The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson Page A

A beautiful ready-made daughter, the sweetest surprise of my life.”
    Star giggled as he helped her fix her seat back. She peered over her shoulder and mouthed,
“See!”
    I saw all sorts of things that day. It stopped me enjoying what should have been the most special day of my life because we had so many treats. Micky drove us right to London and we had breakfast in a posh hotel. We had croissants and coffee and this most amazing fizzy drink that was partly orange juice and partly real champagne. I wondered if I was going to get drunk. Star seemed slightly sloshed before she'd had a single sip. She sat close beside Micky and he kept fussingover her food, opening up her little pot of jam and spreading her butter for her.
    I spread my own croissant and ate it awkwardly, smearing greasy crumbs all down my black velvet skirt. The bubbles in the Bucks Fizz took me by surprise and I coughed and spluttered. Marigold reached over to thump me on the back and knocked her own coffee over in the process. Star and Micky looked as if they wished they were on their own.
    We went to Hamley's in Oxford Street afterward, a special huge toy shop. Micky took us to look at the dolls though even he could see that Star was past that stage. I knew I should be too old for dolls too but I ached with longing as I looked at all the specially designed dolls locked away in glass cases. They had beautiful gentle faces and long long long hair. My fingers itched to comb it. They had wonderful romantic outfits too, hand-sewn smocked dresses and ruched pinafores and perfect little leather boots.
    I leaned my forehead on the cold glass and stared at them all, making up names for each one and inventing their personalities. They all reached out for me with their long white fingers. They looked so real I was sure they couldn't be cold and stiff to touch. I chose the one I liked the very best. She had long blond curls and blue eyes and a dress and pinafore outfit the pink and blue of hyacinths, with pink silky socks and blue shoes fastenedwith little pearl buttons. I called her Natasha and knew she and I could be best friends forever …
    “Come
on
, Dol,” Star said, tugging at my elbow.
    When she finally managed to prize me away I left a little blur on the glass where I'd breathed in and out so longingly. Marigold was rushing round all the Barbies, talking in a high-pitched overexcited way, as if she were a little girl herself. She was worse down in the toy animal department, picking up bears and lions and monkeys and making them growl and roar and gibber. I got scared one of the assistants would come over and tell us off. I knew Star was tense too, forever glancing at Micky. He seemed surprised but was quite cool about it. He even did a spot of animal talking himself, making a big gorilla lunge at Star so that she squealed. I hung back, thinking of Natasha upstairs.
    “
Dol!
Say thank you to Micky,” Marigold said, nudging me.
    I hadn't taken it in properly. Micky wanted to buy all three of us a toy animal. He tried to talk Star into having the huge gorilla but she laughed and said he was too scary. She chose a honey-colored teddy bear with a slightly squashed snout and velvet padded paws. Marigold made a much bigger production over her animal, juggling with hippos and pandas and an enormous plush python, but she eventually chose an orange striped tiger with great green eyes.
    “It looks exactly like you, Marigold,” said Micky. He turned to me. “You must choose too, Dolphin. How
about
a dolphin?”
    There were big fat turquoise dolphins with black faces and white zigzag teeth. I didn't like them at all but I felt it might be rude to say so. I was desperate to get Star on her own to see if I could ask for Natasha instead. I knew she'd cost a lot more than a dolphin but Micky obviously had lots of money, and he'd been prepared to buy Star the gorilla, which was nearly two hundred pounds. But Star was his daughter. And she'd eventually chosen a much