Eventually

CHAPTER SEVEN - Family Affairs

CHAPTER SEVEN - Family Affairs.

The beach reminded me of a time two Christmases ago of my big happy family in Rockingham. Mum had four brothers, who for years were involved in our family activities. Mum was the oldest of six children. Chris was Mum's oldest brother. He wasn't very enthusiastic about anything but his wife. Chris had recently broken up with the mother of his two children, Abby and Eddie. Tammy was her name, I lived her like a real Aunt. Chris worked away in the Serbian mines most of the time, Tammy was left alone. A lot. She became lonley and started sleeping with other men. It broke Uncle Chris' heart. It was trully so hard to see him like that. He then met Alexis. They love each other and are happy. That's all that matters to me for Uncle Chris. It was good to see him smiling after so long.

Uncle Rex was the next one down. He did heavy drugs as a teen and was sent to jail at twenty. When he was released he moved to England; attempting to begin a new life. But all that was behind him constantly haunted him. When he came back to Australia, he met Delilah; a lady working as Mum's secretary at her self employed beauty parlor. Delilah was married and had two kids, Michael and Fiona. Her husband, Dillan, was an awesome guy. He was dismissed from war in Iraq a few months ago. He fought for 18 months there until the doctor sent him home to see his family.

We occasionally went over to their house for a barbecue. Rex and Delilah would talk, Greg would play with Michael and Fiona, and my parents talked among themselves. A year later, Dillan was called back to battle and left Delilah and the kids to fend for themselves for twenty months. On the twenty first month, two men in army suits arrived at Delilah's doorstep with an Australian flag. Dillan had lost his life in open fire. I attended the funeral, unable to forgive God for the beautiful life he had taken. Months after, my family learnt during the twenty months Dillan was absent, Delilah and Rex had been having an affair. I was gutted and unable to forgive Uncle Rex. I discarded him as an Uncle. It was as if he wasn't human.

Cadi was Mum's only sister. Mum was 14 when Cadi was killed; it tore their family apart. Pop left Granny and Mum raised her four brothers. Cadi was 7 and ran across a busy road when she was hit by a car that killed her instantly. I was always so cautious of Greg crossing the road.

Then Matt; he was successful and working at Bridgestone Tyre Company. He had a beautiful girlfriend Melvie, of whom he lived very much. Marijuana. I'll finish his story like that, because that's what he did do.

Kevin met Veronica on a trip to New Zealand. She had two girls. 11 year old Olsie and 8 year old Talulah. They got engaged because Veronica fell pregnant with Max. Kevin lived Veronica and his family, and tried to support them anyway he could. He worked many jobs and earnt a lot of money; of which he spent on stupid things like gaming consoles and nerf guns. Veronica and Kevin split up for a while, but got back together because Veronica needed support with the kids.

I swear my family is like a soap opera.

I looked back at Aaron, and smiled. "Whatcha thinking about?" he asked with hopeful eyes. "Nothing," I said, "I'm happy, I'm with you!" he smiled and kissed me on the cheek.