


Me: I admire you, Nell.
Nell: Well, that’s extremely kind of you.
Me: You have the patience of a saint.
Nell: I wouldn’t go that far. You can get a little carried away at times but conversations with you are still enjoyable.
Me: I wasn’t talking about me.
Nell: Weren’t you?
Me: No. I was talking about after walk drinks.
Nell: Are we having a cocktail party? We were discussing what to do to celebrate David and Sally’s engagement but nobody mentioned cocktails, as far as I know.
Me: I meant the big bowl of water you all share down on the beach when we’ve been for our walk.
Nell: Oh, I see.
Me: You always end up drinking last.
Nell: Yes, that’s what mothers do. You know that.
Me: And Dave drinks the whole time.
Nell: David is a large animal. He needs more than others.
Me: And you just sit there patiently waiting your turn.
Nell: Of course I do.
Me: Even Poppy pushes her way in.
Nell: Poppy doesn’t like to wait for anyone.
Me: And Harriet is straight in there.
Nell: Harriet has good survival instincts.
Me: Don’t you ever worry there won’t be any water left for you?
Nell: Of course not. Kev would never let that happen.
Me: But David could drink the bowl dry.
Nell: No, he couldn’t.
Me: How do you know?
Nell: Because Kev always keeps fresh water back for me to drink quietly when the others get in the car.
Me: I thought it was just luck that he still had some water left over.
Nell: There’s no luck about it. I just need to be patient.
Me: I always wait to drink my water too.
Nell: I know. As I said before, that’s what mothers do.
Me: Yes. Sorry.