A Family Meeting
Ruben came rushing up the stairs to Rebecca’s room, skipping every other step. Rebecca heard him coming up the stairs thumping all the way as he ran.
Why did he never walk anywhere? She thought to herself as she got on with her knitting and paused the book she had been listening to.
She had started listening to audiobooks a lot of the time now, as it meant that she could do her handiwork at the same time as reading. One of her most prized possessions was her complete set of Harry Potter audiobooks on CD read by Stephen Fry.
She was currently listening to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry and the Weasleys were about to go to the Quidditch World Cup.
“Put a towel down,” said Rebecca not even looking up from the Gryffindor scarf that she was knitting for Joseph.
Ruben had just gotten back from rugby practise and was splattered in mud. Rebecca didn’t want to get any mud on her homemade quilts, so Ruben had to put a blanket down before he flopped onto the bed.
Ruben laid an old towel on top of the quilt, so he didn’t ruin his sister’s blankets.
“What happened this time?” sighed Rebecca.
“I was nearly fifteen minutes late for practice,” grumbled Ruben, “if I keep on being late for practice, I’ll never get picked for the county team in a few months.”
“Stupid Katya!”
“What did she do this time?” asked Rebecca almost tonelessly.
The number of times that Ruben and Isaac had complained about Katya for the six months she had lost count. She’d drop of Ruben late for rugby practise, never remember to collect them from school so they would walk themselves home.
If Katya had been in charge, the laundry would never get done, and dinner would never be on time. Rebecca had been keeping on top of all the laundry with help from the boys, and her Dad and Rebecca was having to make the dinner every other day. Rebecca couldn’t cook anything fancy, but she was getting better and at least they didn’t starve.
“She’s bloody hopeless,” agreed Isaac sitting down next to Ruben on the towel.
“She’s leaving in a few days,” reminded Rebecca, “Dad knows she’s hopeless.”
“Yeah, and what’s her replacement going to be?” asked Isaac.
“Probably even worse,” muttered Isaac.
“Worse!” exclaimed Ruben, “how can she be worse!”
“Or he,” added Rebecca reminding her brother that not all au pairs were female.
“She’s never up in the morning to take us to school,” said Isaac, “so Dad has to do it.”
“Her cooking, when she remembers to do it is terrible,” said Ruben.
“She stinks the house of overly boiled cabbage for days,” said Rebecca wrinkling her nose at the thought of the last time that Katya had cooked.
“And the last time she did the laundry, she put all our school shirts in with your bedsheets,” said Isaac trying not to laugh.
Not only had she ruined Ruben’s favourite bedsheets which were his Welsh rugby team sheets and bright red with a dragon on, but Katya had also managed to turn every single one of their school polo shirts pink.
Dad hadn’t wanted to buy them new school shirts, as they were only going to be at primary school for another fortnight, but they had all had to go to school for the last two weeks of school in pink shirts.
Rebecca hadn’t minded much, as it was her favourite colour. But Isaac had been mortified, and Ruben’s mates had thought it was hilarious and were still laughing at him now.
“Is there a reason you two are in here apart from to turn my lovely pink towels mud brown?” asked Rebecca.
“We’re having a family meeting,” said Isaac.
“How can we have a family meeting if Daddy’s not here?” asked Rebecca counting stitches.
“Because the meeting is about Dad,” said Ruben.
“Well Katya really,” said Isaac, “but we need to talk to Dad about her.”
“Mum and Dad originally hired an au pair to look after us right?” asked Ruben.
“Yes,” nodded Rebecca, “Mummy didn’t want to give up work, so they hired Uncle Keith.”
“Exactly,” nodded Isaac, “there have been some great au pairs like Hilde, and Keith, but there have also been some disasters.”
“Like Katya,” nodded Ruben firmly.
“We can look after ourselves now though,” said Isaac, “you’ve got really good at the cooking, and we can help you out with the laundry.”
“What about Rugby practise?” asked Rebecca raising her eyebrows.
“Dai’s Dad has offered to take us, and he’s going to try out for the county team in a few months as well, so if we both get picked for the County team he can take both me and Dai.”
“We were thinking of asking Dad if instead of having an au pair, we could have someone come in a few mornings a week,” finished Isaac.
“You two have really thought this through, haven’t you?” said Rebecca looking at her brothers somewhat impressed.
“Well seeing as I’m doing the brunt of the housework anyway, I don’t see if it will make a difference if we have an au pair or not.”
“So, you’re ok with it?” asked Ruben.
“Yes,” said Rebecca, “now please get your dirty rugby kit off my bed.”
“Thanks, Becks,” said Isaac getting up and picking up the dirty towel.
“You’re the best little sis,” beamed Ruben going to give Rebecca a hug.
“Don’t touch me!” said Rebecca rolling out of the way of his embrace, “at least take a bath first!”
“Don’t forget to put your kit in the laundry basket!” called Rebecca as her brothers left her room.
Rebecca didn’t know whether her brothers had heard her or not, as they had run from the room arguing over who got to be first in the bath.
Rebecca was just finishing off casting off the scarf and was folding it away carefully when she heard a voice from downstairs.
“Hi De Hi Gang!” called Joseph as he came into the house.
Rebecca was five floors up, but she had very sensitive hearing so could hear him as if he was in the next room.
“Daddy!” squealed Rebecca leaving her knitting on the bed and running down five flights of stairs.
“Daddy!” she exclaimed rushing in for a hug.
“Hi there Bubala,” he chuckled hugging her back.
“You had a good day darling?”
“Yes, I did some knitting. How was work?”
“Boring as always,” sighed Joseph, “you know how I hate those bloody meetings.”
Joseph had had to go into the university today, even though it was early August, as he had to go to a Head of Department meeting to discuss some changes to the university.
“They’re just so boring, nothing's changed. It was a waste of ruddy time.”
“What does Uncle Richard think?” asked Ruben running downstairs followed a few metres behind by Isaac.
“Richard agrees with me,” chuckled Joseph, “would have a better use of our time to spend it with our families. There’s just so much bloody red tape these days.”
Joseph flopped down on the sitting room sofa and closed his eyes tiredly after a long day.
“Dad, you know how you think meetings are boring?” asked Ruben.
“Hmm,” muttered Joseph opening his eyes a fraction of an inch.
“Well I think Geography class is boring,” said Ruben.
“Does that mean I don’t have to go?” he asked excitedly.
Joseph eyed him suspiciously.
“The new school is so big, there are nearly 1 students, they’re not going to notice if I miss the odd Geography class.”
“Ruben,” said Joseph ominously.
“If I don’t show up for any Geography, the teacher might not even know I exist!”
“Ruben Benjamin Cohen!” said Joseph raising his eyebrows in an expression that said no arguments.
“Don’t even try it,” said Joseph.
“Isaac,” said Joseph turning to his other son, “when you meet your Geography teacher, ask for a copy of the syllabus, I’ll be needing to test Ruben to make sure he’s turning up for class.”
Isaac smirked as he bit his lip to stop himself from laughing.
Ruben looked crestfallen; he knew that his Dad had won that argument. Oh well, there was always next time.
“Where’s Katya?” asked Joseph trying to change the subject.
“In her room,” muttered Isaac rolling his eyes, “trying to get rid of her ‘headache’ after the match.”
Isaac put the words ‘headache’ in quotation marks in the air, as they all knew the real reason why Katya had a headache.
Katya had gone out drinking with her friends last night which she did at least twice a week and had a hangover that morning. Katya had been miserable for the whole of the rugby match because of all the screaming and the shouting on the pitch.
“Hmm,” muttered Joseph.
Katya had not been a success, and he knew that the kids couldn’t wait for her to leave in a fortnight. He just hoped that whoever the agency set next would be a better au pair.
“Did she at least get you to the match on time?” asked Joseph.
“We missed the warmup,” said Isaac, “but we didn’t miss the start of the match.”
“Did you score any tries Rubes?” asked Joseph ruffling Ruben’s hair.
“You bet!” beamed Ruben.
“I scored three tries, and I got two out of my three conversion kicks!”
“That’s my boy,” chuckled Joseph his face lighting up.
“We’ll work on your conversion kicks tomorrow yeah?”
“Thanks, Dad!” beamed Ruben giving his Dad a huge hug.
“Dad,” stammered Isaac gulping slightly.
Isaac was terrified about what his Dad going to say, he might lose his temper, but he had been chosen as the spokesperson,
“We um need to talk about Katya.”
“What’s she done this time?” asked Joseph looking thoroughly miserable.
“Nothing,” said Isaac, “she hasn’t done anything.”
“So then what’s the problem?” shrugged Joseph.
“We don’t want a new au pair in a fortnight,” said Ruben.
“What?” asked Joseph confused, “I thought you lot all hated Katya.”
“We do,” nodded Rebecca eagerly.
“We don’t want an au pair at all,” said Ruben firmly.
Joseph opened and shut his mouth wordlessly as he tried to comprehend what they were saying.
“Have you three gone mad?” laughed Joseph.
“Why are you laughing Daddy,” said Rebecca, “we’re being serious.”
“We don’t need an au pair anymore,” agreed Isaac.
“What the hell are you talking about?” stammered Joseph still laughing slightly, “you’re only eleven, you need someone here to look after you.”
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed Dad,” said Isaac, “but Rebecca’s been doing the majority of the cooking for over a year.”
“And we’ve been helping her with the laundry,” agreed Ruben.
“Kids,” sighed Joseph, “you’re very grown up and mature, and I’m very proud of you. But you can’t look after yourselves, I’m at work until nearly six o’clock most nights a week and I’ve got marking after that. I can’t pick you up from school or take you to rugby and dance practice.”
“We’re starting secondary school next month,” pointed out Isaac, “we get the bus, we don’t need picking up.”
“And I’ve got a lift to rugby practice,” said Ruben.
“You three can’t stay here alone every night waiting for me to get home, you’ve only just turned eleven!”
“But we’re not alone,” said Isaac.
“Yeah,” nodded Ruben putting his arm around Isaac and Rebecca, “we’ve got each other.”
“But what about Becky,” sighed Joseph, “she needs routine. Everything has to be just so. What if something goes wrong whilst I’m at work?”
“Dad,” said Isaac, “we know Becky and her habits better than anyone in this world.”
“Becky gets up early so she can have some quiet time before breakfast.”
“Her foods can’t touch on the plate,” said Ruben.
“And she changes her bedsheets and towels every other Thursday afternoon,” finished Isaac.
“Who’s going to take Becky to ballet class?”
“I don’t want to go anymore,” mumbled Rebecca who had been trying not to bring this up.
“Why not Bubala?” asked Joseph putting his arm around his little girl.
“Miss Jones keeps on wanting me to go in the front in the shows,” said Rebecca, “and the other girls think I’m selfish hiding at the back. I don’t like it anymore.”
“But Becky!” stammered Joseph, “you love ballet class.”
“No Daddy,” corrected Rebecca, “I love dancing. I can still practise at home on my own, and nobody is going to make me do any solos.”
“You sure princess?” asked Joseph.
“Yes Daddy,” said Rebecca giving a quick nod.
“Ok Bubala, whatever you want darling,” he muttered stroking Rebecca’s hair and holding her close.
“This is a big house,” said Joseph who was starting to come around to the idea, “you three can’t manage all this on your own.”
“We’ve thought of that,” beamed Ruben.
“I thought we could have someone come in a few mornings a week,” said Isaac, “they can help us keep on top of things. It would cost the same thing as an au pair.”
“You been doing your calculations Isaac Joseph?” asked Joseph raising his eyebrows impressed as Isaac passed him a piece of paper with a neat column of figures.
“What if Becky has a problem?” asked Joseph stroking Rebecca’s hair again.
“We’ll ring Aunty Elanor,” said Ruben simply, “she only lives down the road, and she’s great with Becky.”
“You lot really have thought of everything haven’t you,” chuckled Joseph.
“What about you little Becky?” he asked.
“I don’t like having au pairs,” said Rebecca, “as soon as I get used to one, they have to leave. And a lot of them aren’t very good.”
That was all Joseph needed to hear. Isaac and Ruben had told him all the facts, and their plans. But knowing that Rebecca didn’t want an au pair anymore either, decided the matter for him.
“We’ll start looking for a cleaner as soon as Katya leaves,” whispered Joseph conspiratorially.
