Chapter 42 #2
Finlay said, “Do you think we want that? We don’t want that!”
“We’re not making any decisions about that now,” Zane said, holding up a hand, “because we’re not ready for it yet. I’ll be there for you kids exactly as much as I can be, like always, and I’m sure Skylar will tell her kids the same. It’s change, and change can be hard, but it can be good, too.”
“When the quake hit and Finlay and Scarlett stepped up the way they did, especially before Zane came to help,” Skylar put in, “I was proud of both of you. I was proud of all of you. I was also scared. I know adults don’t usually tell kids that, but I think they should.
You should know that it’s OK to be scared.
We can feel the fear and not have it stop us, and that’s what all of us did.
When you stood on the pavement with me to look for your dad, Scarlett, and when you took such good care of Forrest, you didn’t let your fear stop you.
When you kept all the kids together against the wall, Finlay, you were keeping your head.
And when you comforted Scarlett when she was worried about her dad, you showed your heart.
All of you did so well that day, which is why I know we can manage this, too.
We can work together and work it out. And I have something else to say, too, because I think it matters.
I need to tell you a wee story to do it. ”
“Go on,” Zane said. “I like your stories.” Scarlett may have rolled her eyes, but he wasn’t looking.
“When I was pregnant with Olive,” Skylar said, “I thought, ‘How can I have enough love, when Finlay has all of my heart?’ I asked a mum friend, I was that worried. Do you know what she told me?”
“No,” Olive said. “What?” The others actually looked like they were listening too, so that was good. Zane wouldn’t have had a clue what to say to make this better, but Skylar probably did.
“She told me,” Skylar said, “that a heart is expandable. Or maybe it’s not exactly that.
A heart has heaps of rooms, that’s more like it.
You can open door after door, and every door will lead into another room, like magic.
And every one of those rooms is filled with love.
That’s how a mum can love three kids from the bottom of her heart and still have love left over for more.
For more kids, for her granddad, and for a man. ”
Time for him to put in his bit, Zane decided.
“That’s a good one, because it’s true. A man loves exactly the same way.
He can even love his first wife after she’s gone and find room for another love.
” He wondered if Skylar had realized yet that she’d said the L-word.
Probably, and she was probably getting nervous about it, too.
He’d deal with that tonight. They were moving too fast, maybe, but how else was he meant to lock her in, so to speak, before he resumed being gone all the time?
No risk, no reward.
“That doesn’t make sense, though,” Duncan said. “Hearts are just organs.” Proving that Duncan was Zane’s kid, because that was probably what he’d have said at eight, too.
“You’re right,” Skylar said. “I know the love doesn’t actually live there.
But it feels like it, doesn’t it? If you close your eyes and think of a time when you loved somebody very much, when they were holding you and you felt warm and safe and cared for, don’t you feel that feeling in your body? Don’t you feel it in your chest?”
“I guess,” Duncan said doubtfully.
“Families are messy,” Skylar said. “And blending families, which is what we’re doing, a bit—that’s messier.
That doesn’t make it bad. Mess is only bad when you shove it under the bed, or when the dirty dishes take over your kitchen so you can’t cook and your benchtops are full of crumbs and spilt food. That’s bad.”
“You’d get bugs then,” Finlay said.
“Exactly,” Skylar said. “You’d have all sorts of problems. It could even make you ill.
But if you deal with the mess when it happens, you can get it sorted.
You can wash those dirty dishes and clean off your benchtops.
You can take the rubbish out and put it in the bin.
And we’ll do exactly the same thing. Every time a problem comes up, every time somebody feels unhappy, we’ll stop and clean up the mess.
We’ll wash off whatever we have to, and we’ll chuck the rubbish in the bin.
There’s always going to be rubbish and mess.
That’s life, and you can’t run away from it.
You talk it over, you deal with it, and then you love each other anyway.
Even though it’s not perfect. Even though it’s messy.
You love each other anyway. And that’s what we’re all going to do. ”
He kissed her. How could he help it?
“OK, I guess,” Finlay said, “except that Snowball’s going to start pooing in our shoes again if we keep leaving him alone. That’s what’s going to be a mess. I hope you’ve got a plan for that, too, because cat poo is gross.”