And Baby Makes Two - Dyan Sheldon [53]
I gave her a look. “With Shinola?”
Shanee shrugged. “I thought maybe Les could look after her for a couple of hours. Give you a break.”
“I don’t need a break,” I said quickly. “I’ve never been happier.” I bounced Shinola on my knee. “As far as I’m concerned, this is what life is all about. Anyway, Saturday’s no good for Les. He’s really busy at weekends.”
Shanee stopped staring into her tea to see what else was in there and stared at me.
“Well, what about Saturday night?” she pushed. “Gerri’s parents are away for the weekend and she’s having a party. Shinola could sleep in one of the bedrooms.”
The thought of being at a party with Shinola was even worse than the thought of being at a party without Les.
“What about New Year? My mum and her new bloke are taking the brats to Wales straight after Christmas and I’m allowed to have some friends over.”
I laughed. “Your mother has a bloke?”
I’d never seen Shanee’s mother with her hair combed, never mind make-up. Who’d be interested in her?
Shanee grinned. “It’s wild, isn’t it? But you know what the best part is? Derek’s a dentist. Can you believe it? They met in an Oxfam shop. They were both after the same jacket.”
I couldn’t believe that a dentist would fall for a woman with four kids whose idea of getting dressed up was to wear a flannel shirt over her T-shirt and jeans.
I sighed. “Christ… Things don’t always turn out like you think they will, do they?”
“Almost never,” said Shanee. “But the point is, that gives you plenty of time to sort out a baby-sitter.” She looked so chuffed you’d think she’d won the lottery. “Derek’s even giving me money for food. Isn’t that excellent?”
“For God’s sake, it’s only November, Shanee. I can’t think that far ahead.” I was barely able to think about tomorrow, I was always so worn out by today.
Shinola’s fist swung out to knock my mug off the table and spill weak but scalding tea over both of us, but I managed to grab her just before she made contact.
“Me and Shinola live one day at a time.”
If you could call it living.
Shanee’s eyes sort of darted around the room. I could tell that she didn’t call it living either, but all she said was, “Well, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, the holiday season has already begun.” She grinned. “Party, party, party… Be there or be square…”
“I don’t know…”
Even though I hadn’t thought about it, I knew I wanted to spend New Year’s Eve with Les. He had a green linen suit he bought in the sales that he wore for special occasions. I hadn’t seen it, but he’d told me all about it. I reckoned I’d get something blue to complement it. Les wouldn’t want to hang out in a council flat with a bunch of teenagers, but maybe we could drop by for half an hour. So everyone could get a good look at him and eat their hearts out. It didn’t matter any more if he found out I was younger than he thought. He was going to find out when we went for our marriage licence anyway, wasn’t he?
“I’ll have to check with Les. He may have other plans.”
Shanee scraped some dried formula from the table with a long purple nail. I’d had to cut all my own nails short so I didn’t stab Shinola.
“I thought Les went to his mother’s for Christmas,” said Shanee. “In Norfolk.”
“Norwich,” I corrected. “But that was last year. This year he may not go.”
He hadn’t actually said he wouldn’t, but I couldn’t believe he’d want to miss his daughter’s first Christmas. Not even if his mother did make the best fruit-cake in Britain.
“Whatever,” said Shanee. “Let me know.”
Now that she’d brought it up, Christmas was stuck in my mind. I had this flash of me and Shinola in identical outfits, sitting around the tree with Les. I could always get a fruit-cake from Marks and Sparks.
“What do you think about me and Shinola dressing alike for Christmas?” I dug my spoon in the sugar and lifted it towards my mug. “I saw this picture in one of the Sundays and the mother and daughter both had the same velvet and lace dresses.”
Shinola squirmed and the sugar went flying.
“I think oilskin might