Love Thy Brother

Charity Ball Weekend: Sunday and then what?

The next morning Liam woke up first. He saw Tamryn lying on her side,
still fast asleep. He decided not to wake her and got slowly out of bed
and went into his bathroom. He took a quick shower and got dressed.
When he came out of the bathroom he saw she was still sleeping. He
closed the door softly behind him and went downstairs. Everybody was
already outside.
He saw Stephanie sitting in a chair next to the pool and went over there.
They still had to continue their conversation of the night before. He got a
determined look on his face and walked over to her.

“May I sit?” he pointed to the chair next to her
Stephanie lowered her sunglasses and rolled her eyes at him: “If you
really must!” she said without hiding the fact that she was not in the
mood for him.
Liam took a seat. “Working late again this week?” he asked her directly
“I fell behind on some admin. Why?” she gave him a stare back.
“Stephanie…..” Liam sighed and softened his voice. He didn’t want to
fight with her.
“What do you want to say, Liam? Just say it!” she said and sat forward
in her chair. Everyone was now realising that her voice was raised and
looked at them.
“On second thought, you know what? I don’t have time to hear what you
have to say.” And with that she stood up and left Liam sitting there
looking like a fool.
Allan came over to Liam. “What is going on here?” he wanted to know
from him
“Nothing. Relax, we were just talking.” Liam also stood up from his chair
and went to the kitchen to fetch himself some juice.
Allan looked at his wife and frowned. What were she and Liam up to
now? One secret was enough to put a gap between him and his
brother. Another one may just destroy them totally.
Tamryn came outside and greeted everyone. She walked past Ryan
who ruffled her hair. “You decided to join us?” he laughed
She straightened her hair and playfully slapped her brother. “Have you
seen Liam anywhere?” she asked
“He and Stephanie were just there by the pool talking. But I see they
both left.” He pointed to where they were sitting just a minute ago.
By hearing the fact that Liam and Stephanie were talking, her insides
jolted but she ignored it immediately. She was not the type of girl who went around getting jealous of nonsense. She was certainly not going to
start now.
She looked around and saw him standing in the kitchen. She walked to
him and as usual he sensed her long before she reached him. He
turned to her and smiled. “Wow, but you do sleep in, don’t you?” he
winked at her.
“Can we go somewhere to talk?” she asked seriously.
“Let’s go for a walk,” he suggested and pointed towards the pathway
behind the condo’s leading through the trees. They started walking and
when they were far enough he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her
towards him. His kiss was long and slow and it melted her insides.
“Well, good morning!” Liam said and gave a smile of satisfaction to her.
“Liam! Someone may see us!” she smiled back.
He took her hand and they started walking along the pathway. “What do
you want to talk about?” he asked curiously.
“What happens now? Where do we go from here?” she asked carefully.
“Well we take it slow and let it develop as we go.” His answer was so
relaxed that she felt so stupid asking it in the first place. But then the
worries came back and she knew she had to push through.
“Liam, you are so busy with your practice and me with my figure skating.
We will hardly see each other.” The fact that they didn’t stay in the same
city made things a bit more difficult. She was in Cape Town and he in
Stellenbosch. Although it was only a twenty five minute drive, she just
knew they would not find the time to drive that distance nearly often
enough.
“We will work it out, Tammy.” Liam tried to assure her. “I will make the
time. I will not lose you.” He was very serious when he said that.
“You know when I go back now I’m going to have to work very hard and
long hours. The championship is in two months,” she reminded him.
“Yeah, too much time in the arms of Skater Boy!” Liam said annoyed.

Tamryn laughed: “His name is Tristan!”
“I really don’t care!” Liam said and sounded just a little bit jealous.
“Tristan and I have been skating together since I was twenty, Liam.
There was never something between us. There is really nothing to
worry about.”
“Well, I never liked him,” he continued. Tamryn just shook her head and
smiled. “Tammy,” Liam said on a more serious note, “we will make it
work. You are important to me. I will do anything to make this work.” To
prove what he just said he took her face between his hands and kissed
her again. His kisses knocked her off her feet. She would never get
used to this!
That afternoon they all said their goodbyes and packed their cars. Liam
helped Tamryn load her luggage in her car and when she got in her car
he was leaning on the door watching her through her open window:
“Now remember: I love you. I will call you. Drive save.” And with that
he gave her a kiss on the cheek. She drove away leaving him standing
there. He watched her car until he could not see her anymore. She
smiled and her heart sang: He loves me! He loves me! He really, really
loves me!!
In the weeks that followed, it all happened as Tamryn feared. They did
not get any time to see each other. They talked over the phone but as
the weeks went by that time became shorter and shorter. She and
Tristan had to work very hard as the Championships were just around
the corner. There was no time for anything else. They practised almost
thirteen hours a day. Sometimes she was too tired to eat and would just
get home and fall in bed to sleep for a few hours before she had to get
up and do it all over again. But this was the life she chose. She was
just crazy about figure skating since she was a little girl and her parents
did everything they could to make it possible for her to follow her
dreams.
She lost a lot of weight and she started to feel sick after a while. One
morning when she woke up to get ready for yet another day of practise,
she felt so sick to her stomach and nauseous. She had no other choice
but to call Tristan and cancel their practise session for the day. She was still on the phone with him when she just had to end their conversation
and run for the bathroom.
Tamryn stayed in bed for that whole day. The next morning she felt
much better and could return to her old routine. That evening Liam
called her and they talked for a few hours. She didn’t mention anything
of her illness to him. She didn’t want him to worry and she didn’t want to
waste their precious conversation time on that.
Their conversations became shorter and shorter as she knew it would.
To hide her pain she put all her energy into her skating. Then it
happened again. She felt so sick one morning that she had to phone
Tristan again and cancel.
“Maybe you should go and see a doctor!” he said worriedly
Tamryn knew he was right and made an appointment with her house
doctor. She couldn’t afford to get sick now. Not with the Championship
only two weeks away!
Tamryn sat in the doctor’s office the next morning, nervously waiting for
her to come back with her blood test results. She fiddled with her dress
and bounced her one leg up and down. Then the door opened and Dr
Wilson entered. She couldn’t read the expression on her face. She
waited impatiently for her to sit down behind her desk.
“Well,” she started and paused. She gave Tamryn a serious look. “I
don’t know if you are going to see this as good news or bad news.” The
doctor bit her lip and looked at Tamryn pointedly before she said: “You
are six weeks pregnant.”
Tamryn felt as if the life was sucked out of her. She just sat there and
stared blank faced at the doctor. “Excuse me?” she asked when she got
her voice back. “Wh…. ?” the words failed to form in her throat. She
swallowed hard and tried again: “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” the doctor said more slowly and clearly, “you are going to have
a baby.”
“A baby.” She just said the word. Did not ask a question. Did not move
in her chair. She was going to have a baby. Liam’s baby.