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“Oh, I’m glad. I’ll go to bed now, then,” she says, “leave you two alone.”
“What?” He frowns. “No, come on, have a drink with us, at least. Missie told me you’re a Science teacher, and I wanted to ask your opinion on the new Science curriculum.”
She glances at me, face flushing. “Oh, er…”
I smile. “I’ll put the kettle on.” I gesture for Alex to sit, and then go into the kitchen and fill the kettle with water. As I switch it on, I can hear Alex asking Finn whether he enjoys Physics at school, and it fills me with a warm glow.
I feel as if I’m setting out on an adventure, like Pooh Bear, with all his worldly belongings in a handkerchief tied to a stick. I don’t know where this path is going to lead me. I’m excited and nervous in equal measure, especially because we’ve so much to discover about each other, and I’m still not convinced he’s going to like everything he finds. But every journey begins with a single step, right?
This year has been hard, but at last I’ve found the courage to begin, and that’s all that matters.
Chapter Eleven
Missie
I make Alex and myself a coffee and Mum a cup of tea, and we chat while we drink them, with Finn interjecting, clearly excited at being up so late and having Alex in his home.
I sit and listen to them talking, while the lights on the Christmas tree by the window blink on and off, making the gold and red tinsel and the baubles glitter. Mum’s switched on the lights of the gas fire too, adding to the cozy atmosphere. I feel excited, the way you do before a driving test or an interview. I’m so thrilled he’s here, and that he wanted to come in. I just like being with him, even if we can’t exchange more than a glance. It’s good for Finn to spend time with a guy. Most of his teachers are women, and now it’s just me and Mum, it’s strange to have a man in the house again.
Eventually, though, as it nears eleven and Finn’s eyelids start to droop, I say to him, “Time for bed, I think.”
“No,” he protests, “I’m enjoying myself.”
“Finn,” Mum says firmly. “Time for bed.”
“I don’t want to go to bed,” he protests in an uncharacteristic display of temper that shows how tired he is. “I want to stay up, too. It’s not fair.”
“Finn,” I scold, embarrassed that he’s not doing as he’s told.
But Alex just says, “I bet you have some cool stuff in your room. Transformers and LEGO?”
Finn nods sulkily.
“Can I come and have a look?” Alex asks. “When you’re in bed?”
Finn brightens. “Okay.” He gets his crutches. Alex rises and helps pull him up and holds him steady until the crutches are in place, and Finn makes his way down to his room.
“That was sweet,” I say softly once Finn has gone. “But you don’t have to do that.”
“All guys are eleven years old at heart,” he replies. “I love LEGO.”
Mum chuckles and holds out her hand. “Goodnight, Alex. I hope we’ll see you again soon.”
“You can count on it.”
She smiles, winks at me, then leaves.
“I’ll just check on Finn,” I tell him, and follow her along the corridor.
She stops outside the bathroom and turns, eyes shining. “So you had a good evening?”
“Wonderful,” I admit. “But you don’t have to go to bed. We won’t… you know… get up to anything…” I blush.
“Missie,” she says, “You know how much I appreciate you coming to live here. But you’re still very young. Look, I’ve been thinking about converting the spare bedroom into another living area for myself.”
My jaw drops. “You don’t have to—”
“I know. But I kinda like the idea. It would be good for us both to have our own space. You have Alex now, and…” She hesitates. “You never know, there might come a day when…” Her voice trails off, and she bites her lip.
