Acting Up by Melissa Nathan Read Free Book Online Page B

towards her parents' house. As she drew near, she could see Josie, her younger sister, and her brother-in-law, Michael, getting out of their car. Ben, their twenty-two-month-old, was holding Josie's hand. He'd only been walking for a few months and it still gave Jazz a jolt of excitement to see him upright on his two fat legs. He was wearing a nappy the size of a small suitcase. Josie had known Michael since her college days and Jazz had long since got over the shock of her baby sister becoming an old married woman three years before.
    Jazz ran up to greet them.
    Josie hugged Jazz absent-mindedly while locking the car door and checking she hadn't left any vital toys in the car. She looked very tired. Michael was carrying all Ben's paraphernalia. He had temporarily placed the multicoloured furry teddy bear on his head, while steadying his grip on various other bits and pieces, and Jazz managed not to laugh as he greeted her with his usual intense expression. Jazz picked Ben up and he just about stayed still long enough for her to give him a very loud kiss. He giggled and said her name, filling her with pride.
    As she put him down, she spotted Simon's shiny red MX5 parked in her parents' drive. So George still hadn't done the dirty deed, even after a whole evening of helpful hints, courtesy of herself. And that would mean that the entire family tea would take place under his cold eye. Damn.
    The door opened wide. 'Darlings! Come in, come in!' Martha, their mother greeted them. She hugged them all fiercely, her bosom making contact first. 'Everything's ready, you must be famished.' Martha always assumed that none of her children ate in between their visits to her.
    In the lounge sat George and Simon with the nominal head of the family, Jeffrey. Jeffrey was delighted to see his other daughters. He'd been stuck talking to Simon about rugby, a sport he detested, while George had stared vacantly into the middle distance. Everyone shot up, grateful for the intrusion and there were noisy greetings all round.
    Tea was an informal, loud affair. Jazz waited for a lull to tell the family about the impression she'd made on the famous Harry Noble. She had to wait a while.
    'He called you what ?' asked Jeffrey, outraged.
    'The Ugly Sister,' grinned Jazz, enjoying the reaction it received. She wished now that it had been a stronger insult to have got her more of a dramatic response. She also wished Simon wasn't there, because she knew he would assume that secretly she had been greatly offended by the slight. Which she found greatly offensive.
    'Has he seen Josie?' asked Martha.
    'Oh, cheers, Mum,' said Josie.
    'I can't believe that,' said George, shaking her head. 'Are you sure you heard right, Jazz?'
    'Yes, George. Just because he's won an Oscar doesn't mean he has to be a nice person,' said Jazz gently.
    'I should think it probably means quite the opposite,' added Jeffrey.
    There was a pause in the conversation when Josie spoke.
    'We've got an announcement to make,' she smiled weakly.
    Everyone gasped. She didn't need to say much more.
    'I'm pregnant,' she said.
    Martha and George screamed, Jeffrey hugged Michael and Jazz felt a curious mixture of envy, joy and sympathy.
    Josie was only one month gone, so they were all sworn to secrecy.
    'So I don't want to read about it in any magazine,' smiled Josie, wagging her finger at Jazz.
    'Hey no worries, we work four months ahead,' grinned Jazz.
    'I mean it, Jazz. Tempting fate and all that. I've been much more sick with this one. And we all know how bad I was with Benjy. It wasn't planned, you see.'
    'Of course. You can trust me.' Jazz remembered how Josie had had to stay off work and in bed for six weeks before Ben had been born, due to complications. And how Martha had exhausted herself visiting her daughter in hospital and cooking hot evening meals for Michael every day.
    Harry Noble's comment was forgotten and the conversation shifted wholeheartedly into baby mode. Then they caught up on the