Ava gave a nod in agreement. “What about if we add more to it, some of our individual stuff. Baby photos and records of achievement from school. Things we had as kids that we don’t want to throw away but feel too sentimental to keep it.”
“Seph still has the sheets from when he lost his virginity. He thought it would never happen again so he needed to have a keepsake.” Payton smirked at her twin.
Seph said nothing, just gave her two fingers.
“You mean like memory boxes?” Max frowned. I knew my big brother pretended he wasn’t in touch with his emotional side when he really was.
“Just like that. But I’ll style it so it’s not just a load of damp cardboard. I’d probably put my wedding dress in there and some of the things from that day, as well as my portfolio from college,” Ava said, looking at my glass of wine with something like envy.
I glanced around my siblings. We were at my house, some of the kids knocking about – two of them were trying to practice killing each other or so it sounded – and a few of our partners who were staying out of this because they’d developed sense over the years.
I knew we were a lot. We’d been brought up to be close, to look after each other, that the ties between us were unbreakable no matter what we said or sometimes did to each other. I was close to Max and Jackson because we’d had a year or so when it’d just been the three of us trying to look after Callum; we’d become a team and stayed that way. When the other three had come along, they’d been included in that team without question, because Marie had said so and from day one, we’d accepted her as one of us because she’d wanted us.
“Which room are you thinking, Claire,” Max said as a high-pitched yelp rang through the house. “I think that’s the twins. They’ll be okay.” He made no sign to move.
“Not Dad’s office, although it was tempting.” It would’ve made the perfect space really.
“How about the room next door. He used to use it for storing files, but he emptied it a few months ago because everything’s electronic.” Payton leaned forward, interested now. “The last time I was home, I went in there. The carpet had been taken up because there’d been an infestation of moths. Dad was on moth patrol every day with his spray. I think it brought him great pleasure.”
“That would probably bring me great pleasure.” Jackson almost looked envious. “Is he planning on using the room for anything else?”
“I’ll ask Mum,” I said, reaching for my phone. I’d long since stopped calling her Marie, probably around the time when I’d been a student and found out I was pregnant, faced with a decision that was still the hardest one I’d ever had to make.There were times when I’d wonder what my life would’ve been like if I’d gone through with the pregnancy, then I’d look at my life now and I was grateful for the choice I’d been able to make. I didn’t allow myself the regret that could’ve consumed me. Marie had been my rock and my person at that time, and ever after.
I stepped out of the kitchen and into the garden. Rose and Eliza were lounging on a blanket on the grass, looking at something probably on social media. Jackson’s boy Teddy and Payton’s son Tomas were up a tree and would probably need rescuing later, but that could be a Killian problem.
Mum answered on the third ring.
“I know I left the photos out for you to have a good look at, but I’m worried where they’ve gone.” She sounded half-panicked.
“I’ve got them. What time tomorrow is the removal van there?” Tomorrow was moving day, the day after that was when the sale would complete and we’d no longer have the keys to the place where we’d spent so much time growing up.
“Midday, which is fine. What are you going to do with the photos? Dad has them all uploaded and saved, so we don’t really need the actual things.” She sighed loudly. “I’ve got the box here for some reason with all your new born things – from when you, Max, Jackson and Callum were born. Rachael kept it. It’s ended up here – I think we moved it for safekeeping when we had the house in Oxford renovated and never took it back. Do you think you want it?”
“Definitely. I’ll send someone over to get it now and then we can keep everything together. Is Dad still using the room next to his study at the Oxford house?” I had no idea what was in those boxes, so Killian’s task would be to bring them back here and let me go through them first. There were a few things that were triggering for my brothers and if the boxes contained anythingof the sorts, then the time and the place to look through them wasn’t here and now.
“He was going to use it to make elderflower champagne, but apparently the temperature or humidity isn’t right, so it’s still empty. What do you want it for?”
I explained the idea.
“I don’t see why not. When are you going to put it together?”
I saw my littlest sister standing up, her hand on her still flattish belly.
“Today. I think we’ll head over there now and get everything into that room. We can sort it out another time, but if we know where things like this are, we don’t have to worry about leaving anything behind.” That was my fear with them selling the big house, that we forgot to take something and couldn’t get it back.
“If you’re going to Oxford, can you take some of the wine with you? The really good stuff’s already boxed and ready to be picked up today, but the everyday bottles need transporting.”
My parents were really into their wine. They didn’t drink as much as they used to – London office culture had been to go for a drink most nights, and Marie was from a family where having a drink in the evening was the usual – but they had a huge interest in vineyards and the wineries in Canada, having owned one now for more than a decade. My dad had been fascinated with ice wine and how it was produced, so we’d ended up with a collection of that amongst other things. He also had a whisky collection that’d been written about in magazines which was stored in Oxford, with more security than Killian had around our house.
“I’ll come over with Killian and Owen,” I mentioned Payton’s husband who was usually laid back and amenable to helping out with pretty much anything. He was the polar opposite to my highly strung, workaholic sister which worked beautifully.
“See you in about half an hour then.”
We were there just over half an hour later, four of us - me, Killian, Owen and Jackson, Killian’s car and Owen’s car with us as I had no idea how much wine would need to be moved; Marie had kept that detail hidden.
She met us at the door, looking dusty which suggested the very bowels of the house were being explored.
“Found any treasure?” Jackson gave her a hug anyway.
