The House Keeper

13.

"Who? Cody?" Oliver looked over to me.

"Who is he to you?"

"Cody is my nephew."

I was surprised. I sat down on the pile of blankets. "I thought he was your son."

"My son?" Oliver laughed. I looked up at him and shrugged. Oliver sat next to me and took in the heat from the fire. "No. I had a brother."

"That explains why Cody looks like you. Wait, had?" I looked over at Oliver.

He looked sad. "Yeah. Had. He died three years ago. Drug overdose."

"I'm sorry." I whispered.

Oliver shrugged. "Cody's parents were party people. Always on the party scene. They did it for years. Sarah cleaned herself up when she found out about Cody. But Conner, Conner just didn't want to. He didn't want to give up the high that drugs gave him."

"Sarah was doing well. She was sober and clean for seven months. She was eight months pregnant when they had a huge fight. She rang my parents in tears. She needed money to buy a cot but Conner stole it and pumped it up his arm."

This was a sad story, I thought to myself.

"Conner started stealing, petty thefts, from Sarah, he conned our parents, he even tried robbing a bank. We found out he had swapped speed for ice. He became violent in his rages and then one day he didn't come home. Sarah had the police come over and break the news to her."

"They found him in a club bathroom. Sarah was distraught. Even though they fought over everything, she loved him. Him dying broke her. She didn't come to the funeral. No one could find her. Then the hospital rang. They had her in there and they were doing an emergency caesarean on her. She was found high as a kite, the baby in danger, they decided he had to come out."

I was so enthralled by his words.

"My parents took Cody in. Sarah went to rehab. But as soon as she was out, my parents vouched for her, expected her to turn up. She fled. No one has seen or heard of her since. She hasn't even met Cody."

"That's terrible." I whispered. "What do you say when he asks where his mum is?"

"We tell him she died. That the very first time she held him, she smiled and kissed his head. She called him Cody. She told him she loved him so much and then she died."

I felt a tear slip down my cheek. That was really sad. A finger touched my cheek and wiped the tear away. I looked up at Oliver.

"That's really sad." I whispered to him. Another tear escaped and another. Suddenly I was crying. I was crying for a child I had just met. I felt strong arms wrap around me as I sobbed. "That poor boy."

"Hey, it's okay. He is happy. He loves his nan and pop very much, but he is getting too much for them for full time. That's why he is here."

I sat up off Oliver. "Wait. He flew in? With whom?"

"No one. A flight attendant looked after him. It was only a thirty minute flight."

I gasped. "All by himself? He's what? Three? Four?"

"Three."

"That's horrible."

"Yeah I know. I wasn't impressed either. But he is safe. That's all that matters."

I watched the fire in front of me. I wanted to ask him something personal, but I decided not to.

I rubbed my arms as I shivered again. I felt a blanket drape on me. I looked at Oliver through the corners of my eyes. He stared intensely on the fire.

"Thank you."

I looked over at Cody. That small tiny boy had a history already. No one deserves that at three.

I wanted to lay down on the pile of blankets, Oliver must have wanted to as well because he stood up and peeled some back.

I moved out of the way and then sat back down.

"Well now you know something about me, I think it's only fair I know something about you."

I scoffed. "The only thing I learnt about you is you're an uncle."

"Ha! Whatever."

I saw the smile on his face. "I'm an only child. That I know of."

"That you know of?"

I smiled at him. "I don't know my dad and I barely know my mother."

"And that's all you're going to share, isn't it?"

I nodded, staring in to the fire.

"You're real chatty all of a sudden." Oliver laughed at me.

"I don't talk about my family."

"Very well."

I yawned. I was getting tired again. I barely had any sleep.

"Did you want to sleep?"

I nodded. I laid down on the blankets and used a cushion as a pillow.

"Then give me something else?" I heard Oliver ask. I opened my eyes to see him.

"Pardon?"

"Tell me something else I don't know about you."

I racked my brain. "I don't know what to tell you." I rolled on to my back. I could hear they tiny snores from Cody. "I'm a boring person. I don't have a social life, I have next to no family and my boss is trying to turn me in to a workaholic."

I sneaked a look at Oliver, but it was hard to see his face properly. "I am not!" He defended himself.

I laughed then.

"I suppose,"

"You've got me working nearly every waking minute of my life."

"Have you got a problem with that?"

I propped myself up on my arms. "No, I don't. I only said it because some people need to learn how to smile."

"I smile."

"No. You smirk."

I dared him to fight it but he didn't. I sighed as I laid back down. "I've travelled a bit, years ago."

I saw Oliver turn to look at me.

"It wasn't by choice really. I went from one foster home to another. Just bouncing around in the system till I was eighteen."

I saw the look Oliver gave me.

"My mother couldn't look after me properly. I ended up in a foster house and every Christmas I was sent back home and two weeks later, I was always back in a new foster home for the year. I worked from when I was fifteen, saved enough over the years and stayed the last year that I turned eighteen in a group home and moved out. Been on my own since."

Oliver was quiet after that. He didn't ask any more questions as I closed my eyes. I was still cold, and it was hard to keep warm with no heater, just a fire place. My feet were warm but the rest of me wasn't.

Oliver saw me shivering and laid down next to me. I felt his arms around me.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Trying to keep you warm. I'm using my body heat."

It wasn't long after that when I had stopped shivering and I had let sleep take over.

Here is another chapter for you all! 😃

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Really, it's just a small back story in their personal lives, but even the smallest details make a difference.

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