A lazy day
Coming home to a load shrieking kids was not what Caitlin wanted after a hard week flying with Rapido. All Caitlin wanted was to chill out in the garden and maybe go out for a quiet drink in Penny Lane. Instead Coral had come down from London to visit Calam. There was nothing wrong with that but when Coral met up with next door's kid Jane and her mates then the noise intensified to an annoying level that a local radio DJ would be proud of.
Typically in the morning Calam had taken Coral out to take Fudge for a walk with her Grandad and then went swimming. Now Coral was back and turning the garden into a school playground that was out of control. What was even worse was that Calam had just got called to an emergency at the hospital which meant that Caitlin was responsible for the little terrors outside.
'Does Caitlin fly all over the world?' Jane asked Coral after her Dad told he had to go to work for a bit.
'No!' Coral laughed.
'Yeah but she must go somewhere cool.'
'Like where?'
'I dunno. Spain or America.'
'She goes to Spain, Ireland, and some place with snow.'
'Coral,'
A quick roll of the eyes as Caitlin had no doubt found out that she had 'borrowed,' her hand lotion. Coral wouldn't mind she had only took a little bit.
'Have you seen my IPad?' Caitlin asked walking into the garden where the they swinging high on the swings.
No wonder there was some strange stuff and a boring diary that Coral lost interest after half a page. Then there was that daft book called 'about the band,' that made Coral wonder why her Dad would be interested in that. Mind there was some cool photos of her Dad even if Caitlin was on a couple of them. Pausing, Coral now realised why she wasn't on the photos.
'I thought it was Dad's.'
Now Caitlin rolled her eyes. Trust Calam to go and tell her to get his IPad rather than hand his over.
'I only looked at YouTube,' Coral quickly said. 'Oh and I bought something off Amazon.'
'What?'
Coral was sure that Caitlin's hard girl hair raised a couple of inches in fury. To Coral it must be a pre-requisite of those tough girls to have. Caitlin was a grown up version and even fiercer in Coral's eyes.
'I did think it was funny it had your name on it but Dad said I could buy a couple of books and stuff for school.'
'Did he now?' Caitlin said as she meant to check how much damage Coral had done to her card. Why on earth would Calam let a nine year old loose on Amazon? 'Not to worry but I need to use it.'
'I think it might be in my bedroom.'
'Can you go and get it for me please.'
There was no loud sigh that Coral would give her Stepdad Gavin when he asked for something as she raced upstairs only for that sinking feeling that she had left it at her Nana and Granddad's when they went swimming. How was she going to tell Caitlin?
'Caitlin,' Coral said in a voice that sounded polite and instantly roused Caitlin's suspicions. 'Do you need it like now?'
'Yes,' Caitlin replied and not hiding her exasperation. Harsh as it sounded Caitlin preferred her nephew and nieces as she always had the feeling that Coral was always up to something. Added to which Coral was a little smart arse.
'I think I left it at Nana and Granddad's.'
The frown over Caitlin's eyebrows let Coral know that she was not amused.
'I can go over and get it if you want.'
'Thanks but it's okay. I'll get it tomorrow.'
'You can use Dad's although I can't remember the password!' Coral giggled as she lied.
'It can wait until tomorrow and I'll use the laptop.'
Smiling Coral went out into the garden to play with the shouts and kicking of balls annoying Caitlin that much that she decided to send the lot of them to the shop with the instructions to go to the park first and have a bit of fun there.
'Go on your bikes,' Caitlin said reining in her temper and desperation to be rid of them for an hour or preferably longer.
'I'll go and get my bike!' Jane said excitedly as the other kids made a scramble.
'Don't forget the thick toastie bread and whatever sweets and drink you want,' Caitlin yelled as her plan came to fruition. 'After you've been the park of course.'
Smiling in contentment Caitlin breathed in the fresh air and embraced the sudden quietness. She was going to make the most of this time whilst Coral and her mates went and be kids away from her feet.
An hour later
It had been so peaceful as Caitlin now lazed in the garden that she had temporally forgot that Coral was actually down in Liverpool.
'Where's Coral?' Calam asked as the house sounded unusually quiet and as though it was missing someone. Thankfully the emergency hadn't been too serious and a operation wasn't needed.
'Oh shit!' Caitlin thought.
'Erm, she went to the shop with a few of her mates. She shouldn't be long.'
'Okay. Did you ask Coral to pick up an extra thick loaf?'
'I did,' Caitlin smiled as she put her arms around Calam.
However that turned into concern when Coral didn't return fifteen minutes later.
'They shouldn't be this long,' Calam mused. 'I wonder if Coral's gone to one of her mates.' Casually he sent a text to Coral's mobile phone. That was the good thing about technology compared to his day as a kid.
'They might have gone the park.'
'What makes you say that?'
'I just sort of mentioned it.'
Before Calam could say anything there was a furious knock on the door from Jane's Mum Wendy who wanted to know where her daughter was. Furthermore she was not happy at the Blaise attitude of Caitlin who seemed to think it was okay for kids to go miles away on their own.
'Well I imagine they will have gone to Greenbank Park,' Caitlin replied.
'Greenbank? That's miles away! What on earth made you think it was okay for nine year old kids to go out on their own?'
'Oh come on,' Caitlin scoffed. 'When I was their age I was out all day and we didn't have mobile phones.'
'If anything happens to Jane I'm blaming you for this.'
The fury in Caitlin's eyes was rising like a fierce storm as Calam waded in.
'Nothing is going to happen to them. They've only just gone around the corner and they are sensible.'
'I didn't expect that kind of attitude from you,' Wendy snapped and then turned onto Caitlin. 'Of course you wouldn't know not being a Mother.'
The remark felt like Wendy had left a red mark on Caitlin's cheek as she could feel the lump rise in her throat. Even though it was only three months of losing her baby in her first trimester it still hurt Caitlin hard.
'You shouldn't wrap them up in cotton wool!' Caitlin hit back. 'For feck's sake there kids they should be allowed some freedom to explore rather than being monitored all the time.'
'Don't you tell me how to look after my kid. You can't even look after...'
'That's enough,' Calam snapped. 'For Christ's sake they haven't gone far. I've text Coral so I'm sure she will get back in touch. That's something our Mum and Dad's didn't have back then.'
'I've tried phoning Jane but she hasn't picked up. The world is a lot more dangerous than it was when we were kids!'
Caitlin rolled her eyes. It wasn't as if there hadn't been operation Yewtree back from when they were kids. Besides Calam was right in that kids had mobile phones so strictly speaking were never far away from ringing Mum or Dad. These days Parents were too zealous and over-protective like driving their kids to school even though they only lived five or ten minutes away.
That didn't curb the temper rising in Wendy as she saw the Laissez-Faire nature of Caitlin. That woman was so irresponsible that she told Calam that she would think twice about allowing Jane to stay over with Coral. Not that didn't bother Calam as he thought Wendy to be an overbearing snob whose life was far from perfect. After all Caitlin had told him about that scally builder who was working on the house across the road who had shagged Wendy whilst her husband was out.
'I thought he was killing a pig,' Caitlin giggled although she hadn't found it funny at the time as she was working nights when Wendy's bit of rough woke her up.
Snatching the phone from his pocket Calam speed dialled Coral and waited for eternity until Coral picked up.
'Where are you?'
'Outside the door,' laughed Coral as the gang waded in bemused at the thunderous looks. After all they had a whale of a time being out on their bikes and exploring. Somehow grown-ups were just too serious and hard work as Jane's Mum made excuses and took her daughter home.
'I'll call tomorrow,' Coral shouted as she took a swig of Pepsi-Max and was oblivious to the daggers Wendy gave Caitlin and Calam.
'Did you get the loaf?' Calam asked.
'Oh shit!'
'Don't swear!' Calam said as Caitlin giggled which made Coral warm a bit more to her Dad's girlfriend.
'How do you know it's a swear word?'
Hey, less of the cheek. Get back on your bike and get the loaf.'
Coral's mouth was wide-open in frustration as her other friends laughed. 'But, but we've just got back and we're going to do glitter pictures.'
'You can do that after you've got my loaf.'
'I'll need some money.'
'Have you blown all the money I gave you?' Caitlin asked.
'Okay,' sighed Coral smirking. It was worth a try although her cheek did pay off as her Dad gave her a fiver to get the loaf and more treats.'
'And don't be long!' Calam shouted. 'The shop is only down the road.'
'Kids hey?' Caitlin laughed.
'Yeah,' smiled Calam. 'To think we were once that age.'
'I know,' Caitlin laughed as she put her arm around Calam. It was a lovely evening as Coral kept her word and was back in five minutes flat and with only five pence change for her Dad!