The Cliff That Changed Everything

Chapter 18

"Life takes you to unexpected places and you meet unexpected people but finally it's love that brings you home... It's your family that embraces you with all your failures to." - Aarti Khurana

 Mum gave birth to the baby a while before Steve, Ella, and I had arrived.

 As soon as we pulled up into the hospital car park in Scotland, I raced out of the car, shortly followed by Steve with Ella wrapped tightly around him.

I guess in life, you don't really expect anything bad to happen to you, like getting cancer, or your parents dying in a car crash. You don't expect your father to commit suicide, or your sister to be placed in a deep dream. And you definitely don't expect your little, new born sister, to have cerebral palsy.

Mum and Steve knew that they had a 50% chance of having a child with cerebral palsy, but they took the chance anyway.

 hey didn't seem upset when they were told, almost as if they were expecting it. I sure didn't care, because as I held my tiny, precious, little sister, I realised that I wanted her life to be great, better than mine. I didn't want her to be lied to, manipulated, and I wanted her to have a proper dad - meaning Steve, who'd always be there for her through thick and thin. I wanted to protect her, love her, care for her, much better than I did for Dolly. Because in life you don't know what the future holds, and now my little princess is stuck in darkness. And I didn't protect her. And I can only blame myself.

I felt Daphne’s miniscule hand wrap around my pinkie. And I knew that she could feel my presence. And right then, as I stared at her, I knew our bond could never be broken.

 *  *  *

 Dolly came out of her coma at 3.18 AM, on a rainy, cold, Tuesday morning. Bax was the first to hear her cries for Steve. Not Mum. Steve. It seemed like fate because we had slept over at hospital that night, to much of the manager's protests, he finally gave in. I woke up to the frantic sound of mum repeating 'I love you so much, oh my god, I love you so, so, so, much.' At first I didn't know what to think, until I felt a sturdy hand on my shoulder, hauling me up and shaking me. Steve shouted "HOLLY! DOLLY'S AWAKE! SHE'S FINALLY AWAKE! SHE'S OKAY! I THINK SHE'S ACTUALLY OK!" I started laughing as tears of joy escaped my eyes. In fact I was bawling. I was thanking Dolly's little brain for staying strong. And soon all my mascara had cascaded down my face, but thankfully I wasn't the only one crying. Mum was shaking and had amorously hugged Dolly until I thought it had become difficult for her to breathe. Steve was also overwhelmed with joy and I saw him wipe away the few tears which wobbled down his cheeks.

 In that moment then, I accepted my family. I loved each and every single one of them, and couldn’t have asked for more. I even loved Steve! The man who I had once hated from the very tips of my toes to the top of my head. I loved even him. I loved him like he was my father.

* * *

Mum invited Dean to England for a 3 day stay at ours as soon as the baby and Dolly were allowed to leave so during the ride back home, it was pretty awkward. Mum said she had a treat for me when we got there, so I was pretty excited. In a way I was glad that Dean was with me, I hadn’t been this close to him since...