Convincing Amy (Amy, #1)

Chapter 32: Advice

Chapter Thirty-Two

ADVICE

It took Amy a whole two weeks to work up the courage to call her mum and tell her the news. Matthew was patient, only mentioning it three times in those weeks, but other than that, he left it up to Amy to call her mother on her own accord. It wasn’t that Amy didn’t want to – she just feared what her mother’s reaction would be when she broke the news about Matthew, who he was and what he meant to her.

“I’m going to call Mum today,” Amy announced to Matthew one Saturday morning as she sat down at the kitchen bench, holding her cup of tea in her palms.

“Really?” Matthew asked, trying to hide his smile of glee.

“Mm-hmm,” Amy mumbled as she sipped her tea. “If I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it.”

Matthew took a bite of his toast before handing Amy his cordless landline phone. “Use this. It’ll be cheaper.”

Reluctantly, and with a sigh, Amy took the phone out of Matthew’s hand and lay in on the bench in front of her as she finished her tea. Matthew made her some fresh toast – with Vegemite, of course – and she ate that too. She stared at the phone, as though it was some kind of evil sent to torment her.

“I have no idea how I’m going to tell her,” Amy admitted between mouthfuls of toast.

“Just say you need to tell her something and just say it as it comes.”

“That’s easier said than done.”

“I can call her if you like,” Matthew suggested.

“No, no, no!” Amy said loudly, moving the phone out of Matthew’s reach. “She’ll think one of us insane. I’ll call her.”

Matthew leant across the kitchen bench with a smile on his face. He kissed Amy lightly before she stepped away from the bench and began dialling the international number for her home in Melbourne. She waited a prolonged moment before sitting herself down on Matthew’s couch and pressing the ‘Send’ button, cautiously holding the receiver to her ear...

“Carter household,” was Amy’s greeting; she smiled.

“Jackson, how many times have I told you not to say that? You live there too!”

“Amy! How are you?”

“I am excellent,” Amy answered happily. “Really excellent. What about you? How’s Allie?”

“Ugh,” Jackson cringed, “hormonal. She screams and yells at me for everything I do.”

“She does that whether or not she’s pregnant – she’s Allison.”

“It’s worse, trust me. You’re lucky you’re not here at the moment because you would be driven insane. We’re looking for a house, you know... After your return, the wedding and the births,” Jackson said in an exhausted voice. “But we want to get out of your mum’s way, especially with crying, pooping, screaming babies.”

Amy smiled. “Well, they will have Allie as a mum. Have you thought of names? Twin boys – gotta think of double the names.”

“Didn’t Allie tell you?”

“No...” said Amy, thinking back to when Allison had called to tell Amy that she was having twins. Maybe she was going to tell her then but didn’t because she was so angry over nothing.

“Oh, um, Allie wanted to name them both after... after your dad.”

Amy stayed silent in shock; Matthew noted such a change in her attitude that he stopped what he was doing and looked at her with concern.