confessions, and how others perceived him.
‘The next Zlatan,’ Jimmy said, giving the boy a high five. ‘Jacob?’
‘We got our maths tests back, and I got them all right. In geography we had to write an essay about the different ways people live and the conditions of life in different parts of the world, but I’d already done that so I was allowed to have a go on Google Earth instead.’
Annika kept her expression neutral: it seemed so odd to hear a ten-year-old express himself like that. He never presented any bad experiences at the dinner table, just validation-seeking successes. He and Jimmy high-fived as well.
Serena dabbed the corners of her mouth with her napkin. ‘We did a dress rehearsal of the musical. Neo hasn’t learned his lines and Liam messed up the guitar part.’ She sighed.
Ellen thought for a moment before she spoke. ‘We had a lovely lunch – pancakes and strawberry jam.’
Ellen rarely had anything negative to report, but Annika was fairly sure that wasn’t because she was fishing for praise. She knew that the glass was half full while Kalle and Serena assumed it would soon be empty.
‘We managed to get a new piece of proposed legislation through Parliament, to increase control of the financial sector,’ Jimmy said. ‘And on the way home I stepped in a puddle and one of my shoes got soaked through.’
Ellen giggled.
Annika wasn’t sure if she approved of Jimmy’s bureaucratic accounts of government work at the dinner table. Maybe it was good for the children to become acquainted with the vocabulary so they grasped that working life was complicated and full of responsibility, but there was also the possibility that it would make them arrogant. She didn’t know which was more likely.
Jimmy looked at her encouragingly. She put down her knife and fork. ‘The good thing is that I got a new work colleague today. He’s a young man who’s going to be doing practical experience on the paper over the summer, and I’m going to be his supervisor. The bad bit was getting stuck in a traffic jam inside a tunnel for almost an hour.’
‘You sound like you’re a lorry driver,’ Serena muttered.
To her dismay, Annika’s eyes filled with tears. Why did the girl have to be so unkind to her?
‘Annika got some ice-cream on the way home,’ Jimmy said. ‘Would anyone like any?’
‘
Yeees!
’ Kalle, Ellen and Jacob cried.
Serena tossed her hair back. ‘No, thanks.’
Annika cleared the table while Kalle got the ice-cream out of the freezer.
Once the sprinkles, the caramel sauce and the Belgian strawberries were on the table, Serena changed her mind and helped herself to a big dishful.
After dinner Jimmy disappeared into the combined office and library. Ellen and Annika filled the dishwasher. The other children slumped in front of the television.
‘Aren’t we supposed to be with Daddy this week?’ Ellen said, as she put the forks in their own compartment in the cutlery tray.
Annika wiped the worktop. ‘Yes, you are, but Daddy isn’t feeling very well, and he’s got such a lot to do at work …’
‘Don’t you and Jimmy have a lot to do at work?’
Annika put the dishcloth down, sat on a chair at the kitchen table and pulled her daughter onto her lap. ‘I’m just pleased I get to have you with me,’ she whispered, kissing Ellen’s ear.
‘Can’t you move home again? To Daddy?’
Annika’s arms stiffened. ‘Daddy and I don’t love each other any more. I live here now, with Jimmy.’
‘But Daddy loves you. He said so.’
She put the child down. ‘Thanks for helping,’ she said. ‘Off you go and play now.’
She was left sitting in the kitchen, alone.
*
I still don’t understand where they come from, how they can be so complete, so contained. Sometimes I can see myself in them, and maybe Ingemar, but they’re unique. The combination of potential inherited traits is exactly the same in all three of them but they’re still so different. You
‘The next Zlatan,’ Jimmy said, giving the boy a high five. ‘Jacob?’
‘We got our maths tests back, and I got them all right. In geography we had to write an essay about the different ways people live and the conditions of life in different parts of the world, but I’d already done that so I was allowed to have a go on Google Earth instead.’
Annika kept her expression neutral: it seemed so odd to hear a ten-year-old express himself like that. He never presented any bad experiences at the dinner table, just validation-seeking successes. He and Jimmy high-fived as well.
Serena dabbed the corners of her mouth with her napkin. ‘We did a dress rehearsal of the musical. Neo hasn’t learned his lines and Liam messed up the guitar part.’ She sighed.
Ellen thought for a moment before she spoke. ‘We had a lovely lunch – pancakes and strawberry jam.’
Ellen rarely had anything negative to report, but Annika was fairly sure that wasn’t because she was fishing for praise. She knew that the glass was half full while Kalle and Serena assumed it would soon be empty.
‘We managed to get a new piece of proposed legislation through Parliament, to increase control of the financial sector,’ Jimmy said. ‘And on the way home I stepped in a puddle and one of my shoes got soaked through.’
Ellen giggled.
Annika wasn’t sure if she approved of Jimmy’s bureaucratic accounts of government work at the dinner table. Maybe it was good for the children to become acquainted with the vocabulary so they grasped that working life was complicated and full of responsibility, but there was also the possibility that it would make them arrogant. She didn’t know which was more likely.
Jimmy looked at her encouragingly. She put down her knife and fork. ‘The good thing is that I got a new work colleague today. He’s a young man who’s going to be doing practical experience on the paper over the summer, and I’m going to be his supervisor. The bad bit was getting stuck in a traffic jam inside a tunnel for almost an hour.’
‘You sound like you’re a lorry driver,’ Serena muttered.
To her dismay, Annika’s eyes filled with tears. Why did the girl have to be so unkind to her?
‘Annika got some ice-cream on the way home,’ Jimmy said. ‘Would anyone like any?’
‘
Yeees!
’ Kalle, Ellen and Jacob cried.
Serena tossed her hair back. ‘No, thanks.’
Annika cleared the table while Kalle got the ice-cream out of the freezer.
Once the sprinkles, the caramel sauce and the Belgian strawberries were on the table, Serena changed her mind and helped herself to a big dishful.
After dinner Jimmy disappeared into the combined office and library. Ellen and Annika filled the dishwasher. The other children slumped in front of the television.
‘Aren’t we supposed to be with Daddy this week?’ Ellen said, as she put the forks in their own compartment in the cutlery tray.
Annika wiped the worktop. ‘Yes, you are, but Daddy isn’t feeling very well, and he’s got such a lot to do at work …’
‘Don’t you and Jimmy have a lot to do at work?’
Annika put the dishcloth down, sat on a chair at the kitchen table and pulled her daughter onto her lap. ‘I’m just pleased I get to have you with me,’ she whispered, kissing Ellen’s ear.
‘Can’t you move home again? To Daddy?’
Annika’s arms stiffened. ‘Daddy and I don’t love each other any more. I live here now, with Jimmy.’
‘But Daddy loves you. He said so.’
She put the child down. ‘Thanks for helping,’ she said. ‘Off you go and play now.’
She was left sitting in the kitchen, alone.
*
I still don’t understand where they come from, how they can be so complete, so contained. Sometimes I can see myself in them, and maybe Ingemar, but they’re unique. The combination of potential inherited traits is exactly the same in all three of them but they’re still so different. You
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