‘All?’
‘She’s expecting twins. Apparently they run in Sumaira’s side of the family.’
‘That’s incredible! I can’t wait to see you juggling one dirty nappy let alone two,’ Nick joked. ‘That’s no more five-aside for you, no more getting hammered on a weeknight, no more sneaky spliffs on the balcony when you think she isn’t looking …’
‘Tell me about it. She’s already started putting on weight and our sex life has gone to nothing. If this is the future, I’m going to be hammering the hell out of Tinder.’
Nick waited for Deepak to laugh or indicate he was joking, but he didn’t.
‘Well, it’s going to be a hell of an adjustment for the both of you, but I’m sure you’ll get through it,’ he added.
‘I reckon my life’s in for a bumpy ride from here on out.’
‘You’re telling me,’ Nick replied, and downed the rest of his beer.
Chapter 50
ELLIE
Ellie tapped her restless foot absent-mindedly against the mat in the Range Rover’s rear footwell.
In ordinary circumstances, her first trip home to see her family in almost a year was enough to make her anxious. But for this outing she had brought Tim. Sensing her trepidation, Tim placed his hand over hers, gave it a squeeze, and smiled to offer his reassurance.
‘You know I’ve been certified as a safe bet to introduce to parents?’ he began. ‘Honestly, I’ve been tested and probed and it’s highly unlikely I’ll steal anything or call your nana a whore.’
‘My nana’s dead.’
‘Then she won’t care what I call her, will she? Come on, give me a smile.’
‘I’m sorry, it’s just that I haven’t seen them for a while and, the longer the gap between visits, the harder it is.’
‘How painful can it be? They’re your family.’
Ellie sighed. ‘We don’t have much in common these days and it’s not their fault – it’s mine. When my business started taking off, I had less and less time for a private life.
‘I began to think that to be a successful businesswoman, I had to put my personal life on hold. I assumed that to be taken seriously I had to act in a certain way or be seen in the right places and with the right people, and that came at the expense of my family. Then by the time I realised I was being an idiot, I’d missed too many weddings, christenings and Christmases. I bought them cars, paid off their mortgages and set up trust funds for my nieces and nephews, but it didn’t make up for it.’
‘But what they really wanted was for you to be around, right?’
‘I suppose, yes.’
‘Well then, let’s make tonight the start of a new chapter. You’re lucky you have a family. It was just my mum and me my whole life until she died, and now it’s just me.’ Tim gave a meek smile.
‘No, you’ve got me too,’ Ellie said, and tilted her head to rest on his shoulder.
It had been almost four months since she’d appeared on Tim’s doorstep and revealed she was the scientist who discovered the Match Your DNA gene. He’d forgiven her for lying about it and, now with the playing field levelled, the two tentatively embarked upon their relationship. Tim was a little rough around the edges and certainly wasn’t her usual type. But once she’d allowed herself to open up to him and let their genetic link lead the way, none of their contrasts mattered. She had been drawn to him like a magnetic field and it felt wonderful.
They spent many of their after-work hours living a comfortable, pedestrian life at Tim’s Leighton Buzzard home. Twice a week she’d send a car to pick him up so they could stay at Ellie’s London townhouse. However, she often felt self-conscious spending time in the home she’d created for herself. The £5,000 spent on a single roll of wallpaper, imported Italian marble flooring, the basement cinema she rarely used, were all reminders of a time when she assumed that a beautiful home was the equivalent of a meaningful life.
Along with curtailing her working hours – she’d imposed a new rule to leave the office at six o’clock – Ellie had also turned her back on the trendy London eateries she frequented in favour of small, provincial pubs, watching Sunday league football games and nights spent curled up on the sofa watching box sets. Only the presence of Andrei and his colleagues, keeping guard in their vehicles outside Tim’s home, reminded her that their relationship was out of the ordinary.
‘We’re almost here,’ Ellie announced, as they pulled into the street where she’d spent her childhood. Little had changed in the Derbyshire suburb of Sandiacre, where she’d spent the first eighteen years of her life; the 1950s-built detached houses remained virtually untouched by progress, with the exception of replacement PVC windows and block paving over lawns to make room for more cars. It had been a safe, nurturing environment for her and she was ashamed for having turned her back on everything that made her.
‘Oh my God, make way for the Queen’s arrival!’ yelled her sister Maggie from the doorstep as she flung her arms open wide and squeezed her younger sister. ‘And she’s brought someone with her!’
A cheer rang out from the lounge of Ellie’s mother’s house as her family and neighbours descended upon their guests. Take That’s Greatest Hits blared from a hi-fi system and there was a sign that read ‘Happy 70th birthday, Mum’. The dining-room table was pushed against the wall and was covered in napkins, party foods, plastic cups, cutlery and paper plates.
‘Ooh, let me get a look at you,’ Maggie continued and grabbed Tim, spinning him around like a lazy Susan so everyone could size him up. ‘You’ve done well there,’ she said to Ellie and clutched her sister’s arm.
‘Come here, girl.’ Her mother grinned as she walked in eying her daughter up and down. ‘You need a bloody good meal inside you; you’re looking right skinny. And who’s this handsome lad?’
‘This is my boyfriend, Tim,’ Ellie said.
‘Nice to meet you, Mrs Stanford,’ he began, and went to shake her hand.
‘Call me Pam,’ she replied. ‘Now let’s get you a drink and you can tell me all about yourself. At least you look normal, you should have seen the last one she brought home – he spent the whole day eyeing up the whole estate, working out how much he could buy it for. Cheeky bugger.’
For the next hour, Tim was paraded around the house from room to room, having drinks thrust into his hand by strangers and being introduced to family members he likely wouldn’t remember the names of the next day. He danced with her two youngest nieces, chatted football with her brothers-in-law and was given a guided tour of her father’s newly erected shed. Ellie watched proudly from the sidelines as she reminded herself that she could have the best of both worlds.
‘I’m sorry, has she been giving you the third degree?’ Ellie asked cheekily, as her mum led them to the kitchen.
‘Not at all.’ Tim smiled. ‘I’ve been getting all the gossip about what you were like as a kid – and you were a right little geek by all accounts. And no boobs until you were seventeen?’
‘Mum!’
‘Don’t try to deny it, Ells,’ she said, and turned to Tim. ‘Flat as an ironing board until she could learn how to drive. But even as a girl, she always had her nose in a book. Then when she discovered science, that was it. She once set fire to her curtains in her bedroom with magnesium and a test tube she stole from school.’
Ellie shook her head and felt herself blush, much to Tim’s amusement.
‘I’m just going to borrow your bathroom then you can tell me more,’ Tim said, and gave Ellie a wink as he left the room.
‘So?’ Pam asked hopefully.
‘So …?’ Ellie repeated stubbornly.
‘So has the woman who’s fixed everyone else’s love life actually found one herself?’