Francesca, page 56
‘Don’t you know, Fran?’ She looked up at me. ‘That’s what they’re calling the girls. Scarlet and Katie, otherwise known as ScatKatz.’ She laughed.
It definitely hadn’t taken the reporters long to come up with a name for the girls. It made for good headlines, I supposed, and it had a nice ring to it.
It had such a nice ring, in fact, that, after much debate about the newly finished club Ralph, Jake, and Tony had built, Ralph suggested calling it ScatKatz. He thought it sounded trendy, and people would know it was part of the Lambrianu Empire.
Elle was brilliant. She stayed over and helped through the night feeds. One baby was bad enough, but trying to pacify two at the same time was very stressful to say the least. Tony helped when he could, I suppose. He didn’t want to change nappies because he said it wasn’t right him seeing their lady bits! Julie told him that was a poor excuse, considering he had seen every other father’s daughter’s lady bits.
Fortunately for him, Jake had gotten into the whole baby nappy changing scene. So he was nominated by Tony and Ralph, who never changed Diana, to be in charge of nappies!
It was pretty obvious from the very beginning that, although Tony adored both of the girls, he had a special spot for Scarlet. Not only was she the firstborn, but the cleft in her chin and the way she always seemed to stop crying when he picked her up also seemed to seal the deal.
Tony had taken Bobby out to walk the dog on the seafront. He’d decided to give him a man-to-man talk. I had voiced my concerns—it had only ever been Bobby and me, and I didn’t want him feeling pushed out. All these years, Bobby had been my baby. Now that had gone, and he was having to share. And with crying twins in the house, I didn’t have a lot of time.
Tony sat on a bench on the seafront with him and watched Susie run around while Bobby had an ice cream. ‘Bobby,’ said Tony, trying to bring himself down to a child’s way of thinking, ‘you know that I’m your dad, don’t you? I mean, I’m not your real dad, but I want to be your dad, if that’s okay?’
He waited and watched Bobby nod while eating his ice cream.
‘I’m going to need your help, now we have the girls in the house. It’s just us men. We have to stick together. Do you understand?’
Again, he waited. Bobby felt very grown up with this talk and secure in the knowledge that Tony had said he was his dad. He licked his ice cream and told Tony about the noise the babies made and all of their horrible smells.
‘That’s what I mean, Bobby. Come on, Bobby. You know what I mean. Even the dog is a girl dog.’ He was doing his best to speak to Bobby on a level he would understand, and when he told me later about his man to man talk with Bobby I appreciated it.
‘So, Bobby,’ Tony carried on, ‘whenever you want to get away from it all, either on your own or with Josh, you go down to the men’s den and get some peace and quiet. Play some games. And don’t forget that, when I’m not there, you’re the man of the house.’ Tony shook his hand like a man.
Bobby shook his hand and nodded. He felt better now that he had his place in the house. He was no longer a baby. Rather, he was one of the men, surrounded by women. They had to be united.
A couple of months down the road, I was facing another sleepless night when Tony, Ralph, and Jake supposedly had a late business meeting to attend and would have to stay over at the apartment.
Both Julie and I knew it was just a poor excuse for the three of them to escape the baby chaos!
‘I have an idea, Fran,’ said Elle, ‘if you want to try it. It’s up to you, but it might help.’
Any idea was welcome if it meant I could get some sleep for an hour. I had forgotten what sleep was.
‘The cots are enormous, Francesca,’ Elle carried on.
I couldn’t think what she was talking about. I was so tired I was on autopilot.
‘Personally, I don’t think Tony knew what he was thinking of. They are the size of single beds. But why don’t we take advantage of that? They’re twins, Fran. They have been squashed together for months, and now we have parted them. Put them side by side in the cot, and let’s see what happens. I think they miss each other.’
It made sense, even to my baby brain. Maybe they were missing hearing each other’s breathing and heartbeats. I supposed it would be like grieving.
We lay them side by side in the cot while their lungs were on full volume, and the strangest thing happened. Once they seemed to realise they were together, in her own baby way Scarlet seemed to reach out for Katie’s hand. And then, suddenly, silence reigned, and they went to sleep.
Elle had been right. Me walking up and down all night hoping and trying to get them to sleep wasn’t pacifying them.
As soon as we realised that being together comforted the girls, life was so much simpler. When they were in the baby bouncers during the course of the day, they were happy as long as they were close to each other. It was simple really when you think about it. Their cries had been shouts to each other. They were two halves of the same coin, weren’t they?
Tony would lie on the sofa with them both asleep on his chest. He enjoyed his own private time with them, and he would get out of bed in the middle of the night just to go and see them. He would sit in the rocking chair watching them sleep. Sometimes I would find him in there fast asleep.
I had sent my mam photos and telephoned her when I could. It was my brothers who asked when they could come and see their nieces. The last time I’d telephoned mam she’d told me that George had asked her to marry him and she had said yes.
Obviously, we were expected to go, but it would be a flying visit. We couldn’t all stay at my mam’s house. There were five of us now, and staying at a hotel would be a nightmare.
Julie came around shortly before the wedding. I could see she had something on her mind.
‘Fran, love, don’t you find it strange that now you’re married and have Tony’s children George has asked your mum to marry him?’
I didn’t know what she was getting at, and I wished she would spit it out. ‘Not really, Julie. They have been seeing each other for a while. I suppose it makes sense.’ I didn’t care about George anymore. I had more than enough on my plate.
Julie said no more, but I was to discover she was already ahead of George. She knew what he was thinking. Call it Julie’s feminine intuition.
When I spoke to my mam, she mentioned that George had suggested to her that maybe he could run a club in Yorkshire for Tony. Soon, he would be a member of the family. Maybe he could work for Tony. So that was it, being a part of the Lambrianu family to George meant a meal ticket.
I mentioned it to Tony in passing. I didn’t want anything from him. I was just using him as a sounding board and telling him what my mam and George had suggested. He brushed his hair back with his hands. I could see he wasn’t happy.
‘Fran, I already have businesses in Yorkshire, not that you would know, and they are run by professionals. If you want me to find him a job, then I will.’ He sighed.
I took his hand and kissed it. ‘Thank you, Tony. I appreciate the gesture. But what can George do in your line of business?’
‘Could be a driver, I suppose. I don’t know. But if it makes you happy and keeps your mum from nagging about it, I will.’ He gave me a kiss on the lips.
‘No, my beautiful Antonias. I am not buying my mother a husband who wants to live off your name and reputation. People pay for your protection, don’t they?’
I looked at him and saw him blush. He wasn’t entirely sure if I knew what kind of business he was in, and he did his best to keep it from me. But Julie wasn’t as discreet. There were things about his business we never discussed, and the protection aspect was one of them.
‘No, my love. I’m married to you. Let George make his own way in the world, like you have.’
Tony seemed relieved. I had done the right thing. George liked the idea of fame and fortune, but if he liked it so much, then let him earn it.
I told Julie about it, but she said she’d already guessed, which was what had been getting at the other day. ‘You will get used to it, Fran—people wanting to jump on the bandwagon, wanting favours and handouts. You just have to learn to say no. I’ve had it for years, and so has Tony.’
She said, she was right of course. I was still naive when it came to money and fame.
‘Why don’t you,’ she began, Elle standing behind her and agreeing with her, ‘tell your mum that it’s a good idea, George running a club for Tony, and ask her how much money he is prepared to put in? That way, you’re not saying no. You’re making a deal. George would have to invest, wouldn’t he?’ She made sense, and it wasn’t offensive.
Tony and I, along with Bobby and the girls, arrived at the registry office for my mam’s wedding. It was all over in the blink of an eye. My brothers were happy to see me and meet the girls for the first time. The eldest of my brothers was now fourteen. I told him that, if he ever wanted to come and bring the others to get away from it all, he could get the first-class train directly from Yorkshire to London and be picked up at the other end. I gave him an envelope. ‘Hide this. This is the money for the train tickets.’
I didn’t want them feeling as though I had deserted them. So I made my mind up to sort them out with bank accounts of their own. Then they would never be stuck without money.
George was pleased that Tony went down the local pub where he had organised the reception and introduced Tony as his son-in-law to everyone there. Dearest Antonias—he gritted his teeth and smiled for the sake of me and my mother. He bought drinks for everyone, and I was embarrassed. Not once did I see George buy him a drink in return.
Thankfully, with the girls being babies, we had to leave early. As far as I was concerned enough was enough. Poor Tony, he was being exploited, and he was putting up with it for my sake. What do they say about love? Actions speak louder than words.
We had a long drive ahead of us. It had been a stressful day, and I could see Tony was glad to leave. He had put up with a lot today for my sake and had bitten his tongue many times. We had taken the limousine because it had lots of space and we could get the Moses baskets in for the girls. Of course George had wanted to use it to take him from the registry office to his local pub.
I lay with Tony in the back of the car and made love to him while the girls and Bobby were fast asleep. We were driving home to the people, apart from my brothers, who actually cared about us and not who we were.
George had pulled me aside during the reception and asked me what I thought of his business proposition. Remembering Julie’s words, I’d asked him how much money he was going to invest into this new venture? I saw his face drop. He hadn’t expected that. Did he really think that his wedding present was going to be a fancy club with his name above the door? Somewhere to swan around in claiming to be Tony Lambrianu’s father-in-law? No way. Apart from anything else, he had no knowledge of the licensing trade. He knew how to drink, but he had no idea how to pull a pint. George was a name-dropper, hoping that mentioning Tony’s name would open all kinds of doors for him.
I was disappointed that my mam was ready to go along with this. I was her daughter, but she seemed to have forgotten that.
George had seemed very put out by my suggestion. He’d expected a lot more and had thought that marrying my mam meant he had married money.
Back home the next day I told Julie and Elle how proud I was of Tony and what had happened. Even though I was ashamed to say it, I was embarrassed by it all.
Julie hushed me. ‘Fran, love, are you still sending your mum some of your wages? It’s not my business, but are you?’
I nodded and told her I was. It was for my brothers’ sake and to make life easier for her.
‘How does it make things easier for her, Fran? She doesn’t pay rent anymore. You’ve given her large sums of money, and you’re also sending her a regular income. She doesn’t need it now that she has George’s wages coming in, does she?’
Julie had pointed out the obvious. She was right of course. My mam would have another income in the house now, and maybe it was time for me to bow out.
I set up bank accounts for my brothers, and instead of the money going to my mam, I shared it out and put it in a trust for them. No one could touch it until they were of age or had my signature to approve it.
My mam wasn’t happy that I had stopped the money and Tony didn’t get involved. But even I had to wonder. Where had all the money I’d given my mam gone?
Julie’s advice was invaluable again. ‘George has been living the high life, hasn’t he, Fran? Just how much has your mum paid for?’ She looked at me and saw the blush rise in my cheeks. Julie had hit the nail on the head.
We didn’t mention it anymore.
Christmas was looming again, only this time I was having it at home. My brothers were coming the day after Boxing Day. It made life simpler. My mam had decided not to come at all. She was still smarting after recent events, and I got the feeling she was glad to be free of the boys for a while.
It felt strange not going to my mam’s for Christmas, but it made more sense staying at home, considering all of the bags and baggage we would have to take for the girls. Tony had Albert’s men on the ladders putting up Christmas lights outside of the house. When you stood on the beach, you could actually see my house in the distance, like Blackpool Illuminations!
‘Did you know, Fran, this is Tony’s first ever Christmas as a family man?’ Elle said. ‘Oh, Tony and Jake usually have lunch with me. Then they go to the club. Being Christmas night and one of the best business nights of the year, they have to.’
It hadn’t dawned on me. I had never been there on Christmas before. I asked her what they usually did. I didn’t really want to know. I felt I could guess, though. So I was surprised when she had said that they all turned up at her house.
I invited everyone around to stay for Christmas. This was going to be Tony’s first family Christmas bonanza! Having them all stay overnight meant that their chauffeurs didn’t have to wait around. It made no difference to Julie. She usually stayed anyway and had her own room.
Now and again, Julie would hand over Diana to the nanny, and she and Ralph would go and spend the night in their little cottage. It was their little love nest. They had turned that church into a great big stylish mansion, but the cottage held something special for them both.
Tony had gone crazy. There were Christmas trees everywhere covered in lights. They were in the lounge, in the kitchen. Julie, who loved to tease and torment Tony like some younger brother told him it looked like Kew Gardens. But he didn’t care. He was happy.
Parcels of all shapes and sizes were piled high under the tree in the lounge, and the house was bursting at the seam with happiness and laughter, plus a lot of cooking, thanks to Elle. She was enjoying this family life. Elle and I had peeled a mountain of potatoes and Julie had sat at her usual place at the breakfast bar, drinking a glass of wine and writing out the name cards! I loved Julie. She made me laugh.
It was obvious to anyone that Tony was enjoying this. We all sat around the dining table on Christmas Day. It was a day to remember. The house was full of children and people who loved each other. What more could you ask for?
It was hard trying to buy the men Christmas presents. They had everything anyway, apart from Ralph’s specials cigars that he’d had flown in from Cuba. Jake wanted a new console. And I bought Tony a gold pocket watch and chain, which had photos of me, Bobby, and the girls in it. I then decided, given it was the festive season, to get them all out of their business suits and buy them Christmas jumpers!
Yes, the most feared men in gangland London spent Christmas Day with reindeers, Father Christmas, and a Christmas pudding on their jumpers. This was home, where they could relax and be themselves.
Of course, there was the Mrs Christmas outfit that I had bought to wear for Tony when we were alone in bed. Each time I took him in my arms felt like the first time. Each caress and kiss set my body on fire. Nothing had changed there. Living on adrenalin and running around, I soon got my figure back. And after all that oiling, there wasn’t a stretchmark in sight.
This was to become a family tradition. Christmas at the Lambrianus was a Christmas to look forward to. Everyone talked about it weeks before and looked forward to it.
Watching my new formed family in the afternoon all sitting on the sofa, having dozed off after eating their fill and making toast after toast made of good memories, gave me a warm feeling inside.
Josh joined in. He didn’t need a teaching assistant like Ralph and Julie had thought he might. The other children had teased him for his strange ways in the beginning. But once they had gotten to know him and admired his artwork, they had forgotten all about it. He had become one of them and just blended in.
It seemed being at a special school had labelled him, and he had felt different. Now he was in a mainstream school, surrounded by family and friends. He had changed enormously. It had done him a world of good.
Julie and I had gone to the opening of the new club. It was enormous and had every entertainment you could think of on different floors. None of the floors’ themes clashed. They all had their own lifts and doorways. It was like Las Vegas.
It was a club, casino, restaurant, and jazz bar. Of course, another floor had table dancers. There was something for everyone, including private poker tables in VIP rooms. On the entrance above the door in large fancy pink writing there was the sign, SCATKATZ. It was emblazoned in lights and gave the place an air of mystery and expectation.
While there, I saw Roxy, Tony’s ex-girlfriend, at the bar. I felt it was time to make our peace. She held no fear for me now. I walked over to her at the bar. She was sitting with an elderly man, close to his sixties but obviously very rich, and I learnt later on, that he was in real estate.
‘Would you like a drink, Roxy?’ I asked.
