“What was that all about?”Cindy asks as we get in through the frontdoor.
“I don’t know,” I admit.
“Show Mummy the photos of the ponies,” Janna demands.
Cindy dutifully takes her cellphone out of her purse, finds the pictures of Janna and the ponies and hands it over tome.
I take it from her and swipe through them with Janna hanging to the side of the sofa and giving me a running commentary. I nod, smile and make the appropriate noises, but my mind is whirling.
Finally, I look into Janna’s face. “Can you go watch Frozen for fifteen minutes while I talk to Aunty Cindy, darling?”
“But that’s not fair,” she grumbles, flinging her hands down in protest. “I never get to spend time withyou.”
“Look what I’ve got for you,” Cindy says, holding up a Twix bar. She trundles off quite happily after being bribed with a finger of chocolate.
“So tell me,” Cindy says settling next tome.
As I open my mouth to talk to her about Konstantin, Janna comes back in. Determined to spend more time with me she has stuffed the Twix bar into her mouth as quickly as she can. Still chewing, she climbs into my lap. I decide that everything else can wait. I’ll give her the time she needs. Soon she’ll be wanting to hang out with her cool friends and I’ll be begging her to spend time with me. I kiss the top of her head and listen to all her stories until it is dinnertime.
That night she even wants to sleep in mybed.
Even though I give her my whole attention, a little part of me is alert and waiting for the sound of a message coming through on my phone.
It never comes.