Madferit: The Novel

Chapter 147

            The sun woke me up as it peeked through the curtains. It brightened the lavender walls greeting me with a brand new day.

I gazed around waking up but gasped with a jump when the door creaked open. I looked over and couldn't see who opened it...until they hopped up on the bed with a chirp.

"Hi, Kitty!" I said to Edghill as I began petting him.

He crawled up on my chest and lay down, purring with his eyes closed while I stroked his cheek and the rest of his face.

We stayed where we were for a little while until I finally decided we should get up.

"Let's go find your mom and sisters, yeah?" I suggested.

Edghill sauntered out of the room with me all the way to the kitchen where we found Emma and the dogs.

She had just served them their breakfast and had filled Edghill's food bowl as well.

He went straight over to his dish and tucked in wrapping his tail around his left side while he ate.

After cooing at the animals and telling them how much she loved them, Emma went over to the sink and started doing the dishes.

I joined her, picking up the dish towel off the counter then drying and setting the dishes off to the side to be put away after she washed and rinsed them.

"You ain't use the dishwasher?" I asked trying to make decent conversation.

"They leak." She replied scrubbing the glass in her hand.

"I know. I ain't use ours either. Noel helps with the dishes a lot of the time. He even does 'em by his self sometimes. He likes listenin' to Radio Four while he's doin' 'em. He's really into them quiz shows."

She didn't respond as she moved on to rinsing the glass.

"Even though he's good at helpin' with the dishes, he still ain't grasped the concept of settin' the dirty ones in the sink when he's done with 'em instead of on the counter by the sink."

"Paul has." She focused on washing the next dish she pulled out of the left side of the sink.

I stayed quiet then knowing a normal conversation was out of the question. At least not one referencing Noel at times. Maybe talking about the dogs or other animals would be better? She loved her dogs and spoiled them rotten and loved gushing about them as well.

But I didn't bring them up. Instead, I stayed quiet and focused on drying the dishes.

Silence fell over both of us...until the phone rang.

"Hello?" Emma spoke into the receiver. She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, she's here. I mean, we can try it again but I don't know how well it's gonna go."

I stood frozen by the sink watching her as she stepped towards me.

"Here." She handed me the phone.

I took it from her and held it up to my ear. "Hello?" I said into it.

"Hiya, Adds!" Came the cheerful reply.

"Hi."

Noel started asking me all sorts of questions, mostly about how I was feeling, while the tears started to fall. I did my best to hold them back but it was a lot easier said than done.