Warbling Dewlaps (aka Bike) Part 583 by Angharad

The soup had boiled over, but five minutes of scrubbing cleaned up the mess. There was enough for us all, possibly with a bit left over as Simon wasn’t here. I felt sad again–why did I throw him out?–seemed like a good idea, or I’m incredibly stupid? And now I’ve lost him, possibly for good. I felt my eyes want to leak some more salt water, so I wiped down the cooker once more.

After lunch, the soup was okay for all it’s boiling–or bilin’ as Tom put it–I told the girls I was going to the hospital to collect their Auntie Stella.

“Don’t forget to give your special touch to Puddin’, Mummy,” Trish whispered to me.

“I’ll see if I have time, darling, at this moment, I’m more concerned that you two behave for Gramps.”

“We will,” said Trish.

“We wiww,” parroted Meems.

“Okay, I’ll see you later.” I kissed them both and got the Golf out of its parking space. I wondered if Simon would want this back? I hoped not, it’s a lovely car and goes like a rocket.

I parked near the ward on which Stella had been. But when I went up there, she’d left, an hour before. In case she was with Henry, I popped up to his ward. He was pleased to see me and told me she’d been there but had gone probably half an hour ago.

“You’re looking tired, Cathy.”

“Yeah, Mima had a troubled night.” These lies were so easy now.

“Why was that?”

“I don’t honestly know, bad dreams, I suppose.”

“What about you and Simon?”

“What about Simon and me?” I felt my tummy somersault.

“Please don’t act stupidly, Cathy, it doesn’t befit you. He phoned me to say you’d chucked him.”

“Oh,” I felt myself blushing and wanting to cry, but I kept swallowing back the tears.

“I wondered why you’d had such a sudden attack of good taste?”

“It was silly really. I got the forms back from the gender people and I’m waiting for my new birth certificate. He asked me to marry him again, and I said yes.” I felt a tear run down my face.

“Why don’t you sit down,” he said proffering me his box of tissues.

I hadn’t wanted to stay, I felt far too guilty. “I feel so stupid,” I said as I burst into tears. He waited until I’d finished crying before he urged me to complete my story. I explained about the difference of opinion over a wedding site.

“You get married wherever you want,” he said quietly.

“What about all your traditions and stuff?”

“If you’re agreeable, we could have a blessing there afterwards. I’d like it if you wore your wedding dress for that, but it isn’t essential. Then we’d have a bun-fight at the local hotel with possibly an evening disco; that sort of thing, keeps the peasants happy.”

“Don’t know about this peasant?” I said disliking his mock arrogance.

“Ah, but you’d be elevated to the Scottish Gentry.”

“You can’t make a silk purse…”

“Au contraire, you are living proof of the possibilities, although I prefer to see you as a woman who had a plumbing problem.” I blushed; he could talk the birds out of the trees when he wanted to.

I patted my eyes dry again. I needed to find Stella and possibly get up to see Puddin’ although the way I felt, she could do with charging me up, not the other way round.

“So is it over with Simon?” he asked directly.

I shrugged, “I don’t know, perhaps. I chucked him out didn’t I?”

“So? ask him to come back.”

“He’d be hardly likely to do that would he?”

“I don’t know, you’d have to ask him that, wouldn’t you? Do you want him back?”

“Yes,” I said very quietly.

“Damn, that’s a great shame, I was going to divorce Monica and make a play myself.” His eyes were twinkling as he joked with me. “I thought you were beginning to show some taste at last with dumping that lump of lard.”

“He’s not that bad, Henry, just a bit out of shape.”

“I’m in better shape than him and I’ve got two broken legs.”

“Well you’re probably genetically leaner…”

“Nonsense, I don’t eat as much as that couch potato and I exercise more. You’ll have to make him do some exercise regularly as part of your taking the fool back.”

“I don’t even know where he is,” I shrugged.

“You could always call his mobile.”

“What if he won’t talk to me? I was pretty awful to him.”

“You’ll just have to talk to him directly, then won’t you?”

“Not if I don’t know where he is.”

“If I was to tell you where he is at this very moment, would you speak to him?”

“If he’d talk to me, yes I would.”

“What would you tell him?”

“That the girls missed him, that I missed him and that I loved him; I was sorry for being so horrid to him and I wanted to try again.”

“What do you think he’d say to you?”

“I don’t know, possibly, to get stuffed.”

“I don’t think so, do you?”

“I don’t know, Henry, I’ve been so stupid.” I was sniffing again as I fought with the tears. “You said you knew where he was?”

“Yes, he’s…”

“I’m here, Babes.”

“What?” I gasped, and spun round. Simon, was standing behind me, looking rather embarrassed.

“Hello, Babes.”

“Simon? What are you doing here?”

He shrugged, “I came to see Stella, but she’d gone home, so I came over to see Dad.”

“How long have you been standing there?”

“A couple of minutes, why?”

I glared at Henry, “You set me up,” I accused him.

“Believe me, Lassie, I didn’t, our missing couch potato just showed up, all by himself.”

“If I thought you had…”

“I told you, chuck him and I’ll do the same with Monica and we could make music together.” He laughed at my screwed up face.

“That would be like marrying Tom,” I said in distaste.

“Hey, it wouldn’t. He’s twenty years older than me,” Henry protested.

“He didn’t set us up, Babes, he isn’t clever enough for that,” Simon said very quietly.

“How dare you?” Henry glared at his son, but again he was fooling about.

“Can we go and talk, maybe grab a cuppa?”

“Alright, but I need to find out where Stella is, she’s disappeared.”

“She’ll turn up, like the bad penny she is,” Simon was not very complimentary to his sister.

“I’m worried about her, Si. She’s in a funny mood.”

“Oh geez, Cathy, she is a total pain in the arse, I spend half my sodding life running around for the stupid cow. It’s about time she grew up. Let’s get ourselves sorted, maybe we can help her afterwards.”

“What if that’s too late?”

“What for us?”

“No for her.” I pulled out my mobile and speed dialled home. In a couple of moments I’d learned that she wasn’t with Tom and the girls. “She hasn’t gone home.”

“Aw shit!” Simon cursed, “She’s messing us about again. Stupid cow.”

“Perhaps she’s up with her baby, come on, let’s look. We’ll see you later, Henry.”

“Let me know what’s happening with you and her, won’t you?” he called as we left.

We dashed up to the special baby care unit. “Is Stella here?” I asked the nurse.

“No, she was maybe an hour ago, did a bottle for her baby and left.”

“Can I see the baby?”

“Course,” she waved me to Puddin’s incubator.

I touched the baby’s hand and her fingers wrapped around mine and she gave me a beautiful smile. I felt my finger buzzing and she smiled again and drifted off to sleep finally letting go of my finger after a few minutes. I stroked her head and promised to come back to see her again as soon as I could.

“So where is the baby’s mother?”

“We don’t know, she was supposed to be waiting for me to collect her to take her home. She wasn’t there, and she hasn’t gone home, or hadn’t.”

“Oh, she seemed a bit preoccupied when she was here, she hasn’t got post-natal depression, has she?”

“Could be, if she comes back, could you let me know.” I gave her my mobile number.

“Yeah, course. I hope you find her.”

“So do we,” said Simon as we dashed off towards the cars.