Aunty M was busy painting and I wasn’t really sure she listened to my excuse that I was going out to tea at Sam’s house. She smiled and waved her paint brush at me and muttered something about not being too late and that we were having sticky toffee pudding for tea. As I was scurrying towards my grandparent’s house I tittered to myself. I could see mum glaring at me and saying, “Florence, don’t forget what I told you. I don’t want you coming home overweight after eating all those ridiculous puddings she insists on making. She’s always had a sweet tooth and I don’t want you following in her footsteps. To be overweight is a terrible thing and very bad for your health. It’s also very embarrassing and I DO NOT want to be embarrassed by you.” It felt like my tummy was writhing with snakes as it was. I could clearly see my mum’s grey eyes piercing through me. Well, anyway I was alright so far I reckoned. My clothes felt the same not tight or anything.
As I strode along the road, I hummed, “One step nearer, one step nearer.” I was excited but so nervous. What I was doing was the right thing I knew that but the consequences, terrified me. If it all went wrong, mum would never talk to me again. I was more worried about upsetting Aunty M. I couldn’t really explain why. She was so kind to me. She made me feel like I mattered and what I said was relevant and important. I had never had so much freedom either. Staying with Aunty M was the best time I had ever had. I realised there and then as I skipped along the road that I hadn’t missed my mum at all. In fact, I hardly thought about her. Philip was away so much that I was used to being without him all the time. He was fun when he was at home, but of course, now it would all be different. I knew he was not my dad; well not my real dad. I had unearthed so many secrets and so far no-one knew, I knew.
I turned down Walnut Tree Lane. Half-way down, I came to their house. It had huge wrought iron gates and a gravel drive up to the front door. It was a large and very lovely house with a beautiful front garden full of trees and bushes.
I stopped and looked up at the house. As I raised my hand up to the doorbell, the door opened. There, standing on the doorstep were two elderly people smiling down at me.
“Hello, I’m Florence.”
“Hello, welcome. Please come in.”
They stood aside and I walked into the hall. Grandpa held out his hand and I did the same and he shook my hand and smiled. Grandma then did the same. I followed them into the sitting room. Grandpa pointed to a chair and I sat down. I wanted to give a good impression of myself. I wanted to show them that mum had done a good job of bringing me up.
“Florence, we are truly delighted to meet you. If you only knew how often we speak about you. We wondered what you looked like and what you are doing. How are you and your family?” asked my grandma.
“I am very well, thank you, and my entire family are well. I am staying with Aunty Marmalade because my parents are on a business trip to Australia,” I replied.
“Who is Aunty Marmalade? I don’t think we know who she is, do we Alistair?” said my grandma.
“She is my godmother, grandma. My mum’s sister Madeleine.”
“Oh, oh, yes I remember.” said grandma stuttering. And how is your mother?”
“She is very well, thank you. She’s very busy though. She’s always busy,” I said.
“And your grandparents?”
“They are fine. They are always going on holiday because granpy is retired now.”
“Good for them. And how about you? We want to know all about you.”
I told them about school and that I was going to boarding school in September. I told them about the subjects I liked, the sports I played and the ‘cool gang’ that made my life a misery.
Grandma and grandpa got up to collect the tea things. I lay the napkin they gave me on my lap and said I would just like milk in my tea. I chose some tiny ham sandwiches and put them on my plate and a little pastry too. When I finished I put my tea things on the tray, folded my napkin and lay it down on the tray too.
“We would like to know how you came to want to see us Florence,” said my grandma. “We tried to get in touch with you many times but I’m afraid your mother refused any contact with you and so we gave up trying. There was a lot of bad feeling all those years ago.”
“I only found out about you recently,” I answered, “I didn’t know about my real dad.”
Grandma put her hands up to her face and stared at me in disbelief. Grandpa shook his head.
I told them how I found out and that I had not told anyone. I didn’t say anything about Roma, of course. I could see the sadness in their eyes.
“How do you feel now you know, Florence?” asked grandpa.
“I’m a bit confused really. You see I didn’t know I had a twin sister either. I just can’t understand why no-one ever told me.”
“So no-one in your family knows you are visiting us today?” said grandma in disbelief.
“No. I haven’t told anyone. I just didn’t want to tell in case they stopped me. I mean it is my business if you think about it. I feel a bit cross and hurt but at the same time, I don’t want to upset anyone. They must have had their reasons I suppose,” I exclaimed.
“You look very like your father,” commented my grandma. “He was a wonderful, talented son and we miss him terribly. You have his eyes, the gap between your teeth and his kind and gentle manner. This is a wonderful day for us, our dear sweet girl. We hope that now we have met you, you will keep in touch with us. We want to get to know you better and be part of your life, if you would let us.”
“I want that more than anything else,” I replied, and with that I jumped up and threw my arms around them both. They were two lonely, old people with no-one. But now, they had me. I was going to bring everyone back together. They would become part of my life, whatever the cost.