Page 25 of The Sun Sister

‘Was that why I screamed?’

‘No, you brought up your wind easily. You just enjoyed the sound of your own voice.’

‘Was I really that bad a baby?’

‘Not at all, Electra, you just didn’t like being alone. You would fall asleep in my arms, but the minute I put you down in your cot, you would wake up and cry until I picked you up again. Can you pass me that muslin, please?’ Ma pointed to a white fabric square sitting on the coffee table.

‘Sure,’ I said as I handed it to her. I glanced around me at the pretty flowered curtains, the cream damask couch, the photos on the mahogany bureau and the occasional tables placed around the room. Pink roses sat on the coffee table and I thought how the room mirrored who Ma was: elegant, understated and immaculate. I walked over and picked up a framed photograph of Ma in pearls and an evening gown and Pa in a dinner jacket and bow tie.

‘Where was this taken?’

‘At the opera in Paris. We saw Kiri Te Kanawa singing Mimi inLa Bohème.It was a very special evening,’ Ma explained, still pacing the soft cream carpet with Bear.

‘Did the two of you often go out together?’

‘No, but we did share a love of opera, especially Puccini.’

‘Ma?’

‘Yes, Electra?’

Even at twenty-six, I didn’t know whether I had the courage to ask the question that had been burning on my tongue since I was small.

‘Were you and Pa...well, were you romantically involved?’

‘No,chérie. I am only in my mid-sixties, you know. Your father was old enough to be mine too.’

‘In my world, age doesn’t stop rich men having relationships with women young enough to be their daughters.’

‘Maybe not, Electra, but your father would never have countenanced such a thing. He was a consummate gentleman. And besides...’

‘Besides what?’

‘I...nothing.’

‘Please, say what you were going to say.’

‘Well, there was always someone else for him.’

‘Really? Who?’

‘Now, Electra, I have said enough.’

Bear finally let out an enormous belch and, quick as a flash, Ma caught the milky liquid that dribbled from his mouth with the muslin.

‘Bien, bien, mon petit chéri,’ she whispered as she cleaned him up. ‘Isn’t he adorable?’

‘If anything can be adorable at five in the morning while vomiting, then yeah, he is.’

‘I remember so vividly walking up and down with you in here trying to soothe you when you cried,’ said Ma as she sank into a chair and nestled Bear into the crook of her arm. He now looked as though he’d drunk too much vodka and his eyes were rolling back in his sockets. ‘It seems like yesterday. And here we are with the first of a new generation. Your father would have been so happy if he had known about Bear before he died. But it was not to be.’

‘No. Ma?’

‘Yes, Electra?’

‘Were you with Pa when he found me and brought me home?’

‘No, I was here caring for your sisters.’