In My Sister's Shoes by Sinéad Moriarty Read Free Book Online

tell me what you want me to do,’ I said, in an over-cheery voice.
    ‘I’m feeding the boys,’ she said, leading the way to the kitchen where pandemonium was taking place.
    Jack was trying to throw his carrots on to Bobby’s plate and he in turn was chucking broccoli on to Bobby’s. Teddy, meanwhile, was lapping up the bits that fell on to the floor.
    Mark’s surname was Kennedy and he had insisted on naming the twins Jack and Bobby and the dog Teddy. I suppose it showed he had a sense of humour – although he kept it well hidden.
    ‘Say hello to Auntie Kate,’ Fiona said, as the boys stared at me. They saw me only twice a year and, truth be told, I wasn’t exactly full-on then. I never knew what to say to or do with them, so I did the usual adult thing and asked them questions, which they tired of pretty quickly. Now I felt nervous – I had absolutely no idea how to relate to or look after these two little boys.
    ‘Hello, Auntie Kate, do you have more presents for us?’ shouted Jack, the more boisterous of the two.
    Damn, I should have brought them something. Mind you, with my track-record of present-buying they’d probably have hated it. ‘Sorry, boys, no presents today, but I’ll get you something tomorrow.’
    ‘Don’t be silly. They don’t need anymore presents,’ said Fiona, firmly. ‘Jack, it’s rude to ask for presents. Now eat your dinner.’ Jack fed Teddy another broccoli floret.
    ‘Are you going to take us to school tomorrow?’ asked Bobby.
    ‘Yes, she is,’ said Fiona. She turned to me and said, in her best teacher’s voice, ‘I’ve been telling the boys you’ll be looking after them when I’m feeling a bit tired from the medicine that’s going to make me better.’
    ‘Mummy’s sick,’ said Jack. ‘She has a cancer.’
    ‘She’s got a bad lump,’ said Bobby.
    ‘But the doctor’s going to take it out and throw it in the bin,’ said Jack.
    ‘And then she’s going to get medicine to kill the bad cells,’ said Bobby.
    ‘And then she’ll be better.’
    ‘Wow,’ I said. ‘You guys have it all under control.’ Then, to Fiona, ‘So they know about everything?’
    ‘It’s important for them not to be afraid. Information takes away fear,’ she said, then kissed them and told them how clever they were for remembering all the information. They basked in her praise. Then, pointing to me, she said, ‘Now, you know that Kate will be putting you to bed tomorrow night while Mummy goes to the hospital. It’s only for one night, so you’re to be good for her.’
    The boys nodded.
    ‘Will we show Kate what we do at bedtime so she can follow the routine?’ asked Fiona. ‘Let’s start with our bath.’
    With that the two boys raced up the stairs and flung off their clothes.

8
    After a noisy bath, which left both Fiona and me drenched, I helped her put the twins into their pyjamas and then she read them a story from Inventors and Inventions . The way she read it made it sound interesting even to me. I leant back against the wall and watched the two bent heads hanging on her every word. She was a natural-born educator – maybe if I’d had a maths teacher like Fiona, I wouldn’t have been such a dunce with numbers.
    After she had qualified with a first in pure maths – Mark got a first too, but Fiona’s marks were higher – Fiona decided to devote her life to teaching. Having seen how bad Derek and I were at maths, she was determined to make it more interesting and appealing to young people. She had landed a job teaching at an all-girls school and, by all accounts, was liked, respected and feared by her pupils. Maths was a vocation for Fiona. She wanted to rid it of its nerdy-and-boring reputation and spent a lot of time and energy making her classes interesting.
    To be fair, she also loved teaching because it afforded her so much free time with the twins. They meant the world to her and she was determined to be with them as much as she could. To be a mother on her own