Generations: The Long Game

The Siblings

2024

Autumn and Marjorie were talking about it being Siobhan's last day at the sister nursery. Autumn as usual was a little put off by how loud and animated Marjorie was being. She always seemed over excited, but today Autumn was particularly annoyed with Marjorie as she exclaimed overzealously, "how can you not be excited? "Toodaay is Siobhan's last day!"

Just then Charlotte entered the office with a delivery for Marjorie. Flowers. The card attached said that they were from "the piranha". Half the bouquet was wilted and dying, and this was meant to symbolize their new working relationship?

Marjorie thought back a few weeks ago when Char, Carly, Sorscha, Autumn and Winter all surprised her with a visit on Christmas evening. Marjorie had said that it was safe to say 2024 was going to be an interesting year. She hoped she hadn't jinxed them. She was pulled from her thoughts when she realizes that Autumn is pursing her lips and has gone quiet.

Autumn knew all too well who those flowers were from and the levity of the situation just got very real for her. The beginning of the year had been a little too fun for her. She had been messing with Jodie whenever she claimed she was ill and needed to go home. Now, she wondered what horrible fate the rest of the year might have. Marjorie was questioning her about "The Piranha" when he said, "knock knock" whilst standing in the door.

"Hello Marjorie . Hello little sis", he said

"Hello, big brother," Autumn replied in her typical deadpan.

Marjorie's brain was about to explode. Wait a damn minute. Brother? Was he really asking her if she liked his gift of half dead flowers? He hadn't stayed long, but his little visit was impactful. Marjorie was left a little dumbfounded. What had occurred between the two siblings that had created such animosity? Had he taken the management position at the sister nursery to make her life miserable, or was he toying with his sister? Right before he entered, Autumn had said that was how "they" worked. Who was "they"? Was she talking about her brother and father?

Her thoughts were not exactly quiet, and she could tell that Marjorie was trying to figure out what had just happened. So, she figured she would just get it over with. She told Marjorie all about the night of her prom and braced herself for Marjorie's inevitable reaction. Autumn didn't show her emotions often, but she knew that Marjorie wore her heart planted firmly on her sleeve. She had to get back to work, but her mind stayed on Reece and what he might be scheming. They hadn't always been sworn enemies. They were actually very close before that night, and if she was honest with herself she never fully understood why he did what he did. Marjorie had called it her "villain origin story". Marjorie wasn't entirely wrong. Unfortunately, it was the first time her brother had hurt her, but it wasn't the last.

Meanwhile, at the sister nursery Reece sat in his office chastising himself over the interaction. Why did he tell Marjorie that dead flowers were kind of his thing? He hadn't sent them, but when he saw them he knew who had. He knew he had to play along or things would only get worse. He only agreed to take this job to try to make things better with Autumn, but he was already being painted as the villain. He had far too much work to do to keep focusing on this. Especially as he was just informed that two families had been taking the wrong baby home from the nursery for several months now. He needed to focus on setting up a training to refresh the staff on the safe-guarding protocol. Then he would need to send letters home for the parents outlining proper handover at drop off and collection.

Reece felt so drained after hours of planning, writing, and revising. He printed out the letters and took a stack to each classroom as evening collections were about to start. His mind wandered back to Autumn. He felt a pang in his chest when he remembered her face that night when she opened the door looking so beautiful in her gown and found him stood there with that damn bouquet of dead flowers. By the next morning his whole world had changed and he hadn't recognized the man staring back at him in the mirror in a long time. Could he get Autumn to trust him again? He wasn't sure, but he promised himself he would try.

When Autumn arrived home that night, Winter was already in the kitchen. He had worked the early shift, and had decided to get their dinner started while he waited for her to come home. Autumn entered the kitchen looking absolutely exhausted. She fell into his arms without a word and began to sob. They hadn't been together long, but he knew this was a side of her that only he had the privilege of knowing. Everyone else got "the guard dog". He held her tight and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "Oh, my love. It's okay I've got you now".