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‘It’s twenty-one minutes past ten, Mum,’ Archie informed Dawn once they were in the car. ‘We’ve never been this late.’
‘I know, sweetie. I’m sure your friends won’t mind.’ The meerkats were Archie’s friends. He had more social attachments to animals than he did any human.
‘But I told Joel I get there every Saturday when the zoo opens. What if he’s waiting for me?’
‘Who is Joel?’ Dawn was pretty familiar with all the meerkats’ names, but she was pretty sure none of them were called Joel.
‘The keeper. Remember, Mum, you met him last time you were there.’
‘Of course. How could I forget?’ It wasn’t like a lot had happened lately. ‘Did he say he would wait for you?’
‘He said see you next week, so he knows I’ll be there.’
‘I don’t think he’ll mind if we arrive later than we usually do. We’ve got a pretty good excuse.’ They were less than five minutes away now and Dawn hoped Archie wouldn’t freak out at any point. It had been a while since he had, but she knew only too well that upsetting his routine was a contributor to setting him off and, if that happened, she would only have herself to blame.
She should have thought about this part of the process more and put more support in for the days following giving birth. It was a shame David and Rebekah were her main source of help. Their father had passed away when they were in their teens and their mother, who’d never dealt with his death particularly well, had upped and moved to Spain. These days they were lucky if they got their annual visit. It was Jane who was being her rock and maybe she’d have to call on her more than she’d thought she would.
For some reason she’d imagined this part as easy. She didn’t have a baby to care for, so there was nothing to interrupt the course of her life other than some mild discomfort and a waistline that would need getting back in shape. Of course it wasn’t that simple and it was only in the aftermath that she was able to see she should have been more prepared.
For now, she just had to hope they survived the trip to the zoo. Because surely the best way to adjust was to keep going and carry on as normal. As for David and Rebekah, they’d all agreed that for the first couple of weeks, while David was on paternity leave, it would be appropriate for Dawn to leave them to let the bonding process take place. When they’d agree on that it had made sense, but now it felt odd to not be seeing them as she usually would.
It was strange not to be involved at this early stage. David had been her rock when Archie was born. He’d made sure she ate when she’d not been able to put Archie down. He would take Archie out for a walk when she’d not slept a wink all night. They’d been so young, but unlike the rest of the family, he’d not turned his back on her by moving to another country. She was certain she wouldn’t have got through that period of time without his help. Which is why it felt alien to not be offering her support at this point in time, when getting to grips with the baby would be tough going. But then, she supposed giving birth for them kind of made up for it.
The official arrangement was that, a couple of weeks after the baby’s arrival, the newly formed family would come over to the flat for a Sunday roast. By that point Dawn should have recovered and Rebekah would have bonded with baby. It sounded like a sane enough plan and Dawn was looking forward to meeting her nephew without feeling like he was her son.
‘Come on, Mum.’ Archie started running towards the entrance as soon as they arrived.
‘Slow down. I can’t run today. You’ll have to walk.’ Dawn was really regretting not asking Jane to come along as well. In her memory, she recalled recovering pretty quickly from Archie’s birth, and while she’d not had a rough time of it this time round, running around after an enthusiastic ten-year-old had not been on the recovery agenda last time.
Fortunately, Archie did slow down. It was only recently he seemed to be paying more attention to what she was saying and the timing couldn’t be better. It was possible her baby boy was turning into a young man and, if he was going through a good phase, she needed to enjoy it as only God knew what the teenage years would be like. And it was a positive thing to think that soon it would be the summer holidays and she would have the time to spend with him.
‘Do you think Joel will still be there?’ Archie asked once they were through the entrance.
‘I don’t know. He’ll have lots of things to do today. He might have gone to look after some of the other animals.’
‘Oh.’
‘We’ll know soon enough.’ They were on the path that led to the meerkat enclosure.
‘Can I go and see?’
It was a straight path. Archie wouldn’t go out of sight so Dawn nodded agreement. ‘I’ll be there in a minute. Mum can’t do any rushing today.’
Dawn watched him run off and continued meandering along. She seemed to be going at a slower pace than when she’d been waddling on her last visit. It was like her muscles weren’t willing to play ball yet and were eager for some extra time off. She would have to get in touch with Jane. She’d help her out with Archie and provide her with some evening company. There was a chance she might say ‘I told you so’ over the recovery being harder than Dawn had envisaged, but best friends were allowed to point out when you’d been wrong.
Lost in her troubles, Archie nearly knocked her over when he doubled back at such a speed he’d have knocked skittles over. ‘Joel is here.’
‘Gosh. Well, that’s good.’ Dawn wasn’t sure why Archie was so excited, but it really was nice to see those kinds of emotions coming out in him.
‘Can I have my notebook?’
Crap. Today was going so well. She didn’t want to be the one to break the news that she’d forgotten it.
‘Can I have my notepad? We’re going to go through my checks.’
Dawn closed her eyes briefly, dizziness washing over her for a nanosecond. ‘I don’t have it. Sorry, Archie, my brain wasn’t in gear when we left.’ In the years they’d been coming here, Dawn hadn’t ever forgotten the notepad because doing so would be tantamount to treason. Archie would likely disown her for such disorganisation regarding a ritual that was sacrosanct. This weekly activity was Archie’s lifeblood, and what would happen if he didn’t have his notes from the previous week’s activities? Well, they were about to find out.
Dawn was psyching herself up for screaming and shouting. She expected a tantrum so spectacular that every passer-by would stare and wonder why she wasn’t able to control her child. When that didn’t happen, it took a second for her to register the fact that Archie was turning on his heel and running away from her.
‘Archie?’ As much as she didn’t feel able to, she found herself picking up her pace in an effort to follow him. If Archie ran away and she couldn’t find him, she didn’t know what she would do. He had friends who did it regularly, causing their mothers no end of heartache and worry. It was a habit she hoped he never picked up. ‘Archie, I can’t run. Stay here. We’ll buy you a new notepad. It’ll be okay.’ She was already breathless when she’d barely broken into a jog.
‘I’ll be at the meerkats,’ Archie shouted back.
Thank goodness for that. At least he didn’t have plans to run off in some unknown direction. Dawn stopped and got her breath back. God, she knew she’d been a bit of a slob while she’d been the life support to another human being, but surely not to the point where the slightest physical exertion was enough to ground her.
When she found the energy to put one foot in front of the other, she reached the meerkat enclosure and tried not to panic when she didn’t spot her son. ‘Archie? Where are you?’ The area was fairly empty so it was okay for her to sound like an irrational, panicky mother. If the past week was anything to go by, it was getting close to the truth.
Dawn started to wind her way around the circular pen. It was a hidden corner within the zoo so didn’t get as busy as the enclosures on the main route. There weren’t many places her son could hide. Inside the pen were some branches and a bank, which were a regular lookout spot for the meerkats, and they were enough to camouflage a section on the opposite side. But the further round she went, more of the blind spot became visible, with no sign of her son. ‘Archie,’ she shouted with a definite edge of fear.
‘I’m here, Mum.’
The small voice came from behind Dawn and she turned quicker than was appropriate when feeling as delicate as she was. She wanted to drag him to her bosom and tell him never to run off like that again. But more than likely that would cause the meltdown they’d so far avoided, and he’d not really run off when he was at the location he’d told her he would be.
‘Everything okay?’ Dawn asked because he was inside the keeper’s area – the small cabin where everything the meerkats needed was prepared.
‘Yes. I told Joel that you’d forgotten my notes, but I knew it would be okay because he photocopied them last week.’ Archie and Joel came out and joined her.
‘Oh, phew, that’s good.’ Dawn was struck by the man standing next to her son. She’d been so preoccupied last time they met she’d not paid him much attention. Along with his dreadlocks, he had a dark tan which, with his khaki shirt and shorts, made him look every inch the part of Crocodile Dundee, only without a reptile that needed wrestling in sight.
‘Archie’s being a great help with me learning about the different family members.’
‘So, you’re new?’ Dawn wanted to sit down now she knew he was safe.
‘New to the meerkats. We swap the animals we work with every six months. Part of a learning programme at the zoo. Means we get to work with all the different animals we want to. Meerkats fascinate me.’
No wonder Archie had warmed to him. ‘Do you have a notepad Archie can use?’ Dawn didn’t mean to be cheeky, but if it would save her traipsing to the gift shop she was willing to ask.
‘We’ve already sorted one and we’re about to start the checks. Are you happy for me to go through them with Archie? It’s really helping me.’
‘Elspeth and Evelyn are really hard. Joel can’t tell them apart yet.’
‘As long as it is helpful for you?’ Joel’s dreadlocked hair was tied back and his dark tan made him look like he spent every possible hour out in the sunshine. She didn’t want Archie hindering his working day, especially if he was saying it just to be polite.
‘It really is. And the next time this family have babies, I’m banning any names beginning with E. Talk about making it difficult.’ Joel winked.
Dawn laughed despite herself. She was glad it wasn’t just her that found it confusing. Ever since Elvis had become the alpha male, the zoo had named every offspring with names beginning with E. And the names were too similar sounding to distinguish at times. ‘I’m going to go and sit down if that’s okay?’ She needed to sit or she would fall.
‘Mum’s just had a baby,’ Archie chipped in. ‘She was a surrogate.’
‘Wow. You really should take a seat then.’
Joel and Archie escorted her to the bench where she normally sat and in a very small way it was like a piece of equilibrium being restored.
‘Are you okay, Mum?’
Dawn was feeling out of sorts, but she guessed that was to be expected when she was rushing round a zoo covering some considerable square meterage only a few days after a baby had been plucked from her womb. ‘I just need a rest, sweetheart. I think we’ll have to skip our walk today. Probably best seeing as we’re here later than usual.’
‘I’m going to do the checks now,’ Archie said.
‘Thanks,’ Dawn said to Joel as he followed her son. It was nice that someone was embracing his obsession with meerkats. She’d not met anyone yet who was able to match his knowledge on them and he hadn’t spoken to the last keeper after he’d answered some questions wrong. So this was an improvement. A big one.
When Dawn fumbled in her handbag, she found she’d also forgotten her sketchpad. Great. That was all she needed. Being left with her own thoughts was not a good idea at the moment. She selected a Hall’s Soother instead. She didn’t have a cold, but it was the best offering in a normally useful handbag and she figured the sugar might do her some good. Plus, they normally took twenty minutes to work and if she concentrated on the throat sweet she might not get round to noticing the emptiness within. But trying to numb her tongue wasn’t enough to numb any other part of her, and as yet another mum trundled past her with a baby wrapped in a sling, Dawn wasn’t able to ignore the hurt. The sense that she should also have a babe in her arms was gnawing away at her to an extent she’d never thought would be possible. After Archie she’d never been broody. Those early days of bringing up a fussy baby by herself had been enough to put away any thoughts of doing it again into another lifetime. Her lack of maternal instincts had been part of the reason she’d been so willing to be a surrogate. Not wanting to do it all again meant it would be easy to hand the baby over. But it seemed to have opened up dormant emotions and here she was with swollen breasts threatening to lactate.
Dawn was so busy staring longingly after the mother and baby she didn’t notice Joel heading back to the bench.
‘Here. I thought you might need these.’
Dawn turned, startled at being brought back to the real world. Surreptitiously, she moved her arms so if she did have any wet patches they wouldn’t be noticed. At least she hoped.
Joel was holding a flask and a Yorkie bar. He moved them in front of her as she’d not responded yet. ‘Tea and chocolate. You look like you need both.’
The gesture was enough to make her eyes well up and all too quickly tears were streaking her cheeks. She wiped them away and tried to gain some composure. ‘You don’t need to do that. I’m obviously raiding your lunchbox.’
‘No worries. I’ll refill it on my lunch break and you definitely deserve the chocolate more than I do. I best get back to Archie.’ Joel went back to the meerkat enclosure and Dawn was too exhausted to argue.
The tea was just the right temperature and gave comfort in a way only a good cuppa could manage. Dawn didn’t really want to deprive the man of his chocolate, but she was feeling wobbly enough to unwrap it and snap off the first two squares. Maybe they could go halves.
‘Here you go, Mum.’ It was Archie this time with more provisions. ‘Joel said I should give you these.’ He passed her a book and some scrunched-up blue roll, which she assumed was to use in place of tissues.
‘Thank you, Arch.’
‘You’re the alpha female.’
‘Okay.’ Dawn wasn’t quite sure what Archie was telling her, but it seemed like a compliment.
‘Joel said I should tell you. He said I was being nice.’
‘Why am I the alpha female then?’
Dawn knew more than the average mother about meerkats, but she didn’t quite know what Archie was getting at.
‘You’re the alpha female. The matriarch because you’re the one who has the babies. No one else is allowed to. But it’s okay that Rebekah is looking after the baby because she’s in our family group so you don’t need to be sad about it. We just all have to look after each other.’
How right he was. And how much more complicated it felt to be a human. Archie’s outlook wasn’t wrong though and once this blaze of hormones settled down she would try to look at it that way. It seemed like a very nice way to view the situation.
Dawn snapped off another piece of chocolate from the bar and passed the remainder back to Archie. ‘If we’re looking after each other, you’d better take this back to Joel so you can both have a chunk to eat as well.’
‘Cool. Love you, Alpha,’ Archie said, before skipping back towards the meerkats and his new-found friend. It would have been nearly enough to make Dawn emotional again, if not for the new nickname, which she hoped wouldn’t stick.
As Dawn poured herself another cup of tea, she realised the book wasn’t some kind of wildlife manual. It was a novel: The Beach by Alex Garland. Well, it would certainly take her thoughts away to a different world and, even if it wasn’t a perfect one, it might be preferable to the way she was currently feeling.
Chapter 7 (#ulink_6cb6c6c3-e0ec-51f3-bbfb-4bb2f3684b4c)
The following two Sunday lunches with just the two of them were sombre affairs. The usual chatter was absent and even the gravy wasn’t as good without her brother about to stir the lumps out. So it was quite a blow, on the day they were to be reunited, to receive a text from David cancelling their visit.
It was over a fortnight ago now that she’d given birth and on the whole she was feeling a bit more upbeat about life. The urge to cry wasn’t quite so ripe and she’d started focusing on how this time was going to help her. The apprenticeship at the local (and only) tattoo shop was confirmed to start after the summer holidays and she just needed to work on completing her portfolio.
Only the text message from David was pulling her spirits down again. Casting her mind back over the years, this was the longest they’d been apart. He’d gone to university locally so he was never far away and there wasn’t a week that went by when they didn’t meet up. Until now. She didn’t want to resent Rebekah, but she was finding it hard not to when she’d given her a child and in exchange she’d stolen her brother. Okay, so stolen was an exaggeration, but for years David had been her life-support system, even before Archie. They looked out for each other – that was how life worked when you were a twin – so it didn’t feel right that the link seemed to have temporarily broken.
Reading her brother’s message again, BABY NOT SETTLING. WILL HAVE TO CALL OFF TODAY, Dawn realised maybe she was the one that needed to make the first move. NEED ANY HELP? she offered.
Up until now Dawn had opted not to contact them, respecting that they wanted their space. But as David had got in touch, and her emotions were more in check, it seemed appropriate to ask.
NOT TODAY. TALK SOON came the response.
It left Dawn deflated. She wanted normality to resume for her and for Archie. He was a boy that liked routine and now she had to break it to him that he wouldn’t get to meet his cousin today like they’d always planned. That alone would be difficult to handle, before even dealing with how she felt about it herself.
Dawn went and found Archie in his room carrying out his weekly clean-out of Norman’s tank.
‘I’m really sorry, Arch. Your auntie and uncle won’t be over today. They’re still settling in with baby. They’re not quite ready to face the outside world yet.’
‘Oh.’ Archie’s shoulders sagged with disappointment.
The movement made Norman scuttle across his tank and Dawn took a step out of the room. She was never going to get used to sharing the flat with a tarantula. The brief distraction gave her an idea.
‘I know we don’t normally do this, but how about we go out for dinner?’ Last weekend they’d had their Sunday roast alone, but they’d known that was going to be the case. Somehow, now David and Rebekah weren’t coming, Dawn wasn’t sure she could muster the energy to cook just for the two of them again and it would be very apparent their guests were absent. If Archie wasn’t comfortable with eating out (she wasn’t able to recall the last time she’d braved it with him), they could always opt for a takeaway to save cooking.
‘Where will we go?’
‘We’ll go to Maureen’s café. She’ll be glad to see you and I can see if any of my pictures have sold. They do lovely roasts. I can ring ahead and book us a table.’ Maureen’s café was one of Dawn’s favourite places within the New Forest. It was a hidden treasure not entirely overrun by tourist trade. She’d been visiting there since Archie was a baby and, with her own mother absent, Maureen was often the closest she had to having a parent close by.
Over the years they’d become firm friends and, at some point, Maureen had offered to display Dawn’s sketches in the café. They were fine-pencil abstract drawings. She would take everyday objects and turn them into a woven fabric of shapes.
Their surreal qualities meant they weren’t everyone’s cup of tea, so Dawn didn’t expect many sales, but whenever they did sell it was a bonus. In fact, her pictures being hung there were exactly the reason Tony the tattoo artist had been in touch about the apprenticeship. He felt she would have a natural talent. She wasn’t so sure, but she wasn’t going to pass on the opportunity.
Archie considered for a moment by staring into Norman’s tank. She hoped her son didn’t think the spider was invited because he really wasn’t. ‘Do they do roast beef?’
‘I’m sure Maureen will do. Hopefully.’
‘We can go if I can have beef.’
‘Fingers crossed,’ Dawn said and actually crossed her fingers. If they didn’t then she would have to scrap any plans to take her son out.
When she rang, thankfully Maureen had both a vacant table in a quiet corner and roast beef on the menu.
By the time they arrived, the lunch crowd were mostly gone and it left them with only a couple of other diners finishing off their pudding. It was perfect and she wasn’t sure why she hadn’t brought Archie before for Sunday lunch. Probably memories of the mealtime meltdowns from the past. They’d been so frequent and all-encompassing that at some point it became so much easier to remain at home, then if the gravy was on the wrong section of the plate he didn’t ruin dinner for them and everyone else around them.
Today, Dawn asked for a jug of gravy on the side and, with knowing the owner well, it didn’t feel much different from dining at home. And when she thought about it, the meltdowns had been dying down for over a year. It was just Dawn continuing to live in fear of their appearance, which was no way to live.
