A light midst fell as Julie walked over to Tim's. She was glad that the weather had turned the corner from cold winter rain.
It had been a long winter with worry about her mum. Nothing had changed at home. Her mother was still waiting on her father and the boys. A nurse came in and gave her insulin jabs, but her diet hadn't changed at all. Every visit, Julie saw the signs that Tim and David had told her to watch for - swollen legs, difficulty breathing, tiredness.
Tim was waiting for her, but the purpose of her visit was to clean. She kissed him and said, "You can sit out of my way or help. If you help, I'll use the couple of quid your mates pay me at the chippy later."
"For a trip to the chippy, I'll do anything."
"I thought it was cake that you'd do anything for."
"Do you promise cake too?"
He reminded her of Teddy three years ago. Still she set him to clean the tiny kitchen, because she knew he'd been well trained.
"You know I've recently discovered something better than cake," Tim said with his smirk.
She was busy hovering the rug when Tim came up behind her. Loudly over the whir of the machine he said into her ear, "We're alone."
Julie giggled because she knew what he was suggesting. It took a few tries before Julie liked it as much as Tim. His hands reiterated what he had in mind, but Julie swatted at them.
"Work first. You lift so I can finish hovering."
He dutifully lifted the small items. Julie like to pretend they were married, although she hoped they wouldn't have an ugly green sofa in their flat.
Every time she switched off the hoover, he'd ask, "Are you done yet?"
"I've got the bedrooms and I still have to scrub the bathroom. Do you want to get started on it?"
Smiling Julie hummed as she continued her task. When she checked on Tim, the toilet was clean. That was the absolute worst part of the job. Whilst she was cleaning the sink, Tim came up behind her and pinned her against it. It was difficult concentrating on her task whilst he kissed behind her ear and his hand had found her breast.
She hated to tell him that she still needed to scrub the tub and the floor. She didn't mind this extra job, but often she cleaned when no one was at home. Tim was quite a distraction. I took every bit of restraint to not give in.
"Go let me finish!" she ordered.
###
Tim listened to her sing as she worked.
"Oh, what a night. Late December back in '63. What a very special time for me. As I remember, what a night."
He wondered how she always seemed to know all the words.
"Oh, what a night, you know I didn't even know her name. But I was never gonna be the same."
That should be their song, but December of sixty-three, Teddy was just a baby.
Tim knew he wasn't playing fair interrupting her cleaning. He couldn't get enough of Jules now that they'd finally done it. As an overachiever he felt the need for practice.
Oh hell, that is bull shit. I can't get enough of Jules.
Suddenly he had a new appreciation for mushy stuff not that he wanted to think about his parents - especially since Dad wasn't a young man.
Hell thinking about them is one way to cool me down while Julie finishes her work.
Julie must have been thinking of his parents too, because she popped her head out and said, "I'm minding Oliver overnight, but not tomorrow. We should go to Poplar. I haven't been in forever."
###
Julie rested with her head in Tim's shoulder, as the train sped toward London. Everything was different somehow. Tim was stroking her side and there was no longer a thought of how far would his hand go. It no longer mattered because she'd given all of herself to him.
Oh no, will they be able to tell? Will his mum know what we've been up to?
Tim pulled her tighter and asked, "What's wrong?"
She had started to squirm and he was too familiar with her.
"It's the first time I'm seeing them since…"
Tim smiled, "It's not written across your forehead."
"I know, but…"
"I'll keep my hands to myself. I promise."
Julie shouldn't be concerned. Tim wasn't one for what he called, mushy stuff, in front of others."
Mum greeted them by kissing Tim's cheek and pulling Julie into an embrace. Julie followed mum into the kitchen.
###
"Mum's been worried about her. She's bound to be doing some mothering in there," Patrick said.
"She's alright. Mostly frustrated because nothing with her mum has changed," Tim said. He wanted to yell at Mr. Miller, but he loved Julie too much to cause a bigger rift than already existed.
Teddy came in dropping his football and kicking off his dirty trainers. Tim smirked waiting for his dad.
"Ted!"
Patrick had a unique way of scolding with just their name. No one could say "Tim" the way his father did.
"I know, but I wanted to say hi to Julie," Ted answered.
"Teddy, Julie isn't leaving. We've only just arrived Tidy up before Mum sees," Tim pursued his brother. "It looks like you've grown two more inches since I was last home."
"I'm going to be taller than you," Teddy challenged.
"I don't know my mother was a lot taller than your mother."
"Tim!"
It's the bleeding truth!
Tim sighed and decided to see if he was welcome in the kitchen. His eye took in a chocolate cake on the kitchen top. He was certainly glad he came home.
"Tim, don't think about touching that cake," Mum scolded.
"Watch out for him, he's an impatient bugger," Julie added.
Tim saw her blush and knew she hadn't meant for that thought to slip out. He replied quickly, "Especially when there's cake."
Teddy didn't run up and hug Julie which made Tim laugh. At thirteen, he was trying to act grown up.
"Teddy, if you don't come give me a hug, I'll break up with you," Julie teased.
"You know even when I was ten, I knew you fancied Tim and not me," Ted said as he let Julie hug him.
"I still love you," she said and kissed his cheek.
Tim saw the red climbing up Teddy's neck and onto his cheeks.
"Where's Ange?" Tim asked.
"She off revising for her exam. It's all she does," Ted answered.
"She'll be home before the roast is ready," Shelagh said.
Sure enough, Angela breezed in and called out, "Jules, I've got a new single."
Tim heard his dad mumble, "Bloody hell not another one."
Then the house was filled with Mamma mia!