The house was calm when Husband returned home from Married Daughter’s. Laura was asleep in bed. Husband and I had a cup of tea, maybe even three. Exhausted but wide awake we retired to our bed. ‘Lock the door,’ Husband said. The bedroom door-lock was redundant until now. ‘Lock the door, I don’t trust her.’
I slid the lock on full, as quietly as I could. We lay in bed and whispered our chat. Husband and I were due to go on holiday, we would cancel the trip to take care of our daughter. We would take her to the doctor when morning came. When the hall clock chimed six. I went to where Laura slept like a baby – my baby still. I shook her by the shoulder, told her Dad and I had plans. Told her all three of us would go to the doctor – a family sharing a problem.
‘Okay,’ she said. Then rolled over for comfort and fell back asleep.
‘No! You can get out of bed. We need to sort this out.’
‘I’ll go to the doctor this afternoon,’ she mumbled, not budging.
‘You can get up now, or you can go home.’
‘I’ll go home.’
I was livid. I ran downstairs for those black bin liners and flung all her stuff into them. Pulled the duvet off her clothed body and ordered her out of bed. I took her home. Pushed her through the door and dumped her bags in the hall.
addictchild 