‘No, it was a reindeer, Tyler’s mum made them.’
Tyler’s mum had one child, didn’t work, and a husband whose only worry should be the gardener who spent an awful lot of time round their house supposedly working on land that was no bigger than a postage stamp.
‘You weren’t too embarrassed supplying non-Christmas-themed cupcakes?’ she asked. ‘I’m sorry again, Ruby.’
Ruby shrugged. ‘Doesn’t matter.’
It was then that Cleo spotted the Tupperware container next to Ruby’s school bag and it was still full. ‘Did you even take them in and give them to your teacher?’
‘I was going to talk to you about that.’ Dylan appeared at her side with a spoon that he thrust towards Cleo’s mouth so she could taste the bolognese. He was trying to win her over and stop a fight, she suspected, and what better way to do it than this? He was good in the kitchen and he generally took over the lion’s share of deciding what to have for dinner as well as preparing and cooking it.
‘Talk to me about what? Did you leave them in the car?’ She looked at Ruby again but she was determined to keep colouring and fixed her eyes to the page.
‘She left them in the car,’ Dylan confirmed.
Cleo shifted Tabitha to her other hip. ‘Then it must’ve been worse because you would’ve been the only person not to bring any, surely.’
‘Mom made some,’ Ruby blurted out, and when Dylan looked the other way Cleo knew Prue had scored another win at making her look like the baddie.
Cleo set Tabitha down when she began to wiggle and let her toddle off towards the playroom again. She joined Dylan by the stove, where he was holding one end of the handful of spaghetti in the boiling water and waiting for it to soften so he could fold the rest in. ‘Since when did Prue bake?’
‘I doubt she did, the cakes looked shop-bought to me.’
‘But they were Christmas-themed. Prue wins again.’ She took out a glass from the cupboard and poured a generous measure of red wine.
Dylan turned the heat down now the pasta was cooking, set the button to go on the timer and gently coaxed her out into the hall, and out of earshot. ‘It’s not about winning or losing.’
‘Isn’t it?’
‘No, of course not. Prue is her mom, I can’t change that. But Ruby loves you. She’s being difficult right now but we’ll get through this.’
‘She never mentioned the cupcakes had to be Christmas-themed, you know.’
‘I didn’t hear her say it either, but thank you for not arguing the point. Prue would’ve done.’
They went back through to the kitchen and Cleo entertained Emily with a game of peekaboo from behind the table, making her giggle with glee. Even Ruby seemed amused by her youngest sister and cracked a bit of a smile, something of a rarity in Cleo’s presence these days.
When they were eating dinner Cleo asked, ‘What were the cupcakes that your mum brought like?’ Might as well pretend it didn’t bother her.
Jacob was first to describe them when Ruby looked less than enthused and Cleo went along with it as she heard all about the cupcakes with their peppermint frosting topped with red, green and white sprinkles. ‘Well, I guess neither of you will want one of our cupcakes for dessert, seeing as you’ve had two each anyway.’
Jacob’s face fell. ‘What if I eat all my dinner?’
She sucked the air in through her teeth. ‘I suppose I might consider it if you don’t leave anything on your plate – that includes not picking out pieces of mushroom.’
He weighed up whether it would be worth it or not and then re-added a few tiny pieces of the mushroom he’d already scraped to the side of his plate.
‘Ruby, that goes for you too.’ Dylan nodded towards the pieces of mushroom his daughter had picked out. Whenever Cleo chopped the ingredients for their favourite meal she always remembered to chop the much-hated vegetable so small the kids would never be able to find it, but Dylan frequently forgot.
‘I don’t want one.’
‘Fine,’ said Cleo a little too harshly, earning her a look from Dylan. She ate the rest of her dinner in silence unless she was talking to Emily, who sat contentedly in her high chair and didn’t need any persuasion although some of the dinner inevitably ended up in her hair every time, with tonight being no exception.
Cleo was tired, she didn’t have time for melodramatics, it had been a long day, and the second Tabitha and Emily were finished she took Emily upstairs for her bath. Getting out of the way with the two easier girls and a glass of wine was a godsend until Ruby came and knocked on the door.
‘Daddy sent me up,’ she said sullenly.
‘Why?’
