Wounded Beast (Gypsy Heroes)

I pick up the cat bowl from the floor and put it on the counter. Then I lift Tommy up and stalk into the living room. The truth is, I feel quite distraught. I don’t know if cat food will make the kid sick. I put him on the floor. I want to Google the effects of eating cat food, and I realize my phone is still in the kitchen. I go to get it, and come back to find Liliana standing in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips.

‘Tommy is sucking the cat’s tail,’ she announces in what can only be described as a passive-aggressive tone.

‘What the hell?’ I turn to look at Tommy, and indeed he’s sucking on its tail. I run to him, pick him up, and try to shoo the cat away, but it hisses at me and refuses to move. I drop Tommy onto the sofa. There’s a toy train on the table and I give it to him. He takes it with a squeal of delight. How much longer before Ella gets here? I really can’t handle this for many more minutes. I run my hands through my hair.

‘I’m bored,’ Liliana says.

I rub my hands together with fake enthusiasm. ‘So, what shall we do until Aunty Ella comes, huh?’

Liliana shrugs. ‘Shall we play hide and seek?’

‘Nope. Let’s not do that. How about we watch some TV?’

‘OK,’ she says agreeably.

‘Lee Jaw,’ Tommy says.

‘What?’

‘Little Lucien,’ Liliana translates.

I switch on the TV, find the video, and press play. Both kids settle on the floor. The doorbell goes. Oh! Thank God. I rush to open the door and by God Ella is a sight for sore eyes.

‘Hey, sexy,’ I say looking her up and down. To my horror, I see Tommy shoot out of the front door past my legs. Honestly, I’m way too shocked to do anything, but Ella catches him by the scruff of his T-shirt.

She smiles at me. ‘When they run away from you, they’re not really running away. They just want to be caught.’

‘Oh, boy, am I glad to see you.’

I pull her in and close the door. ‘Listen, Ella. Tommy ate a bit of cat food before I could get to him.’

To my relief she grins. ‘It won’t hurt him. Most things won’t. Kids are made to be as tough as old boots. To ensure the survival of the human race and all that.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah. My brother took a dead cockroach from the mouth of a cat and ate it. My mother never recovered, but he was perfectly fine.’

I sigh with relief. ‘Christ was tested in the desert by Satan. I’ve been tested by my nephew.’

EIGHTEEN

I walk into the kitchen and catch Dom on his hands and knees wiping a wet sponge on the floor in circles, an action that is only serving to smear melted ice cream all over the floor. I stand there looking at him, at his endearing helplessness, and falling in love all over again. I don’t know how grating an undomesticated male can eventually become, but right now, it’s like watching puppies fall asleep on the lip of their food bowls. Cute, cute, cute.

He looks up, sees me, and sudden panic flares in his eyes.

‘Where’s Tommy?’ he asks urgently.

‘Relax. He’s inside his playpen with a bottle of milk.’

I hear him exhale with relief.

‘And Little Miss Perfect?’

I bite back a smile. ‘Watching a cartoon.’

‘Is it normal for a three-year-old kid to talk like her?’

‘She is a bit precocious, but kids nowadays are more advanced than we were.’