Chapter 50

Angela came through the door like a force. Hearing her, Michael went to the front hall to meet her. He had a smile on his face to greet her which quickly turned to a frown.

"You'll never believe what my brother has been up to!" she exclaimed.

"Hello Love," he ignored her comment and greeted her, "How was your day? Mine was just fine."

Softening she looked at him and kissed his cheek, how are you so bloody patient with me, she thought, she knew she didn't deserve him.

"Come sit down and tell me what you're upset about this time," Michael said.

Angela followed him into the kitchen where the remnants of dinner were everywhere. He handed her the plate that was waiting for her and said, "Sorry, we didn't know when you were coming home. We ate without you."

"Oh no, I forgot to tell you. I went to Ted's. I should have thought to text you when I was feeding his kids and not my own," she took a few bites and was much calmer.

"Tell me what you're brother's done this time."

This time didn't accurately describe the multitude of times that Angela was annoyed with her brother throughout her life. They were close and had always been, but Teddy often drove her crazy. Perhaps it was because Angela felt like she had to work so hard for everything and with Teddy it just happened. In school, Angela had to study constantly, but not Ted. They both received equally high marks, but their effort didn't match at all. She tried out for sports and never made the cut and there he was the football star with articles written about him in the newspaper. He could've tried to go professional, but he wasn't interested. At the time, Angela didn't understand and was upset with him. Mum and Dad thought he made a better choice, after all he always wanted to be a doctor.

When he took up with Melissa, Angela found fault with him every other day it seemed. Michael tried to get her to relax. He'd said, "Don't worry it'll never last." It lasted, but they were on again off again more times than Angela could count and each time she was upset with him. Michael would say, "One day you're angry, because they split, then you're angry because they are back together. Make up your mind."

When Teddy told her and Tim that Melissa was pregnant, Angela was ready to wring his neck all she could think was, I'm the one who had to study myself to death and the smart boy ends up being bloody stupid. Not only that, It took years for me to have a baby and you do it by bloody mistake. What she said was, "You arse! You do know that you don't need to marry her."

"I want to marry her. I love her," Ted assured her.

She quipped back, "The question is whether she loves you. She's going to break your heart."

Tim intervened and calmed Angela down. Ted never let Angela's words get to him, because he knew she loved him. That alone bothered Angela, because he could be so damn forgiving.

Angela relaxed after they were married, she had enough to deal with working full time and raising two active boys. Michael, her prince, bore the burden as he was home all day with the boys. Being a writer, he worked from home. They had a nanny who came and watched the boys during the day when they were babies. Once they went to school, that stopped and now he worked during school hours and some evening depending on his deadline. He was lucky to have become quite successful doing what he loved.

Michael had been used to complaints about his brother-in-law. Lately, the string of comments included words like...pompous, arse, up tight… Angela had a huge issue with how he had been interacting with their new students or more accurately one in particular.

"This can't be about Sara...She finished her rotation yesterday," Michael said.

"Oh yes it is. It seems...I can't believe I am saying this...They're in love!"

"What?" he said with a smile.

"All this time he has been pissing me off because he's been an arse to her and he's been seeing her secretly."

"Seriously? How do you know?"

"Sara came to see Tim and I today. She wanted to accept our offer, but first she thought we should know that she loved Ted."

"She came right out and said that she loved him!"

"Well we asked her…"

"This would make a great book! What about Ted is it mutual?" Michael thought of Sara, the Turner's were a close family and he remembered how they were unsure of him at first, but they already like Sara.

"Oh yes! I rushed over to his house to see what the hell was going on. He told me that he did indeed love her, but hadn't told her yet. I made him go find her and tell her. God, I can tell my brother is happy...really happy."

"Why in the world are you so upset?" Michael asked his wife.

"Because he made a fool out of me!"

"How so?"

"I bet Jules that there was nothing going on with those two and I lost! I hate to lose," she blurted.

"I know love, I know," he said as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Dare I ask how it is that Julie knew something when you're the one who was at the surgery with them all day?"

"I don't know. I guess I was too busy being annoyed to really notice. I wasn't the only one. Tim had no clue either."

"And that surprises you?"

"No," she laughed, "Of course not. Tim is Tim."

Angela loved her brothers. She wished they were genetically linked, but their bonds of love didn't need common DNA. She was never made to feel like she didn't belong and never questioned your parent's love for her.

She did try to find out about her birth mother without any luck. Mum had helped her, but the Church of England Adoption Agency had lost a good deal of their records when a pipe burst years and years ago. Part of her, thought it was just as well because deep down she was a Turner and even with her husband's surname she would always be a Turner.

"I think this is something to celebrate. Your brother has found love and happiness. He survived and now he can move forward. Then there's Sara, who you seem to like. Well that will make for a much better relationship than before," Michael rationalized.

"I know. I am truly very happy. I just can't believe he fooled us. Tim and I are going to make him suffer tomorrow."

"Oh love, I'm sure you will. Remind me to never get on your bad side."

"You never could...well unless you don't tidy up this mess you made in the kitchen," she smiled as she kissed his cheek and went to go find her boys.

After Christmas, look for Angela and Michael's story in The Prequel.