Take a Chance

by Simone Jaine

  “Would you, please? I’ll direct debit your bank account tonight.” Cherie told her the amount.

  “No problem. As it happens I have a bit of time before I collect Daisy so I’ll go and pay the deposit now. I know you are busy so I’ll only ring you back if I have any problems.”

  After ending the call, Jem re-secured Aidan in his harness and taking side roads managed to make good time to the conference centre complex. With misgivings she unbuckled Aidan and carried him inside on her hip. If she left him in the car it might not be there when she returned.

  At the reception desk a slender woman with heavy makeup looked disgruntled to see she would be receiving the deposit in time. Jem was displeased when she was informed the hiring price and hence deposit was almost double what Cherie had said.

  “You quoted this price,” Jem said as she shoved the cheque she had written in the car towards the woman. Aidan struggled and not wanting him to distract her she let him down, keeping the exit in her peripheral vision so he couldn’t leave the building.

  The woman looked at the cheque with disinterest.

  “Your company was given a quote, not a contract,” she told Jem smugly. “It turns out our conference rooms cost more to hire than that. Nothing has been signed so I can charge what I want.”

  A heated discussion ensued, during which Jem was tempted to run a fingernail through the woman’s makeup just to see if it was as thick as it looked. In the end she paid the deposit on her credit card ungraciously, making it patently clear that she was not impressed with the price gouging.

  The woman behind the counter didn’t seem overly concerned and after Jem’s card had been accepted she wandered into the back room, leaving Jem in the lobby by herself.

  By herself.

  After a brief moment of panic Jem assured herself that Aidan couldn’t have gotten outside and that there weren’t many places he could have got to. Down a short hallway the first doors she came to were the rest rooms. She checked inside the women’s restroom but no one was inside.

  She paused outside the men’s restroom. She could hear water running loudly in the hand basin so decided to wait until whoever was in there came out. After a minute passed and she had heard more taps being turned on she decided to brace herself and enter anyway. Every man in there must be washing his hands by the sounds of it. Just as she began to press open the door little fingers appeared below the handle and Aidan squeezed out the narrow gap.

  “Aunty Jem I went to the toilet all by myself,” Aidan proudly told her.

  “You clever boy,” Jem told him as she scooped him up and sped to the front door. She had no intention of being found lingering outside the men’s room by whoever was inside.

  Fortunately they didn’t see anyone as they exited the lobby nor in the car park as they backed out and into the traffic.

  After collecting Daisy from kindy and giving the children lunch, Aidan took a break from causing chaos and destruction and had an afternoon nap. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Jem put the latest Barbie movie on for Daisy to watch, set up her computer on the dining table and started working.

  A couple of hours later she sat on the couch with Jeremy beside her and listened to him read his homework book. Drongo made a nuisance of himself, rubbing his head against the book and digging his claws in when she attempted to push him out of the way. She unhooked his claws from her jeans and dropped him unceremoniously on the floor.

  Drongo swished his tail indignantly then saw an easier target. He sauntered over to Aidan and rubbed against his building blocks.

  The block tower fell and Aidan dropped the blocks he was playing with. Jem tentatively waited for her nephew’s reaction.

  “I feed him!” he exclaimed and raced to the fridge to withdraw an opened tin of cat meat.

  At the sound of the fridge door opening Drongo quickly trotted to the kitchen. Jem watched in surprise at the amicable resolution.

  As Jeremy finished his book she heard Eben’s voice in the kitchen. He had come home shortly after they had returned from collecting Jeremy from school. He’d listened with interest to her explaining about Jess’s condition and had laughed about her rotten morning but had contributed little to the conversation. By the time he had disappeared with a cup of coffee into Jason’s office on the pretext of playing computer games she had no idea where he had been or what he had been doing.

  After watching Jeremy set up a computer game she took his book, filled in the reading record and put them in his homework folder on the breakfast bar. Eben was busy grating cheese while a pot of water boiled on the stove.

  “Watcha doin’?” Jem asked.

  “I thought I’d take care of a quick dinner then you could visit Jess if you’d like.”

  What a thoughtful thing to do. He must have an ulterior motive.

  Eben plonked a freshly poured glass of merlot on the counter.

  “Thank you. What’s the occasion?”

  Eben tapped the lip of his beer can against her glass.

  “Here’s to an early night for the kids and may they sleep all night.”

  “Amen,” Jem murmured as she took a sip.

  He grinned at her over the top of his can, dimple winking at her.

  I am immune to dimples, she reminded herself.

  She watched him place opened bread rolls into the oven. There didn’t appear to be a vegetable in sight unless you counted the onion frying in the pan.

  “So what’s for dinner?”

  “American hot dogs and chips.”

  “But where are the vegetables? You know, the healthy bits?”

  “Not on the menu tonight,” Eben grinned. “This is why I’m the fun uncle.”

  “I’m fun!”

  “You could be.” Eben looked her over suggestively.

  Jem felt her cheeks heat up.

  Wine always does this to me, she kidded herself.

  “I am fun,” she insisted, purposely mistaking his comment but was spared further comment by a hacking sound coming from the other side of the breakfast bar. She cringed.

  “I hope that sound isn’t what I think it is.”

  Together they rounded the breakfast bar to have Drongo scurry between their legs and out the cat door in the kitchen. They looked where he had been moments before.

  “Sure he’s a big cat but who knew he could fit so much inside him,” Eben commented as Jem retreated to the pantry and tore a fistful of paper towels off the roll. “Hey, want me to do that?”

  “No, you’re cooking dinner. Besides it’s my fault he got so much to eat at once. Aidan fed him,” Jem explained as she gingerly scooped up some of the warm squishy mess.

  Belatedly she looked at the cat bowl and saw the empty can lying on its side beside it. She looked again at Eben.

  “You may as well dish up for the kids. This might take a while.”

  Once again it was close to 2am when Jem crawled into bed after returning from the hospital and hurrying through the work she had to do. There had been no sign of Eben but he had to be around. Maybe he had fallen asleep on one of the children’s beds as he read them a bed time story.

  Never mind. She’d tell him how the doctors planned to bring Jess out of her coma in the morning because she was doing so well. With a smile on her face Jem fell asleep and that was how Eben found her soon after.

  He had a quick shower and slipped into the bed beside her. Within minutes Jem snuggled against his side, absorbing his warmth. He slid his arm under her head until it rested on his shoulder.

  This is comfortable. I could get used to this, Eben thought sleepily.

  Jem’s leg slid over his thighs and he thought, Oh yeah.

  Then her arm stretched across him until her fingers rested on the waistband of his boxers. His eyes flew open and he held his breath but she moved no further.

  Something in his boxers rose to greet her. He bit back a groan when the tip of his erection escaped the waistband and was enveloped in the warmth of her hand. Eben turned to look at J
em but it was clear that she was asleep.

  After a few minutes the contact wasn’t enough. He lifted his hips and a tug to his boxers freed him completely. His actions were rewarded by Jem grasping him in her sleep.

  Oh yeah.

  He jiggled and her hand tightened. After a minute he jiggled some more but the movement didn’t have the desired effect.

  The next few moments were spent deliberating with his conscience and ended with what the hell.

  With his free hand he tentatively took her wrist and gently started moving it up then down. He glanced across and saw that she still slept. Feeling bolder, he moved her hand up and down faster.

  That feels so good.

  Jem made a noise and he abruptly let go of her wrist. She moved her hand up to his shoulder. Warily Eben looked at her and held his breath as she lifted her head. He let it out again only after she lowered it to snuggle into his shoulder and made a contented sound.

  Relieved that he would be spending the foreseeable future intact, he impulsively kissed her on the temple. Turning his head back on the pillow, he sighed.

  Chapter 6

  When the alarm clock radio came on Eben quickly switched it off. Jem barely stirred. Considering she was one of those annoyingly perky morning people Eben knew she must be exhausted which was why he had decided to let her sleep in.

  He carefully untangled his legs from hers and slid out of bed. She raised her head as though to look at him but at the last moment turned and rested her head back against the pillow. He let out the breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding.

  I wish she would stop doing that.

  Jem later woke to the sounds of Jeremy and Daisy squabbling near the door.

  What time is it?

  She groggily raked her hair back from her face and peered at the alarm clock.

  She was shocked to see it was almost time to leave for school and she wasn’t up, let alone dressed.

  She whipped off her nightshirt and grabbed the first item of clothing she found and pulled it on. In a panic she decided to organise the kids and get dressed properly later.

  Jem rushed into the family room to see Eben trying to put Daisy’s hair into pigtails. Beyond him, Daisy and Jeremy’s bags had been packed for the day and were set to one side. A pile of breakfast dishes were neatly stacked beside the sink. Jeremy sat on the floor nearby helping Aidan put his shoes on.

  Jem rubbed her eyes. She had to be still sleeping otherwise she had fallen into an alternate universe. Daisy spotted her Aunt.

  “Cool!” she exclaimed and twisted under Eben’s hands to look up at him. “Can you make my hair look like Aunty Jem’s?”

  Eben looked up to see Jem wearing his long sleeve t shirt with the cuffs rolled back and the hem hanging to mid-thigh. Her hair was sleep mussed and she looked at him appreciatively. She had obviously figured out what he had done and why. All he wanted to do was to take her back to bed and see if they could find a more fun use for it than they had so far. In the meanwhile he stared appreciatively back. She obviously wasn’t wearing a bra under his t shirt.

  “Uncle Eben?” Daisy yanked his hand and pulled him back to reality.

  “Uh, no I can’t make your hair like hers. I don’t know how to give it that eighties look.”

  At Jem’s responding scowl he mentally smacked his face.

  “Maybe Aunty Jem should take over. She’d be better at it,” he said, deciding he’d better quit before he sunk himself further. “Jeremy, how about you open the garage door with the remote?”

  “It’s my turn!” chorused Daisy and Aidan as Jeremy disappeared to do the honours before they could be reallocated to another sibling.

  “Daisy can close the door and Aidan, you can sit on my lap and drive down the driveway.”

  “I want to drive the car!” Daisy said.

  “Next time,” Eben promised, already wondering whether offering to let Aidan drive had been a good idea.

  Jem took the comb from his hand and took over parting Daisy’s hair. Eben watched as she struggled to make two even pigtails. After she pulled them out for the third time Daisy burst into tears.

  “I want Mummy to do my hair,” she cried. “She can do it right in one go. I want her to come home.”

  Jem knelt down, hugged Daisy to her chest and looked at Eben for help. Not knowing what to do Eben rummaged through the container of hair accessories on the breakfast bar and pulled out a metal headband with a flower on it.

  “How about you put this on Daze?” he suggested. “Look! It’s got a daisy on it that is almost as pretty as you are.”

  Daisy looked up and allowed the sight to console her.

  “Okay,” she said shakily.

  With a few more soothing words Jem wiped Daisy’s wet eyes and cheeks with the tissue Eben passed to her and stood up.

  Minutes later Daisy’s hair was brushed out and the headband secured in place.

  “There you go Daisy, all done,” Jem told her niece.

  Daisy lifted her arms to be picked up. When Jem did, Daisy gave her a hug.

  “Thank you for doing my hair,” she said, then whispered “Uncle Eben was worser than you at doing my hair.”

  “You’re welcome,” Jem replied, bemused by the left handed compliment as she lowered Daisy to the floor.

  Jeremy raced back into the room.

  “You’ll never guess what! There’s a dead rat on the driveway!”

  “Gross!” said Daisy.

  Jeremy turned to Eben.

  “Could you put it in a bag so I can take it to school for news?”

  Eben sat in the car at the top of the sloping driveway. What had seemed a good idea to stop further arguments didn’t seem to be so clever now. Aidan sat on his lap, randomly pressing buttons and adjusting settings. Eben mentally sighed. It’d take him ages to reset his favourite stations on the radio.

  He grabbed both of Aidan’s hands and held them on the steering wheel then turned the window wipers back on.

  “You need both hands to steer,” he told Aidan.

  Aidan smacked Eben’s hands away.

  “I do it.”

  “Go really fast!” Jeremy recommended from the back seat.

  “Yeah! So we can feel butterflies,” Daisy added.

  Over my dead body, thought Eben. Thank goodness he’s too short to reach the accelerator.

  Aidan swung the steering wheel vigorously from side to side until Eben held it firmly with one hand.

  “Let’s go!” said Eben and the car slowly picked up speed as it travelled down the hill.

  Losing interest because he wasn’t allowed to steer the car into the hedge, Aidan reached to the side and found a handle beside the driver’s seat. It didn’t move with a little pull so Aidan yanked the handle up. The car jerked to a stop and Aidan’s face banged against the steering wheel.

  There was suddenly silence in the car. Eben held his breath as Aidan quietly sat up.

  He’s okay, he thought with more than a little relief.

  Then he saw blood on the steering wheel and Aidan screamed.

  Eben fumbled through the medicine cupboard above the fridge in the kitchen. Jem had Aidan on her lap with his head tilted forward and a washcloth pinching his nostrils together.

  What the heck can you put on a blood nose anyway?

  He was impressed how calmly Jem was handling the situation, quietly talking to Aidan to distract him while he was a mess and rummaging through the medicine cupboard with no particular goal in mind.

  What if I had been driving faster?

  He grabbed a pack of laxatives and tossed it back.

  Definitely don’t need that.

  He withdrew a smaller box and looked at the label to see what it was; a three pack of condoms, advertising ribbed, for her pleasure. He glanced at Jem and slid the pack into his back pocket. He’d certainly have a go.

  The next box was a pack of Wiggles sticking plasters. Eben held them uncertainly. Maybe he could offer to put a plaster on Aidan’s fin
ger.

  “Hey sport, want one of these?”

  Aidan looked up as Jem withdrew the facecloth. Fortunately the bleeding had stopped.

  “Yes!” he said.

  Jem wiped a bit of smeared blood from Aidan’s cheek as Eben unwrapped the plaster. He moved to put it on Aidan’s finger.

  “No,” said Aidan. “I want it on my nose.”

  Eben looked at Jem who watched him expectantly. He moved to put the plaster on the bridge of Aidan’s nose but Aidan stopped him by turning his head.

  “No, there,” Aidan scolded as he pointed to his nostrils.

  Eben wasn’t sure what to do. The bleeding had stopped and he couldn’t put the plaster over his nostrils. He lowered his hands.

  “You don’t really need it. It’s stopped bleeding.”

  “Blood there. I get plaster!” said Aidan petulantly.

  Grudgingly Eben taped the plaster under Aidan’s nostrils so Captain Feathersword lay like a brightly coloured moustache above Aidan’s top lip with his feather sword appearing to go up a nostril. Aidan got off Jem’s lap and looked up to his Aunt.

  “I better now.”

  “You sure are,” she told him.

  Eben saw Jem’s shoulders shaking. Had she been more upset than she let on? He looked at her face and saw that she was biting her lip to stop herself laughing out loud. He looked at Aidan and saw the plaster twitch as Aidan scrunched his nose.

  “You can get back in the car now,” Eben said and watched the toddler disappear down the hallway.

  Eben knew he’d get a lot of comments wherever they went.

  “Are you sure you want to take him with you today?” Jem asked.

  She was obviously thinking the same thing.

  “Sure,” Eben said easily. “You can visit Jess in peace and at least this way he’ll be easy to describe to others if I have to look for him anywhere.”

  “Thank you.”

  Before Eben realised it, Jem had stood up and crossed the short distance between them. She reached up to tug his head down a little towards hers to give him a quick kiss as a thank you. Instead when their lips met his arms swept her against him and he deepened the kiss.