*Chapter 26*

Friends Return

 
 

“I thought the gig was up when I saw you in Edeka.” Anna mentioned as I took a bite of pepperoni goodness.

“Mwor ur oo ooing air?” I know it’s not polite but I don’t care.

“Getting the drinks of course.” She replied waving a bottle of peach iced tea – I know but it’s actually quite refreshing.

Con’s CD player was pumping out some Euro pop and in between eating and drinking we started to catch up with the summer’s activities. Family holidays, days at the pool, shopping trips, parties – I’d missed a lot, on the other hand I’ve not had a dull summer myself. I don’t know where the time went, one minute it was seven o’clock the next it was closing on ten.

“I’d best get off,” Max declared.

“Yeah me too,” Mart agreed.

I was surprised when they both retrieved motorcycle helmets.

“You’ve got mofa's?” I gushed stating the obvious.

“A man’s gotta have wheels,” Max stated.

“You might be able to keep up with the Baroness, Max.” Pia giggled.

“Give over P!” I huffed.

“Only kidding, Gab, he’s not got a chance.”

That wasn’t what I meant, whatever.

“Mart.”

“Yo.”

“Erm, Bern said to say hi from her and the baby and give you this.” I felt a bit self conscious and not a bit weirded when I dived in to give him a peck on the cheek.

“Whoa, looks like you’ve got competition, Max,” Steff suggested.

“Was just passing on a message from Bern,” I hurriedly told them.

“If you say so.” Brid smirked.

“Give Max one too,” Nena prompted, “he’s looking left out.”

He can stay left out too.

“Guys,” I complained.

“Here, I’ll go first,” Anna volunteered before landing her lips on Max’s cheek.

“Go on, Gab,” Con encouraged.

I’m never gonna hear the end of this am I, I’m still not quite sure about this boy kissing lark.

I think Max was as surprised as me when I dived in, landed one on him and beat a hasty retreat. Don’t think I caught anything.

“Er, um we’ll er see you guys later,” the Baron in waiting mumbled.

“See you guys.” Mart added.

This time they actually did depart leaving me with a flock of giggling Ahr Angels.

 
 
“What was all that about?”

“Give over, Gab,” Steff started, “you know you wanted too.”

“Did not.”

“Well we should get off too,” Pia suggested.

“Yeah,” Brid agreed, “we still doing Köln tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Anna told us, “you’re coming right, Gab?”

“Yeah, gets me out of more housework.” Mum had threatened me with window cleaning earlier. “So like the nine o’clock yeah?”
 
 

“Thought you were gonna be back earlier,” Mum suggested when I eventually rolled indoors something a lot closer to eleven than ten.

“It sort of turned into a bit of a party.”

“Two of you?”

“The other girls were there too, Con organised it after seeing our car this morning.”

“So, you lot still out to terrorize Köln tomorrow?”

“Uh huh,” I offered as I filled the kettle, “chocolate?”

“What are you after, missy?” Mum accused.

“After?” I asked innocently.

“Yes you can have some of my special stuff, you can make your dad one too.”

Result! Mum’s special hot chocolate is the real McCoy from Switzerland, much better than the slightly bitter stuff we get locally. I brewed up the beverage and after taking Dad a mug I settled back at the kitchen table where Mum was doing some sort of paperwork.

“Mu-um?”

“Wha-at?” she replied without looking up.

“You know when you were my age?”

“Yes?”

“Well um did you like, you know, with boys?”

“No I don’t know,” Jen was a bit taken aback by the question, Drew, Gaby usually beat about the bush.

Drew coloured up a bit, perhaps realising how the question sounded, “Max kissed me earlier.”

Ah, kissing.

“Oh?”

“So did you like, kiss boys?”

“Too right I did! Can’t say they were too shy about it either,” Jen grinned. When her offspring didn’t say anything else she decided to take the initiative. “He’s sneaked a kiss before hasn’t he?”

“Once or twice.” Bond junior admitted.

“And you liked it?”

“I don’t know,” this was getting very embarrassing, “when we were in Italy there was this boy, Toni.”

This was getting interesting, “Oh?”

“We sort of snogged a couple of times.” Gaby admitted.

For someone who spent so much time proclaiming, despite the evidence, her, his maleness this was certainly a bit unexpected.

“Was this Gaby or Drew?” Jen requested for clarification.

“Gaby, geez you think I’d kiss another boy?”

‘Well whichever way you look at it, that’s sort of what you did kiddo,’ Jen mused.

“I take it you enjoyed it?”

“I guess.”

“And you didn’t enjoy Max kissing you?”

“No, yes, sort of, it felt different.”

“So kissing this…”

“Toni.”

“Toni was exciting?”

“Oh, Mum, I went all squidgy an’ everything.”

Jen raised an eyebrow, “And I’m guessing kissing Max doesn’t feel like that?”

“It’s more like being kissed by a seal.”

Jen gave a little chortle, “Yeah, some boys are like that, even your dad when we first met.”

“And you still liked him?”

“Well he’s better now, sometimes you have to practice – a lot. So you like Max then?”

“Kinda.”

“What about this Toni, you not planning on running off to Italy?”

“Not gonna happen!”

“Max? You know he’s pretty keen on Gaby?”

“So everyone keeps telling me.”

“You’re not so keen?”

“I’m not even really a girl am I, I don’t know what I think Mum, I feel like I’m being pushed into things, none of the other girls have got boyfriends, it’s like I’m their project or something.”

“If you don’t want it, this relationship, tell them.”

“I do but like they even call me baroness.”

“I’m sure they don’t mean anything by it, talk to Max if you’re unhappy about it, I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“Understand being dumped?”

“Well it’s not exactly that is it? You aren’t actually going out with him are you?”

“Still.”
 
 

After the youngest Bond had rinsed the chocolate mugs and headed to bed Jen went to join her hubby in the lounge.

“Finished, luv?”

“Er yeah.”

“I recognise that look, what’s up?”

“Not sure,” Jen allowed scootching up beside Dave, “I’ve just had a really strange conversation with Gaby.”

“Oh?” as far as Dave was concerned most conversations with their youngest were a bit off the wall.

“You know he, she was seeing a boy in Italy?”

“I didn’t,” Dave admitted, “do I need to know more?”

“Not really I guess.”

“So this discussion?” Dave prompted.

“I think she’s a bit confused.”

“She’s not the only one, one minute it’s all, ‘I’m a man’ the next she’s wanting money for a new dress or something.”

“It’s got to be difficult for her, remember what her sister was like – and she already knew she was a girl.”

“Hormones,” Dave sighed.

“Very likely but as far as Drew’s concerned, the wrong ones.”

“So what do we do?”

“Watching brief I guess, the Doc did say that some form of split personality was a possibility.” Jen mentioned.

“I can’t even imagine how the kid feels half the time, I told you about the tourist board thing in Interlaken on Tuesday?”

“I’m not sure that was a good idea.”

“Her decision, then Wednesday’s dinner, I’m sure the others realised it was her, him, you know what I mean, the lads had their tongues hanging out and the girls treated her as one of them.”

“That’s good, right?”

“Is it? I really don’t know any more.”

Maddy Bell © 27.03.2014