Thursday February 3rd, 2012
Ok, you can do it, Pam thought to herself as she looked at the clock on the kitchen wall. Only 47 minutes until Jim will be home.
She took a deep breath and turned her attention to Cece, sitting in the highchair, mushing her peas into the white plastic tray with her chubby little hand. "Come on Cees, please eat the peas. If you eat the peas, you can have a cookie." Please just eat the goddamn peas. She jiggled a spoonful of them towards Cece's mouth, but the toddler pursed her lips firmly shut and turned her head to the side.
Just then, Philip started wailing from his bassinet in the corner of the room. No, no, no, why are you awake again. Pam pushed herself up from the kitchen table and went to get the crying baby. "Shhhh," she soothed, holding Philip to her chest and bouncing slightly, "it's ok, mommy's got you." She walked around the kitchen bouncing slightly to try to get Philip to calm down.
"Gen, gen," Cece shouted from her highchair when ‘The Wheels on the Bus' finished playing, pointing at the small stereo in the corner of the kitchen.
Oh god, not again, Pam thought as she hit the back button and then play on the CD player to start the children's song again. She carried on bouncing Philip and started to leaf through the mail that lay unopened on the kitchen counter. Why's this one red? I always pay the bills on time, it's got to be a mistake. She opened the envelope and found a bill that she had no recollection of ever seeing before. Oh jeez, Jim you were meant to pay this. It's the one bill he's in charge of and he can't even do it. She grabbed the phone and dialled the number at the top of the letter to make the payment.
"Gen, gen," Cece shouted as the song finished again.
"One minute sweetie, mommy's on the phone," she whispered to her daughter, holding the phone away from her mouth. "Sorry about that," she said to the man on the end of the phone.
"Gen, gen, gen," Cece screamed as Philip started to cry again.
"I'm so sorry, let me call you back," Pam said into the phone before quickly hanging up.
"Gen, gen, gen, gen, gen," she shouted louder as Philip cried even more.
"Ok, ok, ok," Pam snapped, hitting the buttons on the CD player to make the music play again. Cece immediately stopped streaming and began to bob her head to the music, happily throwing her peas around.
Oh god, it's still 41 minutes until Jim is home, Pam groaned internally. Ok, pull it together, the walls aren't closing in just yet. Let's pass the time by speaking to an adult. "Shall we give Grandma a call?" she asked Cece. There was no real response from the toddler, just more head bobbing. "Oh no, we can't call Grandma. Again. She'll think mommy can't cope and we don't want her to think that, do we?" she said in a sing-song voice. "No we don't. How about Aunty Penny?" Pam dialled the number for her sister and waited, blowing raspberries to Cece with the phone pressed against her ear. After 7 rings, she gave up and hung up the phone. "How about Aunty Isabel? Oh no, she's at work. Silly mommy. Ummm, who can we call Cecebean? Oh let's call Gam Gam shall we?" Pam quickly dialled her mother-in-law's number and remembered her father-in-law's birthday was this weekend. "I bet daddy hasn't got Pop Pop a present yet like I asked him too has he?" she cooed to Cece. "Shall we add it to the list for tomorrow?"
"Hello," Betsy's voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Hey Gam Gam, it's just us, calling to say hiiii," Pam said cheerfully.
"Pam, honey, I would love to talk but I'm right in the middle of setting up for my Kalooki evening. Can I call you back in the morning?"
"Oh there's no need, we were just calling to say hi. But we'll see you at the weekend for Pop Pop's party," Pam replied, her stomach sinking slightly. She hung up the phone and looked around the kitchen, wishing there was something to take her mind off of the mind numbing loneliness. Someone to speak to. Just 37 minutes til Jim's home.
