CHAPTER 34
It's a fairly early start the next morning to drive to Manchester, as Gideon wants to maximise his time up there, which is a good sign that he is looking forward to today and after the car crash that was Christmas day I am determined to be on my best behaviour. Although hopefully there won't be any upset.
The drive is a pleasant one and we make good time as it's just after 9am when we pull up outside Gideon's mum's house. As the car pulls up the front door opens and Elizabeth is standing waiting for us. She greets Gideon warmly with a hug and she makes a fuss of Maisie who is holding his hand. She turns her attention to me and she greets me equally warmly before ushering us all inside.
We move into the front room and in there are Ireland and Christopher who both stand up and greet us. I look around for Ricky and wonder if he isn't too happy about today.
"Where's Ricky?" I ask.
Elizabeth smiles apologetically, "Still asleep, he had a new Xbox for Christmas and I think he was up rather late playing on it so he hasn't actually surfaced yet" she says.
As we are chatting the doorbell rings and Elizabeth goes to answer it, a few moments later I hear the now familiar voices of Gideon's maternal grandparents Carol and Adam and Elizabeth's sister Melanie. They are all carrying presents and this seems to remind Gideon that we left the gifts we had brought with us in the car, so after another round of hello's he quickly disappears to fetch them. When he returns he is not alone, he calls to his mother and we all turn to see Geoff and Ursula with him.
"Mum" Gideon says, "My father and grandmother have just arrived".
I watch Elizabeth take a deep breath and then plaster a bright smile on her face as she walks over to Geoff and Ursula.
"Geoff, Ursula, I'm so glad you came" she says. I hold my breath as this could be really awkward and possibly end up as big a car crash as yesterday at my house. You have to give the woman credit to have the balls to invite them after everything that has gone on in the past, and the way she was treated by the Cross family and it also shows that there is a real hope for reconciliation and forgiveness between the two families.
"Thank you so much for inviting us" Geoff says sincerely. I can tell he is pretty nervous about this, from what Gideon has said there has been somewhat of a truce between the two families since Gideon and I got together and everything came out. They have been talking together and working through everything that went on. But this is the real test as it will be the first time everyone has been under the same roof, except for our wedding but that day was a totally different occasion to this.
Geoff spots me and smiles at me, "Hi Eva how are you?" he says and I smile back and nod politely.
"I'm good thanks Geoff" I say, I watch as his eyes find Maisie and he greets her and she quietly says hello.
Elizabeth asks everyone to sit down and as she does so there is movement behind her and Ricky appears. I hold my breath wondering what he is going to make of all this but to my great surprise he walks up to Geoff and slaps him on the back.
"Hi Geoff" he says then he finds Gideon and hugs him before striding towards me and giving me an equally warm welcome. I feel like saying who are you and what have you done with Ricky? But Gideon had assured me that his relationship with Ricky had improved massively from that first meeting and he has followed his mothers' example and is working through his issues. I have only seen Gideon's family about 3 or 4 times in total since that first time, and it has been for relatively short periods and I had noticed the gradual changes throughout that time, but seeing the vast improvement that has been made in such a relatively short period of time is really encouraging, in fact as I watch the interaction in the room, I see Ursula chatting amiably with Carol I feel a bit like as though I am in the twilight zone. Everyone is… getting along, it's absolutely brilliant.
Elizabeth brings in a huge tray filled with mugs, and tea then she goes out and brings in a coffee pot as well and tells everyone to help themselves. I love it here the slightly different phrases and words, now that everyone is relaxed Elizabeth's broad Mancunian accent is coming through loud and clear, she has retained the local dialect unlike Geoff, Ursula and Gideon.
"Ok, I was thinking it's fairly early still so I was going to go and get a bit of scran, who wants something?" she says.
Everyone explodes into conversation and I glance at Gideon helplessly as I haven't heard this term before, he leans in towards me, "Scran is a Mancunian term for food" he whispers.
"Well my stomach thinks my throat has been cut I'd love a bacon barm" Christopher says, and immediately everyone nods in agreement, I manage to work that one out for myself and am assuming they mean a bacon bap.
Elizabeth smiles at me "Would you like a bacon roll Eva?" she asks, using the proper term for a bap.
I grin back at her, "A bacon bap would be lovely" I say and Maisie immediately pays attention to that.
"Can I have a bacon bap please?" she asks.
Elizabeth smiles, "Of course you can Maisie".
Gideon laughs, "Who would've thought a simple bread roll could be called so many things" he says.
Melanie nods, "We have family in the Midlands… but they call a bread roll a cob, so I was surprised when you called it a bap!" she says.
I nod, "Yeah I've heard that term before but that's mainly in the East Midlands - Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and some parts of Derbyshire, that it's called a cob" I say.
"So what are your plans for the New Year?" Geoff says addressing Gideon.
Gideon smiles, "Oh yes New Year! That reminds me, Eva's family have asked me to ask you all to come down to Stoke for New Year. Eva's grandparents throw a New Year's Eve party for friends and family and they wanted to make it known that you are all invited".
"Invited to what?" Elizabeth says as she reappears a moment later.
"New Year party mum" Christopher says, "Gideon was just telling us, Eva's grandparents throw one for friends and family and we have all been invited, can we go?" he asks hopefully.
Elizabeth smiles and looks at me and nods, "That would be lovely, thank you. I like your family Eva, we would have to arrange accommodation but that won't be a big thing". She vanishes back into the kitchen as I consider what she said and I can't help but think that she wouldn't like them much at the moment the way things are, but then I realise Gideon is speaking again as he returns to the original question posed by Geoff.
"Anyway, the New Year… well it's going to be busy. I have officially made my intention to adopt Maisie so that should all be put in motion in the New Year. Eva is starting driving lessons and evening classes to get her GCSE's and then hopefully go on to take more qualifications. Work wise, I'm going to carry on with the restructuring of Cross Industries and I have the site visits to Luton and Bristol which I put off last month, so it's all busy, busy, busy!"
Geoff swells with pride and smiles affectionately at Gideon, "I am so proud of you, and I don't tell you that often enough" he says a little hoarsely.
Gideon shakes his head, "It's ok dad, I know".
After a delicious breakfast we have another round of present opening. I had left Gideon to decide what to get his family and he seems to have mainly gone for gift cards. Ricky is pleased with his Game card and it inspires me to speak of Kyle.
"You remind me of my brother Kyle, he has an X box and he had a similar expression on his face yesterday when he opened a gift card for Game!" I say.
Ricky looks up and laughs, "If you're not a gamer you won't get it" he says.
I shake my head, "Nope you are totally right there, I don't, but Kyle would".
oooOOOooo
The day goes well, and we are genuinely sorry to leave at the end of it. Maisie has been totally spoilt with a mountain of presents to bring home. Gideon had told his family how extraordinarily intelligent she is and so the presents have reflected that. Maisie has already made a start on one present, Ursula had bought Maisie a set of Roald Dahl books and she opened it and has started reading James and the Giant Peach. Everyone had been astounded at her abilities when she had sat with Gideon and read the book out loud to him.
As we had said goodbye, Ricky had given me a piece of paper with a scrawled name on it I look at it and then at him.
"You said your brother has an Xbox that is my Xbox Live username, so if he wants he can play some games with me" he says.
I nod in understanding and push the paper into my pocket and assure him I will pass it on.
There is another round of hugs and kisses as we say our goodbyes and climb into the car. Gideon climbs in and turns to me with a big smile on his face.
"Ready to go home?" he asks.
I shake my head, "Actually, no not really. It's been a brilliant day, extraordinary and a bit surprising but it was a good day" I say.
Gideon nods, "Yeah, they are making a big effort to put the past in the past. They have all come to the conclusion that my grandfather was to blame for everything and it was his behaviour that caused all the issues and the breakup of the family so now he has gone it has been relatively easy for them to build bridges. Had he still been around I doubt that today would have happened, in fact I know it wouldn't have".
I sigh, "It's sad one person can single-handedly destroy a family" I say and my mind can't help but wander back to my mother's behaviour, although what Gideon's grandfather did was on another level.
Gideon reaches over and squeezes my hand.
The drive home is quick and easy, as there isn't much traffic on the road with it being Boxing day, although as we pass various retail parks there is a lot of traffic around them with people going shopping for bargains in the sales. Once more my mind wanders to my mum and I wonder if she is working today. In previous years she had always shied away from volunteering to work on Boxing Day, preferring to stay at home with family; but I wonder if this year she had made an exception considering how bad things are at home at the moment.
It's nearly half past seven in the evening when we eventually get back and as we arrive home and pull into the driveway I see a figure sitting on the doorstep and I lean forward as the car headlights pick him out.
"Is that Kyle?" I ask.
"Looks like it" Gideon replies.
"What on earth?" I begin, as the car pulls in Kyle looks up and stands waiting for us to get out.
As soon as the car has stopped Maisie gets out, spots Kyle and runs to him.
"Kyle! Look what I've got" she yells waving her book at him which she had been reading for most of the journey home.
Kyle smiles as he takes it from her and looks at it, "Is it good?" he asks and she nods.
"Yeah really good" she says.
Gideon looks at me and then shepherds Maisie inside, leaving me to speak to Kyle.
"What are you doing here, how long have you been sitting there?" I ask with concern as I finally get to speak to him.
"I'm fine, I've not been here too long. It's shit at home Evie, mum is being a complete bitch. I'm sorry I shouldn't have come" he says and turns to go but I grab his arm.
"Don't you fucking dare, you come in and get warm and you can tell me all about it" I say. I remember the paper that Ricky gave me and I pull it out of my pocket and offer it to Kyle.
"What's this?" he asks as he takes it from me and reads it.
"Ricky gave it to me. You remember Ricky, Gideon's brother don't you? Well he has had an X Box for Christmas and he gave me that to give you when I told him you had one, something to do with gaming, X Box Live or something" I say.
Kyle nods in understanding, "So this is his username" he says.
"Yeah, that's right" I say.
We go inside and I hear Gideon upstairs with Maisie helping her put all her new stuff away in her room. So I lead Kyle in to the kitchen.
"Let me get you a warm drink" I say as I put the kettle on.
When the drinks are done we go into the living room and Kyle sits down and starts to speak.
"Well, we all stayed at Gran's until really late last night as I don't think dad really wanted to go home and face mum. He got a bit pissed with granddad – and I can't say I blame him!"
I shrug, "Yeah maybe but when he has you three to consider it wasn't the best thing for him to do, how drunk was he?" I ask.
"He was fairly gone… but not totally off his head, he was staggering a bit and had problems walking in a straight line, when we finally went home. But he hadn't reached the singing loudly at the top of his voice stage" Kyle says with a grin.
I let out a little laugh at that, remembering times when Vic has been at the singing loudly at the top of his voice stage of pissed. It doesn't happen very often and only usually when he gets pissed for a good reason and he is celebrating, and there is absolutely nothing at the moment for him to celebrate. I don't say anything and wait for Kyle to continue.
"Anyway, we got back and mum was there, she looked like she had been crying all day as her eyes were red and swollen, and she sounded like she had a really bad cold as she was so bunged up. She told us all to go to bed as it was late, Dec and Reece just accepted it and I think they really think mum has a bad cold and that is why she went home. I went up too but I was listening to what was going on, Reece and Dec were out like a light pretty much straight away, you know what they are like, anyway, I listened and mum said some stuff about you".
I close my eyes, and while I hope I am wrong I know what he is going to say next.
"She said… she said that Nathan… raped you" he whispers looking at me with concern and compassion.
I nod, as there is no point in denying it. "Yeah it all came out when we were arguing, she started making comments about Gideon and his money, so I basically told her to pack it in. She came at me with how my life is so perfect now while hers is going down the toilet so I told her it was her fault and she threw my past decisions, namely Nathan back in my face and it came out during that argument what he had done". I shrug, "But it's in the past and I don't want you to worry about something which is over now. He is in prison, and he is out of my life, that part of my life is over now and it goes without saying that I don't want Maisie to ever discover what her dad did to me" I say adamantly.
Kyle nods, "I won't say anything to anyone, you know I won't, but I was worried about you and I can't believe mum was being such a bitch. She was ranting saying that she couldn't believe gran took your side, she said that she was being made out to be some kind of monster when all she had done was make a mistake, just like you had, it was pretty bad" he says.
I shake my head, "The difference is I have owned and held my hands up to my mistakes, mum seems intent on trying to blame everyone else for hers" I say bitterly.
Kyle nods, "Well today she had just gone" he says.
"Gone? What do you mean gone?" I ask, a cold fear creeping through me.
He shrugs, "Gone, when we all got up she wasn't at home. Dad said she had probably gone to work, but I know she doesn't do Boxing Day, she never has. Ever since Tesco started opening on Boxing Day she's never worked it, dad called gran and she hasn't seen her all day, so that was another reason I came here to see if she had come here. I forgot you were going up to Manchester today to see Gideon's family, but when it became clear she wasn't here either, well, I didn't want to go back home so I thought I'd wait for you to come home, you don't mind do you?" he asks.
I wrap my arm around him and pull him close, "Of course I don't, but you had better tell dad where you are, you don't want him worrying about you" I say.
He nods, "He knows I'm here, he said if you were not back by 8pm to come home, but you were" he says.
Gideon appears in the room and Kyle looks up at him. I am certain Gideon has been listening before making his entrance, as he comes in Kyle drains his mug and stands up.
"I suppose I'd better be getting back home then" he says sadly. I stare at him and it makes me suddenly angry that our mother is behaving so selfishly and doing what she is doing. Kyle is only eleven for god's sake, and he doesn't need this shit in his life.
I stand up suddenly and Gideon looks at me in surprise.
"I'm going to walk Kyle home" I say emphatically and Gideon nods. I think he realises it's best not to argue with me with the current mood I am now in. As I pass him he reaches for my hand.
I turn and manage a small smile, "I want to talk to dad… and try and find out what's going on" I add.
Just as I say this Kyle's phone rings and he pulls it out and looks at the screen.
"It's dad" he says as he goes to answer it, "hello" he adds.
I see the relief on his face and he nods, "Yeah, she's here and I told her, ok dad I'll tell her. I'm coming home now" he says. He hangs up and pushes his phone back into his pocket.
"Mum's back" he says simply but the relief in his voice that she is breaks my heart and at this moment I really don't like my mum for what she is doing to this family.
"Are you still going?" Gideon asks me and I pause, now I know mum is back I really have no reason to go, plus if mum is there and I turn up there is a very good chance things could kick off again with the way I am feeling about her and I want to avoid that if at all possible.
I shake my head, "No, there is no point now, will you be ok walking back alone Kyle?" I ask.
He nods, but Gideon shakes his head, "Come on, I'll give you a lift back. I know it's not far but it's cold and dark, I'll drop you off".
Kyle smiles at Gideon warmly, "Thanks Gid" he says and I try to suppress the smile at Kyle's nickname for Gideon.
A short while later Gideon returns. I pat the seat beside me and he doesn't hesitate to sit and throw his arm around my shoulders.
"What happened?" I ask warily.
Gideon shrugs, "I didn't hang around to find out, I dropped him off and watched him go in and just pulled away, I didn't go in" he says.
"It's a bit of a fucking mess isn't it?" I say.
Gideon sighs, "Yeah, it is, to be fair though I think it's the uncertainty that is causing most of the issues. Once the DNA is done, and everyone knows for sure whether or not Vic is the father to those boys then it will all become clearer" he says.
I nod, "Yeah but what if Vic isn't their dad? What if Jack was telling the truth and he is Kyle's dad or even worse Reece or Dec turn out to be someone else's, what happens then?" I ask sadly.
Gideon pulls me closer, "Stop worrying about it, they will have to cross that bridge when and if it happens, so there is no point in thinking the worst yet" he says.
I know he is right but I can see what will happen. Vic will leave mum and the boys will no longer have a dad and they'll end up being just another statistic of the Primrose Hill Estate.
I lean my head against Gideon, "I'm sorry our first Christmas together was spoilt" I say quietly.
Gideon shakes his head, "No, don't be silly, I had a brilliant time yesterday. Every family has its ups and downs, and yesterday was nowhere near as bad as some of the Christmases I have experienced over the years".
I wrap my arm around him and snuggle closer, "Today was good though wasn't it?" I say.
I feel Gideon nod against me, "Yes it was, they are taking the opportunity that has been offered to them and they are all trying to heal".
"Do you think your mum and dad will reconcile?" I ask warily.
Gideon sighs, "I don't know, personally I think there is too much water under the bridge for a happy ever after scenario, but they are all making an effort and I can see my mum and dad becoming friends. Which would be remarkable considering everything that happened between them, and everything else that has gone on".
I nod, "Yeah, they say that there is a thin line between love and hate and I think deep down your mum realises that she still loves your dad, before she was just too hurt by all the really shitty things he did to her. But now I think she also realises it was mainly your granddads doing and that everyone was really victims of his, and if it hadn't been for what he did and the way he was, your family could probably still be intact".
Gideon nods once again in agreement, "Yes, dad said as much. He regrets everything that happened, and he said to me that the if onlys are torturing him. If only he hadn't become so controlling and not driven her away with his behaviour, if only he hadn't let granddad get in his head and he had stood up to him. If only he had listened to and believed my mother".
I frown, as I remember that Geoff did believe Elizabeth when she told him Gideon senior had groped her, "I thought your dad did believe her, at the start. But it was your granddad who got into his head and made him paranoid?" I say in confusion.
Gideon nods, "Yes but she also warned him about Uncle Hugh. You see my father admitted that she had always said there was something not right about Uncle Hugh. So he believes now that if he had done all that then my mother would have been there and Uncle Hugh wouldn't have been allowed to worm his way in the way he did. He said she had told him that there was something about him which she couldn't put her finger on, but dad just dismissed it and now the guilt of dismissing it is eating away at him. But as I told him, what has happened, has happened and saying what if won't change it now. All he can do is look forward and try and make things different now and it seems that he, my grandmother and my mother are determined to try and do that, and at the moment they are succeeding" he says.
I let out a little snort, "Let's hope my family can be just as mature if things turn out badly" I mutter.
As we sit there relaxing and just chatting I feel myself drifting off to sleep but that is soon taken from me when the front door bell chimes. I swear under my breath as I pull away from Gideon to go and answer it.
"I swear to god if its someone selling something, I'll tell them where they can shove it, coming this late in the evening and on fucking Boxing day as well!" I mumble irritably and I hear Gideon laugh.
I open the door and see a young girl standing there looking scared to death and my irritation leaves me in a rush. I look at her and she looks to be about 14/15ish.
"Yes?" I ask, and inwardly cringe at how sharp that sounded.
"Erm… is your name Eva?" she asks, this immediately puts me on my guard and I fold my arms.
"Who is asking?" I say, again a little sharper than I intended.
The girl looks ready to burst into tears and then a young woman who looks like her older sister steps into view. Gideon has now appeared at my side and he wraps his arm around me protectively.
"Hello" she says as she mirrors Gideon's protective stance and puts her arm around the young girl. "I know it is late, and I apologise for turning up unannounced on your doorstep like this, but we need to know if you are Eva Trammel?" she asks.
"No, I'm not" I say and go to slam the door in her face, the woman catches sight of my wedding ring and smiles.
"Please, wait… Let me rephrase that, were you Eva Trammel before you got married?" she asks.
"Why do you want to know?" I ask.
The woman looks at me kindly, "I understand that this is unusual and you are probably thinking this is some kind of scam, but we honestly don't mean you any harm. We are looking for Eva Trammel as we believe that she is related to us, more specifically my daughter here" she says as she gestures to the girl at her side.
"What?" I ask and take a step back. Gideon grasps hold of me and is now practically holding me up at this point.
The woman pulls a birth certificate from her pocket and hands it to me, "This is my daughter's birth certificate, you should take notice of the name of her father" she says.
I take the document from her and quickly scan it, "Fucking hell!" I gasp as I see the name 'Jack William Harrison' named as her father, I look and see her name is Sarah and I was not far out on her age as she is 16 years old. The first thought to go through my mind is has Jack set this up somehow and it immediately puts me on my guard.
I hand it to Gideon and he looks at it carefully, before handing it back to the woman. "Why did you come here tonight?" he asks.
"We came earlier in the day, but there was nobody here. Then we came back a bit later and we saw a young man sitting waiting on your doorstep, and we saw your car arrive and we didn't want to intrude. We were going to come back again tomorrow, but then we saw the young man leave and the car return and well… after a small debate whether or not to bother you tonight we decided that since we were here, we'd introduce ourselves. But we totally understand that this is out of the blue and you need time to process this" she says.
I snort at her explanation, "Sounds like you were staking out the place!"
I look up at Gideon once more and he shrugs, "It's your call Angel" he says simply.
I take a deep breath and shake my head. I feel bad doing it, but I don't know this woman and call me cynical but I want my gran here when I talk to her.
"I'll talk to you, but not tonight. My daughter is in bed and I don't want to wake her" I say.
The girl looks disappointed but the woman nods in understanding, "I totally understand, would it be possible for us to come back tomorrow at a more reasonable hour?" she asks.
I think about that and shake my head, I can't get the thought out that Jack is behind this and because of that I don't want her in my home. Her face drops but I hold up my hand. "I'll speak to you but not here, again purely because I don't want my young daughter involved in this. I will meet you, but at the Costa, down at the retail park, tomorrow about 10ish?" I ask and the woman nods again in agreement.
"That is absolutely fine, I totally understand your wariness, you don't know us" she says.
"Ok, see you tomorrow then?" I say, the woman nods and they say goodnight before turning to walk away and I watch them go as I close the door.
I turn to Gideon who is watching me carefully his eyes full of love and concern and I shake my head, "Fucking hell!" I gasp as I instinctively reach for him and he immediately pulls me close.
"I need to call gran" I say, my voice muffled in his t shirt.
He lets me go, and I grasp his hand unwilling to let him go as I walk into the living room my mind reeling.
I sit down and Gideon sits beside me as I pick up the phone and call my gran, I shuffle closer to Gideon and wait and eventually she picks up.
"Gran?" I blurt out, before she has a chance to speak.
"What's wrong, did something happen in Manchester?" she asks, and I quickly catch up to what she is asking, I had forgotten for a moment the day we had just spent in Manchester with the events of the past few moments.
"No, we had a great time, but something weird happened tonight Gran" I say.
"Oh?" she asks.
"Yeah, trust me you are never going to believe what happened. A woman and a teenage girl turned up here tonight asking for Eva Trammel claiming that the girl was my sister. The woman showed me her birth certificate and if it is genuine, we share a sperm donor. She wanted to come in and talk but I said no, and I said I'll talk to her but that I'll meet her tomorrow at Costa – so will you come with me Gran?" I ask as I get it all out in a rush.
The stunned silence spreads out for a few moments. "Are you there gran?" I ask when the silence lasts a bit too long.
"Fucking hell!" my gran says eventually, then she seems to pull herself together, "Yes of course I will, what time?" she adds.
I sigh with relief, "Thanks gran, I said about 10ish, is that ok?" I ask.
"Yes no problem, bloody hell Eva!" she pauses a moment again, "bit of a coincidence her turning up now, after all the shit Jack stirred up recently don't you think?" she asks.
I laugh, "Great minds think alike Gran that was exactly my first thought too – well first thought after I had got over the shock" I say.