Chapter 1
The Secret Door
"Amelia, come help here!"
The words were like nails scraping across a blackboard. They made Amelia gnash her teeth and clench her fists. They made her want to cry and rage. But overall, they made this nightmare feel awfully real.
They'd been in England for... what was it, a month? Maybe a month and two weeks? And she abhorred it. She hadn't wanted to move from California - when her parents had told her and her siblings they'd be spending one year in England, Amelia had felt something akin to having a bucket of ice-cold water poured on you. It had left her paralysed, afraid, and in shock. Her twin brother, Morgan, and her younger sister, Charlotte, hadn't really minded - they couldn't care less about moving away, whereas Amelia, who loved California, hadn't wanted to leave.
And to top this crappy cross-country move, her mother and father were busy.
But not as in, mummy-has-a-lot-of-work busy. She was talking about 24/7 busy.
Her mother was currently helping Uncle Maxwell with a West End tour of a play they'd put on a while ago, when they'd all lived in New York. As such, she spent most of her time outside the theatre, commuting back and forth to and from said theatre.
Not that her Daddy thought she should be. Not when she was pregnant with their next baby.
Not that he was any better about stopping work. When at home - their real home, she meant - he had a landscaping business, and he was determined to carry on practicing while they were in England, on the huge garden that sprawled out behind the old manor house they were living in for the time they were there. And when he wasn't doing that, he was trying to clean up the inside, seeing as it was so old and musty.
He was going through some old boxes of stuff when she made it down to him, and he gave a small smile up at her.
"Ah, there you are," he patted one of the nearby boxes. "Be a good girl and take this up to your room for me - it has some of your things in it."
"Can you help me with my room?" she said as she went to pick up the box - she couldn't even remember what she'd put in there...
"I can't, sweetheart," he said, opening up another box to see what was inside it. "Daddy has to put up the crib in the nursery, dear."
Again, Amelia felt the need to cry, rage and scream. All at once - her new baby brother was taking a lot of their parents' limited time. And he wasn't even out of her mummy's belly yet! It was awful...
Why did they even need another baby? Weren't she, Morgan and Charlotte enough?
"But, Daddy, you told me that-"
"Amelia, please," her father cut across her. He briefly stopped looking through the boxes to look up at her - he seemed tired...
Was he tired of her?
"I know I said we would, but I am really busy, sweetheart. We need to finish this before the baby comes, and next week Mummy has some important people coming for dinner. So could you please... manage on your own for now?"
Manage on her own. Fine. If their own daughter came after putting up a crib and a dinner for strangers, then fine.
She'd stay out of the way.
She marched forward and grabbed the box her father had tapped.
"Fine," the emphasis of repeating it a third time feeling rather powerful.
Not that her father seemed to notice. He just looked back up from what he was doing with a frown.
"It's only one box, Mia," he said, apparently annoyed. "Then you'll be free to do whatever you want for the rest of the day."
Yeah, whatever she wanted as long as it was by herself. Her siblings, Morgan and Charlotte, were staying at their grandmother Marie´s house in Beaconsfield for the week, so she couldn't exactly count on them to entertain her. She'd refused to go to Marie´s house alongside her brother and sister more out of pride than anything else; she'd seen this refusal to have fun as a radical act of protest – she'd refused to see any positive side to the situation, even if it came at the cost of not visiting her favourite grandma, and missing out on a fun-filled week alongside her siblings.
She took the box and left, heading back up to the room that had been designated hers because her parents "thought she'd love it".
She hated it now.
She hated this stupid, stupid house! And she hated stupid, stinky England! She wanted to be back home in California, with her friends, and living in her old home. Not be living in some old country which seemed to have a complicated relationship with the sun and with any kind of good weather, resulting in her having to carry a "brolly" wherever she went.
This was horrible!
And it made her want to cry.
She practically tossed the box onto her bed when she got to her bedroom. She was unlucky enough to drop a few items on the floor, including a very strange doll...
A doll that looked just like her!
She moved to pick it up, awed by the resemblance between her and the little doll - the toy was wearing a miniature version of her outfit: light blue dress, black stockings, her favourite red cardigan, and black shoes. And the look on her face... it was rather eerie.
But how had the doll gotten to her box? Maybe her Mummy had left it there for her? She could ask, couldn't she?
So, deciding that the best thing to do to clarify the mystery was talk to her mother, she grabbed the doll and pattered the length of the hallway, towards the door at the end of it - her mother's study. She knew her mother would be in there - she'd been in there practically the entire time they'd lived in the place, when she was at home.
The door was ajar when she got there, and she could see her mother at her desk, face turned downwards, towards a pile of files on the surface.
"Mummy?" she called out to her, knocking on the door. "Mummy, where did we get this-"
"I'm a little busy right now, Mia," her mother replied. "Can't you go ask Daddy?"
She hadn't even turned to look at her daughter, who was now hurt. Couldn't she take just two minutes out of her schedule to answer the question? And she knew her father wouldn't be able to help. He was too busy preparing for the arrival of the Precious Little One.
The fourth sibling, who was the only one they seemed to care about anymore.
"He is busy," she said, trying very hard not to snap at her mother - she knew it wouldn't do her any good if her Mummy got angry.
"So am I," replied C.C., closing the file she was reading and opening a new one.
Wasn't she even going to look at her?!
"Why don't you go finish up organising your room?" her mother suggested.
"I don't want to - It's boring," replied Amelia, forgetting a little about the doll as she approached her Mummy.
"Then do something else," offered her mother.
"Like what?"
C.C. had to sigh then - sigh deeply and remind herself she couldn't scream at her child. She needed peace and quiet, and Mia clearly wasn't going to give it to her, but that didn't give her the right to be cruel towards her. However, she still needed to find a way to get her out of her study - for the time being, at least.
Quickly, C.C. retrieved a small notebook from the inside of one of her drawers; then, she took a pen, and handed both items to her child.
"Explore the house," said C.C., returning to her paperwork. "Count all the doors and windows, list everything blue... just let me work!"
Amelia took the notebook, looking from it to her mother a few times.
So her mother didn't want to see her, either. She was sending her off into the house because she had no time for her.
Again, fine.
And if it passed some of the time, whatever.
So she nodded at her mother, "Alright."
But her mother had already gone back to work, so she turned and left.
She started with the upstairs landing, doing as her mother had said. She counted every window, even the ones with the cracks in them where the wind had blown tree branches against them - they were still in place, so they still counted. Even if a person felt cold going near them, especially when it rained.
When she was done, she'd go down to the next floor. And then she'd move on to make a list of something else.
And all the while, she kept the little doll that looked so much like her underneath her arm.
She left through the back door, and went into the gardens - they looked like they'd been lush and beautiful, but weren't so any longer. She followed the twisty gravel road that lead from her house to the enormous patch of land ahead of her. But soon the road came to an end, at what would have been a clearing, had it had closer trees.
It was just...a patch of dirt, really. A patch of dirt in the middle of nowhere. And she was heading right for the middle of it.
She couldn't help the curiosity - there appeared to be a large wooden lid lying right in the middle of it!
And the closer she got, the more she realised what it was the lid to. It was an old well, probably belonging to the house.
She couldn't imagine having to come all this way simply to get water! The servants back then really had it rough.
There was something inside her that yearned to get closer to that well - maybe remove the lid and see how deep it was - but she could also almost hear her mother forbidding her from getting anywhere near the well. Amelia frowned - why should she care anyway? Her parents clearly had no time for her and wanted her to manage on her own.
She was old enough to manage being around a stupid well.
Putting the doll down, Amelia looked for a pebble; she'd noticed there was a little hole in the lid of the well, so she knelt by the well, and dropped the pebble through the hole. She counted the seconds before hearing a distant splash somewhere at the bottom of the well.
She counted sixty-five seconds.
Amelia shivered a little - she truly ought to be careful around the well.
She went to look for her doll and then for another pebble. She sat next to the well and with the doll on her lap.
"Wanna throw another pebble, Mini Me?" she asked the toy. She moved its little head back and forth to simulate an answer.
She smiled down at the doll, "Good, there's plenty!"
She put the pebble over the hole, and released it into the abyss. This pebble was slightly larger, and took a little less time to make a splash at the bottom. About sixty seconds, maybe sixty-one.
She began to make a list of the pebbles she'd dropped into the well in the notebook her Mummy had given her; the small, whitish round one, the larger, flatter one that was kinda grey, the one that had a little bit of moss on it that she'd had to dig out of the ground...
She had quite a list by the time she noticed that there was someone coming up the hill towards her and the path to the house.
She'd seen the man around before, but never spoken to him. Her parents had met him and talked with him a lot back when they'd first moved in, and said he was the gardener. He didn't look like any kind of gardener Amelia had ever seen. He was ever so tall, and he had a large belly and a long moustache that kind of frayed at the ends. But he was sort-of dressed for the job, in boots and overalls, even if he had a short-sleeved shirt on underneath them.
Upon spotting her, he stopped and smiled.
"Well hello, there!" he cried out, coming towards her. "I have met your parents and there is no mistaking! You must be Emilie Brightmore!"
He had a funny accent, Amelia noticed.
Also, he'd gotten her name wrong.
"It's Amelia Brightmore," she replied, getting to her feet.
The man didn't seem to mind being corrected - he seemed troubled with something else.
"What are you doing here, Miss Emilie?" he said, insisting on saying her name wrong, "You not know well is dangerous?! It very deep, and if you fall..."
He trailed off, perhaps realising this topic could be rather distressing for a young child. Instead, he shook his head and tried to usher her away from the well, back to the manor.
"What happens if I fall?" insisted Amelia, refusing to move one inch. "Besides, I didn't even open the lid, Mr..."
"Bobinsky," said the man, "But you can call me Mr B. Anyway, Miss Emilie-"
"Amelia," corrected the girl.
"- they say the well is so deep, that if you fall to the bottom and look up, you see sky full of stars in the middle of the day!" said Mr Bobinsky, "It is not a place for little girls to play, Miss Emilie."
Hm. Maybe it was deep, but she hadn't planned on doing anything dangerous! She was just going to sit by it, and put pebbles in it! There wasn't any harm in that!
But Mr Bobinsky insisted on walking her back up to the house, "where she was safe".
Not that Amelia went happily. She was scowling deeply when the gardener realised that something was wrong, and he stopped them both half-way up the path, frowning so hard his moustache turned downwards with it.
"What is problem, Emilie?" he asked concernedly.
Well...maybe she could tell him just this one thing. Mr B was more than a little strange, but it didn't seem like he was going to hurt her...
"I'm gonna be bored up in the house," she confessed. "I have nothing to do, no one to play with, and my parents are too busy for me anymore..."
The gardener listened to her with a stroke of his moustache and a thoughtful look.
He replied when she was done, "Well, if you wish for company, you come to my house. I am training world-famous mouse circus, and I would appreciate audience!"
"Mouse circus?" asked Amelia, her brow creasing into a confused frown.
"Yes! Jumping Mouse Circus. The mice not ready though..."
The man looked downcast - even his long moustache looked sad!
"The songs I play for them goes oohmpa oohmpa," he said, thumping his chest with his clenched fist, "but the jumping mice go toodle oodle... it not very amazing."
Amelia didn't know how to respond to that - she didn't think there was a mouse circus. The man was probably a bit lonely (and more than a little bit kooky) and he had imagined all about the circus. But she wasn't going to be rude. The man was nice enough to walk her home, so she shouldn't hurt his feelings.
"Maybe someday I will," she eventually said.
Mr Bobinsky insisted on walking her to her father's study. They found Niles sat on his desk there, planning the new garden. He also had a few open files on his desk - mainly blueprints of clients' gardens in America.
"Excuse me, Mr Brightmore," said Bobinsky, knocking on Niles's door, "I found Miss Emilie playing near deep well in the gardens."
Niles' head snapped up from the files, and he turned in their direction.
"A well?" he echoed, clearly upset by the idea of his little girl being anywhere near something so dangerous.
Not that Amelia realised. She could only read his sadness as anger, and she flinched away.
Leaving his work, her father hurried straight over and knelt in front of her, taking her by the upper arms and looking her deep in the eyes.
"Sweetheart, whatever were you doing by a well?!"
So that was it. When it became an inconvenience and he had to step away from his work, then he'd pay attention! Why did he bother? She wasn't hurt or anything, and he could see that - he could go back to it now, couldn't he?
"I was just playing," she replied, trying not to look at him directly.
The floor was a safer bet, especially when it came to her father giving her one of his hard looks.
"There are safer places to play," Niles said firmly. He released a deep sigh and got back to his feet - he really wished he could spend some time with her, but he had a lot to do...
But he didn't want her to be out of his sight. Amelia was capable of getting into trouble with outstanding ease, so it would be wiser if she kept her in sight or somewhere he was sure she'd be safe. That could also spell trouble – she was clearly bored, and he knew for a fact that she'd be restless and ill-humoured if he confined her to her room. Maybe they could compromise. She could stay in his study, doing whatever she wanted for a little while, and then she'd be able to go and explore again. He had a TV in his study, books and enough supplies for her to draw if she wanted to, so it seemed like a good idea.
"Can I go now?" asked Amelia, hugging her doll and still not looking at her dad.
"No, sweetheart, I want you to stay here," he said, picking her up in his arms. Briefly, he turned to the gardener to shake his hand. "Thank you, Mr Bobinsky."
"It was my pleasure, Mr Brightmore," he said, tipping his cap. "I go back to garden now," he waved a hand at Amelia as he left.
The seven-year-old did not wave back.
Her dad carried her to the sofa in his study (the one in front of the TV), laid her on the comfiest cushion, and gave her the remote.
"Why can't I go exploring?" asked Amelia, frowning.
"Because I want to keep an eye on you, and I cannot follow you all over the house if I have to work," he said. "Now, you can explore my office, watch TV, read, or draw. When I am finished with my work, we can go have tea, okay?"
Amelia wasn't hungry, and she wasn't in the mood to do any of the things her father had suggested, but she knew those were her only choices. And she didn't want to make her parents any more tired of her than they were. If they were going to do that, she preferred they did it a bit at a time.
"Okay," she nodded solemnly.
"There's my girl," Niles smiled at her, and stroked her hair once before going back to his desk.
That small amount of affection felt like a consolation prize, or some kind of way of keeping her quiet while he got on with the really important stuff. The stuff he actually cared about.
And with that thought in mind, she snatched up the remote and began flicking through the channels.
There wasn't anything on. British TV was weird compared to American TV - the ads were shorter and less frequent, the quality was different, and nothing she liked to watch at home seemed to be on! So she soon gave up, and began looking around the room to see if there was anything about the office that she could investigate.
The office her father had chosen for himself had tall panelled walls, Victorian windows (framed by lush white curtains), and Victorian medallions on the ceiling. The new house was completely different from their mansion in Cali. It was older, bigger, and a lot creepier. She supposed it had to do with the fact the house had been built over a hundred years ago.
It just didn't sit well with her to live in a place where so many people had lived before her.
She especially disliked the carpeted floors. She would have given anything for good old linoleum floors. Or, at least, wooden floorboards!
She climbed up the little staircase that led to the upper landing, where the walls were panelled with empty bookcases built into the wall. Her Daddy had yet to fill them with things, such as books and ornaments.
Just as she was about to go back down, something caught her eye. At the end of the upper landing (which looked down on the study below) she noticed a door. A very strange looking door.
"Daddy?" Amelia called, running back to her dad, "Where does this door go to?"
Niles blinked up at her from his work again, "What door, sweetheart?"
"That door, up there," she answered, pointing towards it.
Niles followed her line of sight, and spotted it for himself. It was a very little door, less than half the height of an ordinary one, and it appeared to be very old…
Older than the house? That wasn't possible. Maybe it was just worn, and the wood had rotted from neglect...
But as to where it went, he didn't know. It looked like it went straight into a wall, there were no rooms behind it.
"I'm not sure where that goes, sweetheart," he said. "It might lead nowhere. Some older houses have doors to rooms which don't exist anymore."
"Can we open it?" Amelia asked - pleaded, really - her father.
Niles wanted to say no. He had work to do, and he had no idea where the key to that door could be. But the face Amelia was giving him...
He'd never been able to resist it.
Heaving out a tired sigh, he pushed back his chair and got to his feet.
"Fine, but afterwards you'll be very quiet and let me work, alright?" he said, opening his drawers in search for the mysterious key.
"Promise I will!" Amelia called over her shoulder as she dashed to the upper landing, taking the steps two at a time.
It took him a while, but eventually, Niles found what he believed was the key to the door. It was, by far, the most peculiar key he'd ever seen; it was hidden in the back of one of the drawers, and it was hanging from a metal chain.
"Here we are," he said, taking the key to her. "Now, go on up - but be careful! If it's a crawlspace or just seems empty, don't go in - come back and tell me."
She supposed she could do that. If he got so angry at her playing near a well, she wasn't going to take any more risks that day. She'd just look at it, that was all.
She nodded at her father, and watched him go back down to the study. She frowned, having hoped that he might stay to watch the door being opened. But that was clearly too much to ask.
So she turned back to the door, bent down and inserted the key.
Holding her breath in anticipation, she unlocked and opened it...
To find nothing but bricks behind the door.
Amelia's smile dropped away, and her shoulders sagged, "Oh..."
That was a disappointment, even if her Daddy had said that sometimes old places had doors to rooms which no longer existed.
"It's bricked up on the other side!" she called down to him.
"I told you it could happen," Niles said from his desk, "Now, what did we say about letting Daddy work?"
Amelia didn't reply. She didn't want to. She felt too hurt and ignored.
Honestly, the only thing she wanted, was to go back home.
"Why do we have to eat this, Mummy?" Amelia asked, pushing her food around her plate with her fork. Usually, her father prepared the most delicious meals for dinner, but today, for some reason, they were eating frozen meals - the ones that you could buy in the supermarket. They came pre-made and tasted like plastic.
This was the third time they'd eaten that in a week.
"Daddy was busy, Mia," said C.C., who was happily tucking into her meal. She was in her second trimester, and as such, she couldn't care less about what she ate - as long as it was food (preferably greasy food), she'd eat it. "So, I offered to cook dinner."
So it had been her mother, rather than her father, doing all of this. And no one had told her, or asked if it was alright if they ate smaller, not-as-good meals for as long as they'd been having to, and would continue to.
She pushed the food around some more, stirring it. She could swear where she dug a hole, the stuff would then just morph straight back...
"Come on, sweetheart - eat up," Niles tried to encourage, rubbing her arm. "We all know that Mummy doesn't cook very often, and she tried her absolute hardest with this."
All that did was send a pang of guilt into the pit of Amelia's stomach. She knew her mother wasn't a natural cook, but she couldn't bring herself to eat the stuff on her plate, either!
She'd rather just go hungry, than eat this stuff that her Mummy and Daddy were making her eat...
"I am not hungry," she lied, starting to think about the packet of cookies she had hidden underneath her bed.
"Either you eat it or you go to straight to bed, Amelia," C.C. said, not liking her daughter's attitude. She'd been particularly fussy and ill-tempered since they'd arrived in the UK.
Much to the two parents surprise, Amelia actually got to her feet, grabbed her tray and carried it back to the kitchen.
Or at least she tried to.
"Where do you think you are going?!" C.C. said sternly.
"To bed," Amelia said, feeling more and more frustrated by the second, "You told me I could."
"Don't be disrespectful, Amelia, come back here!" C.C. insisted, but the child only shook her head.
"Amelia Brightmore..."
"C.C., no," Niles cut her off - he'd diffused a bomb just now. He didn't want his wife and daughter to fight. However, he wasn't going to let Amelia off the hook.
"Amelia," said Niles, "Come eat with us."
Amelia scowled at her father. She couldn't hold the anger and the sadness in anymore - she used her hand to scoop up the remains of her dinner and pushed them into her mouth. She then forced herself to swallow.
"All done," she hissed.
And what could her parents do about it? She'd eaten her dinner now, so surely she could go. There was nothing keeping her down there with them anymore.
But her parents still didn't look happy.
"Amelia! You should have used your knife and fork, not your hands," her mother scolded. "We are people, not animals...!"
The telling off burned deeply within Amelia. Why couldn't they just be satisfied that she'd finished, rather than tell her off for how she'd managed it? It wasn't her fault that she'd been so desperate to finish that she'd eaten like that...
"But I'm finished, aren't I?" she just about stopped herself from snapping back. "So, can I go to bed now?"
She might as well. It wasn't like there was anywhere else for her to go, anyway.
Niles and C.C. exchanged a brief troubled look - this behaviour wasn't like Amelia. She was a sweet, well-behaved girl! They couldn't understand why she was acting that way.
It wasn't right, either.
"Oh, you will go to bed, alright," C.C. snapped. "You will go to bed right now and tuck yourself in. If you don't have manners or want to spend time with us, then you can go put yourself to bed alone."
That felt worse than a punch to Amelia. It confirmed her worst fears - her parents had no time for her. Her parents didn't want to spend time with her.
"Fine!" Amelia screamed, a few angry tears going down her cheeks, "I don't want you or need you anyway!"
Maybe it was because of her overwhelming anger, but Amelia felt the need to throw something at her parents. She knew she couldn't do that - she wasn't stupid - but the best next thing was smashing her tray on the floor. Which she did, making a satisfying mess on the carpet.
She didn't stay to listen to her parents. She just ran upstairs and into her room.
She slammed the door behind her, and threw herself onto her bed, weeping.
She hated this place. She hated the meal she'd just been forced to eat. She hated that she wasn't allowed to do anything and that her parents weren't interested in being with her anymore.
They had her siblings. They didn't want or need her, did they? They didn't love her.
She hated...no, it brought tears to her eyes even to think that.
But she did hate her life.
Her life in this stupid old house, all alone...
In the morning she'd have to learn how to manage even more by herself. But that was a thought for when she hadn't worn herself out from crying.
She was finding herself too tired to even reach down and eat the cookies she still had, under her bed.
No, she needed to try and sleep. Tomorrow would be busy, as she learned to get on without her parents.
Amelia could hear a faint chittering in the background - no, wait, it was more like a squeaking. The light, soft scuffling noises that were coming from beneath her bed awoke her; she sat up, looking around blearily for the source of the noise. She didn't remember getting under the covers or even putting on her pyjamas, but somehow, she'd ended up comfortably snuggled up in bed, wearing her favourite pyjamas.
Was this a dream?
Suddenly, a little black form scuttled from underneath her bed. It dashed out of her room and into the hallway, towards her father's study at the opposite end of the hallway.
Her curiosity piqued, Amelia practically jumped out of bed, and ran after the little creature. She followed it all the way to the study and up to the second landing, where it disappeared...
... behind the little old door.
What?
It can't have done! There wasn't a hole behind the door, it was completely solid brick!
She approached the door cautiously, as though afraid something would jump out at her.
But nothing did, and she opened the door the rest of the way...
The brick was gone. There was nothing there!
Getting down on her hands and knees to peer inside, she gasped. It was a tunnel. The little door had a tunnel behind it, and all the way down at the end there looked like another little matching door! All the way across the tunnel, which swirled with purples and blues and swayed of its own accord. It was strangely beautiful, and it seemed to pull at her...
Almost without noticing, Amelia crawled the length of the pathway, yearning to see what lay at the other side of the door. She pushed it open slowly, and she found herself...
In the upstairs landing of her father's study…?
But... hadn't she just come from there?! She looked back - and there it was, the strange, blueish tunnel. And at the end of it, another open door that gave to her father's study, too.
What was going on?!
"Amelia, is that you?"
That made the hairs on the back of Amelia's neck stand on end. That was her Daddy. And she had misbehaved during dinner - not to mention she was up past her bedtime! But what other choice did she have but to come out? She had to go and face him. Especially when he was coming up the stairs - she could see him just a few steps short of making it to the upstairs landing.
"Yes, Daddy, it's m-"
Amelia trailed off...
That wasn't her Daddy.
She shrank away in fright at first - the man coming up the stairs towards her was an almost-exact replica of her father! Apart from the eyes, which scared her the most. Instead of having any actual ones, he had a pair of black buttons sewn where they should be!
"What's the matter, sweetheart?" the button-eyed man asked, smiling cheerfully. "Don't you want any dinner?"
Dinner? She'd had dinner though, hadn't she? Downstairs, with her Mummy and Daddy.
But she hadn't liked it. And it had been small.
Just thinking about how small made her stomach grumble, and she clutched at it.
The man chuckled, and pointed to her knowingly, "I can always tell when my little girl is hungry! Now come on, your mother is waiting downstairs and may indeed start without us!"
"You aren't my father."
It was a statement. Amelia wasn't sure how she managed to sound so calm and collected when she was actually terrified. She didn't have the faintest idea of what was going on, but she knew that man wasn't her father, no matter how much he looked like him.
But her words didn't seem to trouble the man. If anything, they made him chuckle.
"Of course, I am not! I am your Other Father," the man said. He didn't make an attempt to get closer to her, but he did kneel so he could look at her in the eye.
"My... Other Father?" asked Amelia. "I didn't know I had one."
"Of course you do! Everyone does. You also have an Other Mother - she is wonderful. As Would you like to meet her? She is waiting with our dinner. I prepared it, mind you, she isn't a dab hand at cooking, is she?"
That sounded so very much like her father, whenever he zinged her mother. It didn't matter where they were, from the breakfast table, to driving, to attending school parent-teacher nights, they always found room to insult one another.
They'd found room for zingers, but not her...
So maybe meeting this Other Mother was a great idea after all. If she looked just like her Mummy, she could get at least some of her life back, even if they weren't leaving the old house...
So with a giggle, she took the hand that the Other Father offered, and followed him downstairs and along to the dining table.
Amelia gaped when she saw it; everything looked so...luxurious! Like they were throwing a dinner party but most of the guests hadn't arrived yet. And there, leaning against the counter with her arms folded and the largest grin on her face, was C.C.
Or at least, this world's version.
"Hello, my darling!" she greeted, black button eyes glinting in the light. "We've been waiting for you!"
Hearing that in her mother's voice tore at Amelia, and she brought her hand to her heart.
"You...have?" she asked.
The Other Mother and Other Father nodded, and he lay a hand on her arm.
"Of course we have!" he practically cried. "How could we start dinner without our own little one with us, too?"
That was when Mia noticed.
There was no Charlotte, or Morgan. And this version of her mother wasn't pregnant!
"But...what about my brother and sister?" she asked them. "Morgan, and Charlotte? And what about the baby my Mummy is supposed to have?"
This new version of C.C. quirked an eyebrow, and let out a chuckle as she reached over to stroke the little girl's hair, "What are you talking about, sweetheart? You're the only little one we have."
She was the...only one? She had no brothers or sisters here?
Then that meant she was the only one who'd get their attention! They didn't have to split their time up between her and anybody else!
The thought was more than attractive.
"Really?" she asked hopefully.
"Absolutely, sweetie," the Other Mother grinned. "It's just us. No one else."
No one else...she could have her parents, all to herself...
"No one else, which means now we are all here for dinner!" the Other Father announced, before raising his hands and clapping them together twice.
From seemingly nowhere, white china plates and cutlery appeared on the table, before dishes containing each of Mia's favourite foods floated over from the kitchen counter and settled themselves on the table, laid out like a banquet.
It all smelled so good, and it made Mia's stomach rumble again.
"I see someone is hungry!" chirped the Other Mother, pulling out a chair for Mia, which the little girl immediately took. The Other C.C. sat by her side, beaming brightly, and with a click of her fingers a portion of every delicacy found its way to her plate.
Sweet potatoes, chips, a hamburger, marinated mussels, crisps, mashed potatoes... everything found a place on her plate, until a heap of delicious food lay before her.
"Bon appétit!" said Niles, as he dug in, his plate brimming with food as well.
Amelia needn't be told twice - she scooped up her fork and stuffed bites of every dish into her mouth. The taste was nearly indescribable - she'd never had such good food in her life! Her real Daddy wasn't this good in the kitchen...
The delicious scent of well-prepared food danced in the air, mingled, and beckoned Amelia; encouraged her to eat more. She delved her teeth into the crunchy crust of a ginormous slice of pizza, gooey cheese overflowing and dangling from the edges. Then, her attention went to the heavenly-smelling hamburger, which she wolfed down without a second thought.
The food just kept coming - every delight you could have ever imagined lay atop the table, many sprinkled and drizzled with the strangest condiments and sauces, but all tasting like it had come food the banquet of God himself.
Amelia ate until her stomach felt like it was going to burst. She simply couldn't get enough, but eventually, she simply had to stop. She'd eaten her fill, and couldn't even think about having any more.
It had been the best food she'd ever eaten.
"Did you like it, sweetie?" the Other Mother asked, leaning her elbow on the table and propping her chin in her hand it to look at her.
Mia nodded, leaning back in her chair comfortably, "I don't think I've ever had better food in my whole life!"
That seemed to please the Other Mother and Father, who shared a look before turning to beam at her.
"Wonderful!" the Other Father exclaimed. "I am glad you think so; your mother would have been very unhappy had you not been satisfied, and as you know, when your mother is unhappy, I'm miserable."
He said the last part as a badly acted stage whisper, and it made Mia giggle. The Other Mother's buttons flashed, as if she was rolling them, and she gave them a pretend annoyed look.
It was exactly like being at home...only maybe this was better...
No Morgan or Charlotte. No baby on its way. Her Mummy's and Daddy's attention all the time, and all the good food she could eat.
"Well, I hope you're not too caught up in having a good time over there to remember that we still have that dessert you prepared," the Other Mother said.
The Other Father feigned a dramatic swoon, "How could I ever forget my wife's favourite part of any meal?"
He then slid his chair out from the table, and stood, before coming over to quickly give his wife a hug and a kiss.
"Apologies, my beauty," he said, heading towards the kitchen counter.
"You're forgiven," the Other Mother replied, smirking, tapping her nails on the wood of the table. "This time."
Mia craned her neck to see what her Other Father was picking up, but she couldn't. Not until he had slid it right in front of her, onto the table.
"There we are," he announced, staging a bow.
It was a cake. It looked like-
"Chocolate fudge with buttercream icing," her Other Father finished. "Your favourite, if I am not mistaken?"
It was her favourite.
And it was decorated with the words "Welcome Home".
Amelia frowned almost automatically. Welcome Home? What was that supposed to mean? This wasn't her home - not even the world at the other side of the little door was home! He home was California, with its beaches and open blue skies. Home was where her grandpa Stewart was; where her friends were...
And they weren't here.
Amelia couldn't help the heavy feeling weighing on her heart. She hadn't allowed herself to think much about California - not since arriving at London, anyway. It was too painful. She'd allowed herself to hate England and her new life, but as memories from America flooded in, tears threatened to flood out.
Obviously, the Other Mother picked up on that.
"Oh, sweetheart..." she said sweetly, coming to give her a hug.
The Other Niles joined the hug, "What's wrong, Little One? Don't you want to be home with us?"
Mia shook her head.
"It's not that. It's just that..." she gulped, trying to dislodge the lump that had stubbornly gotten stuck in her throat. "I... I miss home - I miss California."
"Oh. Well, we can fix that!" the Other Mother said, her voice soft and reassuring as she pulled out of the hug but continued to rub Mia's arm. "How about we leave dessert for now, and go outside? There's something I think you'll want to see..."
Mia sniffed. She was feeling pretty full still, and even if the cake did look good, she wouldn't be able to enjoy it. She didn't feel entirely right about eating something that said "home" on it when she wasn't, and her dinner had been so large it would only cause trouble if she tried to add to it.
Besides, the Other Mother's words were making her curious.
"Okay," she said, preparing to get down from her chair.
The Other Mother smiled and got to her feet properly, holding out a hand for Mia to take.
Mia reached out, but then hesitated.
This wasn't her Mummy and Daddy. Should she really be letting them take her hands like this?
"It'll be really fun," the Other Mother encouraged. "You'll love it, I promise...!"
Well...they had given her dinner...maybe just once wouldn't matter so much? And they really were being nice...
So she slipped her hand into the Other Mother's, and managed to smile when the woman did. The Other Father then came alongside her and took her other hand with a grin.
"Right, then," he said. "Off we go!"
They walked, all hand-in-hand, through the house and out the front door. Mia asked a couple of times where they were going, but she was met only with cryptic answers of "You'll see".
They went over the nearby hills of the house, past the distant house of Mr B. But it was dark, and she couldn't see them properly. She had a feeling she wasn't supposed to be concentrating on that anyway.
Not that she could, when she saw what was waiting for her just over the next rise. She'd expected to just see more boring hills and a few trees. But the entire countryside was gone!
What had replaced it made her gasp.
It was a beach, complete with towels laid out for sunbathing, toys ready for a day of fun, and waves lapping at the sandy shore.
"The beach!" Mia cried out, letting go of her Other Parents' hands to trail ahead a little. She turned to look back at them, almost asking for permission to go. The Other Mother gave a small nod - that was all Amelia needed.
Taking off her shoes, Mia practically careened towards the beach, taking in - welcoming, really - the warm, salty sea-air. Not once did she stop to think that, being in January, the weather could never be this warm. It was unnatural!
Not to mention that, back at the house, the weather was still freezing...
But that didn't matter right then - Mia could only relish in the feeling of sand crunching beneath her soles, and the utter joy bursting in her heart. She'd missed this. There were no beaches near the house back in the world she'd come from. Her Daddy had said they'd have to drive a long way to go to a good one, and that it would take hours to get there.
He'd promised he would, though. Not that it had happened yet.
But she didn't need to bother with that anymore. Not when she was on a real beach, right then!
As she spun on the spot, admiring everything about the place, her Other Parents joined her down on the sand.
"You like it, sweetie?" her Other Mother asked.
"I love it!" Mia cried out in reply. She didn't remember the last time she'd been so happy.
"Good," the Other Mother replied, sitting herself down neatly on a towel. "Because it's all yours."
Mia's eyes widened, "All mine?"
"That's right, sweetheart," her Other Father put an arm around her and squeezed her lightly. "What do you want to do first?"
"Well, for starters, she needs to get into her swimsuit!" commented the Other C.C., pointing at the little girl. "We cannot have her ruining her pyjamas by going into the sea with them, can we?"
"Oh, of course!" exclaimed Niles, slapping his forehead, "I hadn't thought about that..."
"Well, lover, it seems the years are catching up to you," replied the Other C.C., wearing a mocking grin on her lips.
The Other Niles' face fell, taking on a rather unamused expression. "Talking from experience, dear?"
The Other Mother said nothing, her smile twitching minutely. Instead, she got to her feet and scooped Amelia up in her arms. She set towards a small wooden shack a few feet away.
"Where are we going?" Asked Amelia, feeling content in the Other Mother's arms. Her real Mummy hadn't carried her like that in years...
"To get you changed into your swimsuit," the Other Mother replied cheerfully, bouncing the little girl some.
Mia giggled. Her Mummy used to do that to her when she was little, but with the baby and all C.C.'s work she hadn't so much as been allowed to sit on her knee! She'd missed it. She'd missed coming to the beach with her Mummy and Daddy. She'd missed picking out swimsuits in the store with her Mummy when they went shopping...
They got to the shack, and the Other Mother set her down to open the door. It was the next surprise in the long list of the ones Mia had had that day. Inside the shack, lined neatly on row upon row of hangers, were swimsuits of every colour, pattern, and style.
"Here we are," the Other Mother put a hand on Mia's shoulders. "All of these swimsuits are for you; take your pick, sweetie."
Amelia's jaw dropped - they were all for her?! Every single one?! She'd never had so many swimsuits! Not even when she lived in Cali...
She gave the Other Mother a tight hug and ran into the shack, anxious to discover the perfect swimsuit for her to wear. And speaking of that, Amelia was quick to notice there also were diver suits, a Little Mermaid costume, swimming goggles, snorkels...
Basically, anything she would need or want to have fun in the big blue sea.
Her Other Mother went through the racks with her, providing input and helpful tips to choose the best swimsuit. Mia eventually settled for a rather flamboyant tankini with ruffled multicoloured straps. The piece of clothing had a beautiful flower pattern, which Amelia liked quite a lot.
"I'll wait outside while you put it on," said the Other C.C.. She then seemed to have a second thought, and her hand didn't quite reach the door handle, as if reluctant to go. "That is, if you don't need my help to put the swimsuit on."
Although touched by her concern, Amelia shook her head.
"I'll be fine... you go along and I'll join you," said the girl.
The Other Mother nodded, and closed the door behind her.
Mia hurried into her swimsuit. It was the most comfortable one she'd ever worn - it was like all the others she'd had in her life, no matter how well they'd fit, had been several sizes too small.
And she couldn't wait to try it out!
Leaving her clothes on the hanger where she'd found the suit, she went to the door and opened it. When she got outside, the Other Mother and Other Father had already changed into their swimsuits. And they were smiling at her like she was the only thing in the world that mattered.
It hadn't been like this in so long, and it filled her heart with happiness to get it back.
She ran out onto the sand to join them, and was caught in the Other Father's arms as he swung her around in the air to make her squeal.
"There she is!" he beamed, setting her back down. "You ready to go in the water, sweetheart?"
Amelia nodded - she'd missed the sea.
"Then what are we waiting for?" exclaimed the Other C.C., running towards the sea, beckoning her family to join her. "Last one in the sea is a rotten egg!"
Obviously, Amelia and the Other Niles raced one another to the sea, where the Other C.C. awaited. Mia won in the end (although she suspected the Other Father might have just slowed at the last second to let her reach the water first). Laughter filled the night air as the "family" played in the water, splashed one another and enjoyed the waves. Niles went back out of the sea and got Amelia a little surfboard (custom made, he claimed) from the shack, which she rode as her Other Parents watched.
This was truly heaven.
She didn't know how long they played in the water for, diving and taking turns to pull the surfboard around in the sea. But eventually, Mia grew tired of the water and she and the Other Parents returned to land, the Other Father bringing back handfuls of shells that he'd dived for as well. He deposited them into a little bucket not far from where Mia was sat on a big towel, wrapped in a smaller towel to help her dry off. She leaned over to take a look, and the Other Father dragged the bucket closer, sitting cross-legged with her to take a look at the oceanic prizes.
"You know what these are, Mia?" he asked.
The girl shook her head, and he smiled, before pointing.
"These are oyster shells," he explained, picking one up and running a finger along the shell. "Sometimes, if you're very, very lucky, you can open them up and find a pearl inside! It all starts when a tiny little bit of sand gets inside the shell, and it grows and grows until it makes one."
Amelia and the Other Niles began to go over the oyster shells, cracking them open in search of a pearl. Naturally, given that this was a perfect world, each and every shell held a perfect pearl inside, which the Other Niles and Amelia deposited in an empty bucket. Had either been looking in the Other Mother's direction, they would have noticed the tension on her otherwise jolly face. She seemed on edge - like a scared insect when it's prey is about to escape. It only got worse as they neared the bottom of the bucket.
"I think we should build a sandcastle," she said suddenly, taking the bucket filled with pearls in her hands. "and we can use the pearls to decorate it."
"A sand castle sounds fantastic!" said Amelia, whose favourite hobby back in California had been building the tallest sandcastle, or the deepest pit. "Doesn't it, Other Dad?"
"Indeed, Little One," said the Other Niles, button-eyes fixed on the Other C.C., who was giving him the iciest glare she could muster. "But you do that with your Mother. I'll go bring some drinks for us and dessert."
That sounded good! Now they'd had some time away from food, Mia thought she could eat some of the cake.
"Okay!" she said happily, turning with the bucket of pearls towards the Other Mother, who had already started on creating a mound for the castle to sit on.
The Other Father, meanwhile, got up and hurried away towards the house as fast as his legs would carry him.
Mia poured the pearls out of the bucket into a little pile, and began to fill the now empty container with sand. She hadn't been able to build a sandcastle in so long, and she wondered if she'd ever be able to build one with her mother again.
Well, this wasn't her real mother. Her real mother had too much to do, and cared more about the baby she was going to have than her. And her Daddy was too busy getting everything ready, too, and her grandmother had her brother and sister.
Maybe these were the Mummy and Daddy she was supposed to have.
Maybe this was better.
Soon the bucket was full of sand, and she used the accompanying spade to smooth and flatten it all out. Once that was done, she turned to the Other Mother, looking for confirmation that the hill their grand castle would sit on was ready.
The Other Mother smiled, and gently patted the hill, "All ready and waiting, sweetie..."
Being sure to do it quickly, Mia lifted the bucket and turned it over, dumping it down on the sand and patting it to make the sand stick. She rarely got the sand to stick the whole way round the little towers, back in California. But she had fun decorating them with shells anyway. That was why she couldn't help it but let out a triumphant cry and clap her hands together when she removed the bucket. The tower was perfect - the sand was even and had no cracks in it, and it had been set exactly in the middle of the hill. Some more towers and the pearls for decoration, and it would be perfect.
Everything about this place was perfect.
She grinned at the Other Mother, "I did it!"
The Other Mother beamed back at her, showing off her perfect white teeth.
"You did, sweetheart!" she agreed, sounding prouder than Mia ever remembered hearing. "It turned out just right!"
She looked between the little girl and the bucket.
"You wanna make another tower?"
Mia nodded eagerly, and set to work. The next tower wasn't as high up, but she noticed that it was perfect as well - not one grain of sand out of place!
"Nothing but the best for my little girl," her Other Mother had said in response. "You can do whatever you put your mind to here, and everything is here to make you happy."
Soon after that, the Other Father had come back with their drinks, and he settled himself down on the towel with the tray as he admired Mia's handiwork.
And as she worked, she thought about what the Other Mother had said.
The world had been designed just for her, hadn't it? It had come when she'd needed it, and it certainly made her happy...
Soon, she was ready to put the pearls in, and she began by putting one very large pearl in the top of the middle tower.
The Other Mother peered at it, closely and curiously, before returning to a bright smile, "It looks lovely, my darling. Just consider me your decorative-taste inspector!"
"And you're marvellous at it, love," the Other Father piped up, picking up a pearl himself. "But I think we should all lend a hand here, so that we can get to the cake and hot chocolate!"
Mia wasn't going to argue with that, and soon enough all three of them were helping out putting pearls on the castle. It was beautiful when it was done, and they sat back proudly to admire it with delicious cake and the best hot chocolate Mia had ever tasted. Not even her Daddy made it as well as that, and he used a secret ingredient that he'd comically tap his nose to every time it was mentioned! When the mugs and the plates were empty, Mia lay back on the towel and let out a yawn. The food and the fun had worn her out - it was obvious.
"Looks like somebody needs their bed," the Other Father observed, giving her a light prod in the ribs. "She's ready to fall asleep, here!"
The Other Mother leaned over and stroked Mia's hair, "You wanna go to bed, sweetie?"
Part of Mia wanted to say no. She wanted to stay up and do all the fun things the world had to offer. But the idea of being tucked up - tucked in by someone - was overwhelmingly inviting.
So she nodded, and allowed the Other Father to lift her gently in his arms to carry her up to the house.
Just like her Daddy would have done, once...
They took her all the way to her room - she didn't leave the Other Father's arms once the whole journey. And when she was finally put on the ground to explore her bedroom, she did so with absolute wonder. The ceiling was made up like the night sky outside; a four-poster bed with purple velvet curtains stood out in the faint light, the some kind of sailing ship at sea; from her shelves, her toys and stuffed animals waved, and a few of them even flew across the room to greet her, chirping and singing her name.
Mia giggled as they nuzzled her, and the Other Mother went to her wardrobe, opening the doors.
"Come pick your pyjamas for tonight, sweetie," she said, beckoning the girl over.
Amelia couldn't help the wondered gasp that escaped her lips as she tottered into the walk-in closet.
Back in her own world, she had a huge walk-in closet in her room, but as her parents had been way too busy and couldn't be bothered, her clothes were still piled in boxes, gathering dust. So were her shoes for that matter. Its walls also needed repainting, and her Daddy had yet to install a proper lamp - she only had a lightbulb now. The old wooden doors creaked when opened, and the air was unpleasantly musty.
This closet, although located in the same spot in her room and the same size, was a far cry from her own back at home.
The tall, green, panelled walls were decorated with colourful drawings and overlays. They reached the ceiling, where she could also see a few fluffy clouds with sleeping angels on them, floating happily. Light seemed to be coming from them, too. One of the walls was completely mirrored, and her reflection stood there, waving at her and beaming brightly. Her clothes were neatly stored on hangers - clothes she'd never seen before but were better than any she had! Dresses, pants, onesies, costumes, skirts, shirts, hats... even tiaras! Actual real tiaras!
This was wonderful.
To her left, displayed in a crystal drawer, Mia spotted a collection of pyjamas, each with its own unique design.
The Other Mother gestured to it with a smile, "We have every fabric, from cotton and flannel to silk and cashmere, in every pattern and colour."
Every pattern and colour...
"Which would you like to wear tonight, sweetheart?"
Mia almost wasn't sure! Each and every single pair looked amazing, and she wanted to try them all...
The Other Mother's soothing voice came again, "They're all yours, so don't worry about not picking one and missing out - you can wear a different pair next time."
Next time? There was going to be more of this wonderful place?
Mia looked at her eagerly, "Really?"
"Really," echoed the Other Mother. "Now, pick your pyjamas and your father and I will tuck you in."
They were going to tuck her in...her own Mummy and Daddy hadn't done that when she'd gone to bed that night...
She picked a pair, her excitement outweighed by the idea of getting tucked in. It was a deep blue cashmere set, patterned with gold and silver stars, and they were warm and comfortable.
They even smelled like home.
The Other Mother then left her to get ready while she and the Other Father prepared her bed.
"You look great!" cried her reflection when she had put her pyjamas on.
"Thank you... or... thank me!" Amelia giggled, waving at her reflection a she stepped back into her room.
She was happy to see her Other Daddy and Mummy were lying in bed, a book of bedtime stories in Other Niles's hand. Amelia was by their side - actually, lying between them - in an instant. She let the Other Mother tuck her in and she snuggled into her, like she'd done when she was a little girl.
Two goodnight kisses were dropped on the top of her head as she closed her eyes, and then she felt her Other Mummy's arms being wrapped around her.
"Now your Other Daddy will read you a story, alright?" said the Other C.C..
Mia nodded.
And with the comforting sound of her father's voice in the background, Amelia began to slowly doze off.
The last thing she heard before sleep had claimed her, was the voice of her Other Parents saying that they loved her.
AN: Hey! So, TheCrownedLioness and I have begun a new story! We know we have to upload the next chapter of What Babcock Wants, but seeing as one of us has finals we've been a but busy as of late. But don't worry! It will all be over this Wednesday! Meanwhile, we give you this AU inspired by the amazing Neil Gaiman. Remember, not everything is as perfect as it seems…