Paying the price for not pocketing the twins’ Christmas money
A situation had emerged in the living room. We were both aware of a pile of toys, books and bric-a-brac, which had gathered in the corner beside the sofa, but were also ignoring it in the hope the other would deal with the mess.
Unfortunately, the television remote control was missing, and I felt very strongly it was amidst the chaos, so my hand was forced.
As I threw belongings in different directions, I spotted a pair of £10 notes buried in the debris. Fortune favours the brave, I thought, as I placed them in my wallet and thought of the cycling gloves I was going to buy.
There was a suspicion it was the twins’ Christmas money from my aunt, but I gave them enough with all the lighting, food and warmth.
Suddenly, Victoria appeared and asked, ‘did you find the twin’s tenners?’, making me wonder if CCTV had been installed around the home.
Comfortable as I was lying to myself in justifying theft, I felt stealing from the children and lying to Victoria was a step in the wrong moral direction.
However, all was not lost because we hatched a fun plan to kill off a rainy day with a toy shop trip. The toy shop in question was an industrial warehouse based on a retail park with piles upon piles of plastic, furry and occasional moving objects for sale.
Despite the minimalist décor, I was genuinely looking forward to their excitement over visiting any shop for the first time in a year. Which is why I was a little disappointed when Thomas’ first choice inevitably involved an expensive and very large Lego castle.
The fun soured further when Emma selected a Malibu mansion for Barbie, both of which were way outside the allotted £10.
It felt a little like we’d taken them out only to disappoint them with our lack of material wealth.
Suddenly, Emma spotted a toy farm,
Thomas followed her lead and I congratulated them on their selections before we all ran to pay, somehow acquiring hula hoops and several Paw Patrol figures along the way.
As we moved towards the cashier, Victoria performed a perfect till sidestep, followed by a moonwalk into the distance, leaving me alone in front of the cashier armed with £20.
The assistant said, ”£43.99”, I sighed and told myself £23.99 was a small price to pay for their happiness, although an expensive one for doing the right thing and telling the truth.