Take a Chance (10 page)

Eben.

It said something that she was too tired to care. She lethargically peeled off her clothes and fumbled under the pillow for her nightshirt. Not finding it, she decided to put on something of Eben’s rather than switch on the light to search for her nightshirt and have the possibility of him waking to see her there naked.

In the first drawer she opened she found a pair of pyjamas. Too exhausted to cover more than what was essential she slipped Eben’s pyjama top over her head then crawled between the sheets of what had become her side of the bed. Pulling the blankets over her shoulders, she quickly succumbed to sleep.

Jem felt the bed shudder beneath her as though she were in an earthquake. Then a childish voice yelled “Wakey, wakey,” and a weight dropped on her stomach.

Her eyes flew open as the weight rolled off her.

Aidan
.

“Aunty Jem, Uncle Eben! There’s someone at the door!” Jeremy called out from the next room.

A moment of panic surged. She had forgotten to set the alarm clock when she had snuggled up to Eben.

What’s the time?

Scrambling out of bed Jem grabbed her dressing gown and glanced at the clock then snatched Aidan mid-jump before he could land on Eben. It was ten to eight, later than she would have liked but still possibly enough time to get Jeremy ready and off to school before the bell rang.

If she hurried.

She looked at Eben to see how he was handling the disturbance. He had burrowed further under the covers.

Not a morning person.

He
had spent his days helping her between his unexplained absences and although she knew he stayed in the house with the children while she was at the hospital, whatever he spent his nights doing after they went to sleep kept him up very late. Jem still couldn’t bring herself to believe he’d spent his days surfing in the miserable weather despite the surfboard attached to his roof rack.

Feeling generous to
wards him for letting her sleep in yesterday she decided he deserved to rest.

She closed the bedroom door behind her and put Aidan down in the family room. Nearby, Drongo looked at her then trotted towards the kitchen. When she didn’t follow he returned, caught her eye as she crossed the room and trotted towards the kitchen again.

Follow me. I know where the food is.

Jem ignored him and moved down the hall. Scurrying across the chilly tiled entry floor she wished she had taken the time to put her
ugg boots on. A long buzz from the doorbell followed by insistent rapping indicated the person outside had been waiting a while.

“Just a moment,” she called as she
quickly tied her dressing gown shut then fiddled with the safety lock on the door.

She flung open the door and found a large hulk of a man with a tattooed face and piercings through his eyebrow on her doorstep. Little daylight made it past his huge frame. He looked like something found in the dark alley of a nightmare.

For once I hope the kids make enough noise to wake Eben so he can save them and be able to collect my body parts for a proper cremation,
Jem thought wildly.

“Are you J. Flint?” the harsh voice belonging to the tattooed face asked then coughed.

“Yes, I’m Jem Flint,” Jem said, trying to hide her fear.

Better yet
,
I should’ve woken Eben up last night and had my way with him. At least then something worth seeing would have flashed before my eyes before I died.

The tattooed man’s fist came up and Jem flinched but then it turned to cover his mouth as he continued to cough. It sounded like phlegm was making its way up his throat. He caught her eye just as he was going to spit it out and swallowed instead.

“Sorry about that. We have loads off work with the ‘flu so I got dragged back early,” he grumbled.

Jem belatedly noticed he was wearing the uniform of a familiar courier company and smiled with relief.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she murmured.

The courier grunted in response as he picked up a large chillybin by his feet and handed it to her. He tugged down his beanie and rubbed his bare hands together to warm them up.

“I was told to tell you to put this in the freezer as soon as possible,” he said.

“What is it?”

“Dunno but sign here.”

He passed her a touch screen which would record her signature electronically. “It’s cold as a witch’s t- toes out here,” he amended seeing Aidan sidle up to Jem and wrap his arms around her legs
then tug on her belt.

Jem smiled at the way he amended his language when in front of Aidan. Appearances could be deceiving. She
put the chilly bin down inside the entry then signed the touch screen with the stylus and handed it back to the courier.

“Thanks. I hope you are feeling better soon,” she said noticing how he kept his eyes down.

“Thanks, I’ve had a good start,” he replied then jogged back to the courier van in the never ending rain and tooted the horn cheekily before backing down the driveway.

What did he mean by that?

Jem put the chillybin on the floor to close the door and lock it. She looked down and saw that her dressing gown gaped open and Eben’s pyjama top was barely long enough to be decent. Had she lifted her arms while he was looking? What had happened to her dressing gown belt?

Aidan!

“Aunty Jem! Aidan’s strangling me!”

Jem swiftly walked into the family room and saw her belt around Daisy’s neck with Aidan holding both ends behind her.

“Giddy-up horsie,” yelled Aidan.

Just then the guest bedroom door opened and Eben came out wearing only pyjama bottoms hanging low on his hips. Jem eyed his physique appreciatively as his biceps flexed when he grabbed Aidan and freed Daisy.

He noticed Jem observing him and tightened his abdominal muscles so they became more visible. Her blue eyes lit up and he inwardly cheered. Despite his failure last night to stay awake until she returned she was still interested.

Since they had an audience it was best to play it cool.

“What’s going on out here?” he asked.

“A parcel arrived for me.”

“Did you get a present?” asked Daisy.

“I think it is something for tomorrow evening,” said Jem, not wanting to use the word p
resentation and get more questions.

“Where is it?” Eben asked.

“By the front door. I’ll get it,” Jem said.

Part way out of the room she paused and turned around.

“I’m sorry you were woken up but before you go back to bed would you please help me get the kids ready for school?”

Eben looked at her gaping robe and smiled
, dimple twinkling merrily and grey eyes flashing to dark blue.

“Sure.”

By the time Eben came back downstairs with the children fully dressed he was disappointed to see Jem now dressed in a skivvy, jersey and jeans. She was looking with bemusement at a large ice sculpture of a swan which now sat on the unpturned chilly bin lid beside the boy’s bowls filled with their usual cereals. Eben left them to get dressed himself.

“What is it?” Daisy asked, looking at the sculpture.

“Duck,” said Aidan as he sat down and spilled cereal on his lap. Jem picked the bits of cereal up and dropped them back in the bowl before adding the milk.

“No, it’s a swan, idiot,” said Jeremy as he sat beside the sculpture and waited for Jem to pour milk on his cereal.

“Don’t call your brother names,” Jem said as the microwave beeped. She removed a bowl of porridge from the microwave and placed it in front of the remaining empty seat for Daisy.

“I want to sit by the swan,” said Daisy.

“Jeremy’s beside it,” said Jem.

“I
never
get to sit beside the swan,” said Daisy sadly.

Jem sighed and tugged Daisy’s chair around the corner of the breakfast bar, partly blocking access to the kitchen. She put the cereal bowl down beside the swan. Daisy climbed into the seat.

“Thanks Aunty Jem.”

Jem ruffled her hair.

“No problem, Daze,” she said.

For the next few minutes it was relatively quiet as the children ate and Jem
started on the school lunches by setting up the popcorn maker since it would be faster than making all the varieties of sandwiches they preferred. She deposited mini packets of chips and brownies she had made yesterday into each lunchbox then added baby carrots to make up for the treats. Aidan ate at home but he liked having a “big-kid’s lunch” like his brother and sister so she did one for him as well.

By this time the popcorn was ready so she poured it into the biggest compartments of the lunchboxes then clicked the lids shut. She was halfway through filling the children’s water bottles when Aidan started making funny noises and Daisy giggled.

“What’s going on?” Jem asked without turning away from the tap filling the bottle.

“Jeremy dared us to lick the swan and now Aidan’s stuck to it,” Daisy told her.

Jem put the bottle on the kitchen bench and turned around to see Aidan’s tongue firmly attached halfway up the swan’s neck. His little hands reached up to grab the swan’s neck.

“No!” Jem cried but it was too late. His hands were stuck too.

Eben returned in time to witness Aidan’s hands getting stuck. He turned around and ran back to the bedroom.

“Where are you going?” called Jem.

“To get my camera,” Eben called back.

“Why do you want to do that?”

“Are you kidding?” said Eben as he returned and tried to find a spot to photograph Aidan in all his stuck glory. “This is better than Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby. Think of how much fun we can have showing this to his future girlfriends and at his twenty-first.”

“That’s mean,” said Jem above the din of Aidan trying to howl his protest about being attached to the swan.

Daisy stuck her head beside Aidan’s and smiled at the camera.

“Out of the way, Daze,” Eben said.

“I
never
-”

“We know,” said Eben and Jem.

Eben clicked off a few shots from different angles then put down the camera and patted Aidan on the head.

“Just think, in a few years you’ll be able to have a laugh about this,” he said. “And if you don’t, well, we still will.”

Jem tried not to snort as she answered her cell phone which had started playing
Ode to Joy
.

“Has the swan turned up?”

As usual, Mark went straight into the conversation without the usual polite greetings. For the first time it annoyed Jem.

“Yes, it has,” she said and tried not to wince as Eben picked up the swan and Aidan at the same time and squeezed past Daisy’s chair, while Aidan whimpered in the process.

“Why couldn’t it have waited until tomorrow?”

“Shop closes at lunch time for the weekend – you were lucky I managed to get it on this courier run otherwise you would have had to go and pick it up.”

Not in this lifetime.

“Where am I supposed to store it?” she asked politely, feeling very impolite about where she wanted to put it.

“In the freezer, obviously,” said Mark with ill-concealed impatience. “Your sister has kids, she’s bound to have a big freezer.”

“Her freezers are chocka – that’s why I’m asking,” Jem told him as she tried to adjust Aidan’s position on the kitchen bench to make him more comfortable while Eben settled the swan in the sink and poured warm tap water over Aidan’s tongue and fingers.

“So shuffle things around a bit. It’s not like you have much else to do seeing as you’re at home with your sister’s kids while I’m here doing your job as well.”

“I’m not exactly sitting on my hands here,” she told Mark in a raised voice.

Beside her Eben raised his eyebrows in question. She caught his eye and shook her head, indicating it wasn’t something to worry about.

“Sorry, you’re right,” Mark said in a more conciliatory tone. “I’ve got several deadlines to meet and everyone seems to want me to do extra things for them.”

“I know how you feel,” said Jem “but we have a problem in that my sister’s home isn’t exactly geared up to double as a conference centre.”

“But we’re not using the house,” Mark said.

“Oh? You’ve found somewhere better?” Jem asked feeling relieved.

“We talked about it yesterday, remember? We’re going to set a marquee up on the back lawn,
with gas heaters, servery, screen and projector for my power point presentation… the works,” Mark reminded her.

“You can’t do that here,” Jem protested.

“Jem, your sister’s home has the only lawn big enough for a marquee,” Mark said patiently. “Martha’s place has a fussy garden…”

“It’s called landscaping,” Jem interrupted.

“And Nate lives in a penthouse,” Mark continued. “I did consider asking some of our co-workers but not to be rude or anything they don’t live in the right areas.”

“What about Evie?” Jem asked, thinking of one of their reps.

“Evie’s flatting and have you met her flatmates? I doubt there’d be any alcohol left by the time the presentation started.”

“They know how to have a good time,” Jem said defensively.

“We’re not doing this to have a good time,” Mark said with less patience than before. “We’re doing this to make a great impression on our potential clients.”

“
And impression is what they’ll get. The rain’s made all the grass squishy to walk on,” Jem pointed out.