Grace

Chapter 30

Late that night I was in my lounge effectively taking stock of the situation. There was laughter in my house more often than not and when there wasn't there was music and or dance. For most of the afternoon we'd all been singing songs and joking around with one another, the guards only stopping to look around the garden when it happened to be their turn. It had been the closest to an extended family gathering I'd ever had. Mum and Dad were still super cheerful and had not been distant even just for half a second. Not long after dinner they'd gone up to their room looking super involved in one another, something I was not thinking about even though it had been hours ago.

Even ignoring that awkward thought, this was the happiest I'd ever been at home. Everything was just so simply right. There was no coldness anywhere, no aloof nature amongst a single person here, no hiding or avoidance of the truth. It was like we were finally working in harmony with one another.

Finally a family.

The thought made me smile a little as I ran my fingers of the glittered surface of the babuls I'd been given. Finally a family. There should never have been any finally about it, it was something that should always have been. Did that make us any less of a family now? Less strong and less true to one another? Did it mean that we were more likely to break again after the holidays or if we ever had a huge argument? Mum had been pretty close to her religious nut parents but had still been disowned.

I didn't think they'd ever do that to me. But what if we drifted apart again? What if when things got difficult we all decided to go down the easier path and start ignoring one another again? I knew more than anything I didn't want that to happen again, not even a tiny bit, but things changed. People changed. What if? What if it did happen again? What was I going to do then? I couldn't exactly go to a different boarding school and hope that everything would work out and fix itself.

I knew that changes like this were once in a life time deals.

But deals could be broken. They could be shattered like glass and ice.

"Grace?"

I looked up. Ben was stood there. I felt tears pool in my eyes. He knelt down and held my hands. His skin was still warm from coming out of the bath.

"What if this doesn't last?" I asked.

"It will," he said. "I know it will."

"Really?"

He nodded and pulled me into his arms. I held onto him, a scared little girl afraid of what was to come. We sat like that for only a few quiet minutes, but I calmed down completely. He didn't do anything or say anything. He just held me and let me hold him.

"Let's decorate the tree, yeah?" he asked.

I nodded into his shoulder and let go of him. "Good idea. How abut a fire?"

"Since when can make fires?"

"This summer. A week of bush craft."

I knelt in front of the fireplace and arranged things in the metal grill. About five minutes later I had a good, hot blaze going. It was somewhat soothing making fires. But it brought up worries of another kind.

"I hope Master MacLachlan's ok," I sighed.

Ben sighed too. "I'm sure no news is good news."

"I might give Master Clarke a call tomorrow."

"Grace, it's only been three days," he said with a smile. "I'm sure he can look after himself."

"Yeah, he does so well when we're there to make sure nothing stops working."