Kimmie

Chapter 4: the parents return

Miles and Lola finally decided to come back after a year and a half.

Suddenly I felt scared, very scared. A sort of gloom seemed to settle over our household. We were all hugging each other and even getting teary. But none of us would acknowledge the 'elephant in the room' - the very real possibility that my birth parents would take me away.

They arrived. As you would expect there was all the:

"Oh, you look great" . . . "The kids are all growing up" . . . "Look at you" . . ." We've been having a fabulous time" . . . and, of course, "Kim, what in the world is this?" 

The six of us were then sitting around the kitchen table. I was sitting between my two sisters who were holding tightly onto me.

There was tension in the air and a sort of embarrassed silence. I don't think anybody knew quite what to say. It was broken by Mum who spoke quietly, "Lola, I'm sorry. It's really my fault . . ."

Miles interrupted, getting to his feet, "I think the girls should show me their big bedroom. I'd like to see it."

Nervously, still holding hands, we three girls went into our room and he followed us.

"Wow. It is big, isn't it?"

We just stood there uncertain what to do.

"Three beds, three girls. I wonder which one belongs to which girl. But don't tell me; I'm going to work it out, because I'm clever."

He walked around the room studying the beds and looking us up and down. We remained where we were, still uncertain.

"First thing I can see straightway, is that the sweetest girl is clearly Blyth."

It broke the ice.

"What???" Renee and I exclaimed together, "It's all an act, Uncle Miles, she just bungs it on. She's actually the world's biggest brat."

Blyth was standing there, smirking and preening herself.

"And," he went on, "I'd say that the most organised would be Renee."

"No way!" Blyth and me this time, "Everybody calls her Little Miss Messy."

"And what about, Kim? Yes, she would be the quiet one . . ."

"Kimmie??? She never shuts up. We have to wear earplugs . . ."

He soon had us laughing and yahooing. Of course, he got every single guess at the girl/bed match wrong (no doubt deliberately). We were all yelling and bagging him for knowing nothing about girls.