"Mae, come here," Lee's voice whispered to my mind.
"She's under," Lee's father said as I felt my head slump heavily and the vision close in.
"Mae, come see my old room," Lee said pulling me by the hand up some stairs.
"Where am I?" I asked confused.
"It is a vision whilst they fix you. We are at my parents house. I am going to show you my old room and may be even kiss you on my old bed," he teased.
"What like all those other girls?" I laughed.
"Just practicing ready for you," he said pulling me along a corridor.
I stopped outside a door. He tried to pull me on.
"What is in there?" I asked.
"Just a guest room," he said dismissively and pulled on my hand.
I stared at the door and listened to see if anyone was in there.
"This way Mae, it's just here," he said.
"I want to look in this one first," I said reaching for the door.
"And I want to make out with you in my old room. We can look in there on the way back," he said moving his arm around my shoulder and leading me on. I kept turning to look back at the door. What was in there?
"Here we go. My old room," he said. "Or should I say 'Our Room' for when we stay over."
He swung open the door to a breathtaking room which was untidy, covered in kids toys and the odd stamped in biscuit on the carpet but that just made it even more perfect.
"I would have tidied but... no that is a lie. I wouldn't. I am a slob. We are married there is no point in denying it. Soon you will be nagging me to pick up after myself and yelling at me for drinking out of the bottle and not getting a glass," he said shrugging as though resigned to having a 'nagging wife'.
"Something tells me you are never going to change," I replied.
"I don't get a lot of time to tidy. I am always rushing or working. Plus usually when I came home here, it was to a super cute and cuddly looking Suri in asleep my bed so I would just hop in pull her over for a snuggle and crash out. There was hardly time to get the hover out and the cleaner won't come in here as she refused to clean my room since I was a kid. Actually I've improved a lot compared to then," he said quite proud of himself.
"How bad were you?"
"Typical smelly teen, clothes on the floor, half eaten pizza, joints, beer, bongs and..."
"You did drugs!" I said astonished. I would never have guessed it.
"Yeah I'm not as goodie two shoes as you think. My daughter changed me a lot. I had to grow up fast," he replied.
"I'm hardly innocent myself. I still had the odd smoke before the twins were born," I said remembering how Paul used to smoke before bed so he could sleep. Most of the time he was wasted on the sofa so I would leave him there and be annoyed in the morning when the house smelt of weed.
"Do you miss it?" he asked.
"No I only did it because everyone else was and I thought it made me cool. Almost a challenge to myself to handle it when everyone else was pulling a whitey and I was still awake and partying. The amount of times I found friend passed out in the bathroom and instead of helping we drew on them and facebooked the pictures."
Lee laughed, "Yeah Glenn was a bit of a light weight and I did that to him but my mother soon taught me the error of my ways."
I grimaced.
"Not as bad as when Suri was finally asleep, I think she was about five weeks old. I thought she's asleep I'll have a whiskey and a quick smoke. My dad went ballistic. She wasn't in the room with me but he didn't care. I wouldn't be able to look after her as well as I should if I was stoned. Plus I had been off my face at my wedding."
"Haha I am not the only one then," I laughed.
"I'm not as bad as you. I knew what I was doing. Apparently I sighed really loudly during the ceremony like 'Ahhh god," and yawned several times."
I laughed.
"Well I've got bad news for you buddy," I said looking around the room ready to wind him up.
"I know, no more mess in the bedroom," he said rolling his eyes and sighing.
"No, not at all. I was going to say. You've married a slob. I'm a slob. I have the odd spurt of cleaning. Once, maybe twice a day but other than that I prefer a 'lived in' environment and will clean on a Sunday whilst cooking dinner," I admitted.
His face was a picture. "Seriously?" he asked gauging my expression.
"Yep, 100%. I don't care about dirty dishes until there nothing else left to use and I have to empty the dishwasher from before as I was too lazy to do the last time. I use a different cup for every drink I make instead of washing the one I have been using and refill it. The kitchen floor gets so dirty I have to hover it before mopping. I can leave the bathroom a month without hovering or mopping and only really tackle it when I have a cleaning frenzy. Oh and never get in the way of a cleaning frenzy as I am in the zone and don't stop until I am finished. If you make a mess where I just cleaned I will kill you and not feel the slightest bit of remorse."
"Mmm, I like slobby Mae. This marriage just got even better," he said pulling me into a kiss.
"Is that room back there your brothers old room?" I asked as he kissed me.
"It used to be," he replied as he gave me another gentle kiss.
"Is that why you don't want me to go in it as my sister used to stay there," I asked.
"No, it's locked. My mother closed it and I don't have a key. No one is allowed in there. No one!" he reiterated.
"When did she lock it?" I was curious.
"I don't know. When he died she spent the first few days in there crying, smelling his clothes and wouldn't talk to anyone. No one was allowed in, not even my father. She locked it and it has stayed that way since."
I got teary eyed for the poor woman. I had never really mourned Glenn. It was just my sister. I didn't really know him but April lived her so she would be mourning them both and to lose a child... I knew that pain to some extent and I knew how she felt about Lee let alone Glenn who was apparently her favourite as he was still her baby in her eyes. My sister often called him a mummy's boy when she called and would say he is down stairs with his mum watching a film, his head on her lap having his hair stroked like a big baby. He could never take the end of Titanic but had forced his mum to watch Dude Wheres my car and Jay and Silent Bob films. She was not impressed but him and his brother, Lee, had been in hysterics at her reaction. Now I knew of old stoner Lee, I could see how he would find it hilarious.
It was kind of cool that Lee had his vices and wasn't as perfect as I imagined. It made me more relaxed around him and of course he was a messy bugger so I would be able to leave a few dishes and watch some TV without worrying if I should be cleaning like a good little wife.
"Bed, Lie!" he ordered pointing at it.
"Is it clean?" I teased.
"Erm..." he pulled back the quilt and brushed out a few crumbs and a dead half chomped on biscuit. "It is now," he grinned.
"Bay?" I asked.
"Either of them," he said climbing on the bed.
I climbed on with him and lay down, turning to snuggle up to his chest.
"What am I going to be when this transition is over?" I asked.
"Mae Grayson," he replied.
I laughed, "Do you think I am going to sprout a tail and fur?"
"No, but you'd make a damn cute lioness," he teased.
"If I was a lioness I'd chase you and bite the shit out of you if you roared at me," I replied.
"Well thank god you are not one or I would lose my reputation by running screaming for a girl," he said cracking us both up.
"What do you really think I am going to be?" I asked seriously.
"I don't know," he replied thoughtfully. "But I think it is going to be cool," he said and almost seemed keen to see the end result.
"What if I am something horrible? Can it be reversed or changed?" I asked as that had been worrying me.
"No, and you won't be anything horrible. You will just be more Mae. I love Mae, more Mae is good thing and I can't wait."
His soppy words lead to that snog he had talked about. It was just getting interesting when I was pulled out of the vision and back to reality. I was not at all happy!
"Open your eyes Mae," Uncle called.
I opened my eyes, sat up and glared at them all. I snarl escaped as my lips curled with distaste for them all.
"Oh my god!" Conrad said his eyes fixing on me in shock.
"Mae, watch your temper," Uncle said sounding bored as he put some medical things into a bag.
"She is going to fuck you up in bed Lee. Fuck you up," Conrad said as his grin grew and Lee stared in disbelief.