Growing Up Twice by Rowan Coleman Read Free Book Online

whatever way I can. And so will Selin, I know she will. Once she comes down from hitting the roof.’
    We reach out and hug each other and settle back on to the sofa in each other’s arms.
    ‘No more booze, you know. You drink a lot,’ I tell her.
    ‘I know. No more booze. None.’ She shakes her head and crosses her heart.
    ‘No more pharmaceuticals.’ I think about the last few weekends out we’ve had with regard to foetal health and decide not to mention it right now.
    ‘Nope,’ she concedes.
    ‘The fags will have to go. Right now.’
    ‘Right now.’ She pulls a pack out of her jeans pocket and gives it to me.
    ‘Tea, coffee, Red Bull. You’ll have to cut all that out.’
    ‘Well, I’ve been waiting for an excuse to detox.’ She shrugs and pulls the ends of her sleeves over her fingers.
    ‘And you’ll have to kiss goodbye to your hipster Versace jeans before long.’
    ‘Oh, bollocks. I’ve changed my mind.’ And we fall into a fit of the giggles.
    I have the strangest feeling of unreality as I watch the indestructible little beetle struggle out from under Rosie’s mug. Things will have to change so much, things that neither of us have any idea about right now. I wonder if evolution really meant it to be this easy to bring another life into the world.
    ‘Imagine, a baby in the house!’ I say, feeling light-headed in a tipsy kind of way. ‘We can paint a nursery! What fun!’
    ‘Oh yes, but not baby pink or blue, something a bit more hip. I
have
to have a hip baby!’ Rosie says and I nod in agreement.
    As we sit with stupid grins on our faces, we watch the little beetle crawl over a discarded toast plate and amble under the sofa. Then suddenly Rosie sits up and inexplicably dives for the Yellow Pages.
    ‘Bloody hell, we have to move! We have to move like
now
. This week – we can’t live in this flea-pit with a baby on the way!’ She’s turning the pages but there doesn’t seem to be a section called ‘Reasonably priced three-bedroom flats just over the road available now’.
    ‘God, yes, we have to move,’ Rosie continues in her new hygiene rant. ‘We’ll definitely need more than one ring with a baby. Hot water and stuff, I expect.’ And then, ‘We’ll never afford anywhere round here,’ she says, matter of factly.
    I sit back, a little stunned, and think about it. I had just started to come to terms with the fact that her baby would change all our lives but I hadn’t expected it to change my life
quite
so much.
    ‘We do?’ I stand up and look out of the window and down the Grove, and think about the hundreds of nights when brim-full of wine I’ve strolled up it with Owen. This flea-pit has been my home.
    ‘What about south of the river? Brixton or Streatham?’ Rosie used to live there with Chris.
    ‘Well, you know,
south
and all that. It’s just not my cup of tea,’ I say, rather than point out that we’d practically be moving in next door to the evil absent father of her love child. ‘And I see your point, what with the “wildlife” and everything, but maybe we could buy some kind of spray?’
    Rosie picks up on the uncertainty in my voice.
    ‘Jen, darling. I have to move out of here, you know why.’ She points at the dark recess beneath the sofa where who knows how many beetles are eavesdropping on our life-changing morning. ‘I, well, I’d love it if you came with me. It could be a new start for us both, but well, look, if you don’t want to come I’ll understand …’ Her voice trails off and she looks at me, her expression a mixture of concern and panic.
    I look around the room and see memories of Owen in every corner, smirking at me. Leaving this flat is exactly the kind of life-changing decison I don’t like to make in a hurry. This place has been my refuge for so many years. On the other hand, Rosie has suddenly altered her life beyond recognition, always and for ever in the space of a few minutes and well, maybe moving flat wouldn’t be so bad, in