I wasn't intentional to make this a two chapter story, I guess I got carried away with the storyline. Please enjoy your read. This chapter was edited by Todher65, many thanks for taking this on.
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We parted at the Cemetery gates; it still took me awhile to realize that Amelia was holding my hand as we walked along the coastal path. Two more families had moved into the summer retreat houses and soon schools would be closed and what's left of the empty houses would be occupied.
As we came to one of the benches that looked out over the cove Amelia came to a stop, her grip tightened and I understood why. Even when we sat we didn't talk, she was willing to wait I just wondered how long. Either way it wasn't fair to her so I spoke first.
"There is a great deal that needs to be said between us and I refuse to ever call Martha Burnett, Matriarch."
"Matriarch is this town; you can deny it all you want, but know this, Martha Burnett and her family have been a part of my life since I could walk and talk."
This time I looked towards Amelia, her eyes still defiant from her last speech. She clearly thought I was trying to but it wasn't for me to pry her away from the Burnett family. My cell beeped before I could say anything else, habit made me want to distance myself from her when I read the text, Amelia holding my arm even tighter prevented that.
"I know who you are, I know what you are Aiden. It's time for you to get used to sharing."
Even with all that had gone on over the last few days I actually thought this the defining moment. To open my cell now signified that I accepted being number twenty-eight, that the woman holding tightly to my arm would share the rest of my life. She was right of course, I had shared the most painful part of my life with her, it may have taken her time to get over the shock of knowing so much so quickly but she still came back.
Martha Burnett may have had a lot to do with that part of her but I could still see the free will in Amelia Randell and I inwardly laughed. The woman who sat next to me was indeed a red head in disguise, so with a shrug of my shoulders I opened the text and we both read the message.
'Brother of mine its official, you're going to be an uncle; seen the doctor an hour ago, I'm officially knocked up.'
Amelia laughed so loud a couple walking along the path turned and smiled at her, she waved in return so I figured she knew them, as for me I suddenly felt very old.
"Answer her. I have a weeks leave due before the summer season starts here and all leave is suspended so if the Department doesn't need you we should go visit and you can formally introduce me at the same time."
Habit is as habit does, leaving talking to my sister until we returned to the house and of course much to Amelia's amusement. I quickly checked with the Department and then phoned Abby, her radar picked up on 'me plus one' coming to visit and offered the spare room before they set about turning it into the baby's room. Knowing that I would be at the mercy of my sisters in their incessant need for me to forgive and forget our Grandmother and Grandfather, I opted for a hotel.
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We acted like a married couple over the next few hours, she continued to feminize the house while I held onto some semblance of manliness and acted like an anchor in as much as slowing the rate she proceeded to change everything. The kitchen got a complete overhaul and a glimpse into her mind as we worked. Amelia was practical so the most used items were within reach or easier access. I think the only drawer that didn't get moved was the cutlery drawer and that was only because it came with those dividers that separate the knives, forks and spoons.
Amelia phoned into work and got the long weekend off, we both resigned ourselves to knowing she was real lucky to get that at such sort notice, the fact that more of the summer houses were becoming occupied on a daily basis now, reinforced that thinking. I phoned Abby back and let her know we would see her mid-day Friday; the trouble with giving her that much notice was that she had time to rally everyone.
She waited for me to put the phone down before she spoke.
"I'm making us drinks and then we're going to get ourselves comfortable on the couch, after that I'm shutting up and you're going to tell me why you're so reluctant to visit your sisters."
True to her word, within minutes we sat on the couch, she pulled her feet under her and rested against me with her hands wrapped around her cup. I suppose defining moments were coming at me from all angles from now on; telling the woman who sat next to me so much about myself was new to me. Amelia simply looked at it as a fair exchange; through Carol I knew so much about her as she grew up.
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When mom and dad made the decision to leave the law firm the vibrations throughout our family could be felt for years to come. Dad quit law. He had little choice really; the anger that drifted down from Grandmother almost ripped the law firm to pieces. It was perhaps the only time Grandfather stood up to her, the law firm was everything to him; he was willing to cut my folks adrift but not let the firm flounder.
Finally, away from their influence, my folks could actually breathe. Dad was no longer putting in twelve and fourteen hour days. Mom actually had him in bed at nights; the end result of that of course, were the twins. The atmosphere in the house was smiles throughout the day. Dad did try and reach out to his sister but that proved brutal. Eventually even he realized that when he made the break from his folks his own sister was collateral damage.
Dad still kept his license; not even Grandmother could wrench that from him. He worked pro-bono two or three times a year for one of the downtown law firms that only the poorest could afford. The day after my eighteenth birthday my parents died in a car accident, I sucked it up and let my aunt know when the funeral was to take place. In total thirty-two people came to the funeral and other than my sisters and me, not one of them was blood related to us.
My proudest moment was getting both my sisters into college, it was the local college but it was still college. The day I achieved that was the same day my grandparents knocked on our door, so when both sisters insisted they wanted to talk to them I knew the end of this family that I had spent the last four years keeping together, being there when they cried for the loss of our folks, making sure they kept up their grades at school and fending off the horny boys, all that was coming to an end with the simple knock on our door.
By the time I had finished Amelia was hugging me oh so tightly, it was perhaps her calmness that kept my own anger of that very day at bay.
"Do you want me to hate them? From what you've told me it won't take much."
