A Lesser Evil - Lesley Pearse [198]
As the waiters removed the dishes after the main course, Dan got to his feet and tapped a fork on a glass for everyone’s attention. A great deal of wine had been drunk with the meal and they were all very mellow.
‘I’d like to just say a few words, if you can stand it,’ Dan said. He looked down at Fifi’s upturned face beside him and smiled. ‘Being here with you all tonight means more to me than I can say. It’s the acceptance that for better or worse I am Fifi’s husband. I know it’s been all worse so far, but things are improving – Clara’s even stopped seeing me as a Teddy boy!’
Everyone laughed, including Clara, for they all knew that had been one of her favourite insults in the past.
Dan looked at Clara fondly. ‘Teddy boys ceased to exist some eight years ago. If you want to move with the times, Ma, you’re going to have to tell people I’m a rocker.’
There was more laughter, especially from the younger family members.
‘Fifi and I have had what could only be called an eventful first year, but not all of it was bad,’ Dan went on, looking round the table at each of the faces that were now his family too. ‘We got married because we couldn’t bear to be apart, and a year and a bit on, we still feel that way. I hope we’ll still be the same when we get to our golden anniversary.’ He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small package wrapped in pink tissue paper. ‘The actual anniversary day passed at the wrong time for me to make a grand gesture. Fifi told me that the first anniversary is ‘paper’; so I gave her a card. But that makes me look like a cheapskate. Well, this was cheap too, but I did put a lot of effort into making it.’
He handed the present to Fifi, who quickly unwrapped it.
‘Oh, Dan!’ she exclaimed as she found it was a small papier mâché heart on a pink ribbon, decorated with tiny pink flowers. ‘It’s gorgeous. You couldn’t have made it yourself !’
‘I did,’ he insisted, turning a little pink. ‘If you don’t believe me you can check your dad’s shed tomorrow. All the rejects are still in there.’
As Fifi looked closer she saw each tiny flower had been cut out, perhaps from a seed catalogue, and stuck on, then the whole thing had been varnished so it looked like a Victorian heirloom. It was quite the most exquisite thing she’d ever been given, and even more precious because he’d made it without her knowing.
‘Wait till I get you home,’ she whispered in his ear. ‘I’ll show my appreciation then. But right now you’d better tell them the other news!’
Dan tapped a glass again. ‘Just one more thing!’ He looked round the table with a big smile. ‘Fifi and I have some great news for you all. We’re having a baby!’
Fifi had been watching her parents as Dan spoke; she saw the surprise on their faces, and waited to see if it was an unwelcome one. But Harry leaped to his feet with uncharacteristic excitement, while Clara clapped her hands over her mouth and tears of joy welled up in her eyes.
‘Whoopee!’ Patty yelled. ‘I’m going to be an auntie!’
‘It was almost worth going through all those bad times for this,’ Dan whispered to Fifi a little later. There was so much joy from everyone, excited discussions about names for the baby, whether a girl or a boy would be best. Harry said he thought he’d make a better grandfather than he had a dad, Clara was just smiling and smiling as if a long awaited dream had just come true.
No one had asked questions about where they were going to live, or did they know what babies really meant. They had all taken the news in the way Fifi had hoped for but not expected – that a new baby to join the family was a very special gift to them all.
Another hour later, everyone was a little drunk. The dinner had been wonderful, and as it had been years since Harry’s brother and Clara’s sisters had been together, they were making up for lost time catching up on all the news. Even Robert and Michael, the cousins, who had at first looked as if they were prepared for the most boring evening of their lives, were chatting and laughing with their relatives as if they were with their own friends.