Uncle Harry

-20-

As Harry and I walked into the house, I pulled my purse off of my aching shoulder and rotated it a little to ease the stiffness. I think I was a little too on edge the entire car ride and I'm sure he could pick up on my quietness. Thinking about such a serious subject kept my jaw tight and my body rigid. At this point felt that maybe my subconscious was purposefully seeking excuses not to be with Harry instead of just enjoying what I had right in front of me. He wants me. He wants me right now. He's taken into consideration about everything in both of our lives to make sure we could do this up until this point, so why was I hesitant to think that maybe he had already seriously thought about his need to have kids? He probably has already made his decision on that matter.

Trying to deflect the attention on my silence to something else, I ask him, "So, what's wrong with her?"

Harry's eyes held a sparkle as he grabbed two wine glasses and a bottle of red. "I like my theory that she was dropped on her head as a child." He began to twist in the corkscrew and I couldn't help but laugh lightly at the dig on Arielle.

"Very funny. I meant Tilly." I lean my back on the counter's edge.

He sighs and pulls down the arms of the tool, pulling up the cork and taking it out. "Aunt Mathilda's recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Kind of happened out of nowhere."

"Oh thank goodness." Putting my hand to my forehead, I hang my head.

"Thank goodness?" Harry pours us a generous amount while his eyebrows are raised with a humorous look.

"No. I-I just thought it was something terminal. Something much graver. God, Harry, my mind was going to the worst of the worst." He pushes a glass into my hand and I take a quick sip. "I noticed there was a smell of old smoke so my brain went to lung cancer and then when she held the photo album for her grandkids, I almost started crying thinking she wouldn't get to even meet them."

"Would you relax?" He puts a hand on my back and leads us to the living room. "It's not as severe as all that. William uses his pipe once a day while he watches the news, so it's always smelled like his tobacco. But yeah, she's having a really hard time. Horrible aching pain all over, every minute of every day. She can't sleep at all so on top of pain relievers they have her on some other medications for that and she's had some bad reactions to a few of them. Some days are better than others. William has to do pretty much everything around the house and take care of her, but it looks like it's even taking its toll on him, don't you think?"

Sinking into the couch next to him, I let him pull my legs into his lap. "Well, the outside was a little shoddy..." He clicks through the channels to find a movie.

"It was kind of a wreck. Was really dusty inside, too. The two of them looked beyond exhausted. I'll look into getting them some help but I think the only problem will be Tilly accepting it."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate it," I say and curl further into him as he continues to surf through some options.

"Hope so." Harry turns his head and kisses my temple carefully.

-

As if she has some telepathic power to know when my mind has wandered far from her, my daughter calls me from her grandmother's cell phone an hour later. I unwind myself from Harry and grumble a small 'sorry' before making my way towards the kitchen where I left my phone. My daughter is all giggles from being hopped up on sugar and it makes me glad she's being babysat so I don't have to deal with the whirlwind of her impending crash. She sings to me and I sing back, wishing she was here with me, with us. Lily drops the phone and Jack's mother picks it back up and I can tell by the sound of her voice she's weary from taking care of the tiny spitfire. Encouraging her to give my loopy Lily some warm milk before bed to calm her down, I say my goodbyes to them both.