Sisters 9

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CHAPTER 9
Christmas was a good one, but quiet, and I was a little disappointed because I was still trying to live with Mam's request not to rub her nose in things. I was with my family, I was loved, and especially so by my father, but there was still a Siá¢n-shaped hole in things.

Sar was really settling into her new role, quite the lady chemist. Not quite 'the lady', though, for she was definitely finding a rocker image of her own, and it seemed to me that she was only in flats when on the bike. Mam told her off, very directly.

“Those shoes OFF in the house, girl!”

Perhaps, just perhaps, there could be room in her heart. Sarah was in such high spirits I almost forgot the lonely and frightened boy I had grown up with. She clearly loved her work, and our meals were spiced with stories of some of the oddest ailments and patients imaginable, so of course I had to compete with her in silly stories, which was exactly what I had been doing with another woman who wasn't at the table and couldn't be so.

Be strong, Lainey.

On Christmas morning we swapped our sister-gifts in private, which I thought made sense considering what I had bought her. I remembered that first shopping expedition with Mam, and I knew that older woman's tastes, which are, well, 'older woman'. I had walked into one of the bigger stores, where the bras are racked like so many empty glasses, and let my mind drift. Denim miniskirts, spike-heeled boots, strappy summer dresses... I simply let Sarah's tastes in outer clothing guide me towards something I hoped would feel nice next to the skin as well as speak to her soul about who and what she was. In the end, I still had to remember that any bra had to cater for the simple fact that her breasts were, just then, artificial, so nothing plunging or abbreviated. She was almost in tears when she opened the package, and I got the gentlest of kisses to my cheek. There was something else there as well, and while she told me all about her work colleagues, and especially a girl she called Arris, there remained something she was keeping back.

“Sar”

“Yes?”

“What else is there?”

She blushed, and took some deep breaths. “Well... at the interview, aye? There was this man...”

Shit. “What have you done, chwaer?”

She gave me a sharp look. “Nothing like that, aye? Just a bit snogging, and stuff...”

I pulled my fears back inside me and did my best to smile. “My little sister better be careful, growing up so fast, Aye? You'll get dizzy”

She turned it round. “What about you? Courting?”

That hurt, but in no way was that Sar's fault. I muttered that I might be, and Sar asked a question which showed just how well she knew me.

“What's she like?”

Suddenly, Siá¢n was there with me, almost as if real, and the smile and the soppiness rushed to my lips.

“She is absolutely lovely... and she's called Siá¢n”

Reality bit hard. “And I wish I could bring her home, just like any other child would their partner”

My sister is a lovely girl, as well as being my sister, and she slid over to me and held me properly. Her voice was soft in my ear.

“And how are they treating me these days? They have a lot more strength than you give them credit for”

I pulled back to look her in the face. “And how would they react if you brought a man home, aye? There are big steps and little ones, and if you take too many big ones too quickly you could fall flat on your face. Trust me, chwaer fychan. You are right about Mam and Dad, I can feel that, and we will get there in the end, both of us, but you need to be careful. You come out to the wrong man and you could get killed. I want a promise from you. Please, Sar, promise me. Nothing rash”

She gave me a sharp nod, and then Mam called up the stairs. The Christmas Dinner was served. I undid the belt of my jeans before we went down. I knew my Mother's cooking so well.

The spring came early that year, and so did my first big surprise at work.

“Lainey?”

“Kevin? What you want?”

“Help in organising something I want you at even if it will blow some people's minds, innit?”

“What the fuck are you on about, mate?”

“See this?”

A little box. A ring box. He flipped the lid open.

“Kev, it's empty... oh shit, mate! You asked her already? She said yes, didn't she?”

His grin was enormous. “Aye, and at some point, not that soon, but soon enough, I need a stag night, and while...”

He trailed off, swallowed, and tried again. “And while I would also have you as best man, best mate, best person I know, aye? I can't do that because there are parents and in-laws and shit involved. Bit of a step too far. But I want you to know what I think of you, I want everyone to see it as well”

“And you thought the best way to do that would be to get me pissed as a newt among a whole gang of men? Ah well, sounds like a plan to me”

I kissed his cheek. “Who else knows?”

“Her family, of course, and Siá¢n. I had to beg her not to tell you. I needed to do it all myself”

I hugged him as tightly as I could, trying to stop him talking himself out of what he had asked me to do. I could see it in his eyes, and my smile was real. He was worried that after he had made it very, very plain to me how he felt, I would be upset that he was 'betraying' me for another woman. Men. I will never, ever understand them.

Or fancy them. “Kev, mate, I am really, really honoured, and really delighted for you both. She is almost the sweetest woman I know, and you are nearly the best man. But you are the best mate anyone could ever have or hope for, aye?”

“Nearly the best man? Only nearly?”

I grinned again. “That's always going to be Dad, aye?”

He grinned back, confidence returning. “I will give you that one on points, aye, and from what I hear the odd knock-out”

Work went well that day., and that night I shared it all with my lover.

“Cariad...”

“Yes, Lainey?”

“Kev and Vicky, aye? They have an advantage over us”

“Yes. But I want to meet your family first”

“Pardon?”

“I said 'yes', Lainey”

I thought my heart would burst. She sat up and looked down at me.

“Elaine Powell, I love you. I know that you love me. Neither of us is any good at talking about that, and if Vicky hadn't been so gobby we may never have met, but we have, and things have happened, and I do not want to spend my life as someone visiting or being visited. Yes, I will marry you. Whatever it is called, however it is done, to me it will be a marriage, and I will have you with me whatever comes along.”

She gave a little teasing frown as I tried to find some words.

“That IS what you were asking, wasn't it, Lainey fy nghariad?”

I hit her with my pillow, and then, well, things went very marital.

Two days later, I was home.

“Mam?”

“Yes?”

“You know my mate Kevin?”

“The one that fancies you, aye?”

“That's the one”

“He's a good man. I heard about the radio, you know. People talk, and those two boys do a lot of that. He did that for you as a true friend, so neither your Dad nor I take offence”

“He's just got engaged, Mam”

She smiled. “That is good news for you, then?”

“Yes it is. Vicky is a lovely girl, and I think both of them are very lucky”

“This girl, this Vicky, she had a friend then? No, Elaine, that was you. Sometimes, when you are on a telephone, you forget how strong your voice can be. Who is she, my darling?”

I couldn't help what happened next, but it took me by surprise, and I simply burst into tears. It was like being a tiny child again as my mother held and comforted me. I spoke into her bosom, just like that child.

“I never wanted to hurt you, Mam”

“I know, cariad”

“But it's just so hard not being able to share things here”

“Lainey, sweet girl, we have learnt a lot from you. We are not so old, your Dad and me, that we are past that, aye? We can see new things, learn new things., accept...”

She was silent for a few heartbeats. “Accept that we have two pretty daughters, and that they should be happy, that they have the right to be happy. Who is this woman, my darling, for I know it must be a woman”

More tears. “She is called Siá¢n, Mam. She works with the Highways Agency”

“She is on shift work, then?”

“She is”

"Then we must look at your work pattern, and your Dad's, and find a day when all of us are free. I would meet this woman who has my daughter's heart”

She stroked my hair. “Some things, my darling, are simply there, and we must accept that they do not change, can not change. We see it with Sarah, and it is right and proper for her to be set free, to be what and who she must. We can not choose who we love. And your Dad... your Dad nearly walked away from me at the beginning”

“He what?”

I had sat up, and she smiled at me. “He thought I was too good for him, cariad, that I could never be satisfied with someone who is 'just' Twm Powell. How wrong could someone be? I know every inch of him---no, be silent! I know his soul, and he is deep, and a more loving man has never been born and never will be. You will bring Siá¢n here, and we will meet properly, as these things should be. What about her parents?”

“They disowned her, aye? Because, you know...”

“Then we will offer her new ones”

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Comments

That's So Lovely

joannebarbarella's picture

"Then we will offer her new ones"

The Powell parents are made of pure white gold,

Joanne

Thank you.....

D. Eden's picture

I needed a good cry this morning. What a truly lovely story.

Dallas

D. Eden

Dum Vivimus, Vivamus

Hurray!!!!!

Andrea Lena's picture

“Elaine Powell, I love you. I know that you love me. Neither of us is any good at talking about that, and if Vicky hadn't been so gobby we may never have met, but we have, and things have happened, and I do not want to spend my life as someone visiting or being visited. Yes, I will marry you. Whatever it is called, however it is done, to me it will be a marriage, and I will have you with me whatever comes along.”

May we all be so blessed!!!! Thank you!

  

To be alive is to be vulnerable. Madeleine L'Engle
Love, Andrea Lena

Love

There is a lot more of that to come. This is my opportunity to flesh out a character I have had to sideline for far too long.

Lovely chapter,

So it is with all of us, amongst my friends there are those whose parents abandoned them and those whose accepted them. All we can do is work harder to educate those who cannot or will not accept us. Education, education, education!

You know how to word it Steph and no mistake.

Thanks again,

Bevs.

bev_1.jpg

Thanks, all.

I was quite amused by the phrase "Things went very marital"

People who have read Cold Feet will know what happens next, and it is in the next chapter, so anyone who has triggers relating to assaults may wish to sit it out.