Chapter 37
THIRTY-SEVEN
LUNA
For a woman who used to be a delivery driver and hated every second of it, you might think that the last person I would want to see would be another delivery driver to remind me.
But I don’t mind it, as it’s much nicer to be on this side of things, receiving parcels, than it is to be handing them out.
That’s why I smile at the friendly woman who has just delivered one to my door.
I close it and carry the parcel into the kitchen while she goes back to her van.
I know what her routine will be now. She’ll be checking her route, planning the fastest way to go so she can finish as early as possible.
But she’ll only finish when all the parcels are gone from the back of her van, and it will likely be hours before that happens.
Yes, it’s safe to say that I don’t envy that woman.
I did my time as a delivery driver, but I prefer this life much better.
The life of a mum, partner, and domestic goddess.
At least that’s how I like to think of myself.
So far, Reid hasn’t said anything to correct me so I must be doing something right around the home.
‘What have you ordered now?’ Reid asks me when he sees me enter the kitchen with a small cardboard box.
‘None of your business,’ I say with a smirk. ‘But Christmas is coming up, so get used to plenty more deliveries between then and now.’
Reid rolls his eyes before going back to his breakfast, which is a bacon sandwich I cooked for him as a treat because that’s just the kind of perfect partner that I am.
There are also a few pieces of bacon sitting on the side for Arthur and Ruby too, but as usual, they are taking a long time to come downstairs.
The pair of them always seem to take longer than needed to get their school uniforms on and make an appearance at the breakfast table.
I tend to find this part of the day the most stressful.
It’s the part of the day when I’m dealing with the consequences of another night of unsettled sleep with Jude, so all I want at this hour is coffee and quiet.
But while I might be able to make myself a hot mug of caffeine, there is no quiet, not with Arthur and Ruby running around upstairs, and it certainly won’t be quiet when they eventually make it down to join us.
But before that happens, Reid usually has to make several trips to the bottom of the stairs to call up to his children and give them a warning about how much trouble they will be in if they don’t hurry up and get ready faster.
That shouting only makes my morning migraines worsen, and I find myself counting down the minutes until everyone but Jude leaves this house to go to work or school. But until then, it’s a testing time.
Reid seems to be delaying the inevitable, savouring his bacon sandwich rather than shouting up the staircase.
With Jude happy in the pram by the window, where he likes to lie and look out at the treetops swaying in the wind in the back garden, I take the opportunity to sit at the table and sip my coffee.
I also take the opportunity to give Reid the pep talk that I know he needs before his very important lunch date.
‘Are you all set to see Sadie?’ I ask him.
‘Yeah,’ he mumbles unconvincingly between bits of bacon and, as I suspected, he does need a little reminder of who is the boss between them.
‘Like I said yesterday, you need to go and see her and be firm but fair. Tell her that we would like to take the children away on holiday this Christmas and, remember, you’re not asking, you are simply being polite and keeping her in the loop.
You don’t need her permission, because you have custody of the kids. ’
‘She still has rights as their parent,’ Reid says.
‘Yes, but she lost a lot of them with all the crazy things she did, like driving drunk with them in the car or attacking me while they slept upstairs. She knows it as well as we do. She can’t argue over this because we have been playing nice with her so far.
But we can play nasty if she’d prefer, and somehow, I don’t think she’d like that. ’
Reid listens to everything I am telling him, and I feel a bit like a coach giving one last pep talk to their players before the big game.
Reid is going to his ex-wife to tell her that we are not going to be here this Christmas, and she will have to make do with seeing the children when we are back from our holiday.
We haven’t actually booked it yet, despite my desire to do it already, and that’s because Reid wants to tell Sadie first. I said okay, do it, but on one condition.
He does a good job of it.
‘She’s really not going to like this,’ Reid says as he finishes his sandwich and wipes a little bit of ketchup from the corner of his mouth. ‘She’ll miss the children terribly, and any extra stress might affect her recovery.’
‘I’m sure you didn’t like it when you found out she had recklessly endangered your children’s lives by getting behind the wheel of a car whilst drunk,’ I say.
‘And I sure didn’t like it when she slashed at me with a knife.
But we got over it, so I’m sure she can get over this, considering this is the least harmful thing to happen out of the three. ’
Reid lets out a sigh and pushes his empty plate away from him, and I do sympathise with him. He is the man in the middle between two very strong-willed women, and it can’t be easy to be him. But if he only knew how hard it was to be me, I’m sure he’d take his problems over mine in a heartbeat.
‘Okay, I’ll do it,’ Reid says.
‘That’s my man,’ I reply before leaning across the table and giving him a kiss.
‘I better chase up the kids,’ he says, wearily getting out of his seat to go and perform the same routine that marks all of our weekday mornings.
As I hear him shouting in the hallway, urging Arthur and Ruby to hurry up or they’re all going to be late, I sit back in my chair and comfort myself with my coffee.
The caffeine is kicking in, and while my headache will be kicking in soon if Arthur and Ruby don’t hurry up and get to school, I know it’s not long now until it’s just me and Jude here.
I love our alone time.
No stress, no drama, just us two and the whole day ahead of us.
As for Reid, I fear he’s got plenty of stress to come before the day is out.