The Gift of Girls

Chapter Eleven: George

Gina rang, out of the blue.

I had been feeding Serenity a bottle of Ribena (away from any carpet, white or otherwise) when I heard the phone in the hall ring. I was a bit too preoccupied to answer it, so I waited for someone else to do it. Paul happened to have just walked in the door, looking red-faced and sheepish. He can't resist answering a telephone when it's ringing. He swooped in, snatched it up on the fifth ring and said in a polite, shop-assistant type voice, "Hello, Paul speaking".

I rolled my eyes at his tone and went back to feeding Serenity, but I kept an ear out to listen in on his conversation. (I'm nosy like that.) Nothing very exciting went on during that first minute; Paul murmuring and saying "uh huh" repeatedly. Then I heard him tell the person on the other end of the line to hold for a minute.

"George!" Paul called. "Phone's for you!"

"I'm a bit busy at the moment!" I replied, trying hard to balance both the bottle and my extremely wriggly baby. "Is it important?"

"I don't know. Possibly," Paul said in a weird, giggly voice. I started to worry. He only uses that tone of voice when a woman or a baby is involved. As far as I'm concerned, baby's can't use telephones.

"Who's on the phone?" I asked anxiously.

"Why don't you come and find out?"

Definitely not a good sign.

"Can't they just call back?" I said.

"They say it's urgent," Paul replied.

 I sighed heavily, set the bottle down, got up and went out into the hallway; Serenity was balanced on my hip. Paul was standing by the hallway table, phone pressed against his ear and a big, stupid grin on his face. He unlatched the phone from his face (leaving him with an impressive imprint on the side of his head) and handed it over to me.

"Who the hell is it?" I asked, taking it with my free hand.

"You'll see," said Paul, and he walked away, chuckling under his breath.

I raised my eyebrows skeptically and watched him go. The phone was buzzing in my hand but I didn't want to answer it just yet. I was still trying to interpret Paul's odd behaviour; who on earth could be calling to make him act in such a weird way? Serenity reached out and snatched the telephone in her sticky little hands. She then proceeded to shove the receiver into her mouth. I grabbed it back before she could dribble all over it.

"Bah!" Serenity protested, making a grab for this new plaything. I held it out of her reach, wiped the slightly damp earpiece on my jeans and held it up to my ear. My hands were shaking and the plastic was so slippery with nervous sweat that I nearly dropped it.

"Ahem, hello?" I said in a false, bright tone.

"Hello? George?"

"Gina!" My throat was so dry I could barely speak.

"What's up with your voice? You sound awful. Have you got a cold?"

Gina's voice sounded so normal. It made things a lot easier, but I was still cautious.

"No, I haven't got a cold," I said.

"That's good," said Gina. "So... how are you?"

"Fine. Well, Serenity has been giving me a bit of grief lately. She hardly slept a wink last night, but I think she's teething so maybe she's got some excuse. As for the other lads, John's being dead cheeky and Paul's forever complaining. Ringo's been a real pal, though."

"Sounds like me and Rhiannon. She and I generally get along the best."

"What about Jodie and Polly?"