Free Lovers and Newcomers by Rosie Thomas Page B

that’s right. I know what it’s called. You could maybe ask Gina what we should do.’
    ‘No way . She’s so fucking brisk and tidy and sorted, she’s the last person I’d ask.’
    ‘OK, OK. But there are people. Agencies, and clinics and things. There’s my mum, as well, if it comes to that.’
    ‘Your mum?’
    Nic suddenly began to cry, quite noisily, with her mouth open and tears sliding out of the corners of her eyes. Unable to bear this, Ben hoisted himself on to his knees and knelt over her, gripping her arms.
    ‘Nic, don’t cry. Please don’t cry. We’ll fix it, we’ll do it together. I’m here, look.’
    She looked into his eyes. ‘Will we?’
    ‘Yes. Of course we will. It happens.’
    ‘Promise?’
    ‘Yes. Cross my heart.’
    ‘I feel so bad. Like it’s a bad thing, a really black wicked thing we’ve done, and we shouldn’t have and everything will be wrong now…’
    ‘Hush. It won’t. It’s going to be all right, Nic. I promise.’
    Ben leaned down and kissed her, tasting the salt on her cold mouth, and it was long seconds before she yielded and wound her arms around his neck.
    ‘I promise,’ he repeated.
    Alpha and Omega
    Alexandra Davies rummaged in her bag to retrieve her mobile phone, wedged it precariously between her left ear and her shoulder, and with her right index finger jabbed the button of the stop request at the traffic lights.
    ‘Yeah, Omie? Hi?’
    ‘God, what’s that racket? Listen, have you heard from Mum?’
    ‘No,’ Alexandra told her sister. A bendy bus swished by and then a high-sided truck that rocked her with a blast of turbulence.
    Olivia’s voice rose slightly.
    ‘Alph? Are you there?’
    ‘Yeah. It’s traffic. I’m out.’
    ‘What d’you think they’re doing?’
    The lights refused to change but the stream of vehicles briefly slowed and Alexandra took the opportunity to dash across the first three lanes. It was coming on to rain, and she had no hood or umbrella with her.
    ‘Who?’
    ‘Our parents .’
    ‘Omie, you know as well as I do what they’re up to. They have moved further out to the sticks, they’re doing up some wreck of a house on Miranda Meadowe’s estate, Dad’s full of wild schemes, Mum’s going along with it. What’s new?’
    Olivia sighed, and her sister could hear her settling herself for a long talk. ‘Nothing, I suppose, when you put it like that. I’m worried about them, though. They don’t call, do they? And when I call them, they’re always busy. Ben says the same, you know.’
    ‘I don’t think it’s a cause for worry, is it? They’ve got a life. We’ve got a life. Even Ben has. We’re a success story, the Davies family.’
    From the safety of the central island Alexandra weighed up her chances of survival if she darted onwards against the lights.
    Olivia said, ‘Is that what you call it? Growing up felt more like a car crash, most of the time.’
    ‘Success against the odds. Have you talked to Sam or Toby about it? It must be the same for them.’
    ‘No, it isn’t. The Knights were at boarding school and always moving anyway. Hampstead, Islington, Richmond, one of those places. But I so miss our old house, you know? Don’t you? I have these dreams about it, all the time. It’s where we grew up. It’s got all our history locked in it.’
    ‘I know, I feel the same. But at the end of the day it’s only bricks and mortar, isn’t it? The house had to go, they needed the money, that’s that, and what matters is we’ve all got each other. Even Mum and Dad are still around for us, you know, even though they’re not right here.’
    ‘You’re right, Alph, ’course you are. I just feel a bit, what, lost? Abandoned. Is that totally weird at our age?’
    ‘You mean, Parents Leave Girl Twins, Twenty-five, All Alone in World. Social Services Intervene?’
    They made the humming noise that was their shorthand for laughter. ‘OK, so I’m a freak.’
    ‘No, you’re not. Mum’s always been right beside