Family Secrets – Part 15

" Archie?" Lexie whispered
" Yep"
" Why didn't we tell them about Glenbogle earlier?"
Archie looked at his wife seated next to him on the verandah
" Because we wanted to make a clean start, and make it easier for Paul. I mean Duncan is the rightful heir, I didn't want him to be compartmentalized by that from word go"
" Yeah, but he barely knows anything about it, about our past, about his family, Scotland…."
" We're not in Scotland Lex, we're in Australia." Archie commented, sipping his drink
" Yeah I noticed" Lexie replied sarcastically
Suddenly Shelley opened the screen door and ran out "Mummy, Daddy can we have Macca's for lunch?"
Lexie groaned "Oh okay. You better go and get dressed first, and tell you're brother."
" Okay" Shell replied enthusiastically as she ran back upstairs taking the steps two at a time.
Lexie laughed, "That reminds me of the steps at Glenbogle. Do you remember?"
" I remember how tired you got by the time you finally reached the top" Archie laughed " Living in a castle does have its disadvantages."
" True" Lexie agreed " I remember sprinting down the stairs when you got back from Nepal and literally throwing myself into your arms"
Archie grinned " Oh yes, I remember that too, you nearly bowled me over."
" Do you think Duncan is just going to leave it as it is with the information we've given him, or do you suppose he will keep looking deeper until he works it all out?" Lexie asked
" I'm not sure. But if he's anything like us he doesn't give up easily."
Lexie nodded, " Come on" she ordered, placing the drink on the table and grabbing his hand " Time to go to Macdonald's"
They looked at each other and laughed, it had never really occurred to them how ironic that was.

Ten minutes later they all sat in a booth at the fast food restaurant with their various meals
Shelley was playing contently with the doll from her Happy Meal, while Duncan was proving his mother wrong by eating an entire Big Mac, as Lexie just shook her head and laughed.
" What would you like to do today?" Archie asked
Duncan thought about his e-mail to Paul. It was 12:00 noon here therefore it was 2am the day before in Scotland. Paul wouldn't be up for quite a while, so he had plenty of time.
" I did have one idea…" Lexie ventured
" What?" the kids asked expectantly
" Well, I was thinking we could put the Christmas decorations up and get a tree."
" Yay!" Shelley yelled, " Lets do it now!"
" Hang on" Archie ordered, " You haven't finished your lunch yet"
Both children scoffed down their meals and ran for the car. It wasn't until they reached home that Duncan realised they might have a problem…
The Christmas decorations were stored in the attic, but it was only his parents that got them down each year. What if one of them noticed that the boxes had been moved around, or that the photos were missing?
He found himself holding his breath as the bags of decorations were lugged down the ladder, but not a word was mentioned. Finally he felt safe as they closed the hatch and went downstairs to the lounge room.

" Duncan do you want to go with me to get the tree, while Shelley stays here to help your mother put up decorations?" Archie inquired
" Yeah sure" he answered following his father out the door and back into the car
Meanwhile Shelley was pulling things out of the bags they had brought down like there was no tomorrow.
" Shell, Shell, we don't need all of that just yet. We have to wait for the tree before we use a lot of those decorations. Can you find the nativity scene for me please?" Lexie requested
" Yep" Shelley replied ardently
Half an hour later Archie and Duncan returned with a large pine tree in tow
" Are you sure it'll fit?" Lexie asked skeptically
" Sure it will" Archie answered, Lexie raised her eyebrows and went to get a bucket of sand to place it in.
Sure enough the tree didn't fit " We'll have to cut it down a bit" Archie commented " Dunc can you get the saw please?"
Duncan nodded and went out to the garage to find the hack saw to cut though the tree. When he returned his mother was in peels of laughter as she watched Archie try to keep the tree up right in the sand
" Don't help or anything!" He yelled at her
" Looks like you're doing just fine by yourself" She laughed
" Here's the saw dad" Duncan remarked, handing it to his father
" Thank you Duncan" Archie answered with a dirty look towards to wife, which just made her laugh even harder

By that night the family had a Christmas tree, complete with decorations. Lexie and Shelley were still balancing precariously on the ladder trying to hang tinsel from the corners of the roof. Duncan glanced at his watch 8pm…that would make it 10am in Scotland, Paul may have replied by now. Carefully he backed out of the room and ran back upstairs to check the computer….