December 20th! Only a few days to the popular celebration-- Christmas. It had snowed all through the night, the next morning was chilly.
Mermaid street looked stunning with the combination of the snow on every roof top, the paved cobbled roads, the lined up houses on both sides of the street, and on every house, there were red and green flowers and lights. The street glowed in its glory! After all, it is the most popular street in London, its name, unique! The schools were on holiday, the Rye railway stations, were filled with people, the trains brought in people for the holiday and some traveled out of the town for the season. Hospitals, airports and the Rye museum were beautifully decorated for the holiday season. It had been ten days since Olivia visited the mansion and left a troubling stain on the hearts of Amelia and William, the problem seemed to have no solution, it was a trying time for the couple, and it dealt with them. For some nights, William could find no sleep, Amelia had not spoken to her husband since that day. Despite the pleas from William, she only ignored him and went on with the rest of her duties as a wife. This troubled William greatly, he had no idea what his wife was thinking, was she going to leave him? Would she ever forgive him? How could he solve the problem and make Amelia happy again? Poor William. He began drinking again, he sat in a bar for hours; thinking, wishing and hoping. Just like every other night, he crawled into the bed after his bath, and whispered I love you to Amelia, took out the lamp beside him and found peace in his sleep. Amelia too, surrendered to sleep without saying a word to Will. William was awakened that morning by Amelia, she was sitting up on the bed beside him, she tapped on his arm once or twice and brought William's mind and body into the real world. "Huh!" William reacted, his eyes blinked, then he saw his beautiful Amelia looking over him with a faint smile, at once, he moved his legs and sat up beside her. His eyes cleared up, the wet mist in his eyes shifted, he admired his wife, he loved her lustrous, auburn hair, her light brown eyes which were so sincere, he loved her small well-rounded nose, her well carved jaw, he remembered the taste of her pink and black soft lips; how he has longed to kiss her for too long now. Her light brown, smooth skin always glowed, and even though she just awoke, she looked like a goddess! She was his queen. Her slim body always invited him in, she made him loose his senses, she was his most valued possession. He feared losing her. "William, Will are you there?!" She awakened his thoughts. "Huh, oh! My love". "Good morning babe, sleep well?", Amelia greeted and tried to force a smile but couldn't. "Yes I did", they were silent again. William took Amelia's palms in his and pulled himself closer to her. "Forgive my breath, won't you?" He smiled. "Certainly, only if you forgive mine?", she winked back and they both laughed heartily for the first time in what seemed like forever. "I missed you babe, so much! You've made me crave for you for too long, do you have to hurt me like this?" "I missed you too Will, I've been so angry at you-- ", she trailed off and lowered her eyes. William took her soft cheeks in between his palms and played with it. "Don't let Olivia cause a drift between us, what we have is beautiful, I don't want to lose you!" William breathed out. "Oh, but you won't lose me", she assured him with a smile and kissed William's cheek, William returned a warm kiss on her forehead. They stared into each other's eyes for 0.5 seconds. "I've done some thinking babe, I think-- I strongly agree with what Olivia said the other day. I mean, I don't blame any of you, it was all my fault, I left! I never knew what you went through during the time I was away. Olivia healed your heart, she filled the space I bore open. I left an untreated sore in your heart and I'm sorry for that". "Hey, don't be, it's okay!" William whispered into her face. "It's not anyone's fault", he added. "You have a daughter and that's beautiful, she's so fragile and innocent and Olivia's right, she needs a home!", she paused and shrugged, "We should give her what she wants, take her as a wife, for the sake of Audrey, you have my permission!" "You would do that?!" William was shocked at her words, his ears could not believe it, his eyes widened up. "Yes I would! Everyone knows Olivia would stop at nothing to get what she wants, she'll keep coming back, you can't arrest her, you can't kill her, she doesn't even want to be reasoned with. It's true!" She widened her eyes and the skin on her forehead wrinkled a little. William nodded in agreement. "Amelia I don't want to marry Olivia, I don't need a second wife! How would I cope? You do realize that your husband would be shared right? Even in bed?" He groaned and stressed the words to give emphasis. Amelia looked away, lost in thoughts, William watched her intently. She stood up from the bed and stood in front of the mirror. "If it comes to that, so be it!", this time her eyes were filled with an upcoming flood and her voice sounded rough. William quickly moved to her side and held her, her head relaxed on his chest. Amelia released the flood and the water flowed freely down her cheeks falling on Will's shirt. "I just can't do it Amelia, I can't, I love you too much! There must be another way. They'll come live us, that's it! She can't be my wife", William turned her face to his, he kissed her tears on both cheeks then his palms dried up the tears. "Please don't cry, no more of this". "I won't-- I won't, I'm sorry", she sniffed in the mucus in her nose and chuckled. "Whether you marry her or they live here as guests it's the same thing Will. But we have to make it legal, Audrey has to be a legitimate child. This is our life now, let's face it. Marry her okay, please", they stared into each other's eyes and fell into a warm hug. "Alright I'll think about it. I love you!" William whispered closely to her ears. "I love you back!" She mumbled.She banged loudly and coldly at the door without feeling. She had promised she would be back with trouble and this she did. "William! William! I know you're in there, you come out this instant!" Olivia continued banging on the white, hard wood door and the house shook! "Hey!" Someone called to her from above, Olivia turned around in shock searching for the voice. "Hey Olivia, up here!" Mrs Johnson stuck her head out the window from her room upstairs, she could see the whole street from up there. She looked down at Olivia determined to give her a piece of her mind. "Do you know that this is the Johnson residence? Why are you being childish, do you want to bring down the house?" She stopped and adjusted her weight on the window frame. "I-- ", Olivia tried to speak up. "If you don't leave this instant, I'll call the police on you, you hear me?!" "I'm sorry ma'am but I ain't leaving till I see William, I'll just have to keep banging on the door until he comes out!". "I said leave
"Yeah let's do it! You and Audrey should come live with us, Audrey has a right to a family and to her Father, you have my permission", she ended. Olivia couldn't believe her ears, she stared into Amelia's face with eyes wide open. Amelia decided not to say anymore, she was sure Olivia understood her words, she need not say more. A few seconds passed without Olivia saying a word, the room felt awkward. "Olivia, did you hear what she said?", William quickly asked, after studying her face. "Yeah, sure, of course I heard", she blinked flutteringly, then turned her eyes to Will. "So uh--, William what's your say on this?" "You already know where I stand on this, this is crazy! And both of you have given me no choice, no decision of mine. I'm the victim here, a hostage!" He glared at Olivia with fury and heat, Olivia could feel it from across the room. Amelia swiftly and affectionately grabbed on to Will's lap, squeezing the upper flesh; she stared pleadingly into William's eyes, and Wi
They got ready and were all seated in the living room waiting for William to return with the registrar. It had been more than thirty minutes since he left. Only a few seconds ago Olivia's Mother had entered the mansion with baby Audrey, she joined the other women in the living room, feeling uncomfortable most of the time. The room was as silent as a desert, the women said nothing to each other only when they had exchanged greetings. They sat on the large chairs looking all clean, classsic and gorgeous! Audrey slept peacefully in her grandma's arms. Viola couldn't bear the silence anymore so she got up and went into the kitchen with the thought to make some tea. She quickly lit the stove, balanced a small silver kettle filled with water on the flames. Then she set up ten small-sized silver teacups on a silver tray, the cups beautifully surrounded a silver slim jug which sat in the middle of the tray, the mouths of the cups were turned upside down on the surface of the round tray;
LONDONRYE, EAST SUSSEX TOWNMERMAID STREET.2005************Chapter 11 Do you remember William? Oh of course you do! It had been fifteen years since William became a married man and you know by now that has two beautiful wives! It would greatly interest you to know that he now has ten children, and a house full of relatives! The William .A. Johnson family turned out to be a strange and crazy neighbour to the others on Mermaid street. Every home, street, farm, market and hospital knew of the strange Johnson family. Amelia had three boys and two girls, while Olivia had two boys and three girls! The two women got along just fine, in their own way. They occasionally had their differences but they had a soft spot for each other. When Amelia lost her Mother, her Father came to live with her in the mansion. Amelia's father and William's mother came to be known as Grandpa and Grandma. They never had anything to do in the house, they continued to grow old in their peaceful environment,
Though, Rye town was a little one, it had everything it needed. A beautiful place to live in. A town with busy people and busy lives-- Rye only knew peace and quiet during the weekends. One of the hospitals in Rye, needed a doctor not just any doctor, an eye doctor, An optometrist! Dr Joe was summoned from one of the cities in London. He was to fly in on Monday and travel down to Rye. He would save the eyes of many patients. He would also teach other young Doctors of his practice and when they were ready for the task, the Doctor would return home. Arrangements had been made for him in respect of his accommodation. A letter had been sent to one of the families on Mermaid street asking for their permission to allow Dr Joe live as a guest in their home only for a few weeks until he's found a place of his own; the kind family agreed to this! For the first time in his life, Joe laid down his feet on Rye's soil. A beautiful place, he thought to himself. I think I'll like it here!
It was seven in the evening already and every family member of the Johnson's had found their way back to the dark home. "Thanks for that awesome meal, that's the best thing I've had in years!" Joe had just hungrily emptied a plate of hot spaghetti and a couple of meatballs. "I'm glad you love my cooking" Viola blushed. The kids began to giggle, "Aunt V likes Joe o, Aunt V likes Joe o" they teased them and fled the room still giggling. "Don't pay attention to them, they're kids" A shy Viola put in. "Uh huh, yeah I guess so", Joe nodded. "So! Why don't I show you to your room?" Viola snapped, trying to ease the atmosphere. "Yeah, okay!" The Johnsons had spent a whole lot of money and time building the mighty house. Their's were the largest on the street, it was always dark on the inside, just like the other houses on the cobbled street. The houses on Mermaid street were closely lined up, the shades from each house shadowed the windows. But there was som
"Shh! We can't afford to wake him up!" "Everybody, focus!" "Do we really have to do this?!" "Yeah, we have to know the person we've let into our home!" "Keep your voices down guys. I gave him one of the hints in the book". "Alright, that's rule number what?" "Monica, bring out the rule book". "Oh here it is, rule number four, 'To find the key, you must first unlock the door, find two keys and begin your journey'". "Oh no you guys, go easy on him, he seems like a nice guy!". "That's not important for now, let's get on with it, shall we?" "Ok so, what's quest number 4?" "Sleep walking!" Uncle Millie rubbed his palms against each other with excitement and brought out a large candle. William sprayed some paprica on the lit candle and everyone present, smiled mischievously. "Seven candles, for seven nights!" "Hahaha, let the show begin!" A party of seven tiptoed on to the guest section. The unknown candle was placed on the ground in front of Joe's room. It's scent and smoke w
"That was so fun!" "Did you see that? I slipped on ice!" "This is so unfair, I should've won!" "Well you were too slow, boo-hoo!" "In your face! Chubby". He stuck his tongue out. "Oh my God! Kids kids! Calm down. Go to your room, shower and go to bed!" Amelia ordered. They all had returned from the park. Some played on ice, some played football, others enjoyed bowling; even though the ball was too heavy for them. The old folks were asleep somewhere in the house. William wasn't coming home today, Viola and her sisters-in-law, just had some quality time with the kids. "Aww, mum! No dinner?" "Not when you guys are so noisy". Amelia answered. "Remember you kids are black, not barbarians!", Olivia added. "Wow! Something smells nice". They began to sniff in the aroma. Everyone ran up to the kitchen to find the chef. "Hey guys! Welcome, welcome. Have your seats, cause dinner's ready!" "Yaaaay!" The kids happily reacted. "You can cook?" Caro wondered. "You are an interesting man