Love Thy Brother

Charity Ball Weekend: Friday Night

Tamryn took a sip of her white wine and placed the glass back on the
garden table in front of her. The ice inside was melting fast. It was a
very hot Friday night. She listened with one ear to the conversation
taking place between her two sisters-in-law. Now and then she would
smile or utter a few words just enough for them to think that she was
participating.
She glanced at her family. They all came to their parent’s farm just
outside Franschoek in the Western Cape for the weekend. They call it
“family weekend”. Mom started it a few years ago when all her children
went off to college. She could not stand the empty house. They were
always a very close-knit family. And then two years ago their parents
died in a tragic car accident. They decided to keep up with the tradition.
So every two months or so they would all get together for the weekend
to catch up on each other’s lives.
“I’m not sure what to do.” Lydia said with a sigh, “I just don’t have the
energy anymore.”
Lydia was her eldest brother’s wife. She was slender and small and her
dark curly hair fell over her shoulders as she turned to look at Tamryn. It
was as if she was looking for an answer. Luckily before she had to say
anything, one of the boys in the pool gave a loud shout. All the adults
froze, then his other three cousins started to laugh at him. To
everybody’s relieve they realised they were playing a joke on him.
“Boys!” Lydia said, “Settle down. Don’t hurt each other.” And then she
turned back to her conversation.
Ryan walked over to his wife and kissed her on the head: “They are just
boys, my Love. They will never settle down.” He went back to the
barbeque grill where his other two brothers were.
Thirty-two year old Ryan takes after their father. He was strong and tall
with light brown hair and brown eyes. He is always calm and collected
but keeps his siblings intact. He was the only one interested in taking
over the farm from their Dad. After school he went to Stellenbosch tostudy for his Bachelor’s degree in farming. When he returned home, he
worked side by side with Dad. Anyone could see it was his passion. His
other passion was miles away. Lydia. They met at a friend’s house one
night. Lydia was studying to become a teacher.
It wasn’t long after Ryan returned home that they decided to get married.
The long distance relationship was not for them. They have been
married for eight years now and very happily so. They have two boys:
Joshua aged seven and David aged six. It was David who just gave the
shout. The other kids usually played pranks on him.
Glancing over to the kids in the pool, now throwing a ball at each other,
she smiled. She loved them so much. As if they were her own. Would
she ever have a chance to have children of her own with the man she
truly loves? She turned her head ever so slightly and then her eyes
found him…. Her heart skipped a beat and she quickly took another sip
of her wine. It calmed her nerves.
Lately she could not function as a normal human being around him if she
did not have enough wine in her system. Without it she felt as if she was
tripping over everything and mixing up her words. She felt her feelings
would be displayed on a huge board for all her family to see. For him to
see. And she could not have that at all.
He was not even aware of her where he was standing, joking and
laughing with his brothers. Her brothers. Her stepbrothers. He’s the
middle brother. Liam. Thirty years old and three years her senior.
Straight, almost black hair. Blue-green eyes that could look right
through you. Tall. Very tall. Well built. Dimples in his cheeks when he
laughed. She was ticking off all the qualities that made him so
handsome. She has been in love with him ever since their high school
years.
They were always very close since they were thrown together as a
family when Mom and Dad got married. Her own father died of cancer
when she was only a baby. She never knew him. When she was four
years old, Mom married her Stepfather and they became an instant large
family with him and his three sons. Her Dad immediately started the
process of adopting her as his own. She now also had the “Scott”
surname.