Baby May

A Forgotten but Familiar Face

February 2008

After deciding on her future, Alyssia got back to skating practice. It was perfect timing too because it got her back up to scratch for series 3 of Dancing on Ice.

But she didn't get far in the competition this year as her celebrity partner, Michael Underwood had to withdraw due to injury after week two.

As sad as it was, I worked out well for Alyssia as it meant she could compete in the European Championships.

Due to the last-minute decision to go, it meant she had to go alone. Anita and Brian are both busy and Toby is working, though they have all promised to watch from home.

European Championships are in Dublin, Ireland so it's not a huge flight to do alone. She competed in the semi-finals yesterday making it to the finals which take place tomorrow.

A full day off to do what she likes, Alyssia checks at the hotel reception desk for leaflets for something to do. Several catch her interest but one that stood out most was Delta Sensory Gardens in Carlow, only an hour from her hotel.

With nothing else grabbing her attention she gets a taxi to her destination. She ends up getting to taxi to drop her off in Carlow town centre and she walks to the gardens. She's glad she did too.

Despite being February it's a lovely sunny day and the town is beautiful, the gardens are just as beautiful. Alyssia discovered the place only opened in spring the year before and supports a local disability charity.

The place was bigger than she imagined it would be, she was stood admiring the garden's waterfall when she looked to her left after noticing a man sitting on a bench out the corner of her eye.

The man catches her attention because for a reason she isn't sure of, Alyssia feels as though she knows this man. His face is familiar but how? How does she know this man?

He has dark hair though greying due to his age and a moustache oddly familiar to the one Freddie sported.

She doesn't realise she's staring until the man makes eye contact with her, "I seem to have captured your attention dear."

"Sorry," She averts her eyes before looking back at him, "For a reason I don't know my brain is telling me I know your face, but I don't know how or where from."

"It's funny you should say that, because while your back was to me, I could have sworn you were someone I used to be well acquainted with yet from the front you look just as much like this person. However, the person I'm thinking of is male and older than yourself, more my age. Maybe we should introduce ourselves and put our minds to rest?" He suggests, offering her a seat beside him.

Alyssia takes feeling strangely comfortable with this man, "I'm Alyssia May, I think the person your talking about might be my dad..."

"Brian May," He finishes her sentence, eyes tearing up in the process, "That's a mystery solved, I'm Jim Hutton."

A memory hits her like a ton of bricks, her as an infant sat at the piano on Freddie's lap then Jim comes in with a cup of juice for her.

Then another of her sat on the kitchen counter at Garden Lodge, she looks about a year and a half. Freddie is holding her hands to stop her from falling off and Jim is trimming her curls, under the watchful eye of Anita.

Tears in her eyes now, she gasps, "You were Uncle Freddie's husband."

"Not legally sadly, but we saw each other as married, wore wedding bands too. Goodness, this is a blast from the past," Jim smiles squeezing her hand, "I haven't seen you since the evening before..."