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‘Oh, it’s fine,’ George said. ‘He’s growing teeth and it hurts him a lot, hence all the screaming. Sylvie is asking Claire what to do to help him, and Polly’s going to the pharmacy for them because Theo’s been screaming for a long time and no one in this house can think straight. Not even me and Hana.’

‘So, it’s nothing to worry about?’ I was concerned. Poor Theo sounded as if he was definitely in pain.

‘No, apparently this is a normal baby occurrence,’ Hana said. She looked tired, but then, listening to that noise would make anyone tired.

‘It was good you didn’t both leave,’ I said, whilst wondering why they hadn’t. After all, they were only a cat flap away from freedom and peace and quiet.

‘I wanted to be here, just in case,’ Hana said.

‘And I couldn’t leave her here alone,’ George added.

‘No, of course not.’ I wondered if I could leave but before I could, the door opened and in walked Polly, Harold and Snowball.

‘Oh Dad, sorry, I forgot about supper. It’s just … Theo’s been screaming for an hour straight.’ Marcus sounded harassed. He was the calmest man I knew, apart from Matt actually, but he was definitely stressed out now.

‘Don’t worry. Give Theo to me, I got these powders, they worked wonders with mine and Claire’s. Also got you some gel in case that doesn’t help.’ Polly took Theo and then she gave Sylvie the bag. Sylvie got the powder out and Polly rubbed it on Theo’s gums. It was very interesting to watch, despite the ear splitting noise. After a while, Theo stopped crying and the adults were all relieved as he closed his eyes, having exhausted himself as well as everyone else.

‘I’ll put the kettle on,’ Polly said as Sylvie and Marcus slumped onto the sofa. Harold was cuddling Theo in the chair.

‘I don’t have to stay, if it’s a bad time,’ Harold said.

‘Don’t be silly, you’re not going anywhere,’ Marcus said. ‘After all, you have the magic touch with Theo.’

‘He’s the spit of your mum you know. I thought he looked like you, which he does, but then you looked like her when you were a baby.’ Harold sounded emotional. His wife died a long time ago but he was still sad about it. I understood that only too well.

‘She’d be so proud of what a wonderful granddad you are,’ Marcus said. We were all emotional. Maybe we’d caught it from Theo.

Now that things had calmed down, Connie went to do her homework and I greeted Snowball properly.

‘I’m going home,’ George announced. ‘It’s probably supper time.’

‘I’ll be along in a bit,’ I said. I was thinking how nice it would be to spend a bit of time with Snowball. Calm, quiet time. Goodness knows I’d earned it.

I filled her in on the latest news, and I was surprised to realise there was so much. We were rushing towards the Christmas show now, everyone was preoccupied with it. I just hoped it didn’t stop anyone from remembering to order the turkey and our treats.

‘No word on what us cats are going to do in the show?’ Snowball asked. She had also been treated to a lesson from George on stage craft. We tried not to laugh about it but honestly, he really took the (cat) biscuit.

‘No, the auditions are next week and then they’ll allocate our parts. I am expecting we will be central to the show, of course.’

‘Do we have to audition?’

‘No, I don’t suppose so,’ I said. ‘I mean, they all know how talented and important we are so I’m pretty sure we’ll just get given our roles. But we’ll all go to the auditions anyway, because we need to keep an eye on things. We can’t trust these guys not to need help after all.’

‘Too true, Alfie. We’ll all make sure we’re there – us, George, and Hana. Are the others sure they don’t want to be in it?’

‘No, they don’t fancy it. You know how some cats will just be cats.’

‘Never mind, we’ll have such a ball. I’m actually looking forward to it, we need some excitement.’

‘Don’t say that, Snowball. Our lives often have far too much excitement in them!’ I wasn’t joking.

When I finally tore myself away from Snowball, leaving her with Hana– Snowball was like an aunt to her, as she spent so much time at her house – I went home to find it was bedlam there too. Honestly, calm had barely been restored at Sylvie’s house; it was as if it was catching.

Summer and Toby were fighting over the Rudolph song.

‘Why can’t I sing a bit on my own?’ Summer was asking.

‘Because it’s a team effort,’ Toby replied.

‘But you and Henry get to do your rap yourselves.’

‘But only because you didn’t want to.’

‘That’s not the point.’

I wondered why Claire wasn’t intervening but then I heard raised voices from the bedroom. Claire and Jonathan always went to their room when they argued, but of course we could all hear them.

I told George to keep an eye on the kids while I went to sort out the grown-ups.

‘I am not auditioning and that’s final,’ Jonathan said.

‘But you have to. It’s important to Aleksy, Connie, Tommy now, and me. We all need to be involved,’ Claire pushed.

‘Claire I can’t sing, dance, or act. I certainly don’t want to be in a grown-up Nativity play. It’s not my thing, and it’s just not happening.’