“I have a cold and I don’t want to give it you,” she said, considerately. She then wrinkled her nose and sniffed. She lowered her head near my armpits and sniffed again.
“Mother! What are you doing?” I asked, backing up a step.
“I thought I smelt something strange,” she replied.
I scowled at her. “Well it isn’t me. Now, where’s Joe?”
“Oh, he’s faffing with the bags.” She waved her hands over her shoulder as if she were referring to ‘staff.’
I laughed when I saw the pile of bags and suitcases at the boot of his car.
“You make yourself at home, Mum. I’ll go and help Joe with all your bags,” I said with raised eyebrows and a very obvious sarcastic tone to my voice.
“Oh, thank you. I’ll go and find Maggie.”
Off she went calling out for Mags as she did. They’d spoken over FaceTime before and I’d had to pretend we’d lost signal to get them to shut up! Ronan and I hadn’t had the chance to speak to either of my parents, as the whole time the two women had chatted like they were lifelong friends who hadn’t seen each other for a while.
“Jesus, Lizzie. How long is she staying for?” Joe grumbled while Danny held out his hands for a hug. I was a little taken aback as he wasn’t a tactile person normally.
“Hopefully, just a couple of days.”
Joe took two suitcases, one in each hand, and I grabbed another and an overnight bag. I slung her handbag over my shoulder and waddled into the house. I left the luggage at the bottom of the stairs, though.
Joe and Danny took their one case and a suit carrier up to the bedroom they’d decided was theirs. I’d put my mum and dad in a room farther down the hall. Ronan had suggested we use his mother’s room but we hadn’t the time to box up her remaining personal items. It was one of those jobs we hadn’t rushed into, although it had been a couple of years since her death. Maggie and I would go into the room to clean but it didn’t feel right to remove the remains of her perfume from the dressing table, or the antique silver brush and mirror that had been passed down through generations of her family. We’d have to do it, at some point, but it wasn’t high on the list.
Also, I’d prefer them not to be next door to me. My parents were rather vocal when alone in their bedroom!
It was half an hour later that I caught up with Mum in the kitchen. She was sipping on a cup of tea and she and Maggie were chatting like old pals. Joe and Danny were looking on, bemused.
“Is there anything you want me to do?” she asked with a beaming smile.
“You can come and look at my dress if you like?” I replied.
We all made our way upstairs. Joe had seen it, obviously, but he and Danny wanted to join in.
Mum placed her hands over her mouth when she saw it hanging over the back of a spare bedroom door. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered. I showed her the back and the personalisation I’d had done.
I was distracted, though, when Ronan shouted up that we had visitors. I frowned and stared at Maggie as if she might know. She shrugged her shoulders, as clueless as I was. We left the dress and headed for the front to see a small white van.
“Oh, it’s the peacocks!” I said. I had forgotten which day they were coming to us.
The charity had made a temporary pen for them so they could acclimatise to their new environment. I thought they’d simply drop them off, and if we fed them regularly, they’d stay. Apparently it wasn’t quite like that. I chuckled at the memory as I walked over.
“Hi, this is exciting,” I said. The peacock and peahen were in the pen and I was thrilled to see him displaying already. Ronan and my dad stood to one side.
“This house just needs some peacocks,” my mother said with some authority, although she was someone who had only ever lived in suburbia or an apartment in Spain.
We signed some paperwork, handed over a donation and then the birds were ours. Max had followed us and sat staring at them, he wasn’t sure what to make of the peacock, particularly when he spread his feathers. Max backed off a little and I was pleased to see that. I didn’t want him to