House of Sticks by Peggy Frew Page B

about how she put us in crèche from six weeks and went straight back to work, and how when we were older we’d come home to an empty house and look after ourselves; how we took turns to cook dinner and stuff like that. Almost like she was proud of how much she, well, wasn’t there.’
    â€˜Right,’ said Mel. ‘But couldn’t you … If you just straight-up asked her to help with your kids, don’t you think … she wouldn’t say no, would she? Couldn’t she make time?’
    â€˜Yeah, I guess. I mean, yes, of course. But it’s like — she’s never offered. Her heart’s not in it. Her house is totally not kid-friendly. She’s had the kids for a sleepover once, when Jess was born. It’s just, you know, it’s just obvious that it’s something she’s not interested in, and also, because it’s always been like that — I mean, if she’d been involved from the beginning then the kids would’ve developed a relationship with her. But they haven’t. And that makes it harder as time goes on. Leaving them with her now would be almost like leaving them with a stranger.’
    â€˜That sucks, Bonnie.’ Mel made a face. ‘And it’s not like you’ve got anyone else, with Pete’s parents — where do they live again?’
    â€˜Perth. And they wouldn’t be much help anyway. They’re old, you know — in their seventies. And Pete’s brother’s a kind of weird itinerant ageing hippie. We might see him once every two years. And my brother … I’d be surprised if he ever came back now. He’s been in London since he finished school.’ She shrugged. ‘It really is just pretty much the two of us, me and Pete.’
    â€˜That must be so hard.’ Mel flicked the blade of her car key out and then back in again.
    â€˜Oh well. At least I don’t have to put up with my mum all the time. Sometimes I imagine what it would be like if she was one of those, you know, full-on grandparents — always visiting, giving unwanted advice and all that.’
    â€˜It’d drive you crazy. Josh’s mum moved in with us for two weeks after Freddie was born.’ Mel rolled her eyes. ‘I was just about ready to kill her by the end. She kept saying I was tired and offering to give him bottles of formula during the night, and that it wouldn’t make any difference to the breastfeeding, blah blah blah. And of course Josh wouldn’t say anything.’
    Bonnie smiled.
    Mel pressed the stubby black key, and her car made a demure bipping noise. ‘Still,’ she said, ‘it was pretty nice having an extra adult there sharing the cooking and cleaning. Even if it was Josh’s mum. I guess it’s like the work thing: it’s a toss-up whether it’s worth it, in terms of sanity. Everything seems to require some sort of compromise.’ She lifted her head. ‘Hey, did you see that thing in the paper — I think it was in one of those Sunday magazines a couple of weeks ago — about that kind of inner-suburban community?’
    Bonnie shook her head.
    â€˜It’s in Northcote, or Thornbury maybe, and there’s, I think, about five houses, and the people’ve taken down the fences between them, and they sort of — it’s not a commune, they don’t share everything — but they do share the care of their children to some extent, and they all have this group meal together once a week, and they have a shared vegie garden, stuff like that.’
    â€˜Really?’ Jess was notching up her whingeing. Bonnie pulled out her own keys and dangled them in front of her. ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I don’t know if I could do something like that.’ She watched Jess grab at the keys. ‘I think I like my privacy too much. I mean, what if you just really didn’t get along with one of the other