Page 102 of The Forsaken
Emma considered this for a moment. “Okay. I’ll wear jeans and my sparkly pink top with a matching headband, then change into the blue frock after the skating.”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea.” Quinn found the top in question and laid it out on the bed before rummaging in Emma’s plastic accessory box for the right headband.
“Is Grandma Phoebe meeting us there?”
Phoebe had arrived the day before and was installed in a hotel close to St. Pancras Station. She’d stayed there with Graeme a few years before when they came down to London to visit Gabe and liked it enough to return. Quinn wished they had a spare bedroom so Phoebe could have stayed with them. She would have thoroughly enjoyed Emma’s fashion show and would have loved to do her hair. With only the one son, Phoebe felt like she’d missed out and bought Emma a new outfit every time something caught her eye.
“We will collect Grandma Phoebe on the way to the skating rink.”
“What about Grandma Sylvia?”
Quinn hadn’t wanted to invite Sylvia, given the way they’d parted a few weeks ago, but it would be too difficult to explain to Emma why Sylvia couldn’t attend her party. The skating rink venue was only for the children, so it had been decided that a second birthday cake would be served after the party at the flat for Phoebe, Sylvia, Logan and Colin, Jill and Brian, and Brenda and Pete. Quinn wished her parents could have come, but to return to England only two months after they’d come for the wedding was too costly, so they’d send Emma a present instead. It was a beautiful dollhouse. Not the kind made of plastic, complete with clunky fixtures and pink shutters, but one crafted of real wood, with exquisite Victorian furniture and real fabric curtains at the windows.
There was a family to go with the house—a dainty lady in a crinoline dress, a gentleman in a top hat, and two adorable children wearing baby gowns and bonnets. Emma had been in raptures when the house arrived. Quinn secretly thought Emma would tire of the Victorian set-up within a week, but her parents had never asked for her input, purchasing a gift more appropriate for the history-loving child Quinn used to be at Emma’s age rather than for a Disney-obsessed five-year-old.
“Grandma Sylvia will come to the skating rink with Jude and then come back here for cake,” Quinn said. She hadn’t wanted Sylvia to come to the rink, but Logan had mentioned that Jude and Bridget needed a ride and Sylvia had volunteered.
“Will Jude and Bridget come back to the flat too?” Emma always liked to be fully prepared for what was to come. Quinn supposed that given what had happened to her mother and grandmother, she liked to feel in control of the situation.
“I’ve invited them, but they haven’t confirmed.”
“That’s just like Jude,” Emma observed as she allowed Quinn to brush her hair and affix the headband.
“Is it?”
“He’s noncommittal.”
“And where did you learn that word?” Quinn chuckled at Emma’s precociousness. Some days, she was five going on fifteen.
“I heard it from Miss Aubrey. She’s seeing a bloke who’s noncommittal.”
“Do you know what that means?”
“It means he doesn’t want to marry her,” Emma explained as she adjusted the headband and gave her hair a dramatic flip. “He’s playing the field.”
“Who’s playing the field?” Gabe asked as he stepped into the room. “Never mind. Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. You look beautiful, darling. Are you ready?”
“Yes. Oh, I can’t wait. This party will be bloody brilliant!” Emma exclaimed.
“I’ll thank you not to say ‘bloody’,” Gabe admonished her. Both Quinn and Gabe were dismayed by some of the terms Emma had started using over the past few months.
“Fine. Sorry,” Emma mumbled.
“The party will be amazing, and you’ll be very pleased,” Gabe said, sounding more like his father than a man in his thirties.
“Yeah, chuffed to bits. Let’s go.” Emma stomped from the room, leaving Quinn and Gabe to follow.
“I hope my mum is right and we’re having a boy,” Gabe muttered as they left the flat. “I don’t think I can handle two of those, especially not during the teenage years. One teenage girl is more intimidating than a marauding horde.”
“Coward!” Quinn nudged Gabe in the ribs.
“And not ashamed to admit it.”
Once they arrived at the skating rink, Quinn waddled over to the row of seats nestled against the wall and settled in. Her belly had popped over the past few weeks, and her center of gravity had shifted, making her clumsy. She was glad she’d worn flats and maternity trousers with a gauzy top instead of a dress. She’d have been too uncomfortable in shoes, even flat ones. Her feet were puffy and her ankles double their normal size, but they were cleverly concealed by the flared trousers. Her outfit was somewhat trendy, so she didn’t feel too dull and drab, but she was beginning to miss her old body and wondered if she’d ever go back to normal post-baby.
Emma’s school friends were already beginning to arrive. Emma greeted them effusively, accepted the colorful boxes and gift bags, and directed them to the counter where they could collect their rented skates. Gabe stood quietly by like a bodyguard, allowing Emma to play hostess. Most of the parents elected not to stay since there was plenty of adult supervision and the children would be escorted from one activity to the next. Quinn looked around, then glanced at her watch. Jude and his friends should have been there by now. She hoped Jude wouldn’t let her down. Emma was looking forward to amazing her guests with “real”Frozencharacters.
Quinn tensed as Sylvia slid into a seat next to her. “Jude’s in the gents’ getting his prince on. He didn’t fancy coming already dressed up. Wasn’t up for the ribbing from his friends.”
