For the first time this week Rose was cheerful and very gleeful the next morning when she helped Eve make the toast (only a few pieces came out burnt but Rose liked it smother those with butter). This scared Bill a little as Rose was never this happy unless Tom from New York was round or she did something very naughty.
When he came across Indigo looking pretty much like a zombie he had a suspicion it was Rose's doing.
Indigo was very quick to confirm said suspicion, "Look!" he hissed waving a pair of headphones in Bill's face. "She cut right through them with scissors! I couldn't sleep at all! Tell her off!"
Bill swore he saw Indigo stamp his foot like a little toddler. It was a very odd sight, in fact it was perhaps the oddest thing Bill had seen in his life and that was saying something. Indigo had always been the calm and easily pleased one out of his children even when he was a baby there had been little fussing and he quickly slept through the night but then again if Indigo was sleep deprived he was the moodiest little brat Bill ever set eyes on and he raised Rose so it was definitely saying something.
Bill was pretty sure that Indigo loved sleep more than anything else in the world apart from maybe Sarah.
Therefore to prevent any more drama in his already chaotic life Bill quickly spoke up to prevent any arguments or hissy fits between his youngest two. "Rose that was a very naughty thing to do and you will do all the cleaning in the kitchen for a whole week. I want to eat on a spotless table and not see a single crumb on the floor, got it?"
"Yes Daddy," Rose said sweetly looking at him as if butter would not melt in her mouth.
Ha! He knew better than that, he was no fool.
"You can start by cleaning the breakfast plates," he ordered coolly. He swore he heard his youngest mutter 'worth it' as she collected the breakfast plates and began the washing up but then again his hearing was never the best recently with all the screaming, shouting, and snoring going on. "Indigo stop acting so stroppy you can help yourself from the housekeeping jar and buy yourself a new set of headphones this afternoon."
"I really don't like that system you use to handle money," Bill cringed as he heard his mother begin another tirade at what he does wrong in his own home, "I mean anyone can walk in and just help themselves. And what is to stop your children from spending it all on sweets or something else equally ridiculous? Honestly William I do worry about you sometimes with your wild children, your silly wife, and very stupid system you have going on around here, how can you rest in peace, oh and how will your children ever grow up to be respectable mature and responsible young adults if you let them act out like that?"
"That's it!" Bill snapped. No really he had completely snapped much like the time when Indigo almost died or when Rose cried 'please come home' he just couldn't take it anymore and his body took over his brain. "I had enough of you mother! You have come into my home and all you have done is criticise my wife, my children, and my parenting skills. You have driven away my eldest two daughters and I have had it. I have you know that my wife is the best mother in the world to my children. She does not judge, she is always there to listen, and she loves them more than anything in the world. She also does not treat Saffy any different than she would treat Caddy, Indigo, and Rose because Saffron is her daughter just as much as mine. Saffy is temperamental and defiant and stubborn but I love her nonetheless despite her inability to forgive me. She deserves to be here just as much, no even more, than you do. Caddy has made many mistakes concerning Michael, we will all admit that, but Buttercup is not one of them, and yes I call him Buttercup because it is a nickname and nothing less. The way I run my household is none of your business. I trust my children not to spend it all on sweets. I trust my friends and guests not to help themselves. This system has worked out for the last thirty years almost and it will not change, my house is untidy, my children are argumentative and constantly cause me worry, my wife is prone to crying and hiding in the shed but I will not have it anyway other way and if you do not like that then you can leave right now!" he took a great deep breath before snatching the newspaper of the table. "Good day!"
He stormed out of the kitchen with a plan to hide in the downstairs loo until his mother had calmed down. He honestly didn't know what had gotten into him but he was certain his mother would never forgive him for back chatting her like a teenager.
But it had to be done. It had barely been a few days and he missed seeing Rose draw on the wall instead of moping about the house, he missed seeing Saffy studying in a corner, and seeing Caddy trying to calm a tearful Buttercup and most of all he missed hearing Eve hum cheerfully as she wandered about the house aimlessly.
Before he could make his escape into the bathroom Eve stepped in his way with a great big beaming smile and then leaned in to give him the sweetest kiss he had in months.
"Thank you," she breathed, "that was very brave of you."
To make things even better just as he was about to walk down the hallway he swore he heard his mother let out a small chuckle and tell the children very loudly;
"Well it's about time he grew a backbone!"