Let's All Make Believe - Oasis

Chapter 68

January turned to February. I hoped the new month meant a new start that January hadn't been able to deliver. I hoped for things to fall into place that I didn't have control of.

I was still overwhelmingly upset about the pregnancy but Liam wouldn't let me ignore him. I called him a shit dad so he proved he wasn't by picking up the phone and asking about the boys most days. I never asked about his baby. It wasn't that I didn't think about it, I thought about it every day, every day it was closer by it being born.

Lydia tried to be positive about it and tried to help me accept reality. She talked about it far more than I wanted to hear. She wondered when we should tell Ste and Nathan that they were getting a new family member. I thought about when I'd told Ste about his brother but this was entirely different.

"It's not ours to tell, it's Liam's."

"Yeah, I know but is he going to come and tell them?"

"He will, when it's time. It's way too early yet."

"When's he going to come up now he's got to look after Patsy?"

"I don't know, maybe him and Noel will come together."

"What are we gonna tell Ste? Is it his cousin or his sibling being he doesn't go halves with Nathan."

"I don't know, I don't want it to be his sibling but I don't want to complicate things any more than they already are."

"Right."

"But she's gonna be thinking and saying they're cousins."

"True."

"And they might not even meet. She's not met Nathan, she hardly ever saw Ste. She might not want her baby seeing us lot."

"We will have to see on that one but after Christmas, you're probably right."

"This is what I get for going between brothers, especially when one of them got married."

"It'll get easier. It might not be conventional but who wants that?"

...

I decided that this year we would take Valentines day seriously. I got a card and red roses for Lydia. I treated her to all the usual romance of the day.

I thought if I focused on Lydia I'd forget about Liam and Patsy. I didn't, I hoped their day was ruined by Patsy puking up with morning sickness the whole day. I wanted everything spoiled for her more than I wanted us to have a nice time.

We went out in Manchester after Peggy agreed to have the boys and the dog. We went to a restaurant which was a mistake because of how busy they were.

It took so long to get served even with all the staff rushing around. It didn't feel all that romantic.

Lydia said there's a lantern day of Chinese New Year that's like Valentines day. "Mum says in China women put oranges in rivers for men to collect so they can find a partner. What would we need to send down river, lemons?"

"Hmm... maybe limes, we're not bitter."

"Right, would you pick my lime if I sent it down river?"

"Of course I would. Would you mine?"

"I'd be there with a net."

Once we were done in the restaurant we stayed at Liam's house, returning home with the rest of the family in the morning.

...

To prepare for Chinese New Year we had to clean the whole house. It wasn't bad to have an excuse for an early spring clean especially since I wasn't always on top of keeping the place tidy. Sweeping was important to get rid of bad luck and then the brush had to go away so good luck couldn't be swept away.