We're Home – Part 10

Lexie snuggled up to her husband and regarded him with deep, blue eyes
" Arch, you okay?"
" Yep" he replied in a slight daze
" Do you think it's going to be weird, Katrina being Paul's girlfriend?" Lexie asked frankly
Archie looked at her and decided not to lie, because chances were she would see straight through him- how could she not. She had known him so long; she knew his history with Katrina- she probably knew better then anyone else in the world.
" Yeah, it'll be weird. But we got through her coming up here for Martha's 4th birthday didn't we?"
" Yes" Lexie agreed, " But that was slightly different. She was with Sean…not your brother"
" Half-brother" Archie corrected, " I wonder what happened to Sean anyway? If Paul met her in London when he was there, then they must have broken up within a few months of being here."
Lexie shrugged, " These things happen. Maybe he wasn't the right one for her, or maybe she was seeing both of them at the same time…"
" Lexie" Archie reprimanded
" Don't you go taking the high moral ground with me Archie" Lexie retorted, "I seem to remember we had a few encounters when you weren't exactly single."
Archie sent her a look, but gave in easily knowing she was right.
" Maybe" Archie wriggled, sinking lower in the bed until he was more comfortable
" Maybe she still thinks that you're the right one for her, and Paul is the closest she's going to get?" Lexie murmured
" Lex" Archie objected, even though the thought had briefly crossed his mind as well…" I think Katrina is well and truly over me, and I don't think she knew Paul was my brother when she met him…how could she, they we're in the middle of London."
" Are you over her?" Lexie asked gently
Archie tightened his arms around her and pulled her further under the covers with him " I am. You know that, you have for a long time."
" Hmmm" Lexie agreed non-commitedly. She did know that her husband loved her and that he had chosen her over Katrina, but old habits and thought processes died hard. 'Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it,' whoever had written that line knew all too well, she mused, before tuning back into what Archie was saying.
" We're not here long anyway" Archie reminded " A week, maybe two"
" Hmmmm" Lexie remarked again. It was good to be back, and in a way she did wish they could stay longer. But deep down, though she never would have thought it a few years ago, she couldn't wait to get back to Glasgow and the lives they had made for themselves as well.

The leaves of memory seemed to make
A mournful rustling in the dark.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Paul sat with Katrina in the fire lit cottage, the television was on but neither was very concerned with what they were watching.
" You didn't tell me about you and Archie" Paul whispered into the shadowy light
" What good would it have done" Katrina replied, "Archie wasn't at Glenbogle anymore, I didn't realise when I met you that you even were a MacDonald. I mean- what were the chances?"
" That I would be one of your ex boyfriend's half-brother" Paul declared
Katrina's mouth turned up in a half smile as she commented
" Exactly"
Paul let her words sink in for a moment before going further
" When you came back to Glenbogle and realised who I was, what went through your mind"
Katrina giggled despite herself "Run, run now"
" Was it that bad with Archie?" Paul asked cautiously
" Bad?" Katrina considered it for a minute, " No. Confusing and messed up - Yes"
Paul smiled " Really?"
" Yeah definitely" Katrina confirmed
" Why did you come back just before they got married?"
Katrina lowered her eyes; she should have known that Archie would have mentioned that,
" I don't know, trying to rekindle old times I guess. It was stupid- but it had been my last throw of the dice."
" Did you really want to break them up?" Paul inquired, his voice soft and serious, but not accusing
"'A memory is what is left when something happens and does not completely unhappen.' " Katrina replied, glancing up at him next to her, " Edward de Bono said that."
Paul waited for her to explain, finally she sighed and did.
" Archie and I broke up very quickly. We skirted around getting together for years, and then when we actually did, everything just seemed to be against us. I wanted a career, Archie knew that- he wouldn't let me forget it either. He knew that I wasn't ready to be a Laird's wife, wasn't ready to 'settle down', so I didn't. I left Glenbogle, and left Archie for a job in politics."
" You changed your mind when you heard about him and Lexie?" Paul asked again, finding that he truly wanted to know about all this history and how it affected nearly everyone he knew.
" He went to her so fast. Sooo fast" Katrina's voice trailed off as she searched Paul's eyes. " Here I was, still in love with him and he was engaged to one of my friends less than a year later. I had to make sure it was real…"
Paul nodded " And it was" he confirmed
Katrina nodded, tears appearing in her eyes "He was going to marry his best friend." She concluded
Paul sighed and drew her closer " It's okay, it's okay. It really does sound messed up- I can understand why you didn't tell me, and you probably thought that I already knew some of it."
Katrina nodded, gazing into the fire
" It'll all work out" Paul reassured