Chapter Five
It was two days before the funeral. Family were about to arrive, the house was still a mess and Nora had yet to start the eulogy. They wouldn't have it any other way, she thought, putting dirty laundry into the basket. It had been four days since the Baker parents had died, and to say that the family were struggling, was an understatement.
Nora had made all the necessary phone calls, had informed the kids' schools that they would be absent, spoken to the coroner and had heard her grandfather sobbing on the other side of the phone, something she had never wanted to do. The conversations between the siblings were now painful and disjointed. No one wanted to admit that something was broken. The house was a mess, as was fairly typical, but Nora had always been the one to keep the house in order; it was all ship shape under her instruction. But now, she felt weak, and did not dare push the boundaries with her brothers and sisters, who were just as delicate as her. Neighbours had been leaving meals with notes outside their front door, along with some groceries. There had been numerous phone calls from friends, family and some from people she had never heard of. The pity was getting slightly old.
The eldest Baker walked into the living room, picking up the toys and clothes that were strewn around. Jessica was sat on the sofa, next to Kim, who was curled up in a ball with a bucket next to her. Nora sighed, and put the laundry basket down as she kneeled in front of the girl.
"Feeling sick again?" She asked. Kim nodded hopelessly. Nora raised a hand to check her temperature as there was a knock at the door. "Jess, get the door."
Jessica jumped up and hurried to the door.
"You don't feel warm, are you hungry?" Nora asked. Kim shook her head. Her oldest sister sighed, and stroked her hair. Kim stared sadly into her sister's eyes.
"Nora." Tom's younger sister Debbie walked into the room and enveloped her in a warm hug. Her six children and her husband came in behind her. It was silent for a minute, although silence had become a common occurrence over the past four days.
"Where is everyone?" asked thirteen year old Grace, recognising the quiet and looking around.
"Hiding." said Nora, walking towards her cousins, half joking and half knowing that it was the truth. She felt two arms wrap around her stomach.
"Hey, SJ." Nora said, before kissing the nine year old's head. He smiled up at her.
"How was your flight?" She asked no-one in particular.
"It was good. How are you?" answered nineteen year old Josh, hugging her. She shrugged.
"I'm okay. So where are you staying?" Nora quickly changed the subject.
"In a hotel." Debbie answered.
"You could stay here?"
"No, we can't. You guys need your space." Debbie's husband, Rick, said, wrapping an arm around Jessica.
"I think it would actually do us good to have some company." Nora answered, shrugging.
"Well, okay, if you want us to stay, we will. But let us know if you change your mind." Her aunt said. Nora smiled and nodded.
"Guys! Come down!" She shouted up the stairs. There was some movement, before only Lorraine, Nigel and Kyle came down the stairs.
Lorraine said nothing, simply hugging her cousin Olivia, who was a year younger than her, and forcing a pained smile at the rest of her family.
The twins ran towards Rick, Debbie's husband, shouting at the top of their voices, and he swung them both over his shoulders, chuckling.
"Hey guys." He said. The two laughed as he turned them upright again and held them in his arms. It had been four days since anyone had felt like playing with the boys, which was a lifetime in their minds. They were excited to see their uncle, aunt and cousins, hoping that now, their brothers and sisters would stop being so sad and wondering when life would feel normal again.
Debbie looked around at the state of the house, but said nothing.
"I know, I haven't had much of a chance..." Nora muttered, hesitantly.
"No, don't worry about it. You've had 11 kids to deal with, let us deal with this. You're going to take a break."
"No, I... the dishes...lunch... Kim-"
"Nora, we can take care of this. Go. You need time for yourself." said Debbie, who sat down between Jessica and Kim and wrapped an arm around each of them.
"We're going shopping." Maggie, who was twenty two, said.
"But... Fine." sighed Nora, knowing that she would never win in an argument against Maggie. She needed a break, and knew that her aunt was perfectly capable of handling her brothers and sisters.
"I'm driving." declared Maggie, climbing into the driver's side. Nora shrugged as she climbed into the passenger's seat. The two put on their seatbelts and Maggie started the car, before pausing.
"You don't know where you're going, do you?"
"Not a clue." They both smiled and Nora shook her head as the two traded places.
Nora and Maggie strolled through the mall.
"Yeah, I didn't think I'd enjoy it so much, but I really do. So, what are you doing these days?"
"I'm kind of between jobs... The ad agency let me go about a month ago, and there isn't really much going in this area. It's not even like I'll need it now. I have eleven kids to take care of."
"Is that what you want to do?" asked Maggie, trying not to push her for an answer.
"I don't have much of a choice, Maggie. They need me right now." Nora replied.
"How are you going to live? I mean, money, how are you going to survive without a wage?"
"I spoke to my parents' lawyers, we have more than enough. But I'm not going to live off our inheritance; I'm going to start working as soon as life's back to normal."
"Nora, I hate to say this, but it isn't going to just go back to normal." Sighed Maggie.
"You know what I mean, when we adjust. However long that might take."
"It's going to be okay, Nora. We're all here if you need us."
Nora nodded.
"Now, where are we going for dinner?" Maggie asked, cheerily.
"What? We need to go home." Nora was surprised. She needed to be back to make dinner for the kids. The little boys needed baths. The kids needed her.
"Uh, no. My mom asked me to keep you out for as long as I could."
"So all of this is just because your Mom asked you to?" Nora said, accusingly.
"Of course not. I wanted to spend time with my cousin, and my Mom said that we should give you a break, so when she found out that I was planning this, she just asked me to keep you out and let you relax. That's all. We're not conspiring against you, Nora."
"I'm sorry, I wasn't... I just..."
"It's fine. Really. So, where are we going to eat? My dad gave me his credit card." said Maggie with an evil smile.
Nora smiled. She loved Maggie and how easily she seemed to move on. They had always been close, and their arguments had never lasted long when they were children. She was the kind of cousin she needed at a time like this. Strong, supportive and able to laugh with. It wouldn't be long until the rest of her family arrived.
"Do you remember the time when Charlie knocked the ladder to the tree house down?"
"And we were stuck up there for three hours before anyone noticed?"
"Us and our Barbies. Back when we used to dream about growing up and we said we'd live together in our matching pink palaces?" laughed Maggie, wiping her mouth with a napkin.
"Riding our unicorns and having our own rooms? Yeah. That was a long time ago. Growing up wasn't half as fun as I expected it to be." Nora answered.
"It never is. Back then, the most we had to worry about was what kind of ice cream we were having for dessert."
"Yeah." The older of the two said, sadly, before pausing. "We should get back."
"Okay. I can't wait to tell my Dad that he gave us his credit card and we go to a pizza parlour."
"Some things never do change."
"We're back!" Maggie called as she opened the front door. The two walked into the living room and set their bags down.
"Hey, girls, did you have a good time?" asked Rick, walking in carrying a basket of laundry, before starting to fold it. Maggie nodded.
"We did actually." Nora answered her uncle.
"I'm glad." said Debbie, turning off the hairdryer that she was using to dry Kim's hair. Kim hugged her elder sister, before heading to sit on the sofa with Mark, SJ and Jessica, all drinking hot chocolate and with wet hair. "Mike, Nigel and Kyle are all in bed, and everyone's had dinner and showered. There's macaroni in the kitchen if you're still hungry and we went shopping, so there's plenty of food."
Nora looked around. The house was immaculate. Had it ever been so clean?
"You're amazing. Thank you for doing this."
"It's no problem. We're family, Nora, that's what we do." said her aunt, starting to dry Jessica's red hair.
Nora sat down, feeling less stressed than she had in the last four days. She was glad her aunt and uncle had arrived a day early to help. She hadn't realised how much she had needed to get out of the house until she finally did. Most of her family would be arriving the next day, her dad's siblings with their families and her mom's dad. Nora had still yet to write the eulogy, hoping that a miracle would occur and that it would be written for her, better still, read for her too. She knew it was going to be a strange few days with the house being so full of family, but she could not help wishing that she could just get it over with, so she could get back to healing with her family. It was going to be a long haul, but life was starting to change already.
Hey, can someone help me with page breaks? I'm really stuck :/ I hope if anyone reads this chapter, they like it (and they review *hint hint*). Also, is longer better? Next chapter, the whole Baker family side of the family arrives :S xxx