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Even with Joanne, from a few doors down, taking his daughters in during the day until he gets home, he can’t cope with the housework and a full-time job.
His stepfather told him about a distant relative who lives in Warsaw with her mother. Twenty-eight years old, a bilingual secretary, Teresa, would like to work as an au pair in England.
One Saturday in early October 1972, just before the half-term break, Miles sits the girls down on the plush sofa in his parent’s living room. Their feet wave around in the air as he explains to them about his trip to Poland with Grampy Jan, to meet a lady.
“But why, Daddy?” Sarah asks.
“We need someone to cook and clean for us, Sarah. I have to work and you two need a mum.”
“But we have a mum. Why isn’t she here?”
“Your mum doesn’t want us, Sarah, it’s time to find someone who does.” Miles forces down the bile that rises from his gut.
“Mum, mum, mum, mum,” Sharon chants as she scrambles down off the sofa to her dad.
He pulls her onto his knee just as the waterworks start.
“Mum. Mum. Mum.” The little girl wriggles and squirms away from her dad to launch herself into a temper tantrum on the carpet. Her body goes rigid and her forehead beats against the pile.
Miles kneels over her and picks her up. He holds her to him, bowing his head into her to avoid a black eye from the flailing limbs and tiny fists.
When she’s worn herself out Miles puts her on the sofa again, wipes her face and nose with his hanky, and she nods off within minutes. He sits back down on his heels and goes to his eldest.
“I need you to watch your sister, Sarah. Can you do that for me?” He says, in his most serious voice.
“Yes, Daddy, she replies.
“We have to leave now, to catch the aeroplane to Poland. We’ll be back soon.”
Miles’s mom, overhearing her cue, comes into the room and sits next to Sarah. Taking the girl’s hand, she says, “Come with me to the kitchen, Sarah, I need some help making banana and jelly sandwiches.”
“Banana and jelly sandwiches?”
“Yes, dear, would you like one?”
“Yes, please, Granny,” Sarah says and follows her Granny to the kitchen.
A week later
Miles returns to collect his daughters. He registers with surprise their high cut bangs and the toes peeking through from cut out holes in their slippers. Keeping a straight face, he hugs them both to him when they run into his open arms.
“Where’s the lady?” Sarah whispers.
“She’s still in Poland but she will be coming over soon, Sarah,” Miles says, as he lets loose the wriggling Sharon.
“Oh, will she be our new mum?”
“Her name is Teresa. She will keep an eye on you while I’m at work.”
“Play, Daddy, play me, play me,” says Sharon waving a doll’s head around by the hair, red felt-tip scribbles all over its face.
Miles crawls over to Sharon, taking Sarah with him, and they all sit on the floor in the lounge playing with Sharon’s dismembered dolls. Sarah finds the matching limbs, bodies, and heads and passes them to Miles to push back together. He gives the complete doll to Sharon, who then proceeds to bash it on the coffee table, shrieking with glee.
“Tea’s ready,” Granny announces from the doorway, “Miles, can you give me a hand to bring it through?”
Miles pushes the last limb back on and hands it to Sharon, then goes out to the kitchen.
“What’s she like, then?” Maggie asks.
“Well, she doesn’t speak any English, which made it tricky, but Jan translated for us and we had a few conversations. Though she’s rather attractive she doesn’t smile much. She has experience looking after her brother’s daughter, so I think she will be fine. She’ll be here at the end of the month.”
“Jan says she’s from a good family but her father died young. She seems keen to get away from her mother. Are you sure she’s the right woman for the job?”
“The girls are too much for me, Mom. I work. I can’t feed us on baked beans on toast for the foreseeable future; we’ll end up with scurvy! And as for cleaning, I haven’t a clue. Teresa will be just what we need.” He squashes a flash of Teresa smiling at him before his mom can read his mind.
“I hope she is, son. For your, and the girls’ sake.”
“Speaking of the girls, what has happened to their bangs and slippers?”
“What do you mean?” Maggie seems a little flustered. “I just gave them a trim! I may have got a little carried away trying to get them straight but they’ll soon grow back.”
“And their slippers?”
“They were too tight, so I snipped out some more space for their toes,” she says with determination.
“That was thoughtful of you, Mom, thank you. I’d rather you hadn’t cut their bangs, though. They’re my daughters and you shouldn’t have.” Standing up, Miles asks, “Shall we take the tea through?”
Maggie reddens at her son’s words but keeps her thoughts to herself. She follows him out.
Another week later
Teresa arrives and settles into her new bedroom and home. The two little girls and their father adore the au pair's hearty Polish dishes.
Bigos; a cabbage and sausage stew, potato salad with hard-boiled eggs, peas, carrots, and grated Granny Smiths, which the girls really love. They aren't too fond of the gristly bits in the schnitzel but the buttery mash is tasty.
The new addition to the family also introduces a fourth meal of the day, supper, which they eat together in the living room. Then Sharon snuggles up in Teresa’s lap before being carried to bed.
New friends
On the last Saturday of every month, Miles and Teresa go to the Polish Club with Jan and Maggie. Teresa meets fellow ex-pats and makes a good friend, Barbara. Barbara has been married to Douglas for a few years and both work at the same electronics company.
Douglas is the manager, plain-looking but well educated. Douglas manages Barbara, the supervisor of a team of women who work on components and soldering wires to circuit boards.
Barbara has a long blond bob, model cheekbones and the body of someone who smokes at least one meal a day. She is too attractive for her husband. They don’t have any children. Barbara at thirty-nine and ten years older than her husband, would score an eight to Douglas’s three in the looks department.
Neither Douglas nor Miles drink. Both women love Wyborowa vodka. Teresa and Barbara smoke and drink together, sharing stories of their lives in Poland. The men are left to speak English to each other, as neither can understand a word of Polish.
When the women have enough vodka inside them, they coax their husbands onto the dance floor. Swaying and laughing until the men insist they leave.
Sometimes, Douglas and Barbara come over for dinner on a Friday night. The women talk, drink and smoke in the kitchen until Douglas announces it’s time to head back. Douglas and Miles both have an interest in electronics but most of the time they sit in the lounge watching television.
Miles, Teresa and the girls play in nearby Hinksey Park on Sundays. Hiding in bushes and behind too thin to hide them silver birches, and giggling when they are found. Sometimes, when it’s hot, they all go to the paddling pool with a picnic lunch.
Miles’ and the girls’ clothes appear, as if by magic, in their wardrobes and drawers. The cleaning elves are active during the day, making beds, scrubbing, vacuuming, polishing and tidying.
After school, Sarah teaches Teresa the names of everything in the house and Teresa teaches Sarah some Polish words.
One night a year later
Teresa has her own room and has been undisturbed until tonight. She hears a knock on her door. “Come in,” she says.
She sits up in bed with a book on her lap. She sees in Miles’ face what he wants. She places the book on the bedside table and holds her arms open to him. He turns out the light and takes two steps to her bed.
Photo Courtesy of Morgan Madej and Kate Madej