when he met the Peters. He hung his head and didnât say anything and when Mr Peters asked if heâd like to see all his woodwork things Graham just shrugged and didnât look interested. But it was all right after all. Mr Peters nodded and didnât make a big deal about it and talked to me instead and Mrs Peters talked to me too and Graham just sat and fidgeted in the armchair, but gradually his face went back to its usual pale creamy colour and his hand crept out to touch the smooth wooden fruit bowl by his side.
âTake an apple, dearie,â said Mrs Peters, but he wasnât bothered about the apples, he was looking to see how the bowl was made. And then he tiptoed over to the sideboard to have a proper look at the fancy fretwork and Mr Peters went to stand beside him and they started chatting. Graham didnât say much more than âyesâ or ânoâ at first but eventually he started asking all sorts of questions and they ambled off to the lean-to together â and that was that. Wepractically had to drag them away when it was tea-time, even though Mrs Peters had made a treacle tart and iced fairy cakes as well as her famous seed cake.
Graham came with me to the Peters every second Saturday after that. He sometimes came over the Saturdays I was staying round at my dadâs too. He and Mr Peters worked together on his Christmas present to me. My magnificent yacht. Radish can sail across her lake in seconds now. Sheâs hankering to take to the open sea and attempt to cross the great pond in the park. She thinks her yacht is the best Christmas present ever.
Guess what
my
best Christmas present is.
CARRIE GAVE BIRTH to my half-sister a week after Christmas. She should have hurried things up a bit so that she arrived on the proper present day but thatâs typical of Carrie, sheâs always late for everything.
It was my week to stay at Mumâs but Dad came round and asked if he could take me to the hospital to see the new baby all the same. I thought Mum might make a fuss but she wasin a good mood because un-Uncle Bill had got a new decorating job and they were celebrating on the sofa with drinks and chocolates and a smoochy video so Mum said yes quite happily â and she even gave Dad a little kiss on the cheek and said congratulations.
Dad looked pleased and I dared hope that they might get back together after all if they were actually kissing each other nowadays â but when I saw the way Dad kissed Carrie at the hospital I realized there are all sorts of different kisses and some mean you love someone a great deal and others mean you maybe still love someone a little tiny bit but thatâs all.
âYuck yuck yuck!â said Zen, who had to come to the hospital with us. âDo you have to do all that stupid slurpy kissy stuff?â
âI want to see my sister,â said Crystal, jumping up and down excitedly, her hair all over her face (Dad was looking after the twins single-handedly and they both looked even more ruffled and rumpled than usual).
âHere she is,â said Carrie, holding up this little bundle in a blanket.
I was right down at the end of the bed and couldnât see much. Just a tiny nose and a littlered mouth. It opened and the new sister started making a lot of noise.
âSheâs saying hello,â said Carrie, grinning.
âCan I hold her, oh please can I hold her?â Crystal begged.
âMaybe youâre a bit little,â said Dad anxiously.
âNo Iâm not, am I, Mum?â said Crystal, pouting.
âI think youâre big enough to hold the baby â but sit on the bed and lean against me so that she can snuggle up comfortably,â said Carrie, getting Crystal and the baby carefully arranged.
âLook at me, Iâm holding my sister,â said Crystal, her face bright pink with pleasure.
The babyâs face was pink too because she was crying.
âIâm not big, Iâm
âTake an apple, dearie,â said Mrs Peters, but he wasnât bothered about the apples, he was looking to see how the bowl was made. And then he tiptoed over to the sideboard to have a proper look at the fancy fretwork and Mr Peters went to stand beside him and they started chatting. Graham didnât say much more than âyesâ or ânoâ at first but eventually he started asking all sorts of questions and they ambled off to the lean-to together â and that was that. Wepractically had to drag them away when it was tea-time, even though Mrs Peters had made a treacle tart and iced fairy cakes as well as her famous seed cake.
Graham came with me to the Peters every second Saturday after that. He sometimes came over the Saturdays I was staying round at my dadâs too. He and Mr Peters worked together on his Christmas present to me. My magnificent yacht. Radish can sail across her lake in seconds now. Sheâs hankering to take to the open sea and attempt to cross the great pond in the park. She thinks her yacht is the best Christmas present ever.
Guess what
my
best Christmas present is.
CARRIE GAVE BIRTH to my half-sister a week after Christmas. She should have hurried things up a bit so that she arrived on the proper present day but thatâs typical of Carrie, sheâs always late for everything.
It was my week to stay at Mumâs but Dad came round and asked if he could take me to the hospital to see the new baby all the same. I thought Mum might make a fuss but she wasin a good mood because un-Uncle Bill had got a new decorating job and they were celebrating on the sofa with drinks and chocolates and a smoochy video so Mum said yes quite happily â and she even gave Dad a little kiss on the cheek and said congratulations.
Dad looked pleased and I dared hope that they might get back together after all if they were actually kissing each other nowadays â but when I saw the way Dad kissed Carrie at the hospital I realized there are all sorts of different kisses and some mean you love someone a great deal and others mean you maybe still love someone a little tiny bit but thatâs all.
âYuck yuck yuck!â said Zen, who had to come to the hospital with us. âDo you have to do all that stupid slurpy kissy stuff?â
âI want to see my sister,â said Crystal, jumping up and down excitedly, her hair all over her face (Dad was looking after the twins single-handedly and they both looked even more ruffled and rumpled than usual).
âHere she is,â said Carrie, holding up this little bundle in a blanket.
I was right down at the end of the bed and couldnât see much. Just a tiny nose and a littlered mouth. It opened and the new sister started making a lot of noise.
âSheâs saying hello,â said Carrie, grinning.
âCan I hold her, oh please can I hold her?â Crystal begged.
âMaybe youâre a bit little,â said Dad anxiously.
âNo Iâm not, am I, Mum?â said Crystal, pouting.
âI think youâre big enough to hold the baby â but sit on the bed and lean against me so that she can snuggle up comfortably,â said Carrie, getting Crystal and the baby carefully arranged.
âLook at me, Iâm holding my sister,â said Crystal, her face bright pink with pleasure.
The babyâs face was pink too because she was crying.
âIâm not big, Iâm
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