Chapter 63

"Jonaaas!"

Abandoning the washing up, I trotted over to pop my head round the kitchen door to see Alex emerge from the bathroom with a small round pot in her hand and a furious expression.

"Oh please don't tell me he's using the cookware for some disgusting teenage boy thing," I quipped, making a face.

She glared at me. "Worse than that, he- Oh, there you are!"

My son ducked a head out of his room, innocent expression plastered on his face. "Um, yeah?"

Alex rounded on him immediately, "What have I told you about using my hair stuff? If you must nick it would you please not just stick your fingers in it? You've left huge gaping holes!"

"Sorry, I was in a hurry - I won't do it again," he replied, glancing at me briefly to see if I was going to shield him from her wrath. I just smirked.

"You said that last time. Jesus, you're just like your mum and her 'stick the knife in the middle and twist' approach with olive spread!" Alex was punctuating her words by wagging the little container in her hand in Jonas's direction, which despite being a nagging gesture I myself had seen all too often was still completely adorable.

"Well, see, it's genetic, there's nothing I can do about it," Jonas said then, getting that cocky teenager look on his face that sometimes made me want to scream but right now made me snicker surreptitiously. "Am I supposed to fight my genes, Alex?"

"If you're using my hair products, yes you bloody do!" Alex said, shooting me a warning look - clearly she'd heard my chuckle, then.

"Well I asked Mum to get me my own but she hasn't, so..."

"Hey, hey, leave me out of this," I said, holding my hands up defensively. "You two are going to have to battle this out between yourselves."

"I'm sorry, am I very much mistaken or do you get a perfectly generous allowance with which to buy such frivolous things?" Alex asked now, though I could tell that she was losing a little of her energy to argue now.

"If it's so frivolous why do you care if I use yours?" Sadly, teenagers seemed to be endowed with an endless ability to debate, especially if it concerned some supposed wrongdoing of their own.

"Because I spent my allowance on it," Alex said with a smirk. "Maybe I should steal your hard-won junkfood from the fridge..."

"Noooo!" he howled, and this time I laughed aloud. I couldn't help it - I still hadn't gotten over how wonderful it was to have them both in my life, and for them to get along so well (despite minor spats like this).

"You are no help," Alex directed at me, but she was smiling now. I grinned back, setting down the dishtowel and leaning against the counter.

"Sorry. I was just thinking maybe we could kill two birds with one stone and Jonas could style his hair with his junk food."

"Ugh, gross, mum!"

"What, you'll put it in your mouth but you won't put it on your head?" I said. Alex snorted a little at this, turning - presumably to return to the bathroom and use said finger-holed hair-product. Jonas rolled his eyes and made to return to his bedroom, though I cleared my throat and caught him before he could disappear completely.

"Now, we're just going to be gone for a few hours. So no wild parties and no ordering pizzas while we're gone. Okay?"

"Can I play Warcraft on your computer?"

"For a little while..."

"Yehokay."

"And only one chocolate bar." It wasn't like me to lay down so many rules, but we usually didn't go out by ourselves when Jonas was staying over. Tonight was an exception, though - the university was having another of its 'wine and dine' evenings and we were both obliged to show our faces for at least a few hours. With another dramatic roll of his eyes Jonas shrugged and nodded, and I finally let him go to his room, leaving only me in the hallway, although Alex reemerged from the bathroom a moment later.

"You look gorgeous," she said quietly. "Although I dunno if the marigolds go with your outfit," she added, glancing to my washing-up gloves, worn only because I'd polished my nails for the occasion.

I chuckled, tugging the gloves off and stepping forward to give her a quick kiss. "Noted. I'll save them for our next dinner out, shall I?"

"Definitely," Alex replied with a smile, touching her nose to mine before stepping back a little. "We all ready?"

 

I have to say, these sorts of events were much more bearable now that Alex was there with me. Once the local academic community had got over the shock of the 'scandal' regarding our relationship, things had settled down very quickly, and when Alex herself was offered an events management position with the College they welcomed her back with open arms, so to speak. I'll admit, it had taken no small measure of nepotism to see it done, but I didn't feel so bad knowing that she really was the best person for the job.

I had ended up hiring Tim as my new assistant - he was still green but quite enthusiastic, and I found him much easier to work with when he didn't have a guitar in his hands - and after the run we'd had with female assistants it was a nice change.

Alex was, it turned out, an excellent person to have on your arm at a party - she was easy-going, social, and better still knew how to shut down conversations as well as start them. We managed to skate through the 'schmoozing' in short order and find a table at which to sit, after which Alex excused herself for the toilet. I hadn't sat there on my own very long before I felt a tap on my shoulder and a familiar voice.

"I seem to have been laden with too many appetizers once again. Care to help me out?"

I turned to see Joyce, impeccably turned out as usual in another of her endless supply of sharp suits, proffering a plate toward me.

Grinning, I motioned for her to take a seat next to me. "I think I've had my fill of leek quiche, thanks. How are you?"

"Never mind me, who's the girl? I go on sabbatical for a few months and the world turned upside down, it seems..."

"Hah. That's Alex." I'm fairly sure I beamed.

"I see. When did Alex happen?"

"Oh, about... six months ago? After, you know, almost a year of pining..."

Joyce raised her eyebrows. "That's since before we met."

"Well, you know what they say... hindsight is aways twenty-twenty. At the time things were considerably more fuzzy."

Nodding, Joyce raised her glass in my direction. "Well, I'm glad they cleared and you realised where your loyalties lay before it was too late," she said with a grin.

"Well.. so am I," I replied, chuckling. "I'd like you to meet her, actually... she should be back soon."

"I'd like that very much."

 

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