vetitum amoris

chapter seven

Pearl had a hangover from hell the next morning. Tessa and Pez were lying beside her, snoring. Toffee was prowling about the house, seeing what food he could scavenge. Pearl's shoes were on the stairs, and Pez and Tessa's clothes were thrown around the bedroom floor.

It was 1pm when they all woke up. The smell of bacon woke them up, and Pearl's dad entered the room with a plateful of bacon on toast. Pearl's mum followed him with three mugs of milky coffee. Pearl groaned and sat up, and the other two woke up and did the same. They all took a moment to make the room stop spinning, and then they reached for the toast and the coffee and devoured everything. "Good night, was it?" Wayne asked. They all nodded and Helen smiled. "Today is going to be another hangover day, is it?"

"Yes!" Tessa said as she bit into a second piece of toast.

"Uh-huh," Pez grunted. Pearl nodded and winced. Nodding made her head hurt.

Pearl and her two friends stayed in Pearl's bed all day. The day went by, and all they did was consume too much coffee, and watch Disney films. Pearl's mum and dad were both downstairs, and they realised their wedding anniversary was soon approaching.

Helen and Wayne had been together for many years, and they had become engaged after dating for only eight months. A lot of people said it was too quick; that they were rushing into things, but they knew it was true love. Pearl's grandmother wasn't so keen on the idea at first - Wayne was six years older than Helen, and he had a reputation as a bad boy. Helen had blushed back then: it was Wayne's bad-boy reputation that had first attracted her to him. Helen had been sixteen, fresh out of high school, and he had worked at the gym that she went to after school on a Tuesday with her friend, Pearl's godmother, Shelly.

They got talking, and Wayne decided to ask her out on a date. She said yes, and they went to the cinema. He paid for the tickets, the popcorn and the drinks. He walked her home, kissed her goodnight on the doorstep, and the rest was history. They became an item, and soon after became engaged. They married the following year, and three years later they had Pearl.

"Whatever you fancy doing, honey," Wayne said as he looked adoringly at his wife. Granted, their marriage hadn't been easy. They had tough moments, lots of tears and slammed doors, but the rest of it had been good. Their little blip a few months ago had been just that - a blip. Wayne and his paranoia. He knew Helen would never cheat on him, he had been stupid. Everything was good between them again now, just the way it should be. "We could go away for the weekend? Just before Christmas?"

"We could," Wayne said. He paused, and Helen read his mind.

"Pearl, though." Helen bit her lip and closed the brochure. "It seems like we hardly see her now. All these nights out we've been having..."

"She's a tough little cookie," Wayne grinned. "She's made it clear on a number of occasions that she doesn't need us anymore. She's a lot more mature than I like to think. She used to be such a daddy's girl, and now she's all 'Miss Independent."

"Oh, my dear sweet husband," Helen laughed. "Remember when Pearl was six? She wanted to reach the photo of her old cat, what was his name-?"

"Fluffy."

"-Fluffy, that's it! Well, instead of asking you to reach for it, what did she do?"

"She climbed up onto the cabinet, knocked over our vase - flowers and all - and grabbed the photo herself. That was when she was six. I think she's been independent for longer than you realise." Helen and Wayne smiled fondly, both reliving the golden moments.

"I love you, Helen."

"I love you, too, Wayne." They shared a kiss, and began looking through the brochure again.