Making Jane Proud

Chapter 39 - Best Intentions

                 

"Wake up sleepy head."

"Mmm..." she opened her eyes slowly, stretching languidly.

"Good morning darling." Tom pressed his lips to Ellie's, sighing into her mouth when her fingers played with the hair at his nape.

"Good morning. What time is it?"

"Nine o'clock."

Her eyes widened incredulously. "I've slept for twelve hours?"

"You have, love, but I thought you probably wouldn't want to sleep away your first day at home."

"Mmm, no, I guess not. Are you coming back to bed?" She gave him a coy look that made him wish he could climb back in with her.

"Your mum's got breakfast almost ready," he told her reluctantly.

She pulled a face then kissed him fiercely, murmuring, "Damn," before getting out of bed, rummaging around in her suitcase to find pyjama shorts to pull on and running her fingers through her hair. It stood up even more afterwards, tugging at Tom's heart how adorable she looked. Her pump was pushed into the pocket of her shorts and she picked up her blood tester from beside the bed. Smells of cooking were wafting in and he heard her stomach rumble, laughing softly as she came and took his hand, pulling him along with her. "Come on Hiddleston, you have got to try my mum's scrambled eggs; they are the best!"

Alisdair was already at the table, nose buried in the newspaper. Tom took the seat he'd been told was his as Ellie greeted and hugged her mum before washing her hands at the sink.

"Morning dad." Ellie hugged Alisdair's shoulders then sat next to Tom. "Where's Mags?"

"She popped around to a friend's," her dad explained, "but she said she'd be back by ten."

Sophie set plates in front of them piled high with fluffy scrambled eggs, grilled mushrooms and tomatoes, crispy bacon and a slice of toasted soy linseed bread. "Tom, whatever you don't want just leave on the plate, you won't offend me." He thanked her, waiting until Ellie had checked her blood before tucking in happily, washing the food down with orange juice and a cup of tea.

"What are you two going to get up to today?" Sophie asked. "You'll probably want to stretch your legs after being cooped up on a plane all day."

"I thought we might walk into town and show Tom the sights," Ellie replied. "The Cathedral, Arts Centre, Museum, Botanical Gardens."

"Just be prepared for things to look a bit different love," her mother pointed out, "The Arts Centre got a fair bit of damage in the earthquake and so did the Cathedral, though not as much."

"Okay," Ellie nodded, soberly.

"We thought perhaps this afternoon we could go and get our Christmas tree," Alisdair suggested. "As we've got all our children with us for Christmas this year, we waited for the two of you to get here so we can all go together."

"Dad, we'd love that," Ellie answered, looking to Tom and explaining. "Every year we go out to a Christmas Tree Farm and choose our own tree. Dad and Johnny chop it down and we haul it back here and decorate it together."

"That sounds wonderful," he said to both her and her parents.

"And how about a barbecue dinner together tonight?" Sophie proposed. They all agreed it sounded ideal, so Ellie went off to shower and dress while Tom helped Sophie clear away the table and stack the dishwasher.

Margaret arrived home and the three of them walked into the city, Ellie pointing out places of interest to Tom along the way. He especially loved the beautiful cathedral and the neo-Gothic Arts Centre building that had formerly been part of the University of Canterbury. Unfortunately collapsing chimneys had caused serious damage to the great hall, observatory and clock tower and reconstruction was still taking place.

"The museum didn't get much damage," Ellie observed to her sister as they crossed Rolleston Ave.

"No, they'd been strengthening it and bringing it up to code, so it stood the shake a lot better than the ones that hadn't been upgraded," Maggie told them.

"Why the hell didn't they bring the others up to code sooner?" Ellie sounded angry. "We live over the edges of tectonic plates, for goodness' sake, it's not rocket science to work out that at some point there will be a major earthquake. Now we're losing these beautiful historic buildings."

Just as they reached the entrance to the museum, Tom felt as if he'd missed his footing and gotten dizzy; the feeling lasted only two or three seconds but in that brief moment the world seemed to have moved around him. He reached out a hand to touch something solid.

"Aftershock," Maggie explained as Ellie pulled him into the doorway and they stood for a moment to determine if it would pass.

"Have you ever had an earthquake drill?" Ellie asked him quietly and when he shook his head she told him, "Drop, cover and hold - get under a table or desk and hold on to a leg; they'll provide a measure of protection. If you're outside, stay outside, away from buildings and power lines." He nodded and committed her words to memory, hoping he wouldn't need to put them into practice.

"We're getting dozens of small aftershocks every day," Maggie told them as they continued into the museum, "most of them are so small we don't notice them any more. That one was pretty mild; chances are we'll have bigger ones while you're here."

Tom wasn't sure what to make of that; it was a completely new experience to him.

Later that day, once the Christmas tree had been argued over between seven people before being finally chosen, chopped down and brought home, he joined Ellie and her siblings hanging decorations, tinsel and lights around the two-metre pine. They sang carols as they worked and told him stories from Christmases past when they were growing up and he told a couple from his childhood, making him think of his own family so far away. Ellie noticed his quietness and wrapped her arms around him with a tender kiss.

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

"For what?" he asked.

"That being with my family means yours is on the other side of the world."

He hugged her back gently. "It's worth it to be here with you, love."

---

"Here's an apron and a pair of tongs," Ellie thrust them in his hands then placed a feather-light kiss on his lips. "Now outside with you, Hiddleston – cooking meat on the barbie is man's work!"

He chuckled as he went to join Alisdair in the back garden, now set up with tables and chairs for the family barbecue. Johnny had gone off to buy beer and the four women had taken over the kitchen, preparing salads and desserts.

"You've been kicked out too, have you?" Alisdair grinned, shaking his head. "Welcome to your caveman heritage; we don't get to hunt and kill the beast, but we do have to cook it over a fire to feed our families."

They joked for a while as they set out steaks and lamb chops on the grill plates, keeping well out of the way as the women began bringing bowls of food, plates and cutlery out from the house. When Ellie caught his eye he gave her a grin and a wink and she returned them before heading back into the kitchen.

"Well now, Tom," Alisdair said as they stood companionably turning meat over. "Ellie has talked of little else but you for the best part of a year and you've come all this way to meet us; I guess I'm wondering whether I should be asking you your intentions towards my daughter."

Tom looked him straight in the eye. "Actually, sir, I would like to talk to you about that."