Chapter Twenty-Four
The messages were more frequent now.
Jen had spent the day holed up in her room, re-reading Wuthering Heights and getting distracted by her phone, texting Anthony about books and films and art – well, he mostly texted about art, and she agreed with whatever he was saying.
The cat had deigned to come into the room, and had even curled up on the bed nearby; not touching Jen, but tolerating her presence, at least. Jen lay on her stomach, watching the dots that indicated Anthony was replying.
They were talking about places they’d like to travel to – India, Hawaii, Azerbaijan.
The thudding of little footsteps outside the door alerted her to the imminent arrival of the children, and sure enough, Amy soon burst in, with George following behind.
‘Auntie Jen, come and see my costume for the school play, I’m going to be a angel,’ Amy said, jumping onto the bed and flinging herself onto Jen’s back. George scrambled up and lay on top of Amy, and they wriggled and giggled, and Jen laughed, as she lay under the warm weight of them.
‘OK,’ she said, rolling over and catching both children in her arms as they rocked around on top of her. She held them tightly, nuzzling George’s soft neck and kissing Amy’s pink cheeks until they squealed with laughter. ‘OK, OK. I’ll come and look.’
‘And then can we play in the snow?’ Amy asked, hopping up and down in excitement.
‘Of course. Let’s go,’ she said, letting the children drag her downstairs. Jen, Julia and George were soon settled on the sofa while Dan helped Amy into her costume. They heard her giggling from outside the door as he entered.
‘Are you ready?’ he asked, smiling proudly. ‘Then may I present, Angel Amy!’
She skipped in, wearing a white pillowcase with holes cut in for her head and arms, sparkly wings attached with elastic, and a tinsel halo that kept slipping down her face. She beamed at them.
‘Wonderful!’ Julia said. ‘Wave to the camera.’
Amy smiled and waved to Julia’s phone, then spun around in a little pirouette and gave a wobbly bow. They all clapped and cooed, and George slid off the sofa to go and hop around with her in a little dance.
Afterwards, Jen got the children all togged up in their snowsuits and they went out to the village street. The sky was clear but the snow still lay thick and smooth on the ground. There were already some children on the street, and Amy and George ran over to them.
‘Train Lady!’ Lottie called when she saw Jen.
Jen laughed. ‘What’s happening here?’
‘We’re making a snowpeople,’ Oscar said, his tongue poking through the gap in his front teeth.
‘Let’s make a family!’ Amy cried.
And so they did. With Jen encouraging and praising and helping, the children had soon rolled enough giant snowballs to make a family of snowpeople.
There was also a cat – George had been in charge of making the balls for this, which had mostly involved him trotting around after Amy shouting ‘Me-Me’ while Jen encouraged him to roll a bit of snow.
She took them all back to the house, and they raided the kitchen for carrots, the coat stand for hats and scarves, the hod for nuggets of coal. Julia and Dan helped, laughing, and came out to see the finished works of art.
And Jen, crouching in the snow, her feet wet and her fingers frozen, helped the children choose where to put the features. The faces were a little wonky, with mismatched eyes and noses that were too low or off to one side.
‘Let’s get a photo for the village WhatsApp,’ Dan said.
The children gathered, sitting on the wet ground in front of their snow family.
‘Train Lady!’ Oscar called. ‘You need to be in the picture.’
‘I’ll get her,’ Amy said, glaring at him. ‘She’s not your Train Lady, she’s my Auntie Jen.’
She dragged Jen over.
‘Will you be here for all the best things, Auntie Jen? For the Christmas fair and for when we actually all decorate the village tree? You’ll help us, won’t you?’
She turned her big, eager eyes to Jen. And Jen, who’d had no intention of staying in Babblebrook longer than the reunion weekend, who had hoped to avoid seeing Julia and the children altogether, nodded.
‘Of course,’ she said. ‘I promise I’ll be here for it all.’
And she sat down, the cold seeping through her jeans, with the children all leaning into her, their warm bodies and cold cheeks pressed against hers.
‘Say cheese!’ Dan said.
They did, and just as he was taking the picture, George trotted over and sat on Jen’s knee. ‘Ee-ee!’ he shouted, grinning.
Jen wrapped her arms around him, feeling his solid warmth in her lap, and the weight of the children that leaned against her. She was tired, wet and cold. And so very happy, so deeply settled. As she hadn’t been for years.
Dan looked at his phone to check the photo and nodded. ‘Good job, Auntie Jen,’ he said.