“I can’t believe they’re having a baby!” Alyssa giggled as she lay in bed on the phone to Connor.
“You’re gonna be an aunt! Ickle Auntie Lyss.” Connor chuckled. “Are you looking forward to coming back next month?”
“Yeah, are you alright with coming down here for the week beforehand still?”
“As long as your parents don’t mind still.”
“My parents are dying to meet you, and Ruth will too once I tell her. You’ll be down for her birthday, and Noah’s.”
“What do they do for birthdays?”
“Not much, something quiet, like a meal out normally, though the whole family goes; Noah’s and mine.”
“How long has Noah been around?”
“Ruth and Noah met at nursery.” Alyssa heard Connor laugh a little in utter surprise.
“So, that’s, what, 20 odd years?”
“Nearly 24.”
“Wow.”
“I know.”
“You hung to anyone that long?”
“Only Ruth.”
“She’s your sister! That’s gonna happen!”
“I know, but they joke was, when we were little, that I would end up with Leon, but, that can’t happen now.”
“Leon?”
“Noah’s brother.”
“Why can’t it happen?”
“He died seventeen years ago.” Alyssa said reluctantly.
“I’m sorry.” Connor whispered sombrely.
“It’s been a long time. You get used to him not being there. He was basically a brother when he was alive.”
“Who was it joked that Evie would end up with?”
“Jesse Lace. He moved away when he was 10. Evie was distraught.” Alyssa giggled.
“Connor! Go to bed! You have work in the morning!” Alyssa heard Connor’s mother’s shrill shout coming from Connor’s end of the phone. She giggled a little.
“Night then, Connor.” She giggled,
“Night, Lyss.” He sighed. The line went dead. Alyssa switched the lights off and lay down in her bed, her room lit up a little by the floodlight on a house opposite. There was a knock on her door. Evie walked in and sat on the end of her sister’s bed.
“Everything’s so weird.” Evie whispered as Alyssa switched the lights back on.
“How do you mean, Eve?” Alyssa asked, sitting up.
“Ruth and Noah are having a kid, we always thought she was gonna be the one who’d be last. It’s strange.”
“I know, but Ruth is an adult, and she’s done so well considering the past few years.”
“Lyss?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you ever miss Leon?”
“All the time. Why?”
“I think things would be different if he’d lived.” Evie whispered cautiously.
“Why?”
“Because Leon was the same as Noah; he was too good to die.”
“I know, Evie, but these things happen.” Both the sisters just sat there, thinking, remembering as they often did, the idea of Leon, the idea of him surviving everything as a youngster. And what if he’d lived. How everything could be different.
YOU ARE READING
Untouchable
RomanceRuth is beyond awkward. Noah has known her since she was 3, and even then she screamed at him for trying to hug her. She has autism, but she isn't her condition; it's just a part of Ruth that it's impossible to remove. Two years ago, there was confu...
