Sing Once Again With Me

Let Me Wrap You Up In Love

Ben's point of view

I turn over and hear Freja just start to cry it's six O clock already she's slept through the night bless her heart. I get up out of bed and pop over to her travel cot she smiles when she looks at me the most perfect little smile I see Lisa in her although everyone insists she looks like me poor little thing "Good morning my little pumpkin who had big sleepies then hey who had big sleepies" I say to her in my big Daddy bear voice that makes the kids giggle. She's all warm from being cuddled up in her baby sleeping bag "would you like some milk darling hey" I ask like she's going to answer me as I head to the kitchen. It's strange being at Lisa's Dads house knowing that this is where Lisa grew up I can't help but smile at the school pictures her Dad has of her on the wall, her last high school picture her sweet shy smile her hair tied up in a French plait it being much longer then, so innocent she looks, it makes me sad that she had no idea what life was going to throw at her but better she didn't. I try everyday to make her as happy as I can to try and make up for lost time she had so many unhappy years today will be no exception, today we say our last goodbye to Nain it's so different to my mothers funeral that was just a funeral nothing more just something we went to this, this hurts it's sad. Geraint had asked if Lisa would sing a hymn for Nain in the service, she said she would although since then she's struggled with the idea. She picked her Nain's favourite hymn "How Great thou art" I said I would play for her just to give her that extra incentive that she wasn't alone we'd been to the church and practised she sang it so beautifully straight from the heart. It made me so very proud because I knew how hard this was for her, but it took her back to her days when she sang with the choir a time when she was free and when she was able to be the girl she was because he knew nothing of it. It was at that church that she stood up time and time again and performed sharing her gift with everyone. As I watched her sing I pictured her aged nineteen so young the world at her feet only to have it tugged from underneath her. I sit for a moment and remember still hearing her sing........

The Previous Evening

"Is anyone here to meet us" I ask Lisa as we head into the church yard 

"No Dad got the keys from the Vicar he only lives down the road from us" she tells me. 

It's a beautiful little church "So this is where it all started then" I say to her 

"Yep it feels strange being back here" he says 

"When did you last sing here sweetheart " I ask 

"It's been ages after I had the kids it was harder to get away to go to practice I never really felt happy leaving Riley with Matt so I just stopped coming" this makes me sad but from what I know of him Riley was safest with her. We walk in that musky kind if smell that comes with an old church hits me the smell of the leather cushions on the seats there was something strangely comforting about it. "I'll just put the lights on" she says heading out to the back I follow her to the school room as she called it "this was where I went to Sunday school when I was little" she says she smiles this obviously made her happy. There are pictures up on the wall from years ago when I spot a familiar face 

"Lis is this you?" I ask knowing it is 

"hmm it is" she says a little embarrassed 

"What's the trophy for" I ask her as in the picture she is holding a silver cup 

"The vicar who had just arrived here then used to be my choir master and he was the one who got me performing on my own he gave me lessons to build my confidence and after I'd done some performing he suggested I enter a competition an Eisteddfod they call it" another welsh thing "So I did and I won" she says looking so pleased with herself