‘I thought you said renovations were difficult?’ I teased my husband. He frowned down at me, unimpressed. A loud bang echoed through the house from another room and we both flinched.
‘Not again,’ he muttered, resting the bridge of his nose in his fingers.
‘Again?’ I asked.
‘That sound like a bathtub to you?’ his muffled voice peeked out from behind his hands.
‘What – did they drop our bathtub?’ I asked.
‘A week ago, yeah, that’s why they’re behind.’
‘That’s…’ I frowned, searching for the word.
‘Annoying?’
‘That’s so annoying!’ I exclaimed. ‘How hard is it to carry a bathtub?’
‘Well…’ he shrugged. ‘Pretty hard. Still, they shouldn’t be dropping it.’
‘Obviously,’ I sighed, dropping into a nearby chair. ‘At this rate we’ll have to ask what sort of bathtub remodel cost they’ll charge us.’
‘What?’
‘I was joking.’
‘I don’t get it.’
‘You know,’ I rolled my eyes. ‘The remodel. For when we’re old and need to have the bathtub adjusted so we can use it more easily.’
He frowned again.
‘You’ve never heard of that?’ I asked, puzzled. ‘Interesting.’
‘I guess my parents are still… agile.’
I snorted, and a slight smile escaped the edges of his bad mood.
‘Your parents only think they’re still agile,’ I grinned. ‘I’m sure your mum would happily perform Goose Lake for us if we asked.’
‘My dad would probably fix that damaged roofing tile,’ he nodded. ‘If we asked.’
We both laughed. After a second – and to avoid talking about another crashing sound coming from our bathroom – I turned back to him with a frown.
‘Do you think it’s a good idea? Maybe?’
‘Getting them an easy step bathtub conversion? By a Sydney company?’ he screwed up his face in thought. ‘It could be.’
‘Buttt…’
‘No way they go for it,’ he shook his head. ‘Not yet at least.’
‘Well,’ I sighed. ‘At least we have an idea of what to chip in for at your dad’s next birthday.’
We both laughed – until another banging sound interrupted us.