Book Girl and Chestnut Boy

Epilogue

In the end, nothing came of Layton's worries. Dad was very persuasive with the staff about boys being boys and fighting over silly things. After hours of sitting in the A&E, waiting to be seen, Sam and Layton had plenty of time to make snide remarks and cuss each other out when they weren't complaining about their injuries, even with Dad and May sitting between them, until eventually both father and daughter told them to shut up if they weren't going to be sensible. 

They all lapsed into silence for a long period, watching the activity around them and observing the other people waiting to be seen, while the boys mutinously avoided so much as glancing at one another. Sam seemed to have been hurt the most since even the slightest leg movement caused him to grit his teeth and hiss in agony. Out of worry, Dad rebuked him yet again for his delinquent ways but went out of his way to get him a cold drink every now and then - treating the other two while he was at it. This earned him numerous eye rolls from Sam, though they were accompanied by small, fond smiles. One day, May hoped this newly-discovered half-brother would be comfortable enough with her to tell her why he had done the things he had when he had a doting parent who was ready to give him everything on a silver platter. 

Eventually, both the boys got bored enough to start talking, though they masked it by directing their words at May and her father. 

Dad asked May whether being a journalist was something she'd always wanted to do and she said no and had considered becoming a literary agent in the future, but was still uncertain. Sam grudgingly shared that he was studying engineering and hoped to pursue the subject at university. At May's insistence, Layton chipped in by stating his own goals for the near future, and then there was silence, which Dad promptly filled by saying he'd like to meet Martin and Mark. 

After several hours of waiting - Sam was seen to first since he was worse off - Layton was patched up and Dad drove him back home before dropping May off and deciding to come in for a bit. Grandma was shocked. Mark and Martin were just confused. Grandma mentioned the visit to Mum later and Mum looked down but didn't make any remarks, which was unlike her. 

Just like that, a new aspect was added to their lives. Dad pretty much got to work whenever he wanted so he started keeping his weekday afternoons free and made an agreement with Mum that he would pick the boys up after school. All three of them started spending evenings and weekends with him. Sam didn't like them invading his space at first, but he was grounded until college was finished so he didn't have a whole lot to do and the boys became a bit of a distraction. Despite his threatening appearance and his size, he began getting the same treatment from them as Layton did before long. It would be a long time before he showed such openness towards May, though.

May got more freedom to do the things she wanted to do. Layton had relaxed and was enjoying himself more, which led to better class experiences, which led to more friends. He asked Justin if he'd like to sit with them for lunch once. Their classmate turned them down but a few minutes later, he came over to their table at the cafeteria and brought along his own friends – three of them – and asked if they could all join. Not long after, Justin proposed another cinema trip – this time with just their little group. This time, they didn't need to worry about it being suitable for little kids.

The Christmas holidays started. Dad invited everybody over for the day itself, including Mum and Grandma. Grandma seemed to enjoy herself but Mum was a bit awkward and didn't speak much. Everybody else had a great time. May got a collection of children's fantasy books with beautiful covers and artwork from Dad, which made her ridiculously happy. She got a ride to the Dickinsons' later, where she was greeted warmly by everybody and Layton looked happy, laughing with his family and offering to pull crackers open with everybody, multiple times. She got another book from Layton, about a girl who loses her best friend. She'd read it before but she didn't tell him that.

The New Year rolled around. College life was well and truly under way. They started the modern literature module in English Lit. She spent evenings at Dad's house with Layton (at these times, Sam usually disappeared with the boys outside or upstairs, where he entertained them with various games consoles), their various coursework sheets issued by Andy spread out around them and their individual books open so they could discuss the book, and Dad was only too happy to join in and help.

"What's that you're reading?" Dad asked one day as he flopped down beside her.

"Rereading the Fellowship of the Ring for the millionth time." Layton answered from her other side, without looking up from his chemistry homework. "She might not look up so I thought I'd answer instead."

May nudged him with her shoulder. "Shut up. I hear everything."

He grinned. "There's a change!"

Dad chuckled. "Your mum told me you lost a lot of your books. I got you a present."

Layton put his pen down and straightened up. "...Are you giving her more books?"

"Of course! You're not going to tell me she's got too many?"

"One can never have such a thing as too many books!" May agreed. She sighed and her shoulders drooped. "But I probably shouldn't."

"What?" Dad asked, startled. "Why?"

"I have exams coming up soon, Dad! I need to prepare for those. If you get me books, I'm going to get distracted."

"Nonsense!" he said, jumping to his feet. "Think of it as an incentive to do better! You tell yourself you're going to revise a certain amount and then you can read! Easy."

"That's easy for you to say..." she mumbled.

He went to the bookshelves and took a big box from the lower shelves. "Here. I tried to get back all the ones you lost."

Seeing the tomes packed neatly in the box, May felt tears gathering in her eyes. It had been ages since she'd seen some of these books. Even at the library, she didn't stay long to have a proper look so it was like the years since Dad had gone away had faded, as if they were memories of a lifetime ago. She picked out the second book of the Earthsea Quartet – one of the ones she'd missed since Mum had thrown it and another from the series in among the ones that had had to go.

"That is a very good choice!" Dad said to a younger May. "But what about the first one? We finished the series a while back so why don't we start again?"

She held the book out, looking stubborn. He just laughed and took it from her hands. "All right. You're the boss, Little Miss May."

Little by little, as the months had worn on, she had felt like loose bits of herself had knit together again. Seeing the books, laid out in neat rows like she would arrange them with Dad every so often in the past, made it seem like she had gone back in time to being that little girl again, eagerly looking forward to reading a book with her father.

She blinked the tears away, embarrassed at herself. "Can you read to me, Dad?" she asked, picking out a title. "Like you used to?"

His eyebrows rose. "You want me to read aloud? Gosh, I haven't done that in years! Sammy doesn't like to read. All right, but I must warn you, my voice is a bit rusty!" He took the book and smiled down at it. "And might I say, good choice, Little Miss May!"

She felt as startled by the nickname as he looked.

"Sorry," he chuckled, "old habit poking out, I guess."

"Little Miss May?" Layton laughed. "That's cute." There was glint in his eye which May knew meant she would not be allowed to live this down for some time. She made a face at him. He made it right back.