Chapter sixteen
“Where are my most beautiful nieces in the world?”
“Auntie, Deby!” The girls got up from the carpet in the living room where they were playing and came running when I opened the living room door for my sister.
“Be careful not to hurt yourselves.” I tried to stop them, but it was too late because they were soon clinging to Deborah's thighs.
“Look who came with me.” She moved her head back and made me and the girls notice the rest of the family coming down the corridor.
“Uncle Ty!”
“Grandpa, Grandma!”
The twins walked up to them without even waiting for them to enter.
“Why didn't you tell me that the family lunch was going to be at my house?” I frowned as I faced my sister.
“To run the risk of you making up an excuse?”
“I haven't prepared anything.”
“Relax.” He patted me on the shoulder. “I ordered it from a restaurant, and should be delivered in a few minutes. All you have to do is pay the delivery man.”
“Why me?”
“He's the host, that's all.”
I shook my head but ended up laughing. As much as I liked my solitude, having my family around was great for my daughters.
“Come on in.” I opened the door wider and gestured for them to go through.
“Who's the plane?” Tyler picked Mary up, and she stretched out her little arms, making noises as my brother spun her from side to side, as if she were flying.
“I want some too!” Anne pulled down his pants.
“Come here to Grandpa's,” called my father.
He picked up the other little girl and played with her until her old arms could no longer support her weight.
Everyone went into the living room, and Tyler put Mary down on the sofa.
“My granddaughters are the cutest thing in the world.” My mother sighed as she stopped next to me, watching the two of them.
“Yes, they are,” I agreed, even though it wasn't a question.
“How are you, son?” He put his hand on my shoulder, drawing my attention to himself.
“Great.”
“Are you sure?”
“Why wouldn't I be?”
“I know it's hard for you to look after both of them on your own. You've been fighting an uphill battle since Daphne left us.”
“I have more resources than many single parents around the country.”
“Life isn't just about money.”
“But it solves all the problems.”
“Not all of them, my son.”
“Most of them, and that's enough for now.”
“You know we're here, don't you?”
“I know.” I smiled at her. “Deborah won't let me forget.”
“She's a good sister.”
“Only sometimes...” I stopped talking when I saw my sister kneel next to my daughters and put her finger to her lips, signaling for them to keep it a secret.
They nodded in agreement, and I came closer to analyze what was going on.
“What was that all about?” I looked at the three of them with a serious expression.
“I gave them each a candy.”
“Deborah!”
“But we agreed that they wouldn't eat until after lunch, didn't we, girls?”
They nodded.
“You're terrible.”
“I'm just trying to be the nice aunt.” She shrugged as she stood up.
“You won't succeed by spoiling my daughters.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you don't have to be so boring?”
“I'm not boring.”
“I would review these concepts if I were you.”
I was about to say something, but the intercom started ringing and distracted my attention.
“It must be our lunch,” he said as he turned to the door. “Ty, go with Thom to get the door.”
“Why me?”
“Those strong arms of yours must be good for something.”
“I'm usually served, not the other way around.”
“It's a good thing we're not in court, isn't it?”
My brother shook his head in the negative and looked from side to side before finally getting up and walking with me to the door. As soon as I opened it, I noticed that the delivery man had already arrived. He gave us the bags, and I paid for the orders.
My mother helped me set the table, plates, cutlery, and glasses for everyone. As soon as we called them to eat, the twins were the first to come. And I imagined that the sweet my sister had offered might be an extra motivation.
After lunch, they went to play with my parents while I poured myself and Tyler a shot of whiskey. Deborah preferred to open a bottle of wine she had chosen from my small cellar.
“To Lennox!” Tyler raised his glass, and we made a small toast.
“To us!” Deborah joined in.
I took a sip while alternating my gaze between them and the window that showed the tall buildings of New York City.
Apart from my time in Boston while studying at Harvard, my whole life had been built there. I couldn't see myself anywhere other than that city with its skyscrapers, large corporations, and the hectic life of the residents who were always on the run.
“Have you seen the woman from yesterday again?” Deborah brought up something I didn't want to discuss at the moment.
“What woman?” Tyler seemed interested, and I looked at our sister, suspecting that she had done it on purpose.
“The twins' teacher, who Thom saved from a pervert yesterday at the nightclub we went to together.”
“I didn't know you'd got a girlfriend,” said my brother, squinting to get a better look at me.
“It's because I haven't tidied up.” I snorted.
“So who is she?”
“Nobody important.”
“But it could be.” Deborah put her hopes where they didn't belong.
“Why keep just one when you can have them all?” Tyler chuckled as he gave me a mischievous look.
“Hey, shut up!” Deborah slapped his stomach with her hand and almost made him spill his drink.
“I'm telling the truth.”
“You're an idiot, Ty, but Thomas didn't used to be like that.”
“Those were different times,” I said thoughtfully.
“Uncle!” The twins came running and grabbed my brother's legs.
“What is it, little ones?”
“Vion!”
“Vrummm!”
“But I can only do it with one at a time.” He looked at them both, and they nodded.
Taking it in turns could help them learn to wait their turn.
Tyler downed the rest of the whisky in a few gulps and handed the glass to me, slamming it down before taking one of my daughters in his arms and running off with her through the huge living room of my apartment.
“He's better with children than you think.” Deborah watched Tyler play with the girls.
“Maybe he's just an uncle.”
“I think he'll be a good father too.”
“For that, you need to stop with a woman.” I reached out to leave the empty glass on the tray.
“He's not the only one.”
“It won't start.” I twisted my lips in irritation and looked away. “My moment has passed.”
“You act as if you died with her,” he muttered.
“I never said that.” I was even more irritated by the direction the conversation was taking.
“Years have passed, and you're still here, single, bitter, and sad.”
“It's not because I haven't found another wife that I'm bitter and sad. My daughters are a constant source of joy.”
“They're lovely, but that's not what I'm talking about.”
“I don't want a girlfriend, Deborah, and certainly not another wife.”
“Why not?”
“You know.”
“I may have forgotten.”
“You're not going to do that to me.” I crossed my arms.
“I'm not doing anything. You're the one with the dodgy answers. You always get like that when I try to tell you that you need to go out and meet new people. I'm not even talking about getting married, but a girlfriend could be great for you.”
“I'm fine the way I am.”
“You know she's never coming back, don't you?”
“Of course, I know!”
“So...”
“So, nothing, Deby.”
“Why are you doing this to yourself, Thom? It's torture you don't need. You don't have to punish yourself for being alive and her not.”
“Torture? You don't understand, do you?” I shook my head, and she stared at me, expecting more than just that reaction from me.
“What don't I understand?”
“It's not about tarnishing her image by putting another woman in her place or any guilt about being alive, but an accident. I've thought about it a lot, and there was nothing I could have done to stop it.”
“So what's the problem?”
“The pain...”
“Pain?” She raised an eyebrow in surprise at what I was saying.
“I loved her, and losing her was like having my heart ripped out.”
“I can imagine...”
“No! You have no idea, otherwise you wouldn't be insisting on this subject. What I went through, everything I felt when I buried her, is a pain I don't want to go through at any other time in my life.”
“It doesn't mean you'll miss the next one, Thom.”
“There is a risk.”
“Dying is the risk of being alive. Pain is the risk of having feelings, but when you feel them, good things can also come of it. The girls need someone, you...”
“We're fine.” I interrupted his speech.
“Okay.” She took another sip of her wine and stopped insisting on the subject.
I had already made up my mind never to experience that again, and I was fine with it.