Loving Family
by Fiona Lambert
“Where’s
this lovely new boyfriend of yours then?”
Stacey asked her sister, Alice.
“He
couldn’t make it, some work thing,
apparently,” Alice replied.
They sat
together on Aunt Mary’s sofa, a glass of
wine each in their hands. The reunion had been
organised weeks ago and everyone in the family
was turning up.
“It’s
going well though?” Stacey asked.
“Yeah,
Tom’s lovely. It’s refreshing how laid
back he is. Totally different to me.”
“This
whole family’s uptight. I’m not
surprised you’ve kept him away from us. Have
you noticed that’s the third gin Aunt
Mary’s knocked back since we arrived,”
Stacey said.
“She’s
been acting stressed lately. I think Uncle
Dave’s ill,” Alice replied.
“He
doesn’t look ill,” Stacey said,
pointing him out as he walked into the room. He
was laughing loudly at a crass joke their Dad had
just made.
Alice took a
sip of her wine and watched her Dad and his
brother-in-law trying to out-joke each other. As
she watched, their cousin, John, came to sit with
them.
“Looks
like my Dad and your Dad are enjoying themselves.
I think they’re the only ones,” he said.
“They
both look very drunk,” Alice commented.
“Yeah,
which is annoying Mum, who wanted Dad sober today.
Apparently she’s invited an extra person to
the reunion and wanted him on his best behaviour.
They’re a bit late, though.”
“Really,”
Stacey said, leaning forward. “Who?”
“Well,
everyone knows she gave up her first
child…”
Alice
interrupted John in mid-flow by standing up
suddenly.
“Tom,
what are you doing here?” She couldn’t
believe her boyfriend had just walked into the
room.
“Alice,
what are you doing here?” Tom replied.
Aunt Mary had
followed Tom into the room. “John, ladies.
I’d like you to meet Tom. We recently found
each other on-line. He’s my long-lost son.”
Alice felt
herself go very warm as John shook hands with his
new brother.
“Not that
different after all,” Stacey said before
bursting out with laughter.
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