Page 101 of C is for Comfort

“Archie is moving in with Hamish,” Corey says. “And Blake and I can’t afford the rent on this place without him.”

“I don’t want to move. I like it here,” Lexi says before pouting.

“I wouldn’t want to leave a pink-and-purple bedroom either,” I tell her. “But I bet you’ll find a new house that’s even nicer than this one.”

“Daddy says I might not be able to have a pink bedroom in the new house.”

“Not all landlords are okay with tenants decorating,” Corey says. “We’ve been lucky here.”

“You could put lots of pictures up,” I suggest.

“That’s not the same,” Lexi grumbles.

Part of me wants to offer to help, but I know Corey and I aren’t at the point in our relationship where moving in together is on the cards. Even though Lexi is actually talking to me today, I can tell she’s still not particularly happy with my presence in her dad’s life.

“We don’t have much choice,” Corey says. “Archie is moving out, and we can’t stay here without him.”

Lexi pouts and spears one of her fish fingers with her fork angrily.

“Have you seen anywhere you like the look of?” I ask Corey.

“A couple of places. Blake brought some brochures home yesterday. Ideally, we need somewhere close to Lexi’s school, but that obviously narrows down our search area quite a lot.”

“Did someone say my name?” Blake asks, walking into the room. He smiles at us all.

“We were telling Spence that we have to move,” Corey says.

Blake’s smile falters for a second but quickly returns. “I’ll do some more house-hunting tomorrow,” he promises. Then he winces and clicks his fingers. “Aftermy casting call.”

Frowning, Corey turns towards a board on the wall, which they obviously use for organisation. “There’s nothing on the board.”

“You know me,” Blake says. “I’m not great at remembering to fill it in. I’m going out. I’ll see you tomorrow. Nice to meet you, Spence.”

“Are you still okay to pick Lexi up from school tomorrow?” Corey asks.

“Yep. No problem at all. I’ll be finished long before then. Have fun tonight.”

“Bye, Uncle Blake,” Lexi says.

“Bye.” He steps far enough into the room to ruffle her hair before leaving and shutting the door behind him, and a couple of minutes later, the front door opens and closes.

It was brief, but at least I can say I’ve officially met both of Corey’s brothers now.

“What’s your favourite subject at school?” I ask Lexi after a few minutes of quiet eating.

“Phonics. I’m good at it.”

“Do you like maths?”

Lexi scrunches her nose. “It’s okay.” She shovels a forkful of peas into her mouth. “Why’d you become a doctor?”

“To help people.”

“Could I be a doctor?”

“If you want to be and you work really hard at school.”

She purses her lips. “I want to be an artist like Daddy.”