Chapter Nine #2
“Marley texted not long ago. He and Autumn are on their way over with Benjamin,” Maddie said.
Pip’s eyes lit up, though Maddie was sure she saw his eyes flit in the direction of Bowie’s old bedroom.
She wondered if anyone would ever think about Marley without remembering Bowie, too.
She doubted it. She wondered if that ever bothered Marley.
“Autumn said you’re all Benjamin talks about since she told him you were coming home,” Maddie added.
“He’s desperate to introduce you to Pigglesworth Snortimer,” James concurred. Pip laughed at the name like he always did, shaking his head.
“How’s the pig getting on?” Pip asked.
“He’s quite well behaved, actually,” Maddie said. “He roams around the garden all day with James’ dog, Stevie, and he mainly keeps out of trouble. Every now and then he’ll misbehave, usually if someone is in the garden and he thinks they have food. He’s growing really fast!”
“I can’t believe we have a pig now,” Pip said with a grin.
“I can,” Maddie and James said together.
“You guys are finishing each other’s sentences already?” Pip teased, gleefully. “Cute!”
Maddie opened her mouth to tell Pip off, but before she could get out a word, the back door opened and Marley, Autumn and Benjamin announced their arrival with delighted shrieks and arms that beckoned for Pip.
He obliged, hugging them all one by one.
He started with Benjamin and then went back to him at the end, picking him up and kissing him all over his face. Benjamin giggled.
“I heard there’s a pig you want to show me?” Pip said.
“Yes, there’s a pig in the garden,” Benjamin said.
“Wanna show me now?”
Benjamin nodded, pointing at the back door.
Pip hitched his nephew further onto his hip and headed for the garden, reaching out to squeeze Marley’s arm as he passed.
Maddie saw Marley catch Autumn’s eye and beam.
Pip and Marley falling out had been so incredibly hard.
Pip had been the main slinger of vitriol.
He’d said things so terrible Maddie had been sure Marley would never forgive him.
But he had, almost instantly, every single time.
Maddie wasn’t sure exactly when things had righted themselves.
Benjamin had helped, she was sure of it.
Even when things had been so bad Pip and Marley could not be in the same room together, Marley had been eager to ensure Pip and Benjamin had a relationship, and Pip — despite his anger — had appreciated that.
Slowly, over time, her brothers had become cordial, then warm, then friendly, and now it looked like they might almost be back to being loving brothers.
Without meaning to, Maddie turned to James and smiled.
He caught her eye and smiled back, though she knew he had no idea what they were beaming about.
“I brought my guitar,” James told Marley.
“Oh, amazing — I brought mine!” Marley fished his car keys out of his jacket pocket. Maddie and Autumn groaned. “You used to think my guitar playing was sexy,” Marley reminded his fiancée.
“That was before you did it several hours a day every day for five years,” Autumn said. Maddie laughed.
Marley frowned. “OK, when we get home, I’m burning your books, then.” He ducked Autumn’s playfully swiping hand and slipped out of the house through the back door. Autumn looked fondly after him, shaking her head.
“Have you seen the wedding altar we’ve built, Autumn?” James asked, pouring her a glass of wine.
Autumn shook her head. “Not in the flesh. Marley showed me some pictures — it looks so beautiful.”
Autumn was saying the right things, but Maddie got the distinct impression she had no real interest in talking about the wedding — she couldn’t blame her.
It was all anyone wanted to talk about these days.
Every time Autumn and Marley were at the house, Emma bombarded them with ideas she’d seen on Pinterest and talk of mood boards.
Autumn hadn’t said anything, but Maddie knew it was getting on her nerves.
“It is, if I do say so myself,” James said.
“How much of it did Marley build?” Autumn asked. “Because he’s telling me he contributed a fair bit, which would theoretically mean he’s more than capable of putting the TV on the wall in our bedroom, despite his protestations.”
Maddie and James laughed, but Autumn was not smiling. She pressed James for an answer by raising her eyebrows. “This feels like it might be a trap,” he said.
“The truth will set you free,” Autumn said.
The back door opened and Marley re-entered the kitchen, alongside Pip and Benjamin, whose cheeks were tinged pink from the cold. All three were smiling.
“It was too cold to be out there for long, but we gave Pigglesworth an apple,” Pip explained.
“Lovely, he likes apples,” Maddie said, holding her hands out to take Benjamin.
“His pen is beautiful,” Pip said.
“James made it.” Maddie nodded at James.
“Nice work,” Pip said and James returned his grin. “What are we doing for dinner?” Pip asked Maddie.
Maddie shrugged her shoulders. “I hadn’t even thought about it,” she admitted.
“Can we have Chinese?” Pip suggested. “I’ve been dreaming about a Peking Garden for weeks.”
“I bloody love the Peking Garden,” James said.
Emma and Ben sauntered into the kitchen.
“Me too,” Emma said. “Pip, James has your old room now, so we’ve put you in the back room. It’s the one that’s most finished.”
“Great.” Pip nodded, taking out his phone. “What does everyone want from the Chinese? I’ll order it. Usuals?”
Everyone nodded except for James, whose eyes darted to Maddie.
Maddie knew what he was thinking — he would have no idea what to add to a vegan Chinese takeaway order.
She thought about letting him squirm, but it felt mean.
True to his word, he hadn’t once eaten or worn anything non-vegan in front of her at work.
He deserved a little credit — and some help.
“Can you add some extra salt-and-pepper tofu to the order and perhaps another portion of rice with curry sauce? We have an extra mouth to feed.” Maddie nudged James.
“Oh, yes, no worries.” Pip typed the order out on his phone.
Maddie already knew what he’d be inputting, because her family had had the same order for years.
Three portions of chips, four cartons of curry sauce, three cartons of rice, two portions of vegetable spring rolls, two portions of salt-and-pepper tofu, two portions of sweet-and-sour tofu, and one Chinese broccoli stir-fry. “Are you vegan, James?” Pip asked.
“Vegetarian,” James said. Maddie reeled. This was news to her. True, they hadn’t spoken about James’ diet since she’d banned him from consuming non-vegan food in her family home — they hadn’t had cause to. But she’d expected he would tell her if he’d made such a big, relevant decision.
“There’s a chance we could convert you then,” Pip said.
“How long have you been vegetarian?” Marley asked.
“Since that day Pigglesworth escaped and found his way here,” James admitted. “It’s hard to see him — to see animals — as food anymore, you know?”
The Whittles nodded.
“Shall we move into the living room?” Maddie suggested. “It’s a little chilly in here.” She let her family filter out before her so she could hang back and check on James. “You OK?” she asked, squeezing his arm affectionately.
He nodded a yes. They followed through to the living room and found places to perch.
Maddie sat in front of the fire with Autumn and Benjamin, while James perched on the arm of the armchair Marley was sitting on over by the window.
Emma and Ben had sandwiched Pip between them on the sofa and were firing questions at him about work, his friends and his flat.
Pip, as always, was revelling in the attention.
“I heard one of your songs on Spotify the other day,” James said to Marley. “It just came on and I thought ‘I recognise that voice’, and then I realised it was you.”
Marley smiled sheepishly.
“It was really good,” James said. “I didn’t know you had music out there.”
“There’s quite a bit.” Marley nodded. “They’re demos Bowie and I made before we lost him.
He put them online before he died — the little shit.
They bring me a nice bit of income every month.
Nothing spectacular, obviously — Autumn is the breadwinner in this family by a mile — but enough considering I haven’t done anything with it in years. ”
“Did you never try to make it?” James asked. “I feel like you could have done really well.”
Marley shook his head. “I used to want it so bad. Honestly, it was all I thought about. But when Benjamin arrived, everything changed. I chased it for a little while — met some managers, did some gigs — but it meant being away from home, and that wasn’t what I wanted anymore.
I had to have some really difficult conversations with myself, and with Autumn, who, it turns out, really wanted to be the girlfriend of a rock star. ”
Autumn laughed and shook her head. “Tell the truth.”
Marley wrinkled his nose affectionately and continued.
“I had to let her down really gently. Remind her she was a parent, she couldn’t be a groupie, too.
Kidding! But in all seriousness, it did come down to the fact we’re parents.
Pursuing that dream and simultaneously spending time with my family would have meant them coming along with me.
It didn’t feel fair to drag them around.
Plus, Autumn has to be away from home sometimes for book-writing stuff.
I wanted her to have the freedom to do that.
She deserves her success — she’s a role model for little girls with big dreams — it just didn’t feel right to jeopardise all of that to chase something I didn’t care all that much about anymore. ”
“Wow,” James said, his admiration clear.