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&039;We&039;re going to be late,&039; Lizzie grumbles I knoe are, but there&039;s not a lot I can do about it If she&039;d givenEdward to a friend&039;s birthday party then ould have been fine Half an hour to get the kids ready and out isn&039;t enough Part of otten about it for another hour I want Ed to have a good ti forward to spending the next couple of hours sitting in a kid-friendly and adult-unfriendly &039;fun-barn&039; attached to the side of a pub It&039;s not how I&039;d planned to spend et there e get there,&039; I tell her &039;Getting wound up about it isn&039;t going to help&039;

&039;I&039; that she is &039;I just don&039;t like being late, that&039;s all&039;

&039;We won&039;t be late We&039;ve got a few minutes yet The pub&039;s only round the corner&039;

&039;I know but look at the traffic&039;

&039;There&039;s probably been an accident or so my neck to try and see further down the road &039;I think there&039;s soet past that the traffic will clear&039;

I hear a lance over lare at the kids who are cra in the car nearly as much as I do It&039;s too small for us all to fit in but what can I do? I can&039;t afford to change it so they&039;ll just have to put up with it for now We all will Lizzie looks at theoing to have to feed the her voice low so they don&039;t hear

&039;Ed will eat at the party, won&039;t he?&039;

&039;Yes, but&039;

&039;We&039;ll get the other two a packet of crisps or soets any ideas I think I knohere this is heading

&039;They&039;ll needto be out for a couple of hours Why don&039;t we just make it easy for ourselves and have a meal&039;

&039;Because we can&039;t afford it&039;

&039;Co to be sat in the pub anyway&039;

&039;We can&039;t afford it,&039; I say again How much clearer do I need to o back home and have soain after the party&039;

&039;Is it worth all the hassle and the extra petrol? Let&039;s just stop and have a meal and we can&039;

&039;We can&039;t afford it,&039; I snap for the third time as we reach the top of the hill and pass whatever it is that&039;s been slowing down the traffic I look into the rear view ainst the glass, trying to see what&039;s going on &039;Don&039;t stare,&039; I shout at them I can&039;t help but look myself Looks like the police have sealed off the entrance to one of the roads which leads off Maple Street

&039;Twenty quid,&039; Lizzie continues Bloody hell, she&039;s not going to give up &039;Are you telling me you can&039;t find twenty quid to feed your fa hard not to get annoyed, &039;that&039;s exactly what I&039; to get the better of ot twenty quid and even if I had, why should I spend it on a ot a freezer full of food at home? At home we can eat twice as much for half the cost&039;

&039;When was the last time we ate out?&039;

&039;When was the last tih money to take us out?&039;

&039;Co to answer I&039;ll keepShe does this towith a bone She won&039;t let go She just keeps nagging and piling on the pressure until I relent just to shut her up

Not today

I caved in I&039;m disappointed with myself but it was inevitable She just wouldn&039;t stop She kept on and on at ured I could either relent and take the hit to round and risk a whole weekend of grief and her not talking to me When I walked into the pub and smelled the food and looked at the menu my resistance cru for our dinner for alht have forgotten our order We&039;re tucked out of the way in a corner of theIt&039;s Saturday lunchti, horseshoe-shaped bar is surrounded by a crowd of bodies several drinkers deep I should have seen it co really There&039;s a football match on this afternoon It&039;s a local derby between two teams at the bottom of the table and there&039;s a lot at stake for both sides The ground theplayed at is only fifteen minutes walk from here Most of the people cra their traditional pre- session I bet the place will eone by then The supporters fro each other but the noise in here is deafening and I feel uneasy Maybe I&039;ht I&039; to be trouble Lizzie&039;s thinking the sa around the crowd and frowning She&039;s noticed that I&039;ed

&039;Okay?&039; she asks, trying to sound relaxed and happy but failing to convince runt &039;No food yet and I can&039;t hear myself think&039;

Ellis reaches across the table and tugs at my sleeve

&039;Don&039;t do that,&039; I snap

&039;When&039;s dinner co?&039;

&039;When it&039;s ready&039;

&039;When will that be?&039;

&039;I don&039;t know&039;

&039;Just be patient,&039; Liz tells her &039;As soon as they&039;ve cooked it so it over to us&039;

&039;I want it now,&039; she states, not interested in any excuses or explanations &039;I&039;ry, love As soon as it&039;s ready they&039;ll bring it over to us and&039;

&039;Want it now,&039; she says again

&039;Did you hear what Mu thin &039;Just shut up and wait Your dinner will be here when&039;

I stop talking Slass There&039;s a sudden roar of noise from deep within the crowd around the bar I stare into thefor trouble I can&039;t see anything I&039;st the noise

&039;What&039;s up?&039; Lizzie asks ,&039; I answer &039;Can&039;t see anything&039;

A very drunk, beer-soaked football fan staggers past our table on the way to the toilet Aa dustpan and brush passes the the other way Looks like it was a spilled drink, nothing more serious

Our food finally arrives Mybut I can&039;t eat yet Another one of the joys of parenthood Josh is sitting next to h the well-rehearsed routine of cutting up his dinner and s it in tomato sauce before I can start mine Both Liz and Ellis are well into their e to pick up ht?&039; she asks ive me a second to taste it first

&039;Fine,&039; I answer &039;Yours?&039;

She nods and chews

For a blissful minute or two the table is quiet The rest of the pub is still filled with noise but with everyone temporarily distracted by their food there&039;s a welco

&039;I want to go and see Dad toht with you?&039; I nod my head as I eat I&039;m not surprised We seem to end up over at Harry&039;s house most Sunday afternoons We see hireed to look after Josh so that Liz can go to work She&039;s a classrooo to Harry&039;s not happy about it but he does it because he kno much we need the money

&039;Okay,&039; I answer, finally sing o over in the afternoon&039;