Out Of The Mouths Of Babes

Seventeen

Seventeen

 As she approached home, Amy caught sight of Martha standing at the front door. She’d been ignoring her mother-in-law’s persistent phone calls for the past week or so, in order to avoid being advised on how best to plan Ben’s party. And since she’d designated today a party free day, she decided to drive around the block and continue her avoidance. 

But she was too late. The next instant, Martha had turned around and was waving frantically in Amy’s direction.

“Look, Mummy, it’s Nanny!” Holly said, pointing and doing her utmost to bounce up and down in the restraints of her child seat.

“Oh, yes, so it is,” Amy replied with a feeble attempt to sound happy about it.

“I’m so glad I caught you,” Martha said as she filled the kettle. This was another of Amy’s bugbears with her. Martha had taken Amy’s invitation to ‘make herself at home’ a tad too literally. On one particular occasion, she had popped round unannounced and gone straight upstairs, calling down to Amy as she went, “I’m just going to brush my hair; it’s terribly windy out there.” Which, Amy had thought, was perfectly reasonable. It was windy. So why should she not pop up to the bathroom, whip out her brush and give her hair a quick once-over. However, moments later, she had emerged, saying, “That pink hairbrush is frightful, isn’t it? I did manage to find your wooden handled one in the dressing table drawer, but to be perfectly honest with you, love, I prefer something with natural bristles.” She had then proceeded to switch on the television and park her posterior on the settee. Amy had been quite astonished, but far too embarrassed to say anything.

“Oh, was there something in particular?” Amy asked, trying not to sound too rude, “or did you just fancy a chat?”

“I always like a chat with you, sweetheart… tea of coffee?”

“Tea, please.”

“But I did want to discuss Ben’s party with you,” she continued, popping two teabags into the mugs.

“Actually, Martha, it’s all in hand, thank you,” Amy said firmly. “As a matter of fact, I’m so far ahead of myself I’m taking a break from it for a while.”

“Nonsense!” Martha declared. “There’s always something needing to be done.”

Amy drew a deep breath. “No, Martha, really, nothing needs to be done.” Martha looked disheartened. “But, thank you,” she added, feeling a little guilty. “I will let you know if there is anything.”

“Oh, Okay, love,” Martha said, handing her a mug of tea.

“Thank you,” Amy said, eyeing her with apprehension. Surely that couldn’t be the end of the conversation. She sipped her tea tentatively… Still nothing. Yes, it seemed that Martha had, for the first time in history, simply given in.

“So, how’re things with you then?” Amy asked, suddenly feeling much more hospitable towards her.

“I will just leave you with these, though,” Martha said, ignoring Amy’s question. She handed her a notebook. “Just a few suggestions for the buffet. You will be having a buffet of course?”

“Of course.”

 When she had finally gotten the children off to sleep, Amy suggested to Ben that they take a bottle of wine out into the garden. They sat on the step leading down to the lawn. The sky was a melange of reds and oranges and the evening air felt warm on their skin. “I love being outside at this time of the day,” Amy said, contemplating the stunning colours bordering the lawn.

“Hmm, it’s peaceful,” Ben observed. “This stuffs not bad actually,” he added, inspecting his wine.

“A better option than a cup of tea or a trip to the off-licence?” Amy smiled.