Times Like These

by Laura Carter

  Times Like These

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1 Hannah

  2 Andrea

  3 Rosalie

  4 Hannah

  5 Rosalie

  6 Andrea

  7 Hannah

  8 Rosalie

  9 Andrea

  10 Hannah

  11 Rosalie

  12 Andrea

  13 Rosalie

  14 Hannah

  15 Andrea

  16 Rosalie

  17 Andrea

  18 Rosalie

  19 Hannah

  20 Andrea

  21 Rosalie

  22 Hannah

  23 Andrea

  24 Rosalie

  25 Hannah

  26 Andrea

  27 Hannah

  28 Rosalie

  About One Year Later…

  Acknowledgements

  Copyright

  Cover

  Table of Contents

  Start of Content

  For Rocky

  1

  Hannah

  ‘…I baptise you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.’

  Right on cue, TJ’s wide eyes filled with horror and he started to scream bloody murder in the vicar’s arms.

  Hannah thought she would cry too, if someone threw cold water over her head when she was trying to nap. She smiled, pretending all eyes in the congregation weren’t on her as she accepted her baby beside the church font, whispering to him as she bounced him in her arms. The drenched, already thick and unruly mass of black hair on his head serving as confirmation that he was now a blessed soul.

  She wasn’t sure she believed in God and the bible but she believed in something. And she had many blessings to be thankful for. Luke, her eldest son, who was going through the hormones of a late teenage boy but was a talented, smart kid. Jackson, her middle boy, who was straddling the age of innocence and pre-pubescence – one minute playing tag with friends and the next sneaking glances at the magazines Luke kept under his bed that Hannah pretended not to know about.

  And she had Rod, whom she sometimes referred to as the biggest kid of them all, more affectionately known as her husband. When they got pregnant in college, it was as if Rod froze in time, forever throwing his clothes on the floor to be laundered by someone else, addicted to all sports – watching, playing, talking about them – but the same guy she fell in love with and was still very much in love with. He was her very good-looking, menace-in-the-bedroom, lazy-ass best friend.

  For all their imperfections, including her own, Hannah’s family was her world and it was important to her to have them blessed – just in case.

  ‘Can I take him?’

  ‘Sure,’ Hannah said, handing off TJ to the waiting arms of Sofia.

  Hannah’s family didn’t stop at her kids and husband. It extended to the three most important ladies in her life – Sofia, Andrea and Rosalie.

  Despite the silk blouse she was wearing tucked into black wide-legged pants, Sofia held TJ’s soaked head of hair against her chest. Her big, beautiful eyes went wide and shone as she made faces to TJ. It struck Hannah that it had been a while since she had seen the sparkle in Sofia’s eyes.

  To Sofia’s side stood the cause of that spark going out. Jay, Sofia’s husband, whom everyone could see was a waster, except Sofia.

  ‘It looks good on you,’ Hannah told Sofia, receiving a soft smile in return, but one that didn’t quite reach her cheeks.

  ‘I’m going to be the best god-mommy you’ve ever had, TJ,’ Sofia told him, miraculously turning his tears to giggles.

  ‘I don’t think so. You’ll be second best.’ The voice belonged to Rosalie, who appeared next to Sofia and Hannah, tickling TJ’s stomach with her perfectly manicured fingers.

  Rosalie always looked the part and today was no exception. Her long hair fell in salon-styled curls across her shoulders. Though she was willing to tickle TJ’s tummy, she was standing a safe distance from him in her tailored cream coat, which probably cost more than Hannah earned in a month.

  Hannah, Sofia and Rosalie led the christening party out of the church in New Jersey.

  ‘I don’t understand why I’m not a godparent. I’m a godparent to Luke and Jackson.’ said Andrea, following behind them.

  Andrea was Hannah’s oldest and most loyal friend, as well as being Sofia’s older sister.

  Andrea and Sofia had moved to New Jersey from Nashville with their dad when Andrea was eight years old and Sofia had been only months old. They had moved into a house on the same street as Hannah’s parents and Andrea had been in Hannah’s class at school. Their friendship had been formed quickly, when Hannah had shown Andrea the answers to their math homework because Andrea had forgotten to do it.

  The reality had been, Andrea hadn’t just forgotten, she hadn’t had time. She was a young girl with a lot of responsibility at home.

  ‘I thought you said you didn’t want to be TJ’s godmother?’ Rod said, coming up to Andrea’s side behind Hannah, Sofia and Rosalie.

  ‘That’s not at all accurate,’ Andrea quipped, stone-faced. ‘I said, if something happened to you and Hannah, wouldn’t I have to take the kids anyway?’

  ‘Therefore, you don’t need the title,’ Sofia said across her shoulder. ‘Whereas Rosalie and I haven’t been godmothers before and we need this.’

  Though Sofia was eight years Hannah and Andrea’s junior, and she had her own friendship group, Hannah would always see Sofia as somewhat of a younger sister. Recently, there had been tensions between Andrea and Sofia, and Hannah secretly hoped that asking Sofia to be a godmother to TJ would keep a connection between them that would survive sibling squabbles.

  They reached the churchyard, where Rod called to their group to bunch together for photographs.

  Hannah, Rosalie, Andrea and Sofia stood in front of the church, with Hannah and Rod’s remaining friends and family gathered behind them. Luke and Jackson stood to Hannah’s left, already looking dishevelled in their school trousers, shirts now partly untucked with skewed ties.

  ‘Plus,’ Rosalie said, already smiling as Rod handed his camera to another churchgoer and offered instructions on focusing the lens, ‘I buy the best gifts.’

  ‘That isn’t true,’ Andrea said through her own tight smile, her eyes squinting against the sun’s rays as Rod slipped into the row between her and Hannah. ‘What about the drum kit I bought Jackson for Christmas? He said that was the best gift anyone has ever bought him.’

  Rod held out his hands from his side and turned to Andrea. ‘And she wonders why we didn’t make her godmother?’

  Just as Andrea retorted, pointing a finger at Rod, TJ started to cry, Luke pushed Jackson and the stranger sent the camera flashing.

  Hannah laughed. A perfect picture of her family.

  Her oldest boys fighting. Her baby crying. Rod bickering with Andrea. Rosalie posing as if she was on a red carpet at a movie premiere, oblivious to the world around her. Sofia trying to appease TJ.

  If this were Hollywood, the four women might be referred to as the ditzy rich one, Rosalie, the bitchy promiscuous one, Andrea, the three-times mom (one accidental) who married the college jock, Hannah, and the slightly quirky, quietly bitter younger sister, Sofia.

  On the face of it, Hannah, Andrea and Rosalie might have seemed to be unlikely friends and heck, they could drive one another up the wall at times, but they shared a bond as strong as any family.

  * * *

  Hannah’s small yard wasn’t really big enough to host twenty adults and countless kids after the christening but the other options had been expensive. She and Rod were far from flush at the best of times but things were tighter than usual whilst she had been
on maternity leave. When she went back to work next week, they would get abundantly worse, thanks to TJ’s childcare bills.

  That was the thing about three kids with large age gaps between them. Just when she thought they could start to get on track financially, another kid would come along. Her boys were the loves of her life but they weren’t cheap.

  So, they had a questionably safe bouncy castle in the yard, Hannah had made party food, Rosalie had generously decorated the place with blue bunting and balloons, and Andrea had supplied a dozen bottles of champagne.

  Happily, the sun was shining. Though it wasn’t the warmest of spring days, sitting directly in the sunlight with a sweater, it was warm enough to have the party between the kitchen and outside.

  As people started to arrive from the church – kids making a dash straight to the bouncy castle and adults making a dash directly to the drinks table – Hannah fussed around her kitchen, uncovering bowls of dips and chips and laying them out on the bunting-trimmed kitchen table.

  ‘What can I do to help?’ Sofia asked, appearing at the kitchen door.

  ‘There are a few pizzas in the freezer in the garage, if you wouldn’t mind grabbing them and popping them in the oven?’

  ‘Sure thing,’ Sofia said, knowing her way around Hannah’s house well enough to get on with the task.

  Hannah took a stack of three trays of sandwiches she had prepared the night before from the fridge.

  ‘Can I help?’ Hannah’s mom lifted the top two trays from Hannah and set them down on the counter top.

  ‘Thanks.’

  Hannah had a strained relationship with her parents.

  They had never approved of Hannah dropping out of college to have Luke. After his birth, everything they said had felt like ‘We told you so.’

  Whilst Rod was away playing football and finishing college, Hannah had struggled to bring up Luke alone. Night after night and all day long, he screamed through colic. Then one night, when Luke was only weeks old, she heard her parents having a blazing row. Her father – her own father – gave her mother an ultimatum. Either he left, or Hannah left with Luke.

  Though they had all agreed to move on from what happened after Luke was born, things had never been the same between them. Hannah would always invite them to birthdays, christenings and her annual Christmas gathering and they would spend too much money on gifts for the kids as a way of making amends for the past, but she would never be able to get past the fact that the people who were supposed to love her unconditionally had kicked her out of their home with her newborn baby. One thing it had taught Hannah though, was that unlike her own mom, she would always put her kids first.

  ‘You look pretty,’ Hannah said, nodding to her mom’s peach dress and jacket combo.

  ‘Thank you. You too.’ She gestured to Hannah’s blue fitted dress, which she had bought for a friend’s wedding about five years ago and that she had only just managed to squeeze into. She still had a few pounds of post-baby weight to move before she would be back at her happy weight.

  ‘She always looks pretty,’ Rod said, swooping into the kitchen and planting a kiss on Hannah’s cheek as he snuck his arms around her waist, stole a sandwich, then left again.

  ‘A little help might be appreciated, Rod,’ Hannah called after him.

  ‘I’m entertaining, babes,’ he replied, through a mouthful of ham and cheese sandwich as he headed back out to the yard. ‘Have we got any more ice?’

  Rolling her eyes, Hannah left her mom needlessly rearranging things Hannah had already placed on the kitchen table and headed to the garage.

  The door was already open and she could hear Sofia’s husband, Jay, talking inside.

  ‘Soph, come on. It’s a kids’ party. There are a million better places to be. You used to be fun.’

  Hannah leaned against the wall and listened, instantly rattled by Jay. Since he and Sofia had been together, he had slowly changed her. From convincing her to change her signature edgy haircut – dyed pink and blonde from her natural brown, short and spiked with one side shaved – to stopping her from seeing her friends. Jay was manipulative and sly. Increasingly so, Hannah thought.

  ‘Jay, I’m godmother. My dad is here. Plus, I told Hannah I’d help out.’

  ‘Are you telling me you’d rather cook pizzas and listen to kids screaming than be with me, huh?’ Then his tone changed and Hannah could imagine him schmoozing up to Sofia, the way he did.

  Whatever happened next, Sofia started to giggle. ‘Stop it. Not here. Let me help Hannah sort the food, then we’ll leave.’

  Hannah heard the freezer door shut.

  ‘Whatever, Soph. Go cook your pizzas.’

  Hannah tiptoed a few feet away from the door, making a mental note to share the latest of Jay’s shitty behaviour with Andrea, then called out… ‘Soph? Would you be able to bring some ice, too, please?’

  ‘Sure, will do!’ Sofia called back.

  In the kitchen, Hannah looked up from the quiche she was cutting and saw Jay sulkily traipse outside. Sofia planted a fake smile on her face and set the pizzas and ice down on the counter.

  ‘Listen, Hannah, I’m really sorry but Jay isn’t feeling too good. We might have to take off earlier than I wanted to.’ She gave Hannah an apologetic look and added quickly. ‘Not yet, though, not for a while.’

  ‘Really? It’s so great to have you here, though,’ Hannah said.

  ‘I know.’ Sofia looked glum.

  Like Hannah had told Andrea countless times, it was up to Sofia to finally see the truth about Jay, in her own time. Hannah putting guilt on her from both sides wouldn’t do anyone any good.

  She turned her lips into a smile and told Sofia, ‘But there’s nothing you can do if Jay isn’t well.’

  She busied herself with the quiche rather than seeing Sofia’s sadness because it broke her heart. The sooner Sofia saw through Jay’s act, the better.

  Who knew, maybe it was everyone else who had it wrong. Hannah would willingly be proven wrong if it meant Sofia was happy.

  When she stepped outside, Hannah saw Rosalie holding onto her latest boyfriend’s shoulder as she leant down and fiddled with the heel of her stiletto shoes.

  ‘Shoe trouble, Ros?’ Hannah asked.

  ‘Oh, no, Dior doesn’t cause shoe trouble.’ Rosalie wafted a hand dismissively as she spoke without a trace of irony. ‘I’m just clipping on these protectors.’ She held up a translucent plastic thingy in demonstration. ‘You clip these onto the heels and they stop you sinking into the lawn, you see?’

  ‘Genius,’ Hannah said, chuckling. Only Rosalie would come to someone’s house prepared with anti-sinking heel protectors.

  Rosalie was aspirationally glamorous. In fact, Rosalie’s glamour was essentially what had brought her into the lives of Hannah and Andrea. Back when Andrea had been running her family’s indie music label, Sanfia Records, Hannah had been her assistant and Rosalie had been making headlines as a socialite. She had been dating one of Andrea’s clients, a frontman of a rock band that had since won multiple awards and had numerous platinum albums.

  Rosalie, being somewhere between unemployed and self-employed – also known as living off a trust fund and charitably working if she felt like it – used to tag along to the band’s recording sessions. She would always bring coffees or food and she’d sit in the sound booth with Andrea, Hannah and latterly Sofia, as the band laid down their music.

  Beneath all the clothes and bags, Rosalie was a genuinely kind and funny woman. Her life was unreal. The money, the cliquey, gold-digging friends, the electronically revolving wardrobe. And the fact she seemed destined to forever search for but never find the Prince Charming to her princess. Knowing Rosalie was like having a free subscription to a television series the others just could not get enough of. Hannah strongly suspected that for their part, Hannah and Andrea brought a sense of realism to Rosalie’s otherwise surreal world.

  * * *

  Hours later, almost everyone had left Hannah’s place
. Luke had gone to a friend’s house to stay over, having had enough of ‘kids’ – his words. Jackson had crashed from a sugar high and gone to bed earlier than usual. TJ had taken a full bottle of milk and was currently sleeping. Hannah, Rod, Andrea, Rosalie and her boyfriend, George, were sitting around a firepit in the yard as the last of the wood burned. Christmas lights, which Rosalie had incorporated into the decorations for the day, cast a low glow around the lawn.

  ‘Let’s go and do something, George,’ Rosalie said. ‘The night is young. We could go for cocktails when we get back to the city, or—’

  ‘Rosalie, some of us have to work tomorrow.’

  It was clear to Hannah that Rosalie wanted to take the huff with George, but then she must have thought better of it. To Rosalie, Sunday night was no different to Friday, Saturday or any other day of the week.

  But Rosalie being Rosalie, Hannah was sure George would not have heard the last of her wanting to do something, once they were in the privacy of their own space.

  When Rosalie and George left, Rod announced he was going to take a shower. He kissed Hannah on the head where she sat in a garden chair and asked Andrea, ‘Will you still be here when I’m done?’

  Andrea checked her watch. ‘I should be getting back to the city. I’ll babysit Hannah whilst you’re upstairs, then leave you guys to it.’