Family Portrait (Fam Series #1)

Intermission:

Adeline Isobel Curnow, 2022 -

"IT WAS ALMOST JESAULENO YOU BEAUTY!"

The YouTube video on the laptop in front of us continues to play as Charlie and I watch it, travelling all the way back to the year 2018 when Charlie took one of the most famous marks of his career at Carlton. I look at Charlie, almost laughing. He had his natural hair colour back then, and had it cut short. Now he bleaches the ends blonde and occasionally ties his hair back.

"How many years ago was that?" Charlie asks, looking at me knowing I never usually forget the dates.

"It was 2018, so about three years ago, when CJ was three years old" I say.

"Jeez, 2018. Feels like it was just a year ago, but it was actually three, and now our youngest child is six" He says.

I glance around the interview room - one of the rooms at the Marvel Stadium, as I wait for the journalist to come back and continue questioning us for Charlie's new documentary, since he won the Brownlow last year, and the year before.

I grab my phone from my pocket as it suddenly goes off. Checking the preview, I roll my eyes.

Lachie -
Your kids are evil, Adeline! Evil!

I smirk as I go to reply, but since my brother chose to message our group chat, Zaine Cordy beats me to it.

Zaine'oe -
What have they done now? Last time I babysat, the twins kept creeping me out by bulging their eyes and tilting their heads. Then the youngest one made the washing machine explode, while the twins started chasing me around my own house. They only stopped once Julietta got home!

Lachie -
Nothing that bad, Charlie's just really messy - like her father and namesake. Bailey is asleep, and Brigan somehow managed to smash a few glasses. She didn't tell me, so when I went into the kitchen, I stepped on the broken glass! Then all three of them laughed at me. I'm suing you for damages, Adeline.

I roll my eyes and quickly respond by saying I'll talk later as I put my phone back in my pocket. Looking up, I straighten my back and neurotically run my hands through my brown-blonde ombré hair as I prepare for more questions.

"So Adeline, what happened with the hospital? You were unconscious for several weeks, the doctors were 100% sure you were going to die. How did you overcome this?" Our journalist, Hamish McLaughlin, asks.

"Well...they don't know. My scans and results just started going up one day, and then I woke up. I'm literally a medical miracle - they have no idea what happened. The hospital staff, I mean" I say, thinking back to that dreadful day. My god, Charlie and I were just kids - 17. Today, we're 27.

"And you never specified what happened when the car hit you? Did you fall, or were you pushed?" Hamish asks. Charlie and I exchange a knowing look; this question is hard to answer without getting another court case piled on our backs.

"Someone from my family pushed me. I mean, my dad's ex family - my dad's family at the time. I legally can't say anymore" I say awkwardly.

"Well, that's fair enough - most people in the afl community have already heard about what happened with your dad anyway. So, when you woke up - what had happened?" Hamish asks.

"Our best mate Zaine Cordy had been drafted into the game, more specifically for the Western Bulldogs under the father-son rule. There were a few kinks with that, as Zaine wasn't quite in full health at the time - what with his cancer recovery and stuff. When he was drafted, he wrote QUINN on one wrist, and SCHACHE on the other as a tribute to his late girlfriend, and he still does it to this day every game. He includes KENNEDY and SAYERS on his lower legs now, he's quite the sight" I say, laughing. Who knew it would be Quinn to make Zaine a notable player, with all the fans noticing him for his trademark writing on each arm.

"But Zaine wasn't your only friend to be drafted during that time, was he?" Hamish asks.

"No. A certain Caleb Marchbank was also drafted - as you know he's one of our close friends from Carlton, and Toby McLean, Lukas Webb and Caleb Daniel we're also drafted - three of our friends we met through Zaine" I say.

"Haha, back when the two Calebs played for Carlton, and the Bulldogs. That's a throwback" Hamish said. Yes, Marchbank retired due to mental health issues after the devastating and unexpected loss of one of his teammates and our dear friends, and Daniel traded to Adelaide after the great riot of 2020.

"So, what else happened when you woke up? Actually, Charlie - tell us a bit about what happened while Adeline was unconscious" Hamish says.

"Well, it goes a little something like this..." Charlie says, trailing off.