heavily. His blue eyes followed Martha as she ducked below to the lower deck before closing his eyes and dropping his head to the table.
"She's infuriating," he grumbled. He turns his head slightly, his gaze reaching my face. With a smile, he reaches out a hand and lightly touches my stomach, his palm covering the entire bump that has slowly been growing. "You're not going to be that mean to Daddy, are you?"
His hand lingers there for a few moments until the sound of his phone breaks the silence. Catching a glimpse of the caller ID, I already knew that it was his mother. Once Martha had heard the news that Isaac was going to become a father for the second time, Isaac decided that he should probably phone is family and break the news to them, too. He called his sister, Alice, first, simply because telling her that 'Charlotte is pregnant' wouldn't be that much of a shock. Well, the pregnant bit, maybe, but seeing as Alice at least knew who I was would soften the news. We'd met at Sophie and Daniel's wedding when she came as Isaac's plus one and although I remember being obscenely jealous of her on first meeting her, the announcement that she was Isaac's sister made me like her even more.
After calling Alice to break the news and receiving the response of, '"Holy shit balls on fire!' Isaac bravely phoned his parents. His mum, Dita- because she hates being called Aphrodite- answered the call and promptly worried that there was something wrong. Seeing as he was calling Sydney when it was very early in the morning their time, I could see why she thought he was calling with bad news. After Isaac calmed her down and assured her that everything was fine, he quickly told her why he was calling.
Dita, for her part, went berserk. There was a lot of screeching and Martha winced whenever her grandmother's voice went shrill; I wasn't sure if Dita's reaction was good or not. Isaac wasn't sure either and he solemnly announced that his parents were booking a flight to come over here as soon as he hung up the call. Finally, the last person on his list of people to call was his sister, May.
Isaac talked about her the least and I couldn't work out why. He seemed close to Alice so I would have assumed that he'd be as close to May but when it came to having to phone her, he was reluctant to hit the call button. Thirty minutes after he'd picked up the phone to call her, he finally hit the little green button and waited patiently for her to answer.
When she finally did, the call was awkward, more so for me as I had to sit there and watch as Isaac announced that he was going to be a father. Silence greeted him from the end of the line and just as soon as the conversation started, it ended. May had left the call and subsequently, left Isaac in a bad mood that lasted the rest of the day.
"Yeah, I know, Mum," Isaac's voice pulls me from my memories. He sounds stressed and mildly annoyed which instantly makes me look over to him with concern etched on my features. Isaac's pacing the room, a hand combing through his hair, and his jaw is twitching like mad. He listens intently to whatever is being said to him but that only increases his annoyance. "I said, I know. Well, what am I supposed to do? She doesn't talk to me, Mum." He pauses, no doubt listening to more of what Dita is saying. Suddenly, he's shouting. "I've tried that, too. Don't you think I've tried everything? After what happened between me and-"
Suddenly, Isaac's voice trails off as he catches me watching him. He frowns and turns his back to me, walking out of the living area and heading towards his office at the rear of the houseboat. The door slams shut and I'm cut out of the conversation.
"I wouldn't take it personally," I hear someone speak. Jumping, I turn to see Martha entering the kitchen, finally dresses as if she's ready to face the world. "Dad gets like that whenever someone pushes the subject of him and May."
"How come?" I knew better than to push for information like this, especially when it has something to do with May but I couldn't help it. I was intrigued by his relationship with his sister.
Martha shrugs. "Who knows? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Isaac punched May's boyfriend that one Christmas. That wasn't good."
"Isaac punched May's boyfriend?" I exclaimed.
"Well, it wasn't as if the jerk didn't deserve it!" Martha snarled. "Those who stir the shitpot should also have to lick the spoon."
"Huh?"
"Never mind," Martha says, clearly exasperated that I wasn't following her train of thoughts. Honestly, what person could keep up with her? The only one I knew who was worse than Martha is Keira. I really should set up a play date for them, see which could outwit the other first. That'll be fun to watch. Martha suddenly smiles. "Hey, Charlotte, you know how we're going to be, like, family soon enough? Fancy lending me some money?"
I frown. "Isaac gave you loads a few days ago. What happened to that?"
"Oh, you know, Oxford Street," Martha says with a casual shrug. "It was like, 'Hocus, Pocus, I'm brokus!'"
"So what do you want me to do about it?"
"Give me money," Martha answers in an instant. "I'm having an out-of-money experience. Do you even know what that's like, Charlotte? Do you? Because it's not fun, I'll tell ya."
Despite her best efforts, I still refused to give Martha money. Instead, we reached an agreement. She would accompany me to the shop and work there for a few hours, earning the money for a return trip to Oxford Street. We left Isaac a note for when he finally ended the call with Dita, telling him to meet us at La Petite Pâtisserie. He had a day off work today and would probably want to spend it with Martha, seeing as this was the first day off he'd had since her arrival.
Everyone at the shop was curious about Martha. Lauren and Joanne more so because neither knew that Isaac had a daughter, but Aimee was more intrigued by her personality. Fielding questions from the older two women, I went to the kitchen to greet Arnaud and Nate, only to find that the latter wasn't in today. When I questioned Arnaud about Nate's absence, he simply sighed, said, 'Chais pas', and then threw an apron towards me. It took me a moment to realise what Arnaud had meant by that gesture but once I understood, I pulled the apron on and began to assist, firstly by adding the decorative fruits onto some of the charlotte aux fruits exotiques and then added the finishing flourishes to the soleil levant.
"Très bien," Arnaud gave me a curt nod when he came to inspect my handiwork.
I waited a few more seconds, wondering if Arnaud was going to thank me for stepping in at the last minute to help, but then I remember that this is Arnaud and he doesn't need anyone's help; he would have managed on his own, so I was wasting my time expecting any gratitude. Taking the freshly made desserts, I enter the front of house and help Joanne fill the nearly empty display cabinets. We were about to enter the mid-morning rush and needed as many desserts available as possible. With the rest of the shop quiet, I ordered Aimee and Martha over to where I stood and asked that they help Joanne and me with the display. When Martha entered the kitchen with me, she gasped at seeing all the creations.
"Holy crap!" She said, her mouth forming a perfect 'o' shape as she walked towards the bavarois. "Whose mother do I need to kill so I can have one of these? Wait! Please, tell that it is my mother I get to kill. I'd love you forever."
One thing I'd quickly learnt about Martha is this- she does not like her mother. I'd been too shy to ask her about the reasons behind her hatred but it was pretty obvious what the issue was whenever I saw Martha and Isaac together. Eerily similar, Martha was a Daddy's Girl and the fact that her mum had tried to separate them and paid very little interest in what was going on with Martha, the daughter ended up hating the mother.
"No, Martha, you do not need to kill your mum for one of these," I say, much to Martha's disappointment. Plating a bavarois for her, I slide it across the kitchen counter and hand her a small dessert spoon, motioning for her to tuck in. By the time I've taken the next set of sweet treats out to Joanne and Aimee, Martha's finished her treat and eyeing up another of Arnaud's famous concoctions. "Nuh-uh, those are not for you. Now, hurry up and get back to work, otherwise shopping on Oxford Street is going to have to wait a few days. If you're lucky, by the end of the shift, I might throw in one of those éclairs for you, too."
Martha's eye lit up. Not mischievously, but with sheer delight. "Promise?"
"Promise," I nod.
To her credit, and possible down to my blackmail, Martha worked solidly for the next few hours. Even Isaac was severely impressed by her work ethic. He'd arrived some forty minutes after Martha started work and sat in awe of how she ran around, serving customers and taking on board everything that the girls were teaching her about working in our environment. When I finally looked at the clock and decided that she'd earnt a well-deserved shopping trip tomorrow, I called her into the kitchen and told her that she was finally relieved of her duties. Seeing as I needed to hang around a little while longer, Martha said that she and Isaac would wait for me while sipping on some coffees and eating some of the desserts.
I spent the next hour in the kitchen, cooking up a storm as I handcrafted some of my favourite treats and neatly placed them in a pastel coloured box, tied with a ribbon. When I was finally happy with the end results- and with permission from Arnaud- I took off my apron and promptly went to join Isaac and Martha, setting the box on the table and pushing it towards the teenage girl.
"Don't tell your dad," I wink at her. I watched as she opened the box and broke out into a genuine smile. When Isaac tried to peek a look at the contents, Martha snapped the box shut and shooed him away. I laughed at his expression. "He really likes the millefeuille, just to warn you. So, I've been thinking. Tomorrow, how about you and I both go to Oxford Street? I need to get a few things and I thought that we could have some one-on-one time together. That is, if that's what you want."
Martha frowned. "You actually want to spend time with me?"
"Yes," I nod vehemently. Martha wore a rare look of vulnerability on her face and it was heartbreaking to see. She seemed honestly confused by my proposition and looked at Isaac for an answer. When he shrugged, Martha looked back at me, still uncertain as to how she should answer. "It's ok if you want to say 'no' but I want you to know that I'm asking because I really want to spend more time with you. Plus, it's like you said this morning, soon enough you and I are going to be family, along with your dad and baby brother-"
"Or sister," Isaac says with a glint in his eye.
"Right, or sister," I agree. "As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, the four of us are going to be family and family shop together on Oxford Street. So, did you mean what you said this morning or were you lying to me?"
Martha blinks. Then she blinks again. She turns to Isaac and asks in a not so quiet whisper, "Is she all there? In the head, I mean?" Isaac laughs and nods his head. Martha shrugs and looks across the table, assessing my sincerity once more. "Well, alright then. Do you think you can keep up with my sarcastic insults and witty comebacks?"
"I think I can manage it," I assure her. "Once upon a time, I was a dab hand with stuff like that, too."
"No offence, but I don't believe you," Martha scoffs. She folded her sun-kissed arms over her chest. "You're too much of a kindy teacher to be that mean."
I raise my eyebrows at her words. "Really? How rude. May the both sides of your pillow be warm, Martha Rhiannon Fletcher."
"One warm side of a pillow is bad, but two!" Martha gasped. "I take back what I said about you. You're savage." Her blue eyes narrowed on me and I saw Isaac tense up in my peripheral vision. It was almost as if he were watching a snake about to attack. "I like you. I hate that you totally just Martha Rhiannon-ed me but the rest I like. For what it's worth, you're going to make an amazing mum and I'm glad that my dad found you. Hey, I don't suppose you fancy adopting me?"
I laugh. Martha doesn't. "Wait, seriously?" I ask, spluttering over my words.
"Nah, I'm shitting you," Martha finally bellows. Instantly, I relax. "You're going to have your hands full with a baby, I don't think you could manage me full time on top of everything. This éclair is seriously the best thing I've ever put in my mouth. Shit, that reminds me. I need to go to get a 'Get better soon' card for my ex-boyfriend."
Isaac frowns. "Is Ryan ill?"
"No," Martha shakes her head. "He's just lousy in bed, that's all."
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I ended up wearing Isaac Fletcher's mochaccino.
Do we still like Martha?
Wanna guess the sex of the baby? Boy or girl?
They're not having twins.
For those of you who know who Keira/Echo is, would Martha and Keira be BFFs of enemies?
Have an awesome week, my peeps!
Sarah, xx