Finding Family

Evalynn: Normality

From that Friday on, Kathryn and I were best friends, always meeting at lunch or break to listen to music or dance around in classrooms (obviously with permission from the teacher, still being new I was trying not to get told off too much) and it was nice. Very strange compared to when I'd been with Mia and Ash and there had always been three of us, one to sing each girl's lines, but very fun none the less. If anything it was more fun as Kathryn liked to sing Lisa's parts so we ended up splitting Claire's lines between the two of us, which always ended about as well as you could probably imagine. Often we ended in a muddle that turned into a giggling fit. I'd picked up where I needed to be in all my classes and was becoming pretty comfortable in my routine and how to get around the site. I was also more used to getting up earlier in the morning and the daily trials of getting the bus. Molly and I still sat together, discussed 90s culture, played heldheld games and listened to music on the way to and from school, and I liked that too. But the best bit was going home in the evenings. For a couple of weeks things hadn't felt quite right. It had always felt like I was part of the family from the moment I'd moved in, just something about it felt incredibly different from what I was used to so to begin with I'd struggled with it. We'd play games and actually spend time as a family a lot more than I'd been used to with the Goodwins, basically every night we'd play a game or me, Ben and mamma (and sometimes Mick would join in but only occasionally) would play imagination games about dragons, fairies and princesses, witches and pirates and it was nice. It was happy. And what made it better was that mamma was always willing to give me a hug if I wanted one, and that Ben would often hug me or sit down right next to me (or sometimes even on me) on the sofa. I'd got used to all this, this was normal for me now. It was the little things like that which made all the difference, all of a sudden my life in general seemed calmer because I wasn't trying to fit in homework around other people's rugby. I missed that, but also didn't; I quite liked the calmness really.

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It was a sunny Thursday afternoon, the last of the watery winter sunshine lighting the house up beautifully. I was in the hallway upstairs by the window on the corner, reading a book there because I couldn't get comfortable in my room and it was too busy in the living room with Ben and mama playing around down there.
"Evalynn why're you sat there of all places?" Mick asked, drawing me from my page.
I shrugged. "It just felt like the right place to be." I replied.
He sighed. "Fair enough. What're you reading?"
I was reading Wind in the Willows again, but as I could tell the next question would be about who wrote it I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone, and held the book up so he could read the title and he pulled a face which vaguely meant 'never heard of it'. Holding the book up like that felt almost strange as this was my own brand new copy I'd had for Christmas (and I suppose a moving away present) from Charlotte and I was used to mummy Amy's old one where a bundle of the pages kept falling out as you moved it.
"What's it about?"
"Urhm... well it's about a mole and a water rat... oh and Mr Toad and their adventures around the river bank. Have you never read it? You can read it when I finish if you want." I asked surprised.
"I suppose I must have done back in school at some point, but I don't really remember anything about it. Any good?" He asked.
I nodded. "I love it! I read it a few times before a while ago, but I'm reading it again because it's so good."
"I'm pretty sure Faye has loads of books about animals that you'd probably enjoy. Not sure if you will or not but you seem to have a similar sort of interest so who knows." Mick told me.
I smiled at him and nodded, mentally noting that I should definitely ask mamma about books later.

Just as I'd got back into my book, there was a knock at the door. I knew who it was going to be but I was scared, it was my first time meeting my grandparents after all. I rushed to my room to switch my book for Tara (knowing she'd at least help to calm my nerves a bit) just as mamma called up to tell Mick and I they were here. I kinda knew about them from what mamma had told me, but I wasn't sure how they'd take finally getting to meet their granddaughter after nearly 12 years. Meeting your grandparents wasn't exactly a thing people experience at the point they remember it happening, and most grandparents have known their grandchildren since they were babies. But I'd assured myself they'd be fine, so had mamma, and they knew of me from what mamma, Ben and doubtlessly Aunty Clare had said. I paused at the top of the stairs, took a deep breath to steady myself and calm my nerves and when I was sure I was ready headed down, just as Mamma was sending Ben to see our grandparents so she could talk to me in private.
"You alright Evvy?" Mamma asked, pulling a face presumably at the fact she'd called me Evvy. She'd been trying to avoid the nickname for the last week or so, with very limited success as it had become her usual way of talking with me now.
"Just a bit nervous." I replied honestly. I knew there was very little to worry about and that her parents were (supposedly anyway) really nice, but that'd never quite sorted my nerves with people in the past and wasn't doing it today.
"I can understand that even if they're not scary." Mamma said, taking me into a hug. "By the way, do you like me calling you Evvy or would you prefer me to stick with Ev or something else grown up?"
I slipped my arms round her. "I love being Evvy! It's cute for a start."
She sighed. "Don't you think it's a bit young?"
I shook my head with a slight laugh. "I think it suits me very well then."
Mamma laughed too. "Well we can tell you're my daughter." She released me, taking hold of my hand instead. "Come on, you need to meet nanny and grampie."
I allowed myself to be led into the room and when Ben jumped off the sofa to come join me and mamma, my nan looked over at us before smiling warmly at me. She had one of those smiles that's warm and comforting, just like mamma did, though at the same time she reminded me of Aunty Clare more than mamma. I then understood how mamma and Aunty Clare looked quite so different, cause they both had got completely different traits from their mam.
"Oh you must be Evalynn!" She announced as she looked me over, her eyes settling on the fact I was still holding mamma's hand. Suddenly very conscious of how nervous that probably made me look, I released her hand. "You're so sweet."
I blushed and mumbled a thank you, though I was struggling slightly to find words even though I was feeling more comfortable.
"Faye she looks so like you when you were younger!" Nan added, as mamma tried not to get distracted by Ben, who was then invited to sit on grampie's lap.
Mamma sighed. "We don't look that... eh forget it we must do."
Both me and my nan laughed.

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Grampie took well to me as well, although it took him a couple of minutes of talking with me and asking some very random questions about me and my past (and then asking mamma some even stranger ones) to reach that conclusion. They went on to ask me a lot of the normal 'relative who doesn't see you much' type questions, like what school year I was in and what I liked to do in my free time, though this time I understood why they were asking unlike when I'd been through it with my foster family. This time they were asking because they only knew me through what mamma, Aunty Clare and I suppose to an extent Ben had told them, and they wanted to get to know their granddaughter. It was only natural they'd want to after all. But they were real questions not just conversation starters for once. And so I was honest and enthusiastic in my answers to go with them, because I wanted my nanny and grampie to know me (and avoid any issues that could come from them not knowing things) and I wanted to talk about me to them.
"Is it exciting to finally get to live with your mamma?" Nan asked me.
I nodded. "It makes me so happy. I love her so much and I love Ben a lot and I love Mick too!" I told her.
"And we all love Evvy!" Ben added.
We all laughed.
"So you like having your half sister home too?" Nan asked him.
He nodded hard and grinned, and mamma and I exchanged a look of knowing happiness.
"It's really nice for all my family to be together. All four of us living in one house... I didn't think I'd get to have this." Mamma said. I got up, ran across the room and then hugged her, both because I thought she was going to cry thinking about what could have been, and to show everyone how much I loved her. She hugged me back.

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That evening when it was time for bed I went upstairs to read for a bit, but before I did I hugged Mick (which I usually did) and I also hugged nanny and grampie. Not because they asked me to, but because over the last few hours of being with them I'd decided I really quite liked them both. As I lay in bed reading more of The Wind in the Willows I couldn't help but smile about it. Okay maybe I hadn't known them my whole life like most people with their grandparents, but I knew them now, they seemed to love me and I definitely loved them. Given (as I could tell) mamma even still being in contact with me had been kept a secret from them until after I'd found out she was my mamma I was so, so happy that was the case.
"Evalynn time to go to sleep baby." Mamma said, distracting me from my thoughts as she came into my room.
I nodded, slipping my bookmark into the page I had open (I hadn't actually read anything for the last few minutes). She sat down on the edge of my bed and smiled at me.
"So how was meeting your grandparents today?" She asked as I got comfortable.
I smiled. "It was good. I like them."
She nodded. "They love you too, so its all fine see." She picked up my book from my bed and softly kissed my cheek. "Night night Evalynn."
"Night mamma." I replied as she adjusted the duvet so it wasn't falling off the bed.
She smiled again, put my book on my desk as she passed, switched off the bedroom light, and headed out the room, pulling the door closed behind her. I smiled to myself, snuggled Josie a bit closer and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Ooh this took a while to write... I hope you guys liked it though!