outraged.
‘The Ugly Sister,’ grinned Jazz, enjoying the reaction it received. She wished now that it had been a stronger insult to have got her more of a dramatic response. She also wished Simon wasn’t there, because she knew he would assume that secretly she had been greatly offended by the slight. Which she found greatly offensive.
‘Has he seen Josie?’ asked Martha.
‘Oh, cheers, Mum,’ said Josie.
‘I can’t believe that,’ said George, shaking her head. ‘Are you sure you heard right, Jazz?’
‘Yes, George. Just because he’s won an Oscar doesn’t mean he has to be a nice person,’ said Jazz gently.
‘I should think it probably means quite the opposite,’ added Jeffrey.
There was a pause in the conversation when Josie spoke.
‘We’ve got an announcement to make,’ she smiled weakly.
Everyone gasped. She didn’t need to say much more.
‘I’m pregnant,’ she said.
Martha and George screamed, Jeffrey hugged Michael and Jazz felt a curious mixture of envy, joy and sympathy.
Josie was only one month gone, so they were all sworn to secrecy.
‘So I don’t want to read about it in any magazine,’ smiled Josie, wagging her finger at Jazz.
‘Hey no worries, we work four months ahead,’ grinned Jazz.
‘I mean it, Jazz. Tempting fate and all that. I’ve been much more sick with this one. And we all know how bad I was with Benjy. It wasn’t planned, you see.’
‘Of course. You can trust me.‘Jazz remembered how Josie had had to stay off work and in bed for six weeks before Ben had been born, due to complications. And how Martha had exhausted herself visiting her daughter in hospital and cooking hot evening meals for Michael every day.
Harry Noble’s comment was forgotten and the conversation shifted wholeheartedly into baby mode. Then they caught up on the gossip about the rest of the family, they argued over whose turn it was to phone Great-Aunt Sylvie and they admonished Martha for making enough food for a football team. Until she started getting upset and then they all tucked into second helpings. And all the while, Jazz was aware of Simon sitting there with a very slight, fixed smile on his handsome face, not understanding any of the conversation and not caring enough to pretend that he did.
It was only when Jazz was saying goodnight to her father that the subject of Harry Noble came up again. ‘Harry Noble may be a great actor,’ he said softly, as he kissed her, ‘but he needs his eyes testing.’ Jazz wished he hadn’t said that. For some reason it made her feel the slight much more.
George gave Jazz a lift home in her beloved VW Beatle. Thankfully, Simon had had to leave early, so they’d come in separate cars.
‘I hope it’s a girl,’ George confided, as she put the key in the ignition.
‘Really?’ smiled Jazz, dreamily. ‘How selfish.’
‘Selfish? What do you mean?’
Jazz took a deep breath. ‘I mean, you hope that Josie will give birth to someone who will spend up to a quarter of her adult life having painful periods, who will be susceptible to all sorts of complex eating disorders and self-confidence problems because society will be obsessed with her physical appearance; someone who will have less chance of getting the same respect and money in the workplace as her male colleagues; who will be treated as thick if she’s pretty and pitied if she’s plain, who will spend more time than her partner doing household chores even though they work the same hours - that is, if he doesn’t beat her or abuse her mentally,’ she took another deep breath, ‘and someone who will have to go through the untold agony of labour if she wants to have a child and will then be pilloried by society and said child for being a mother — and all so that you can bond with your niece over chocolate and lipstick.’ Jazz turned to George with a smug smile. ‘I call that selfish.’
George had heard it all before.
‘Yup, and you hope it’s a girl, too.’
Jazz
‘The Ugly Sister,’ grinned Jazz, enjoying the reaction it received. She wished now that it had been a stronger insult to have got her more of a dramatic response. She also wished Simon wasn’t there, because she knew he would assume that secretly she had been greatly offended by the slight. Which she found greatly offensive.
‘Has he seen Josie?’ asked Martha.
‘Oh, cheers, Mum,’ said Josie.
‘I can’t believe that,’ said George, shaking her head. ‘Are you sure you heard right, Jazz?’
‘Yes, George. Just because he’s won an Oscar doesn’t mean he has to be a nice person,’ said Jazz gently.
‘I should think it probably means quite the opposite,’ added Jeffrey.
There was a pause in the conversation when Josie spoke.
‘We’ve got an announcement to make,’ she smiled weakly.
Everyone gasped. She didn’t need to say much more.
‘I’m pregnant,’ she said.
Martha and George screamed, Jeffrey hugged Michael and Jazz felt a curious mixture of envy, joy and sympathy.
Josie was only one month gone, so they were all sworn to secrecy.
‘So I don’t want to read about it in any magazine,’ smiled Josie, wagging her finger at Jazz.
‘Hey no worries, we work four months ahead,’ grinned Jazz.
‘I mean it, Jazz. Tempting fate and all that. I’ve been much more sick with this one. And we all know how bad I was with Benjy. It wasn’t planned, you see.’
‘Of course. You can trust me.‘Jazz remembered how Josie had had to stay off work and in bed for six weeks before Ben had been born, due to complications. And how Martha had exhausted herself visiting her daughter in hospital and cooking hot evening meals for Michael every day.
Harry Noble’s comment was forgotten and the conversation shifted wholeheartedly into baby mode. Then they caught up on the gossip about the rest of the family, they argued over whose turn it was to phone Great-Aunt Sylvie and they admonished Martha for making enough food for a football team. Until she started getting upset and then they all tucked into second helpings. And all the while, Jazz was aware of Simon sitting there with a very slight, fixed smile on his handsome face, not understanding any of the conversation and not caring enough to pretend that he did.
It was only when Jazz was saying goodnight to her father that the subject of Harry Noble came up again. ‘Harry Noble may be a great actor,’ he said softly, as he kissed her, ‘but he needs his eyes testing.’ Jazz wished he hadn’t said that. For some reason it made her feel the slight much more.
George gave Jazz a lift home in her beloved VW Beatle. Thankfully, Simon had had to leave early, so they’d come in separate cars.
‘I hope it’s a girl,’ George confided, as she put the key in the ignition.
‘Really?’ smiled Jazz, dreamily. ‘How selfish.’
‘Selfish? What do you mean?’
Jazz took a deep breath. ‘I mean, you hope that Josie will give birth to someone who will spend up to a quarter of her adult life having painful periods, who will be susceptible to all sorts of complex eating disorders and self-confidence problems because society will be obsessed with her physical appearance; someone who will have less chance of getting the same respect and money in the workplace as her male colleagues; who will be treated as thick if she’s pretty and pitied if she’s plain, who will spend more time than her partner doing household chores even though they work the same hours - that is, if he doesn’t beat her or abuse her mentally,’ she took another deep breath, ‘and someone who will have to go through the untold agony of labour if she wants to have a child and will then be pilloried by society and said child for being a mother — and all so that you can bond with your niece over chocolate and lipstick.’ Jazz turned to George with a smug smile. ‘I call that selfish.’
George had heard it all before.
‘Yup, and you hope it’s a girl, too.’
Jazz
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