‘Morning!’ Georgie exclaimed as Nick opened the front door.
He looked half asleep, which was to be expected considering he was only half awake. He squinted at her. ‘What are you doing here so early?’
‘Did I wake you?’ she chirruped, walking past him into the house.
He turned around, closing the door. ‘You have to get up a lot earlier in the morning to earn that jersey in this household.’
Georgie pranced over to where Grace was sitting in her highchair. ‘Hello cotton bud,’ she said, kissing the top of her head, as it appeared to be the only part of her niece that wasn’t smeared with soggy Weet-Bix. She slapped the newspapers down on the table and almost skipped across to the kitchen. ‘I’ll put coffee on, shall I?’
Nick was scratching the back of his head when Louise drifted down the hall in her dressing gown.
‘Lulu, there’s a strange woman in the kitchen pretending to be my sister, but she’s not fooling me. Clearly she’s an impostor,’ he pointed accusingly. ‘Make the bad lady go away,’ he whined.
‘Hidey ho, Louise,’ Georgie sang, pulling up the kitchen blind. ‘Have you seen what a beautiful morning it is out there?’
‘Oh God,’ drawled Louise.
‘What’s up with her?’ Nick scowled.
‘I have a feeling she’s had sex.’
He screwed up his face in distaste, rushing to the highchair. ‘Jeez Louise, don’t say the “s” word, there’s a child in the room. Not to mention Grace,’ he added, covering her ears.
‘You got it in one, Louise,’ Georgie declared.
Louise put her hands on her hips. ‘Well, what do you know? He finally came through.’
‘That’s an understatement.’
‘Okay, there’s no need to skite.’
‘Oh, yes there is,’ said Georgie turning on the tap to fill the kettle, ‘and that particular shade of green-with-envy does not become you.’
Nick plonked himself on the nearest chair and dropped his head on the table. ‘You were a lot easier to take when you were desperate and dateless,’ he muttered. ‘The sex has clearly gone to your head.’
‘Sex sex sex sex sex,’ chanted Grace, banging her spoon on the tray of the highchair.
‘See, now look what’s happening,’ said Nick. ‘She sounds like a backing singer for Kylie Minogue.’
‘Where’s Molly?’ asked Georgie, noticing her absence.
‘Zan and Jules had her overnight,’ Louise explained.
‘I think they’re playing mummies and . . . mummies,’ Nick added. ‘I tried to tell them they’d get more realistic work experience with the one that wakes through the night and wears a nappy to bed. I get the feeling they think this baby is going to come out toilet-trained, speaking in sentences and dressing itself.’
Georgie frowned. ‘Has something happened I don’t know about?’
‘Well, let’s see.’ Nick picked up the newspaper and scanned the headlines. ‘Arab-Israeli peace talks at a stalemate . . . Reserve Bank making noises about interest rates . . . Could you narrow down what the something might be that you don’t know about?’
‘I’m referring to Zan and Jules,’ she persisted, ignoring Nick and turning instead to Louise where she had a chance of getting a sensible answer. ‘Are they pregnant?’
‘Not as yet,’ she replied. ‘I think they both assumed it was going to be a lot easier.’
‘I don’t know what their problem is,’ said Nick. ‘We just hung our underwear on the same stretch of clothesline and next thing . . .’
‘I let him believe that,’ Louise winked at Georgie, coming into the kitchen. ‘Then he doesn’t suspect the tradesmen.’
‘What tradesmen?’ Nick scoffed. ‘I’m the only tradesman around this place.’
‘That’s debatable.’
The kettle boiled and Georgie filled the coffee plunger and carried it across to the table. She started to whistle as she walked back to the fridge for the milk.
‘Okay, that’s it, Georgie,’ said Nick. ‘I can take chirpy, just. But not whistling, not before . . .’ He peered across at the clock on the wall, ‘. . . actually not ever.’
He watched her pouring the coffee. ‘So now that you’ve consummated your relationship with Mr Big, when am I going to get to meet him?’
‘Today.’
‘Today?’ Louise and Nick chorused.
‘That’s right.’
‘Where?’
‘Here.’
‘He’s coming here?’ said Nick.
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘To meet you of course.’
‘I mean, what made him finally decide to grace us with his presence?’
‘Don’t say it like that,’ Georgie chided, pulling a chair out from the table and sitting down. ‘Actually, our relationship turned a corner last night.’
‘Yes, we know, you finally had sex,’ Louise said bluntly, wielding a wet facewasher at Grace.
‘Sex, sex, sex, sex–’ Gracie clapped along this time.
‘Shh! No, Gracie, no sex!’ said Louise, making eye contact with her and shaking her head firmly.
‘That’s right,’ said Nick. ‘Listen to your mother. No sex, Gracie. Sex is bad!’
Louise rolled her eyes as she lifted her daughter out of the highchair and popped her onto the floor. Grace toddled off up the hall.
‘So, go on, Georgie, you turned a corner,’ Louise prompted her. ‘Where did you end up?’
‘Well last night, Liam told me he’s in love with me,’ she said, finding it impossible to keep the smile off her face.
Nick folded his arms. ‘Well, I should hope so.’
‘We’ve only been going out a couple of months,’ Georgie reminded him.
‘Are you in love with him?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘So are you having a “relationship” yet?’ asked Louise.
‘That’s what I meant about turning a corner. It changes everything. We’re taking things to another level.’
‘Hold on,’ said Nick. ‘I’m getting dizzy. What are you doing, turning around or going up?’
Georgie sighed. ‘I don’t know. Perhaps we’re moving forward.’
Nick rubbed his eyes. ‘I hope you two have got a compass.’
Grace appeared at the end of the hallway. ‘Molly gone,’ she announced soberly, holding her arms out. She must have been searching the house for her sister.
‘Come here, sweetheart.’ Grace ambled across to her father and he picked her up onto his lap. ‘Molly stayed with Aunty Zan last night, remember? She’s bringing her home soon, okay?’
Grace was listening to him intently but her expression was blank. She always looked the same, rarely was she particularly impressed or particularly bothered by what anyone told her. They were never quite sure if she understood at all, or if she understood much more than they realised. Probably the latter.
‘Gracie outside,’ she said solemnly, before scrambling down off his lap. Nick stood up and slid the back door open as she toddled out.
‘So where is Mr Big anyway?’ he asked. ‘Didn’t he have the decency to spend the night?’
‘Yes, he did. He’s meeting me back here, and you’re not going to call him that when he does, are you?’
‘Call him what?’
‘Mr Big.’
‘What’s his name again?’
‘Don’t be smart,’ Georgie chided. ‘Liam had to go off and make some calls and . . . oh, whatever it is he does,’ she said dismissively. ‘So I thought I’d give you a heads-up that he was coming. See if I couldn’t help out some way.’
‘Help do what exactly?’ Louise frowned.
‘Well, I don’t know, I thought you’d give us lunch at least.’
‘But you can’t cook,’ Nick reminded her.
‘I know that, I’m not expecting anything fancy, it’s only lunch. I can chop and slice and stuff like that.’
Nick and Louise regarded her with suspicion.
‘You just want to impress your boyfriend,’ said Louise. ‘You’re going to slice a couple of tomatoes and tear up a head of lettuce and then when Liam arrives you’ll take all the credit.’
‘I’m hurt,’ said Georgie. ‘Okay, if you don’t need me in the kitchen, then I’ll clean the bathroom, or polish the silver–’
‘What silver?’ Nick frowned.
‘What makes you think our bathroom needs cleaning?’ asked Louise.
‘And when would you ever have noticed before?’ Nick added, raising an eyebrow.
‘This is because of Liam,’ said Louise, folding her arms. ‘You want to polish us, not the silver.’
‘What silver?’ Nick asked again.
‘Louise!’ Georgie declared. ‘It’s not like that, I’m just so excited that he’s coming here and Nick’s finally going to get to meet him. I don’t care about the bathroom, you know that. Don’t take offence.’
‘Too late,’ Louise said airily.
‘I’m the one who should be offended,’ said Nick. ‘It’s my housekeeping skills that are being brought into question here.’
Georgie leaned over and put an arm around her brother. ‘No one is being judged, okay? Liam’s the one who’s nervous. You should see him, he’s so sweet, he really wants to make a good impression. And I just want him to know how wonderful and special you all are, okay?’
Nick smiled at her. ‘I understand.’
‘So you will have a shower, wash your hair, shave?’
‘Okay, now I’m offended.’