The Neapolitan Question

That's when I hear the sound of a car approaching the house.

'Who's that, at this time of night?'

Shrugs all round. I'm nearest the door, so I'm the one who gets up to investigate.

It's a taxi, that much I can tell, but whether it's the wine or the low light or the painfully early start to my day, it takes me a while to understand what's in front of my eyes.

'Well?'

She's standing by the car door, amused by my total bafflement, that delightful wide smile plastered all over her face.

'Janey? Fuck, what are you doing here?'

'Hey, that's no way to greet me,' she laughs, then squeals as I lift her off her feet with joy.

She's a lot heavier now than last summer for which I'm more than thankful. I sink my face into her hair and delight in the feel of her.

'We finished up earlier than I thought, so I rebooked my flight. To get here sooner,' she adds unnecessarily and a little breathlessly. 'Thought I'd surprise you.'

'I missed you.'

'Me too. Obviously.'

I let her down, remembering the taxi driver, who's patiently hovering behind me with Jane's bag, a sly smile on his face. We pay him and as he's driving away, I pull Jane into a longer hug, hardly believing she's actually here. She'd been due to come home in a couple more days' time, but it seems like things up in Elgin have gone better than we'd assumed. Her father's house is sold, finally, and the things Jane wanted to keep are on their way into storage. For now.

'I can't believe you're here,' I'm muttering, squeezing her to me too tightly.

It's been two, nearly three, weeks since she left here to finalise the house sale and do a trip around the school and university to visit her head teacher and PhD supervisor respectively. She's taking a break from school for a while longer and is about ready to submit her doctorate. It's the longest we've been apart since last summer and I have never ached for so long or so hard. I want to ask her how it's all gone, but I'm too overwhelmed with having her in my arms to form the words.

I'm dimly aware of Frankie's voice behind us, calling back to the kitchen that Jane's here and that we are kissing, his voice full of forced disdain that causes me to smile, then straighten up.

'Is there any food left over? Come on, I'm starving,' she smiles coyly, pulling away from me.

We share a look as the dusk falls rapidly over us.

'You're definitely bigger,' I tell her, and run my hand over her firm belly. She's nearly five months.

'I know. I can't get my jeans on anymore.'

'You're beautiful,' pressing the palm of my hand against her, watching her face begin to flush.

'Mum wants to know if you're ever coming inside and if Jane is hungry because she bets a thousand pounds that she is,' Frankie announces from the front door, arms folded.

'Ok, ok, we're coming,' Jane replies. 'And yes, your mum's right, I'm starving.'

She turns back to me, reaching a hand up and underneath my shirt, fingertips barely touching my skin but making me suck at my breath all the same.

'You'd better have plenty of energy for later, Frankie,' she warns me, a warm glimmer in her eyes. 'I want you to show me how much you've missed me.'

I watch, dumbstruck, as she walks into the ramshackle old villa; our home for the last year. The windows casting yellow squares of light over her. Frankie reaching out to give her a hug. The rest of my family sitting amongst the happy mess of cake crumbs and story books strewn across the big kitchen table. A couple more weeks of this love and chaos before they fly back to Singapore and leave me and Janey to live here for a while longer. Until the baby comes. Until we decide what comes after that. Stay here; move into my flat in London; something else? I shrug, calm enough now to face them all, stoop to pick up Janey's suitcase and walk towards the house.

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