Dad barbecued the meats he’d been marinating for the last couple of days and Marie had put out a spread of fresh foods, French cheeses that she kept giggling at, and cakes and trifles for all of us, not just the kids.
The cousins spilled out into the garden, free ranging across the grass towards the trees where rope swings had been built and a treehouse that’d had various renovations since I’d been about ten.
I watched Lucy and Eliza form their girl gang with Rose, involving Orla and Bea, who were just about old enough now for them to be of interest. Will and Maddox had found the cricket gear my dad had left out, so that was them for the next few days, it’d be leather on willow and a re-enactment of the Ashes.
“They’re settled.” Ava sat down next to me. “I need you all to come and see The Room.”
The Room had been given capital letters in our last few messages. Ava had given a few hints with what she was doing in it, which was finding a way to show of the items that held memories, making sure nothing was lost.
“Now?”
She nodded. “Now. There are some bits that I’m storing because the kids aren’t old enough to see them yet, but I want you to have a look at them before I put them away.” She sounded enthusiastic and even if I hadn’t been too bothered to revisit the past again, I’d have found some enthusiasm for her. It’d always been hard to say no to my baby sister, which was why she’d gotten away with everything when she was younger.
“Okay. I’ll come now.”
I was the last sibling she’d rounded up, the rest of them already in the small space, along with our parents. Our partners were outside with the kids and the food, which was almost ready for serving up and could be demolished while we were in here, which I was acutely aware of.
The room was something else though. She’d made our baby stuff into pictures, even things that’d been Dad’s when he was born. Booties, photos, a dummy that’d belonged to Jackson, our first pairs of shoes, baby books – they were all artfully displayed.
Then there were the school photographs and reports put into a book so our kids could see exactly how much of a pain Callum had been. Wedding photos were everywhere, a big gallery wall, but underneath each was the date and venue, capturing a timeline, and that was when I realised that was how she’d structured it. The room was a timeline of events, right from our Dad’s birth through to Ava and Eli’s new baby, where there was space for another photo.
“It’s a good job no one’s planning any more babies,” Mum said, gazing at the photo of the day when Seph had formally adopted Rose. “We’d have to knock through into Grant’s study.”
“Yeah, not happening.” My dad was taking up the doorframe. “I like that study.”
“I like this room. It’d be good if there was more room.” Marie was teasing him, I could tell. “Wouldn’t be difficult to knock this wall down.”
“I rarely say no to you, Marie, but no.” He shook his head. “And the food is ready, so unless you want Killian, Owen and Eli to finish the ribs before you get there, we need to put a pin in this journey down memory lane.”
I was at the back of the room, so I let everyone go first, looking at one of Ava’s creations that I’d missed. It was a modelhouse, exactly the same as the family home in London, the rooms inside just like our teenage bedrooms.
I wondered if she’d made it herself or if she’d had it made by one of her contacts. It was brilliant, each room so similar to how the real thing had been.
“It’s good, isn’t it?”
I looked up at the door, not realising she’d hung back.
“Who did it?”
“Eli and me. We started it as soon as we knew Mum was selling up. I’ve been trying to take it easy this week so I managed to get it finished for today.” She grinned, but I noticed she looked pale.
“You okay?”
“Very. Just morning sickness, or afternoon sickness, or evening sickness – exactly the same as I was with Nancy. My body doesn’t like being pregnant.” She rubbed her belly. “Or this point of being pregnant. In another three or four weeks I’ll be blooming.”
“I’m sure. Vic was the same. You’ve done an amazing job with all this.” I looked around again, the smell of barbecue drifting in through the open window.
“Thank you. I’m going to go outside and try and eat. You never know. It might stay down.” She turned and left, leaving me in the room for a little longer.
It was Rose who found me in there, a bit of sauce on her cheek, probably from a burger.
“Mum said there’s a model of Grandma’s old house.”
I pointed it out to her, talking her through each of the rooms, showing her the garden where there was also a tiny replica of her orange roses.
“I wish I could make things like this.” She looked sad. “I don’t think I have the patience though.”
“You have other talents. I don’t think Ava’s read a book in her life unless it was about interior design.” Ava couldn’t sit still long enough to read a book, I was pretty sure of that.
