The Half Brother by Christine Keighery

Author:Christine Keighery [Christine Keighery]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ultimo Press
Published: 2023-02-10T00:00:00+00:00

Stef had been wide awake when Hannah came to her room. She hadn’t been able to shake the creeped-out feeling Alex had triggered with his pyjama story. Every time she closed her eyes, she’d visualise the fucked-up situation. Still, when Hannah suggested they go to see their mum in her room, she’d been reluctant.

Today, Alex had changed her life. It was only possible to fully understand the weight she’d been carrying on her shoulders after it was lifted. The last thing Stef wanted was to betray – no, that was ridiculous – disappoint her brother. So she had pleaded the late hour. She’d thought of bringing up Alex’s comment about there being no need to visit each other’s quarters, but on second thought that seemed disloyal. Of course Alex hadn’t forbidden them. Stef had clearly misunderstood his intention.

Regardless, Hannah was strident. Hannah won.

Stef didn’t knock on Marg’s door though. That the sound might reverberate seemed unnecessarily risky.

Stef’s and Hannah’s rooms were grand, but Marg’s was next level. The bed was a four-poster with a billowing canopy of shimmering rose gold. Behind it, the curtains were open to a view of the footbridge, with fairy lights casting a spell over the surrounding gardens. In a baby-blue nighty and matching slippers that Stef had given her for Christmas, Marg crossed the great expanse between the bed and the door. Her eyes were red rimmed.

‘Mum,’ Stef said, thankful now that Hannah had made her come, ‘are you okay?’

As the three women sat down on a white leather couch, Marg sighed heavily. ‘I’m so sorry if I implied Antonio was the only love of my life,’ she said. ‘Hannah, Stef, I adore Jim. I love your father.’

‘We know,’ Stef said gently. ‘He loves you too. And he will come back. I just know it.’

Marg seemed not to hear. ‘I’m sorry for a lot, but how can I be sorry for everything? Should I be sorry for everything?’ she asked, her voice cracking.

Stef gulped down the lump in her throat. This wasn’t the mother she knew. Marg wasn’t one to ask advice on how she should feel. Marg was pragmatic and solid.

But here she was. The same mother. Lost.

‘If it had turned out differently, if our absurd plan had somehow worked, I wouldn’t have you girls,’ Marg said then. ‘So I can’t be entirely sorry. But what did I leave Alex to? Who did I leave him with?’

‘I guess we’re finding that out together,’ Stef said. ‘But, Mum, you couldn’t have known what kind of family you were giving Alex to. You were told so little.’

‘I was told little and I chose to believe it,’ Marg said.

‘You didn’t have an option,’ Stef replied, and maybe it was amplified by guilt about her earlier thought that she would never have allowed her baby to be taken, because both Hannah and Marg shushed her. ‘Anyway,’ she continued in a whisper, ‘there are obviously good things about the way Alex has been brought up too. I mean …’ She paused and gestured around the room and beyond.

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