The Re-Set

Sisters

"Felicity...what are you doing in there?" Caroline groaned, as she led me out of the bathroom and towards my cot, only to find Felicity already in there, clearly waiting for me. Caroline had sent my stepsister out of the bathroom whilst she put me in my pull-up for the night, because she thought it would embarrass me, if Felicity saw the process. And it probably would have done, of course, in front of anyone else other than her daughter, but as Felicity and I already did everything together, including bathe, and knew everything about each other's routine, I did not think I would ever be embarrassed in front of her. She knew I had been wetting again, and she was only concerned for me. "I didn't tell you that you could take off your dressing gown darling, or get into Olivia's cot! You haven't even said your prayers yet! Honestly..."

"Can we sleep together again, Mummy?" Felicity asked, peeking out from under my duvet with a huge smile on her face. I grinned right back at her.

"Last night was a treat..."

"But we did sleep well, Mummy?" Felicity pointed out, glancing at me. "No yawning?"

"It is plenty big enough in there...and we didn't talk after lights out?" I added, looking up at Caroline, doing my best to look as angelic as Felicity. "We like it, Mummy?"

"So...you are ganging up on me now, are you?" Caroline laughed, squeezing my hand and perching on the side of the bed. "Okay...if you want to share a cot, you can...but only if you are both good little girls...any misbehaviour at all, and you are separated at night...is that quite clear, you monsters?"

"Yes, Mummy." Both of us said together, as Felicity beamed at me for supporting her. But it did fit my strategy, of course. Deep down, there was a little part of me which could not quite believe that I was almost begging to cuddle up with my stepsister for the night, and promising to be a good little girl to facilitate it, but Felicity was so sweet and so obviously getting on with her would help persuade Caroline, eventually, that I did not need a chaperone. And I loved my stepsister. That was something I could admit without feeling too stupid, and if I was going to be shut away in my stupid cot all night, I preferred to have Felicity in there with me. So, we said our prayers, and Dad arrived to kiss us both sweet dreams, after Caroline had tucked us in to our cell, and then the gate clicked shut and the lights dimmed, leaving us alone. We had until the lights went off to talk if we wanted to.

"I am glad you like sharing too." Felicity purred with pleasure as we turned to face each other with our heads on our pillows.

"I like sharing with you." I replied, smiling at her. I had only actually known her for just over two weeks, but she was my sister, already. Not my friend, I recognised, because our relationship was not the same, at all, as the one I had enjoyed with Beth for almost a decade. Beth and I liked the same things, and laughed at the same things. We had shared experiences, shared points of reference, and we were connected in a million ways. Felicity and I had nothing like that, and she had never heard of most of the things I liked to do, watch or listen to, but she was my sister and she had shared the most intense sixteen days of my life. And she had offered me nothing but her love and support, which meant a lot, because I had never had that before. I had seen how Beth was with her two brothers, over the years, and although they squabbled like siblings all seemed to do at times, they were still there for each other. I always envied that, and all of a sudden, I had Felicity. "But I wish Mummy would let us look after each other...we don't need a chaperone...do we?"

"I do like Beth, though?" She said, a little uncertainly. But Felicity liked everyone, and she just accepted whatever Caroline told her to do, of course.

"I do, too...as a friend..."

"It's probably for our own good...and you're doing really well?" Felicity suggested, closing her eyes, used to her bedtime. It seemed so early to me. For a moment, I lost myself, thinking of what I might have been doing at my old house, at a quarter to eight on a Monday evening in early May. I might have been in my room, I thought, but I would not have been in bed. Maybe I would have been watching something on my laptop, YouTube probably, and messaging Beth on my phone. I would have been wearing joggers, or leggings, and a hoodie. Dad would have been downstairs, slumped in front of the television. That felt like another universe. "Daddy was pleased with your grades?"