Lee was crouched on the ground, polishing the tyre rims when he caught sight of his wife's reflection behind him. He groaned and pushed himself to his feet, wiping his hands on the rag. "Well, what do you think?"
"It looks very nice," she replied brightly, giving him a tentative look.
"It could stand to have the oil changed, but I'm not dressed for it." He glanced at her before starting to gather up his tools. "Maybe I'll save that for your birthday."
"I know you worked hard on it, Lee. And it really shows. I love it." She placed a hand on his arm and smiled. When the corners of his mouth twitched upward she felt a surge of hope. "You know what I'd most like to do right now?"
"What?"
"Take you for a spin in my shiny, clean car." Lucy held up her car keys. "What do you say?"
Lee looked at her incredulously. "What, just you and me?"
She nodded.
"Who'll look after the kids?"
"Frank's still here. He's agreed to stay with them while we're gone."
He considered for half a moment and nodded. "All right, then."
"Great! Let's be off!" Lucy turned and clambered into the driver's seat while Lee grabbed his coat from the ground and got in beside her.
"Where are we going?" He asked as she pulled out of their drive.
"You'll see." She smiled cryptically.
Lee remained a bit pensive as she began steadily making their way towards the city. It was the same commute he drove five days a week. "You're not taking me to work, are you, Luce?" He joked nervously. "Just because I work there doesn't mean they'll give you a free oil change, you know."
"I know," she replied airily as they sailed past the car dealership where he worked. Lee relaxed in his seat a bit more as they edged closer to the city limits. "Are we going to the theatre?"
"No." Lucy gave him a look. "I know what you're like."
"But you like it. I've sat through many a boring show for your sake!"
"Yes, and you always fall asleep!" She shook her head. "The last time was particularly embarrassing."
Lee closed his eyes. "Please don't go bringing that up again," he groaned.
"Your own daughter's ballet recital! Honestly, I thought I was going to die of shame."
"I'll have you know that I did not sleep through Molly's number. I was glued to her every move while she was on stage."
"Boy, do I know. Everyone knew!" Lucy rolled her eyes. "When the dancers are finished, you're supposed to applaud like a normal person, not leap to your feet and shout, 'all right, Molly! That's my girl!' like she just won the semi-final of the world darts championship."
"Lucy, she spent the better part of a year learning that routine. I know because I'm always the one that has to pick her up from dance lessons on my way home from work every week. And I have to stand there with all of those mothers who look at me like I'm a paedo while they natter on about 'Sophie's special solo' and how 'Amelia's leading the class with her exceptional barre work.'" Lee wrinkled his nose and adopted a mincing accent as he imitated the women's mannerisms. Lucy looked straight ahead at the road and bit back a smile. "And after all that, my little girl gets on that stage and proves she's the best dancer in the entire recital. She deserved more than just applause."
"I don't know if anyone else would agree she was the best dancer." Lucy shot him a look. "Everyone's biased in favour of their own child."
"Well, she was the only one that mattered, anyway," Lee muttered.
"Yes, because you did what you always do and fell asleep soon after!"
"None of the girls in the other numbers were my daughter! Why was I supposed to care? Anyway, Molly fell asleep, too!"
"The recital lasted way past her bedtime, of course she was exhausted." Lucy shook her head. "When the lights came back on at the very end, all of those same stuck-up mothers saw you snoring away in your seat with Molly passed out on your lap. It might have been sweet if you weren't blocking everyone's exit into the aisle. I've never felt so many pairs of eyes judging me while I woke you up and packed you both out of there." She glanced at Lee, who was staring down at his lap. "Anyway, we're not going to the theatre." As she said so, she turned off the roundabout and exited onto the M25.
Lee frowned. "Well, we're not going to the airport, are we? I haven't packed for any sort of journey." He gulped anxiously. "Besides, you know how I feel about flying."
"How could I forget?" Lucy still vividly remembered the disastrous flight abroad they took with Daisy several years ago. Lee's paranoia about one of the passengers being a terrorist led to him behaving so erratically that he was detained in the British embassy upon landing under suspicion of terrorism. Lucy was so angry about him spoiling their holiday that she had felt no remorse about drugging him out of his mind in order to endure the flight back to London. "You nearly had a fit when I merely suggested we fly the kids out to Disney Paris last year, given what happened the last time we took the ferry."
"I don't see any reason to trust your life to a giant death trap 10,000 meters in the air when you can just as easily cross the channel at ground level!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Lee. I forgot you were a marathon swimmer," Lucy snapped.
"You know what I mean! Besides, I thought it worked out fine, taking the train."
"It was fine if you like struggling to keep three anxious kids in their seats for the duration of a five-hour train journey, the men's toilets being blocked and you teaching the boys to wee into a water bottle at risk of indecent exposure, the kids going ballistic whenever we encountered delays, and nearly losing Charlie in the crowd at the station."
"And I'm sure taking the kids on a plane would have been far easier," Lee retorted sarcastically.
Lucy glanced at him. "I suppose you have a point. On the plane, I'd have had four ballistic children to deal with."
Lee sighed and looked up at the car roof, his brow furrowed in annoyance. "There is nothing irrational about my reluctance to fly in a plane. You're the crazy one for wanting to actually do it!"
"I only suggested it as a way of making the journey quicker because traveling with you is so bloody stressful!" She cried.
"Well, I'm sorry your life isn't so bloody perfect!"
Lucy drove in stunned silence, fervently blinking back tears. Lee gazed out the window, desperate to escape the pain he'd brought her. Neither said a word for several miles. It wasn't until Lucy exited onto the M40 that Lee finally snapped, "Just where the fuck are you taking me, anyway?"
Lucy stared ahead and continued driving.
"Oh, so you're ignoring me now?" Lee turned to her as stillness ensued in the car. "The silent treatment's not going to work, you know. Because I can read your mind."
Lucy lifted her chin and focused on the road.
"And right now, you're thinking that Lee is a twat," he said. "But I happen to know for a fact that you're wrong. Lee isn't a twat."
He paused in the uneasy silence. Lucy remained aloof.
"He's a twat that's in denial."
A small giggle burst forth from Lucy's mouth. She glanced down at the wheel and shook her head. "You always do this!"
"I'm sorry, Luce. Really," he murmured, eyes plaintive. "I know I'm not your ideal husband. And I probably never will be. But don't trade me in for a newer model yet, please?"
Lucy glanced at him and sighed, a smile pulling at the ends of her trembling mouth. "You're lucky I happen to have a thing for old rustbuckets that make funny noises and have cold, grey interiors, with motors that run far too loudly and groan when you turn them over."
Lee shot her a cheeky smile. "At least I've still got plenty of petrol left in the tank."
"Don't remind me. I can smell you from here."
Lee took stock of her cheerier expression and, encouraged, leaned towards her. "One thing I never want to do," he murmured soberly, "is leave you broken down on the side of the road. I'll try to listen next time we start veering towards the ditches." He tentatively reached out and brushed a strand of her short dark hair from her forehead. Lucy lifted a hand off the wheel to grab his palm and hold it against her cheek.
"I'm sorry for ruining your Mother's Day outing, Lucy. It doesn't matter where you're taking me. What matters is that you decided to spend your special day out with me, and I've been nothing but a right miserable bastard. Forgive me?"
"You know I do. I love you, you right miserable bastard." Lucy shifted his hand further down her face and kissed it lovingly. She sighed. "You haven't ruined it, you know. We've still got a long way to go."
"Right." Lee withdrew his hand and glanced away sheepishly. "Do you mind passing me the water bottle from your pocket door, then?"
"What for?"
"I need a wazz and we just passed Oxford services."