My Mum Tracy Beaker Read online

  ‘Look, Mum’s bought us flowers,’ said Mum.

  ‘You can’t beat roses and lilies,’ said Carly, glancing at the daffodils on the table.

  Sean Godfrey stood up and took the flowers, blinking in astonishment as Carly flashed her teeth at him.

  ‘So you’re the lucky man, eh? Wow, Tracy, he’s quite a hunk, isn’t he? You’ve done all right for yourself there, darling!’ she said. ‘Give your future mother-in-law a kiss then, Sean.’

  ‘I’m glad we’re going to be family,’ he said, and kissed her. She kissed him back and left a red smudge on either cheek.

  Cam stayed sitting where she was and gave Carly a little wave.

  ‘Oh, it’s you,’ said Carly.

  Mum introduced her to Rosalie, but Carly barely nodded at her. She was honing in on me.

  ‘My little Jess!’ she cried. ‘Come and give me a hug, sweetheart!’

  I had to suffer the hug, and the kissing treatment too. Alfie wasn’t at all sure about this, and bounded up to us, growling. They were only little what’s-going-on? growls, but Carly reacted as if she was being attacked by a werewolf.

  ‘Get back!’ she cried, swatting at him with both hands.

  Alfie thought she was playing and jumped up excitedly, which made her shriek.

  ‘Get him off me, Sean!’ she cried.

  ‘Alfie’s not Sean Godfrey’s dog, he’s mine, Granny! He’s just being friendly,’ I insisted.

  ‘He’s getting his muddy paws all over my white dress!’ she said. ‘Down! Down, I say!’

  I’d been trying to teach Alfie to lie down half the morning without success, but now, awed by Carly’s commanding tone, he lay down flat on his tummy, his tongue lolling.

  ‘Oh, Alfie, you clever boy,’ I said.

  Carly brushed at non-existent marks on her dress. ‘Whose mad idea was it to get Jess a dog?’ she demanded, frowning at Sean Godfrey.

  ‘Don’t look at me,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t too keen on the idea myself, but we thought it would be nice for the kid.’

  ‘It was my idea,’ said Cam calmly.

  ‘Oh, well,’ said Carly, sniffing. ‘So why didn’t you get her something cute? A little chihuahua or a French bulldog, not this scruffy mutt.’

  ‘He’s beautiful, Granny! He’s a special rescue dog from Battersea,’ I said indignantly.

  ‘Oh, well, I might have known,’ she said. ‘Anyway, Jess, put the dog in the corner and see what I’ve got for you.’ She handed me the carrier bag with a flourish.

  My heart sank. It was clothes.

  ‘Go on, have a proper look.’

  It was a bright pink top with the word Princess spelled out in sequins. And there was a skirt that stuck out like a ballet dress, very short and flouncy. I looked at them in utter dismay. I am so not a pink, sparkly, flouncy sort of girl.

  ‘Aren’t they darling? Go and try them on at once, Jess – you’ll look such a picture! Why on earth you wear those dreary old T-shirts and jeans all the time I’ll never know,’ said Carly, glancing at Cam pointedly.

  ‘She’ll try them on later, Mum. We’re in the middle of tea right now,’ said Mum. ‘Sit yourself down. Try a slice of Rosalie’s chocolate cake – it’s fantastic.’

  ‘Oh, I was forgetting! I’ve brought you cake. I ordered it specially,’ said Carly. She opened up the cardboard box. Inside was a huge iced cake that said Congratulations Tracy and Sean in silver lettering, with little red hearts and pink cherubs all the way round the sides.

  ‘Oh, Mum, that’s fantastic!’ said my mum.

  ‘Wow, Carly – amazing cake!’ said Sean Godfrey.

  ‘Beautiful,’ said Rosalie politely, but she didn’t sound as if she meant it.

  ‘Lovely,’ said Cam, and it was clear that she meant the exact opposite.

  I don’t think Mum even noticed because she was cutting the first slice of cake excitedly.

  ‘You put your hand over mine so you’re cutting it as well, Sean,’ she said. ‘It’s your cake too.’ She gave Cam and me a little nod to show us that she was happy to share nowadays. Then she closed her eyes. I think she was wishing, even though all her wishes had already come true.

  I had a slice of the cake. It was actually a bit of a disappointment. The icing was so hard you had to bite into it like toast, and there wasn’t even any butter-cream inside, just jam dividing the sponge layers. I knew Carly would make a fuss if I left any, so I ate and ate and ate, and at last it was all gone apart from a few crumbs. Alfie wanted to help me demolish it, but I thought iced cake wouldn’t be good for his teeth. I wasn’t sure if it was good for my teeth either.

  The trifle and the chocolate cake and the muffins were still untouched. I hoped Sean Godfrey would help himself – he seemed capable of eating at least half a cow – but he shook his head.

  ‘Sorry, I daren’t,’ he said, patting his washboard stomach. ‘You can’t own a gym and prance about with a flabby belly. I put on weight so easily too. Remember what a tub I used to be, Trace?’

  She laughed fondly. I already had a pain in my tummy, and that look she was giving him made it worse.

  ‘You’ve got room for some trifle though, haven’t you, Sean?’ she said. ‘I made it specially.’

  ‘Just a spoonful then, darling.’ He opened his mouth as if he wanted her to feed him like a baby. He looked totally disgusting.

  Mum gave him a smallish portion in a bowl, but he stuck to his guns and literally had just one spoonful.

  She looked disappointed. ‘Isn’t it any good?’ she asked.

  Sean Godfrey said it was utterly delicious – so why couldn’t he have eaten a bit more to please her?

  ‘Would you like some, Mum?’ she asked Carly.

  ‘I’m totally full up with cake, sweetheart,’ she said.

  ‘I’ll have some please, Tracy,’ said Cam.

  ‘Me too, Mum!’ I said.

  ‘I’d love some, Miss Tracy,’ said Rosalie.

  Mum’s trifle really was delicious. It wasn’t too difficult to get it down. And then Rosalie offered her chocolate cake to everyone, and she looked so hopeful that I simply had to say yes. She gave me a big slice.

  It was the best chocolate cake I’d ever tasted, very rich and creamy. It was light too, but it seemed to get heavier and heavier as it went down into my stomach. I couldn’t even give it to Alfie because I knew chocolate could make dogs very ill.

  I was starting to feel very ill indeed, but there was still a plate of Cam’s muffins on the table – and she’d made my favourite blueberry ones. I knew Cam wouldn’t make a fuss if I didn’t have one. She’d understand. But I felt so sorry for her – she always had to be the grown-up person – that I helped myself to one.

  ‘Why don’t you save it for later, Jess?’ she said quietly. ‘You must be totally full up now.’

  ‘I’ve got to have one of my favourite muffins,’ I said determinedly.

  I took a big bite, and then another. They were great muffins, soft and sweet and truly scrumptious. They really were my favourites but I was finding it hard to swallow. I thought of the muffin going down my gullet to sit on top of the chocolate cake on top of the trifle on top of the big iced cake – until my entire stomach was a massive stew of sugar. I suddenly heaved.

  ‘Quick!’ said Cam.

  I charged out of the kitchen to the loo at the end of the passage. I didn’t quite get there in time.

  Mum came and mopped me up. After I’d been sick I still felt shivery and tearful, so she took me up to the bedroom for a lie-down. But it wasn’t my bedroom at home with all my things, and the bed wasn’t my little bed – and Mum didn’t even seem like my mum any more, though she gave me a cuddle and told me not to worry.

  But Alfie was still my dog, and he came and lay next to me, as still as still, just very gently licking my arm. He knew I felt dreadful and did his best to comfort me. I couldn’t go to sleep, and when I tried reading, the words waved up and down and made me feel giddy, so I just lay there, Woofer by my cheek and Alfie