The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2757 by Angharad Copyright© 2015 Angharad

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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
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There’s me moaning about the lot of women again. I shouldn’t, after all I had the chance to be a man but failed the aptitude test, possibly the physical as well. At the same time, it seems that women do far more about the house than men even when holding down just as demanding jobs. The men in this house—Simon and Tom, wash the cars and do the garden and the girls sometimes help them with that. It’s only by formal request do they do any of the domestic chores apart from putting the girls to bed and reading stories and even then I usually have to ask them. It’s a shame because it helps the children bond with them. Although in that respect, the children bond quite well with the men, if anything it’s the men who are more reluctant and neither are that bad. Simon isn’t here that often but when he is, he’ll interact with the girls, especially Mima who loves her dad to bits.

Livvie is slightly stand-offish but given her history, it’s perhaps not surprising. She can turn on the charm when she wants something which is a little worrying, Meems will do it for a cuddle with her dad.

Trish frightens everyone except Livvie, so it’s hardly surprising she sometimes finds it difficult to interact with the adults. At times she acts like a normal ten year old, at others it’s like playing chess with a supercomputer. Tom is very good at dealing with her because he’s very clever as well and Simon can always buy his way out of things or go authoritarian. Me, I’m just her adopted mother who she alternately loves or hates depending upon how many boundaries she’s stretched or crossed.

Danni is a teenager and becoming quite a pretty one, the hormones are changing her body and with the exercise she gets, she has a lovely one. Somehow she’s learnt to flirt and does so with Simon to get whatever she wants—within reason. It doesn’t work with me of course, so I get the sullen teenager bit when I refuse to give in to her demands. I try to keep her grounded because being an international athlete at thirteen could cause her ego problems if we let it. Thankfully she’s pretty down to earth most of the time.

Julie is late teens and a young woman with a sense of style and a head for business which together with her sister and partner in crime, Phoebe, they make a formidable pair of businesswomen. Their salon is already becoming the in place for hair styling amongst the trend setters of Portsmouth.

Phoebe has done really well since losing her mother and brother and sister in law in a relatively short period of time. She gives me very little trouble and is dedicated to her business plans with Julie. I believe they’re looking to employ another stylist in the next week or two. Since they moved premises, they’ve gone from strength to strength.

Jacquie worries me at times, she wants to do things but lacks confidence in herself, possibly a consequence of being incarcerated for a long period at such an impressionable age, not to mention the abuse she suffered for something she didn’t do. She’s trying to build an independent life by doing a degree at Winchester but she needs to live at home after being abused once before by a partner while doing an access course. I try to encourage her to grow.

Sammi is possibly the only one to be considered as bright as Trish. She’s a cyber genius and spends much of her life protecting the bank or writing programmes for people like me who are too dim to do it ourselves. She could get a job with almost any large concern at a good salary doing their cyber protection. She is one of the few people respected by Trish for their intellects. Somehow, I get included too because I’m wilier than our ten year old—experience, there’s no substitute for it.

Apart from wrapping her father round her little fingers, Meems is quite bright and reads well above her age, but then she’s been encouraged by Trish and Livvie. Sadly her speech impediment doesn’t seem to improve and no language therapist seems to know why, she’s seen several.

Hannah is our latest acquisition, it’s taken her some while to integrate—she has lots of baggage, mostly from her mother. Now she’s relaxed a bit she’s coming on very well in school and seems to get on reasonably well with her siblings, especially Trish and Livvie. She’s a very polite young woman.

Catherine is four coming up five and goes to nursery. Usually one of the others take her because I can’t get any more in the Jaguar for the school run. She seems quite bright, but is that because she is or because we encourage all of them to do things which develop their basic skills especially reading and writing and even some easy things on the computer.

Even Lizzie is nearly two and learning to read from the others. She has fingers everywhere and last night tried to get the DVD recorder to play a piece of toast. It took Sammi an hour to clean it up. She makes her own computers as well and her bedroom is half girly, half electronics workshop.

Pudding has started school and Stella is pleased with her progress. For some reason, Stella decided against St Claire’s which is just as well because i wouldn’t have been able to take any more there with running a shuttle service or trading my car in for a bus of some sort.

The school Pudding goes to is another private one, which aligns itself with the Church of England though as far as I know is independent of them for funding. Like me, Stella has built a work timetable around the school day.

I see the QA had an open day at the weekend. I know sister in law wasn’t involved, she doesn’t do weekends and won’t until the children are more independent. She enjoys her job and I encourage her. Given her track record with pregnancies, she’s had her tubes tied so shouldn’t have any more babies, though I’d love to see her settled with a decent man, she deserves some happiness though I doubt she could run a household by herself.

Tom goes on from strength to strength and appears to be enjoying himself as Dean of science. He seems to think he might do it for a couple more years assuming his health holds out—it will, I’ve sorted everything in sight for him. He’s probably healthier than I am.

Simon—he’s good as an administrator and also as risk taker, he instinctively seems to know a good bet when he sees one, which is why he was so good at investment banking. He says that he doesn’t like personal banking, too many small customers to keep happy, but he seems in no hurry to do anything else. Sometimes I’d like to get him away from the bank to run his own business, such as bookshop or a farm.

As for me—I love my ecology and quite enjoyed teaching despite my grumbles to the contrary—however, I’m not sure being a manager is my forte, which is what a professor is. The managing director of a department in a university. One day I’ll give notice because I doubt Tom will come back. Perhaps I’ll become a film maker or independent ecological consultant—or perhaps, I’ll just retire and become the Lady of the manor or open a bike shop.

“Mummy, what’s for tea?” brought an end to my reverie.