Speak Now

XIII

When I first came to London, it was only supposed to be a visit, one of those annual ones that my parents agreed on when I was a kid. I was only here for a week or two before I had to go back, finish high school, get my HSC and live happily ever after but life always has a spanner it likes to throw into the works. Only that time, the spanner was a woman named Charlotte who was carrying my father's baby. There are worse spanners in the world. 

Meeting Charlotte, knowing that I was going to be a big sister, coupled with the fact that I just didn't get along with my mum, quickly made me realise that I couldn't go back to Sydney with Alyssa at the end of my visit. My life was in London, no Australia. It was easy to become part of Dad and Charlotte's family unit and that was all to do with Charlotte's family accepting me as one of their own; Jimmy Delaney, Charlotte's father, was the one who took me under his wing and he quickly became my favourite Delaney, not that I would ever admit such a thing to Charlotte. She's my number one, if ever she asks. 

Jimmy was the type of grandfather that I never had; yes, Darius, Dad'd dad, was around when I was a kid but he had such a successful career that seeing him was almost impossible. I'd probably see my paternal grandparents a few times a year, enough to count on one hand and seeing Alyssa's parents was a task and a half. They were difficult people who never really forgave their daughter for getting pregnant so young and took it out on me like it was my fault. I was the product, not the action. 

That first summer I spent in London, Jimmy really stepped up and we would go off and do things together that really bonded us for life. We went on a weekend getaway where he taught me to fish and even though I'd been against the idea before going, that fishing trip turned into an annual thing and I would clear my diary to make sure I could have a weekend with my daidéo, as he insisted I call him. It's Irish Gaelic for grandfather and it's the name Sera, Joseph, Owen and Levi all use for him. Jimmy rationalises that I am as much his granddaughter as Sera, therefore, we are treated the same and he expects us to treat him the same, none of this half or step business.

"You look... country," James assessed my outfit when I walked into the dining room and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl in the centre of the table. "Look, you're even in flats. Are you sick?"

I give him a middle finger salute. "I'm going out with Jimmy, I'll have you know. I think Sera and Joseph are coming, too, and it's not like I can run after them in four-inch Louboutins, now, is it?"

"You have Louboutins?" Aoife's voice piped up from further down the table. I look up in time to see her agonised expression. "Your life is like a damn fairytale. House in Malibu, movie star best friend, Louboutins in your walk-in closet. I'm so jealous, I could die."

James and I look at each other and shrug; we're not one for dramatics this early in the morning but from the glint in his eyes, I can see James formulating some sort of plan in his mind. Winking at me, he excuses himself from the table and wanders back up to his room, yelling that he'll see me later, alligator. Biting into my apple, I look down at my watch and announce that it's time for me to go, telling Keira that I'd catch up with her later about her hen party. I was still conscious of the fact that I hadn't planned that.