singformemymeado, it's coming - stay tuned ;)
Eninaj, no promises haha :P
Chapter Four
As Assumpta stood staring at Mark's heavy, dark green door, Peter gave her hand a squeeze.
'You ready?' he asked.
By way of an answer, she reached over and pressed the doorbell. How bad could it be? They were Peter's brothers, after all.
When the door opened, Peter shepherded her inside. It was only once standing in the kitchen that she got a proper look at the man who had welcomed them in.
'Assumpta, this is my brother Mark.'
The man standing before her was tall and strong, with raven hair, bright blue eyes, and Peter's smile. As he took her hand and greeted her sincerely with, 'It's such a pleasure to meet you', Assumpta struggled to suppress her less than indifferent reaction. She failed, however, and the slight catch in her breath did not go unnoticed by Peter.
'Where's Joe?' Peter hastily asked.
'Lounge,' Mark replied.
Peter took hold of Assumpta's hand, and led her through to the lounge, where a boy of about seventeen sat watching a football match on the telly.
'Hi, Joe.'
'Hiya,' replied Joe, not taking his eyes off the telly.
'Joe, I want you to meet Assumpta.'
'Hi,' came his greeting, as the referee awarded a free kick to Tottenham.
'Josiah,' said Peter, reproachful of his little brother's poor manners.
Joe sighed, turned around to look at Assumpta, and repeated, 'Hi'.
'Hi,' she replied. 'Good game?' she added feebly.
'Rubbish. Ref's wearing a Tottenham jersey under his stripes.'
'Oh right.'
Before Peter could apologise for Joe's distinctly seventeen-year-old behaviour, a herd of elephants came thundering down the stairs. At least, that's what it sounded like. In fact, it was merely one small girl of five or six in blonde pigtails and a green and gold Catholic school uniform. Assumpta was completely taken aback. Peter had not mentioned anything about a child, had he?
'Hello, munchkin!' Peter exclaimed, kneeling down to give her a big hug.
'Hi, Uncle Peter.'
Releasing her, he pointed up at Assumpta.
'This is my friend Assumpta.'
'Your friend?' the girl said to Peter, 'That's not what my daddy said. He said she's your girlfriend!'
She giggled, and then turned to Assumpta. 'Hi anyway!'
Assumpta smiled. There was definitely something of Peter in this cheeky little girl.
'Hi there. What's your name?'
The girl looked off into the distance, concentrating for a moment, as though trying to recall something learned off by heart. She then introduced herself as 'Henrietta Georgiana Mary Elizabeth Clifford, but you can call me Henrie'.
Assumpta let out a small laugh.
'Yes, Henrie, I think I will!'
Mark came to join them in the lounge. Smiling at Assumpta, he said, 'I see you've met everybody... Dinner should only be about five minutes. I hope you don't mind – I've ordered pizzas. I didn't finish work 'til late, otherwise I'd have cooked...'
'Be thankful,' Joe piped up from his sofa, 'The only thing worse than Mark's cooking is Peter's.'
'Shut up, Joe,' said Mark and Peter together.
'Hey, Sumpta -'
'It's Ah-sumpta, Henrie,' interrupted Mark.
'Ahhh-sumpta, would you like to see my new dolly bed? Daddy got it for me for being brave at the dentist.'
'Henrie, I don't really think Assumpta needs to see your dolly bed...'
But Henrie had already seized Assumpta's hand.
'It's fine,' Assumpta assured Mark, as the two disappeared upstairs.
In the five minutes before the pizza arrived, Assumpta learned from Henrie that she five and three quarters, that her favourite colour was purple, that her mummy had gone away to Australia when she was two years old, that one day she was going to be a very clever doctor like her daddy, that she loved her Uncle Peter, and that she missed her granny lots and lots, but not as much as Uncle Joey, who was grumpy all the time since he had moved in with them when she died. Assumpta could tell that Peter's niece was a very bright little girl, and she had no doubt in her mind that Henrie could grow up to be a very clever doctor indeed. Talking with Henrie made Assumpta feel a lot more at ease, which was odd, because she wasn't exactly renowned for being good with children, the way some women are... Maybe it was because Henrie, eager to have a female ally in a life full of boys, had accepted her so readily. Assumpta knew she had already won over at least one member of Peter's family.
Dinner itself was a lot less painful than it could have been. Nobody interrogated Assumpta, as she had feared they might. Mostly, Mark bombarded her with embarrassing stories about Peter – all of which Peter insisted were lies – and Henrie told them all about her school project on the 'Locknest Monster'. Joe ate quickly and quietly, impatient to get back to watching the match, and answered Peter's questions about college and his friends in remarkably short sentences.
As pleasant as the evening was, Assumpta was glad when it was time to leave. She was exhausted, and, weird as it was, she missed Peter. They had both been focusing their attention all night on his brothers and Henrie, and she was keen to spend the last few minutes of the day with alone with Peter.
Back at Peter's mother's house, Assumpta volunteered to make tea. Bringing the tea into the sitting room, she placed Peter's on the end table beside the chair into which he'd collapsed upon arrival. She took hers over to the fireplace, where she again observed the aeroplanes, thinking about how well each plane reflected its creator's character.
'So,' she said to Peter, 'did I disgrace you?'
He smiled.
'They adore you – especially Henrie. It was like Christmas for her, having a girl to talk to.'
'She's lovely... I don't think Joe liked me much, though.'
'Joe doesn't like anything much, at the moment. Mum's death... it hit him hardest. He's still so young.'
Assumpta nodded her understanding.
Peter stared into his tea for a few moments, then quietly asked, 'What do you think of Mark?'
'I like him.'
'I noticed...'
Assumpta felt a little twinge of guilt.
'And what's that supposed to mean?'
'Nothing, just...' Peter made a business of putting his cup of tea down, stalling for time while he thought of what he should say. 'Do you find him attractive?'
'No,' Assumpta responded, much too quickly.
Peter raised his eyebrows disbelievingly.
'Well, I mean...'
'I should've known,' Peter muttered. 'You know, every single time I have liked a girl, she's decided she prefers Mark. When I was seven years old, I invited Laura Brennan to my birthday party, and she spent the entire time with Mark, learning to ride his stupid skateboard. It's been the same thing ever since then. He always joked that I only became a priest because he kept stealing my girlfriends.'
Assumpta couldn't help chuckling at this, but Peter looked wounded, and pity washed over her.
'Oh Peter,' she said, walking over and sitting down on his lap. She put both arms around his neck, and looked him square in the face. 'I am not Laura Brennan, and I have absolutely no desire to learn to ride a skateboard.'
Her closeness overwhelmed him so that he could do nothing but listen in silence as she continued.
'I won't insult your intelligence by pretending your brother's not a very good looking guy, and really nice too, but you...' - she paused to run a hand through his hair – 'You're the only one who can make my heart melt and my hands shake just by looking at me with those big eyes of yours. You're the only one whose voice I'll never get tired of hearing, no matter how many stupid things you say. You're kind and sweet and selfless, and I see that when I look at you, and it's the most attractive thing in the world...'
Peter had never allowed himself to dream that Assumpta would say such things to him, and he simply didn't know how to respond.
'Plus,' she added casually, 'your arse is much nicer anyway.'
At this, Peter laughed loudly, looking absolutely scandalised.
'Assumpta!'
'Well, it is,' she shrugged.
Just as Peter was leaning in to kiss her, they heard a key turn in the front door. They both sprang to their feet, just as Joe appeared in the doorway.
'Joe! What are you doing here?' asked a flustered Peter.
'I live here.'
'You live with Mark.'
Joe rolled his eyes.
'Are you telling me I can't even come home for a week while you're here? Why is this family intent on making me insane and homeless as well as orphaned?'
The atmosphere was extremely tense, and Assumpta thought it was a good time for her to leave.
'I'm gonna head to bed. Goodnight.'
Peter followed her to the stairs, and gently grabbed her arm.
'I'm sorry. I'll take him back to Mark's,' he whispered.
'No, don't. Let him stay. And talk to him, Peter. He needs you.'
She gave him a quick kiss before going up to bed.