Chim - Maid For You

Chapter 25

Chapter 25 ~ Living arrangements

It had been a few days since my father first came to the house. It had been a tremendous shock for me to see him again. After listening to him I didn’t know what to do anymore. There was only one thing that I did know and that was that I wanted to be with Cheryl, no matter what happened. Even if it meant that I would have to sleep under a bridge for the rest of my live I would do so, as long as she was sleeping there beside me.

It was now Tuesday and I had arranged for my father to come to the house as I had made my decision. It had been a tough one as there now were two families that I loved madly.

Cheryl and I were sitting next to each other. She was holding my hand in her lap as I nervously sat waiting for my father to arrive. A knock on the door could be heard and Cheryl rose from her chair. When she opened the door it revealed my father and Ralph from behind it. When my eyes got sight of Ralph I leaped out of my chair and made way to him, pulling him in a big hug.

“Oh Ralphie, I’ve missed you so much.” I said while kissing him all over his face.

“Where did you go, Kimba?” He said with tears in his eyes. “I missed you.”

“I’m here now, little man.

I continued holding on to my little brother as my father made way into the house.

“I would offer you something to drink, but at the moment we only have water.” Cheryl told my father.

“No thank you.”

Cheryl walked out of the room and returned with her little brother. “David, could you take Ralph with you to play for a little while? There are some things Kimberley and her father need to talk about.” She looked at me to see if I was fine with what she had just suggested. I nodded and let Ralph go. When they were out of the room I walked back to my chair to sit on it. Cheryl sat down next to me, reaching for my hand again.

As I saw that my father had sat down I looked at him.

“Well Kimberley. I am here. Have you made your mind up?” He asked.

“I have.”

I looked at him and saw that he had a nervous expression on his face. I felt a soft squeeze from Cheryl. I looked at her and gave her a smile before I turned back to my father and began.

“You hurt me a great deal when you told me to get out of your house and never to return. I never thought you could capable of that. It has scared me a great deal. I also have lost my trust in you as I have in certain other members of our ‘family.’ You have kept me from my brother and grandmother. You know how much I love both, yet you prevented me from seeing them. This whole matter has left me absolutely broken and if it wasn’t for Cheryl and her family I wouldn’t know where I would be right now. They have taken us in without any questions."

I paused a little while.

"I want you to know that I will never let you hurt me like this again. I could not handle this a second time.” 

He looked to the ground.

“Before anything else is said I want to know one thing.”

“What is it, my darling” he said as he returned his gaze to me.

“I love Cheryl. She is a big part of my life, as I am of hers.” I took in his reaction.  “She is my partner and I want to know if you can accept and treat her as that, because if you can not, this conversation ends right here.”

He stayed quiet for a while, taking in what I had just said. Eventually he spoke up.

“I will except and her as your partner, Kimberley.”

I took a deep breath.

“I will come back to the house on two conditions.” I said. His face lit up as I said that. “The first one being that Cheryl will stay with me as my partner.”

“Agreed.”

“The second being that you find a new house for my other family. As you can see they don’t have nearly as much as they deserve. I want Mrs. Tweedy to have medical care as she is poorly and I want you to make sure that Cheryl’s siblings get the schooling they need to get good jobs. ”

As I said this Cheryl turned her head to me, a shocked expression on her face. I had not told her that part of the conditions yet as I was sure she would try to talk me out of it.

“Did you put you up to this?” My father immediately asked Cheryl. 

“Yes or no?” I said to him, taking his eyes off Cheryl.

He thought about it a little while.

“Agreed. When will you come back?”

“I have just asked you if you accepted Cheryl as my partner. When you make remarks like the one you did just now, it makes me believe that you can’t. Are you absolutely sure you accept her as my partner?”

“Yes, my darling.”

“In that case we will return to the house once you find a new one for the Tweedy’s.