Alfie in the Snow

‘As long as I’ve had my breakfast of course,’ Tinkerbell said, and I managed a grin. Sometimes when the world seemed to be changing, falling apart, breaking hearts, having someone act as if everything was normal was a comfort.

‘Do you think I should go and look for George?’ I asked. Now I had stopped feeling sorry for myself I was worried about him again.

‘I’d leave him for a bit, give him some space. We’ll all keep an eye out for him.’

‘I am so lucky to have such great friends,’ I said, before going home so I could crawl into my bed and wallow.

George returned just in time for tea. I could tell he wasn’t feeling very good, his eyes were downcast and he didn’t have his usual bounce about him. He ate a bit, but not as much as normal, and I knew I would have to get him alone so I could have a chat with him. I took my chance as Claire took the children upstairs to get them bathed and ready for bed.

‘Come outside with me for a moment,’ I said, and George followed me through the cat flap.

‘Will she really die, Dad?’ he asked.

‘You know, son, I keep saying to myself that it’s all a big mistake but that is what the vet said, and she’s not feeling well at all. So, as much as we don’t want to, I think we have to face facts. You must have noticed how thin she is.’

‘I did today, but she’s my Tiger mum, and I don’t know what I’d do without her. What happens when she’s not here?’

‘I don’t know, son.’ I felt my eyes glistening with tears and cats don’t cry. ‘I know we will miss her, our hearts will hurt and we won’t feel good at all, but together we’ll get through it. I know you are young and you shouldn’t have to say goodbye to someone you love, not at your age, but I can’t stop it, I can’t protect you from it.’

‘I’m scared, Dad.’ He looked at me with his big, innocent eyes.

‘So am I,’ I admitted and I moved in as close to him as I could while we both yowled about what we were about to lose.

Chapter Fifteen

I could tell that Christmas was creeping closer, because there was an excitement in the air that wasn’t there before. It was only a few weeks into November but Claire always started making lists early. Polly also started talking about ordering things from the internet to get ahead of the game. Jonathan, of course, moaned about money and Matt, who loved Christmas, talked about how he was going to decorate the house, for the kids, and how Jonathan should do the same. Jonathan didn’t share his enthusiasm and wasn’t keen, saying the houses looked tacky when they were all done up. He could be so miserable but I knew, deep down, he loved Christmas.

Tomasz and Frankie were gearing up for the restaurants’ pre-Christmas rush. For most of December they spread themselves very thinly, as Christmas menus started to be served, office parties booked, and with a few restaurants to run, they were kept busy.

But the most important event, according to the adults, more important than the letters to Santa and the arguments about when to decorate the house, was the nativity play. This play was only taking place in the younger children’s school, but it was a big deal. Claire and Polly were chatting excitedly about it when they got a letter saying that the school was holding auditions and the children were all enthusiastic about their potential parts.

‘Right, kids, what are you going to do for your audition?’ Claire asked as she, Jonathan, Toby and Summer were in the living room after tea. George and I were also in attendance.

‘I’m going to sing,’ Summer announced before launching into a rendition of ‘Jingle Bells’. It wasn’t great, more shouting than singing, but Jonathan and Claire clapped enthusiastically as she finished. Parents were a little biased. I knew this as I could be too, but not when it came to that sort of noise.

‘Great, Summer. And Toby?’ Jonathan asked.

Toby cleared his throat, then got down on all fours. ‘Hee-haw,’ he said.

‘Right, is that it?’ Jonathan had his hands ready to applaud but then he scratched his head.

‘I want to be the donkey,’ Toby explained.

‘Oh, in that case, it was excellent,’ Claire announced and they all clapped loudly, before getting the kids to do it over again. I raised my whiskers; in my opinion, once was more than enough.

‘You are going to kill these auditions,’ Jonathan said, enthusiastically.

‘Jon, it’s the school nativity not the West End,’ Claire pointed out but she looked pretty excited about it too.

Despite being heart-broken about Tiger, I decided to focus on the Aleksy situation. I needed Franceska, who was worried about him, to know the truth, because I knew she would be relieved. Aleksy wasn’t ill, he wasn’t miserable, there was nothing wrong with him, apart from first love. And I knew that if Franceska saw that she would be reassured. And, anyway, it was not good for them to sneak around together. I had learnt that the best way to deal with things was to be open about them.