Scrap CH TWO part 50. Final part of chapter two.

CH TWO 50
A buzz of excitement is in the air as Janet and Heather help their mother with the shopping this Saturday morning. The babies are propped in the big pram, which is proving useful as a shopping trolley with more and more piled in the tray beneath them and attached to the handles. Once the chores are out of the way and the boys settled in front of the television, they are going to look at the new house.
Scotty has been out for essentials: cans of beer, crisps, peanuts, cashews and sweets. The furniture in the living room has been arranged so that everyone can get a good view of the new colour television as the teams battle for the FA Cup. The final port of call is the betting shop where he lays a tenner on Arsenal to win the double, even though the odds are not going to give him a big return if they do succeed.
Life seems sweet today, the sun is warm and possibilities are opening up for the Stewart family. The only fly in Dawn’s ointment is the looming release date for Fat Frank. She is not having his crappy old van cluttering up the garden of the new house no matter what Jim thinks; she just hasn’t found a way of telling him yet. It does seem harsh considering what Frank has done for them but life moves on and she doesn’t want him to be part of theirs.
The queue at the Barnes fish and chip shop reaches the corner of the road but Jamie and Stu are happy to wait their turn and join in the general talk of the FA Cup Final. Most of those waiting to be served support Arsenal and are excited at the prospect of their team ‘doing the double’ this afternoon. Only one man is of the Liverpool persuasion and is therefore getting a severe ribbing from the rest of the crowd but it’s all in good humour and the line moves slowly along until the boys reach the front, where they hand over the long list of necessary items for the family feast.
With the rexine market holdall slung between them they cycle back home as fast as they can in order to keep the food hot and find the family waiting at the kitchen table. Dawn takes hot plates from the oven and deals them out then the newspaper wrapped parcels are handed round, swapped over and loaded with tomato ketchup, HP sauce and pickled onions.
The only sound is that which is similar to pigs at the trough as the fried delicacies disappear in short time, washed down with fizzy pop for the children and beer for the adults. Dawn especially enjoys fish and chip takeaway meals as the clearing away is so easy: screw the papers up and shove them in the rubbish bin. She quickly feeds and changes the twins then goes upstairs to put on her best dress for the tour of the show house. She has made the same tour five times with various friends and family members but she never tires of admiring all the wonderful modern treats which she will soon be boasting of owning.
As the sound of community singing fills the living room Dawn and the girls call out their goodbyes and escape, leaving the sleeping twins in the care of their father, who promptly forgets that they exist so intent is he on the match. ‘Why are they wearing yellow?’ Groans Robbie, expecting the usual red and white strip which he is sporting. ‘They don’t want the viewers to get mixed up,’ says John, ‘not everyone has colour telly.’ Scotty says it doesn’t matter what colour strip they are wearing as long as they win the game, and opens a second tin of beer to toast ‘his’ team.
‘We’ve got two hours before the game is over,’ says Dawn, ‘so there’s no need to hurry. Just wait until you see all the new fittings and the carpets. She has been showing the plans to anyone and everyone and the girls have become familiar with every last detail but even they are awed as the salesman greets them with a huge smile and shows them over the threshold. ‘Back again Mrs Stewart? You just can’t keep away can you?’ Dawn blushes but he doesn’t mind as it’s good for business if people can see that someone else is looking at the housing estate. He has 265 houses and bungalows to shift in phase one alone so he needs all the publicity he can get. Several potential buyers have looked in after hearing Dawn telling them that she and Jim are buying one.
‘Are we getting one with a garage?’ Asks Janet. The salesman has no need to refer to his notes; ‘yes, a double garage with up and over doors,’ he replies, ‘maybe you girls can turn it into a club house or perhaps the boys could use it as a snooker room.’
Dawn gives him a condescending glance; ‘or we could use it as a garage for the two cars,’ she suggests. The girls frown, knowing that they only have one car between them. ‘My mother is going to teach me to drive once the babies are a bit older,’ Dawn explains, ‘and it won’t be long before you two are getting your licences. The years go by so fast, you’ll be surprised, so make the best of your carefree days while you have the chance.’
The girls wander off to choose their bedroom. ‘Carefree days indeed,’ says Heather, ‘when have we ever been carefree?’ Janet is gazing out the window at the newly laid turf, watching the building work continuing in the row of houses behind. ‘We did have a great holiday last year,’ she reminds her, ‘that was pretty much carefree.’ Heather considers for a moment, remembering the high jinks, the funny bits like when mum got soaked in the boating lake. ‘Yeah, we did have fun there didn’t we? Wonder if Uncle Frank will be coming back when he gets out the nick.’
The salesman looks at his watch for the umpteenth time and Dawn finally takes the hint. ‘I suppose you would rather be watching the football,’ she says, looking at her own watch, ‘but it’s probably over by now.’ The salesman apologises for his lack of tact but insists he has no interest in the game, only in getting home in time for tea. ‘You are welcome to come down any time,’ he assures her as he waves goodbye from the show home and locks the door behind them.
‘Can we call on Nan on the way home?’ Asks Heather, who has not seen Mavis all week and is concerned for her welfare. ‘She said to keep away while she has the spots,’ says Janet, ‘but we don’t need to go in, just see how she is, see if she needs anything.’ Dawn agrees and they make the short detour. Mavis looks very unwell as she opens the front door and squints into the sunlight. ‘Are you okay Nan?’ She makes the effort to smile for the girls and says she is feeling much better, thank you but they mustn’t risk coming in. ‘And you promise you’ll get the twins immunised against the measles won’t you Dawn?’ Her daughter makes the promise and the girls say they will stop by in the morning to check on her.
‘We didn’t get immunised against measles did we mum?’ Asks Janet as they head home. ‘It wasn’t available in those days,’ says Dawn, ‘it’s quite a new thing and some people say they get the measles anyway. Mrs Brooks said her Terry had it twice and he’d been done.’ Janet won’t let the subject drop. ‘They need to have it though, don’t they? I heard that measles can send kids deaf or even kill them and we don’t want anything happening to our George or Charlie.’ Dawn assures her that she will be guided by the nurse at the clinic and even though she has her doubts she feels that having the jab will be less risky than not having it.
As the three turn into their road they can hear muffled cries coming from their house, which is four doors away. They rush to the scene to find the twins bawling their heads off in their cots upstairs while the boys are still glued to the television. Janet and Heather go up to calm the babies while Dawn bursts into the living room, fuming, stands in front of the television and lets rip. ‘Didn’t anyone hear the babies?’ She yells, above the shouts of frustration from the audience. ‘Mum, get out the way, we can’t see the screen,’ moans Robbie. ‘Never mind the game; you leave your baby brothers screaming in their cots while you sit watching men kicking a ball about.’
Scotty gets up and moves his wife to one side. ‘Calm down,’ he urges, ‘it’s gone in to extra time and there’s still no score. The babies are alright, listen they’re not crying now.’ Dawn shoves past him and follows the girls into the kitchen where the red-faced babies are being bathed with cool flannels. She sets about making up bottles for them while the girls make a fuss of the poor little mites.
Howls of despair come from the living room as one of the Liverpool players scores. Moments later the boys are screaming with delight as their team even the score, then in the closing moments the place erupts with whooping and hollering as the final whistle blows. Arsenal have scored in the final seconds to win the game and the boys are ecstatic. Robbie rushes into the kitchen and almost knocks his mother flying as he hugs her and kisses her cheek. ‘We won, we won, Charlie George scored the winner, he’s my hero, there’s only one Charlie George.’ And with that he runs out to find his bike and share the happy news with the neighbourhood.
‘What did he say?’ Dawn’s face glows bright red as the penny drops. ‘He’s done it again hasn’t he?’ The girls look at each other in puzzlement and shrug. Dawn marches into the living room where the celebrations are just beginning, on and off the Wembley turf. ‘Named after our grandparents, my eye,’ she glowers at Scotty, ‘you named them after yet another Arsenal footballer.’ Scotty can only grin even wider as he grabs her in a bear hug and lifts her off the ground. ‘We did the double,’ he laughs, his voice hoarse with shouting at the television. We certainly did, thinks Dawn.