Chapter 45 · Month 30 · Starting a Family

The Test

A test on the sink and the decision to wait

Oldest line first — the newest line is at the bottom.

      
            Penny
            teacher
            13:38
          
The test's on the sink, cap down, and I've set a two-minute timer on the windowsill. I know the second line, so — be honest, do I look at it or do we wait for the beep like sensible people?

            Algy
            designer
            13:39
          
We wait for the beep — how long's left on it? I've got a phone in my hand and it's telling me 6:40 keenness, so sit on your hands and tell me about the bleach instead.

            Penny
            teacher
            13:40
          
Sit down first, properly, on the floor with your back to the bath — I'm not doing this peering over you. Forty seconds. And the bleach is fine, I bought a two-for-one and the second bottle's unopened under the sink.

            Algy
            designer
            13:41
          
I'm down — back to the bath, cold tiles, whole nine yards. Though I'll say it now: the two-for-one bleach is the least romantic thing that's ever been on this floor with me.

            Penny
            teacher
            13:42
          
I'm scared of being the only one holding the plan — that I'll be counting weeks on my own and you'll be kind about it. That's the plain version.

            Algy
            designer
            13:43
          
I could do kind. I'm brilliant at kind for about an hour — that's exactly what scares me, so don't let me off with a joke on this one. I want to be in the counting, badly enough that it's boring.

            Penny
            teacher
            13:45
          
Then here's your due, and it's not a small one: you've been the one who actually asks, at nine o'clock, when it's easier not to. I'm the one who puts it on a list and calls that doing something. Thirty seconds.

            Algy
            designer
            13:46
          
Twenty seconds. Here's the thing I keep not saying — I've got $600 in an envelope marked "not for the car," and if this is a no, I'd rather spend it on the next three tries than on a door that doesn't open.

            Penny
            teacher
            13:48
          
It's a yes. Two lines, Algy. And put the envelope back — that's not the question any more.

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