Stumbling through the dark

Up In The Attic

Aoife loved the attic. It was where her Da kept all the toys from her childhood, the stuff they had collected on vacations and other things that either he or she, couldn't bear to get rid of. And it was where Aoife was today. It was pouring with rain and her Da was closeted with Uncle Liam, song writing. Aoife opened one of the boxes and pulled out the first thing that was on top of the pile. It was 'Froggy', a plush toy that Uncle Harry had given her when she was little. She smiled as her fingers brushed over the fluffy fabric. Aoife put it back then shut the box, standing to leave. As she turned, her eye caught sight of pile of other boxes, all pushed back into the shadows. Aoife frowned at them. Why hadn't she ever noticed them before? She walked over and sat down in front of them. Two of them turned out to be strong wooden chests which were padlocked. Strange! What would Da keep up here that needed to be locked. She turned her attention to a much smaller box that rested on the top of the chests. Cautiously she took off the lid and moved the protective paper aside. She gasped when she realised what it was. She studied it minutely. It was perfect, absolutely perfect! She replaced it carefully in the box , covered it gently before  replacing the lid. Aoife bit her lip in thought, nodded to herself,  then picked up the box and carried it down the small stairway from the attic. Making sure nobody was around to see either her or the box she held in her shaking hands, she raced to her room and hid the box at the back of her closet, burying it under her collection of shoe boxes and handbags. She didn't want anyone, especially her Da knowing she had it.Out of sight, out of mind, better that way.  She smiled to herself.

Aoife could not dismiss the memory of those locked chests from her mind and she had always hated mysteries. So here she was again, several weeks later, climbing the narrow stairway up to the attic. Her stomach was fluttering with both nerves and excitement because she was finally about to find out what was in those locked chests that her Da had hidden in the darkest part of the attic. She had found a large bunch of keys hidden in in her Da's desk drawer. She knew she shouldn't have taken them but she was desperate to know why these boxes were locked away and stored in such a dark part of the attic. Taking a deep breath, she tried the first key in the lock and turned it. Nothing happened. She pulled the key out and inserted the next key on the keyring. There was a loud click and she reached out her other hand and slowly raised the lid.

Aoife sat back on her heels and dusted off her hands. What was all this stuff? She picked up a picture that was on the top of the box and studied it carefully. It was definitely her Da, Uncle Harry, Uncle Louis, Uncle Liam and a dark, bearded man she thought looked oddly  familiar but she had no idea where she'd seen his face before. They looked very young in the photograph and they appeared to be on a stage in the middle of a performance. Just what was all this? Holding the picture in her hand, she bit her lip in thought. She'd always know her Da had been in a boy band, One Direction, with Uncles Harry, Louis and Liam. But who was this fifth man . She pulled out other pictures. He was obviously part of the band but why didn't she know him ? She tried another key in the next box and opened that. It was a treasure trove of press cuttings, CDs, DVDs, letters and awards. Aoife settled back and started reading.

 Niall walked slowly to the front door, occasionally putting his hand on the wall or bits of furniture as he passed. His balance was a little off when he was  extremely tired  like he was today, but things had improved enormously for him over the last year. It had been a shock to find out three years ago that the MS had returned but it had turned out to be far less aggressive that James Caldwell had predicted.  He broke into a big grin when he opened the door and found , not only Liam and his son, on the doorstep but also Harry, Louis and his son Freddie. He stepped back and waved them in, his smile getting even bigger as he surveyed them all. Harry wrapped a casual arm over Niall's thin shoulders and walked with him as they all went into the Lounge.

"Hey, what's the craic ?" Niall asked delightedly as soon as everyone was seated and the Housekeeper had brought in a tray of coffee and cakes. "You guys look great! Harry, when did you get here? I thought you would be stuck in  LA for at least another week. "

"Nay , mate. And miss a chance to see you a little sooner ?" Harry pulled Niall into a side hug as he spoke. "Seriously bro, how  are you doing ?" Harry asked the question that he had wanted to know the answer to  for some time but had been too nervous to ask. He and Niall talked regularly but it was Louis that Niall was most open with. Louis and Niall  had grown closer and closer since Zayn had left the band all those years ago. Louis had been the one  Niall had turned to the most and Louis, despite his image of being immature and wild, had shown his real persona . He'd truly been Niall's big brother.

"Good, actually. Been taken some great medication and it's  sent me into remission." Niall was cheerful.

"I'm glad you didn't have that Stem Cell Therapy again" Louis spoke this time. That was one of the worse things I have ever seen and I was only an observer" Louis felt a chill go down his spine as he saw the image of a very sick Niall in his mind's eye. "We nearly lost you". Louis sounded choked with emotion and Liam patted his knee soothingly.

"Yeah, that was one of the darkest times in my life" Niall acknowledged sombrely.

"Why didn't you go ahead with it this time?" Liam asked curiously. Niall had been told there was a very strong chance it would not have worked a second time but he had been adamant , at one point, he was going to go through it again.

"I talked it over with Aoife and my parents. Aoife had the right to know what happened last time and both she and my parents really didn't want me to do it. I didn't think you lads would have been keen either." Niall said quietly "I know you would have supported me but it would have been selfish to put you all through that when there was so little chance of it working. But treatment has improved since then and the new medications are great. Just hate having to have IVs stuck in me to get the da*n stuff into my system every month. Still..it works" He grinned around at everyone.

All the men looked up as Aoife cleared her throat as she stood by the door watching them. There was a flurry of activity as they all stood up and , one by one, pulled her into their arms for hugs and kisses.

"Uncle Harry. I can't believe you're here and not just skyping  me" Aoife reached up and gently tugged on one of Harry's curls. His hair was worn shorter now so his curls were much more wild. "Uncle Louis and Freddy!" Louis picked Aoife up and swung her around in circles before placing her back down on her tiny feet. Aoife was so small that she made both Louis and her Da look tall. She grinned around at them then giggled as Liam picked her up and tucked him on his hip like he used to do when she was a toddler. "Uncle Li, put me down. M' not a baby" " she demanded laughing. He carefully put her down again. He did the same thing every day he visited and it  was a standing joke between them.

"I'm not complaining about seeing you all but is there a reason?" Aoife asked. She had a surprise of her own and hoped none of her "uncles" had cottoned on to it yet. She wasn't ready to share at the moment. She had a lot of thinking to do. She didn't want to do anything that would hurt her Da.

" Do we need a reason to visit you, beautiful? I'm hurt! " Louis sassed then continued more seriously "Well actually, we are planning to do  a reunion concert" he  admitted. "We've been waiting for your Dad's Doctor to give him  the all clear. We want to write some new songs for ourselves , rehearse and all that good stuff. Whatta ya' think,?"

Aoife breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She hadn't been rumbled. She jumped up and down in excitement. "That is so cool!".

"Yeah, we think so too" Niall admitted " Why don't you ,Taylor and Freddy go amuse yourselves and let us talk" Niall stood. Thus dismissed, Aoife led the way out of the room. Once she was sure they couldn't be overheard, she whispered at them to follow her as she wanted to show them something. Leading the way, clutching some keys in her hand, Aoife climbed the narrow stairway up to the attic, the two young men following.