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The girls came down together, with Brie leading at the front, a huge smile on her beautiful face. "Hello, Daddy," she boldly came out and said, "I've been waiting for you since I was little."
Bryan slipped off the kitchen chair to his knees and held his arms out to her. "Me too, Sweetheart. I wish I had known about you sooner, I'd have been here long ago."
She stepped into his embrace and put her thin arms around his neck, while he gently folded his strong arms around her. It was all he could do to stop crying, the tears were already welling up in his eyes. His emotions were all over the place after the last few hours.
"Well, kiss me 'Good morning' Daddy, and we can go get breakfast. I'm hungry!"
She pulled her head off his shoulder and looked at his face, examining it. "You face is nicely shaved, my uncles are always bristly." She closed her eyes and puckered her lips, so Bryan kissed her gently on the lips, then again on her forehead.
When he looked up, he saw Carla and her Mum embracing and looking at the pair, both of them had tears in their eyes.
He blinked away his own, got up and lifted Brie up with him.
"Dad's looking after the deliveries this morning, so we can go get a leisurely breakfast and all our shopping tasks done this morning."
"OK," Carla nodded, kissed her Mum and Dad, gathered up a large soft bag and a handbag.
Carla led the way in her car, Bryan followed after an embrace and kiss with Myra.
After a fun breakfast, where Bryan was just blown away by how comfortable Brie felt with him. With Carla's encouragement to do everything with his new daughter, she happily held his hand from car to restaurant. Bryan took lots of pictures of her and sent a stream of them off to his Mum. Daughter and father chattered away happily when they were eating their breakfast sitting next to each other, and she even asked him to take her to the toilet when she needed to go at the end of the meal. He enquired of Carla with raised eyebrows, and Carla encouraged him to go. "Take your daughter to the toilet, Daddy," she smiled, pouring herself a fresh cup of tea and pointed putting her shapely legs up on the chair next to her, leaning back and savouring her hot drink.
Faced with a choice of toilets, Bryan opted for the Disabled toilet, which was also marked for baby changing, and he locked themselves in. He had to help her on and off the seat and she made great play of holding his hands to ensure she wouldn't fall in, and they had an enjoyable laugh about it playing at pretending to fall or being allowed to fall. They both had the giggles. Then he had to help wipe soap over her hands, wash and dry his own hands and then hold her up to the taps to rinse her hands off. When they emerged, safe and dry, he had the kind of smile on his face that couldn't even be smacked off!
Halfords next, to fit a car seat to Bryan's car, which was a surprisingly easy process according to Bryan. They left Carla's car parked there, where it was free parking. Intending to collect it after finishing shopping. Bryan drove his car, parking in the multistorey near the centre, where there was his bank, a branch of his insurance company and several jewellers' shops.
They tried a couple of large nationally-known stores first without seeing anything of note, before settling on a Swiss husband-and-wife-owned independent jewellers. Here, Carla found a nice selection of unusual rings and picked a ring with a single small solitaire diamond at a moderate price. Bryan raised his eyebrows as he had budgeted for a more expensive ring, but conceded that the lady who wore it had the right to choose what was right for her. Besides, Brie liked the ring too. The owners of the shop too supported Carla's choice, the happiness of the bride being more important than the turnover. Both Bryan and Carla agreed afterwards that they were made to feel so much more comfortable that at the national chains, that they would try there first in future. They soon settled on identical wedding rings, but they had to send off for Bryan's size, so they agreed to collect those rings together in a week's time.
The motor insurance brokers was a simple matter of adding Carla's name to his policy, with no additional charge, as the added driver was age 25 or over. Carla's insurance was bought online, she thought as a cheaper price. However, Bryan's company came up with a scheme that matched her cover, added Bryan as a named driver for cheaper than the online policy. No problem to cancel one and start a new one with instant cover, they would even claim the unspent portion of the fee on her behalf and credit the amount when the final figure was settled.
The bank was not so easy. Because they were not married yet, she had to go onto the account in her maiden name, although the account name could be changed later. Transferring the balance of her current account and transfer of standing orders and direct debits would be taken care of by the bank.
When they returned to collect Carla's car, there was a computer store near Halfords, so Bryan steered her towards the top of the line desktop machines and software for graphic freelance work. She did look at them, out of professional interest, but Carla explained that she wanted time to see if that was the direction she wanted to go with her career. Seeing his disappointment at not doing something towards doing something more rewarding than her pub work, she said that the difference of working in a team in a design office and freelance lone working, were frightening to her. For a start there would be the task of seeing the clients, perhaps working for hours on end with them looking over your shoulder, which would take her away from Brie for longer than she felt acceptable. She would think about it more before deciding, perhaps leave it three months to look into design studios in Berkshire for overflow artwork from existing local studios.
BRYAN AND THE BBQ
I worked well in company with Barry Brown, my future father-in-law, at the hot charcoal grill in the Brown's back garden. After a while and once we had cooked and stockpiled the first batch of food, to make sure that everyone had something, he was confident to leave me in charge of the grill while he played host.
We were late finishing our shopping so we headed straight for Carla's parents' house, especially as Carla had received a text from her Mum to say they were back home at 11.30 and Barry was getting the charcoals loaded up and lit.
Barry reported that the furniture had been delivered and said that he had ensured that the delivery company had made a note of and agreed with him, as well as signed on the delivery note by the driver, that one of the dining room chair legs was scratched. The supplier had been contacted and they agreed to deliver a replacement by Monday.
I had to grin, I really liked Barry and could see us getting along well over the years. Other than the chair problem, he reported that all the rooms had been thoroughly cleaned. He had spotted, on the side in the kitchen, the snag list that I had started with my initial inspection on Friday morning (was that only yesterday?!) and he'd added a few things he had spotted to the list, as well as put a few simple things right and crossed them off.
They had also found time to unpack all of my boxes and put everything away. To be honest, I was shocked that he managed to get both his drunken sons from the previous evening up and out of their house to get to my place shortly after 7am, so I was left in no doubt of his persuasive powers!
I recalled that time a decade earlier, when I was just 15 and, along with half a dozen of my school friends, we were the elite selected from many applicants to help Mr Brown in his various building projects during the long school summer holidays. Not just boys were taken on, but he employed a couple of girls, too. One of the reasons I was keen to join them that year was because one of the girls in the team would be his daughter Carla. Naturally, knowing how my luck ran, for most of the six long, hot weeks of the summer, I was mostly working on the early stages of building, making shuttering for concrete pouring, mixing mortar for bricklaying or wall plaster, while Carla was more often working on a completely different site, putting the finishing touches of gloss painting windows or doors.
One project they did have, was the renovation of a nearby village church hall, which involved a lot of filling cracks and holes and rubbing down all the inner walls, the window frames inside and out and all the door architraves and skirtings. Although part of the day was spent on labourious prep, by mid-morning we lads were on wall painting duty, using huge brushes or rollers with long-reach handles, while the girls were doing their detailed gloss painting, so I was able to keep an eye on 'my girl' all afternoon, which for me was heaven.
Of course, Gary Cox being Gary Cox was messing about as usual when the Boss wasn't watching and started teasing the two girls. Carla told him to stop it. I was already moving towards them when I saw him raise his hand and smack Carla across the face. I couldn't stop the initial blow, but I ensured he wouldn't hit her again. I told Carla and the other girl, that if Cox ever tried that again, I would see him at the bottom of the next building foundation we laid. I kept my eye on Cox and Carla for the remaining week of the holidays. Of course, Carla and Cox carried on being seen out together as a couple thereafter and, when the next year came around and Mr Brown rang me to ask why I hadn't signed on, I lied and said I had too many Army Cadet commitments. How could I tell him of my disappointment that the woman I loved chose someone else over me? Mr Brown had sounded disappointed by my response and told me that any time I needed work he would find something for me. I just couldn't face having the couple demonstrating they were a couple in front of my eyes all day for a second year.
At the grill, Barry Brown snapped me out of my memories by getting me up to date on what they had done to help me move in. It sounded as though the many hands of the Brown family had made light work of moving me into our new house painlessly, unpacking all my boxes and making up the bed in the third bedroom.
"There were lots of pictures that we unpacked, son, but we left the final decision where they were to go up to you. We leaned them up by the walls in the positions that Myra considered was best. She's got a better eye for that sort of thing than I have. I've left a couple of packs of hooks plus a spare hammer, which you can keep, in the utility room for you."
"I really appreciate that Dad." I said, becoming more and more comfortable settling into my new enlarged family.
"One other thing son," he said, "when you think about renting the property out, would you give us first refusal?"
"But what about this place? I have only four bedrooms and even with Carla and Brie moving out, you need four."
"We talked about it over coffee at your place and John announced that he was moving in with his girlfriend shortly. Marlene lost her grandmother recently and her parents have a granny flat within their house and Marlene has spoken to them about having John move in with her and, if their relationship survives this test they will marry. Hey, it is the modern way. They are thinking about it but, as you know, there are few more respectable kids than John. As for this place, we would sell it, we are old enough to put our money into tax-free savings, and I could release enough money to give my business the capital boost it needs in equipment and training to enable the enlarged company to compete with larger firms for larger and more profitable jobs and projects."
"You have my word that you have first refusal, I feel in this respect I can speak for Carla that she will fully support this arrangement." We shook on it and he began his circulation among his guests.
"Honey, I'd like you to meet Michelle, my usual partner in crime at the Riverside Bar," Carla introduced a dark haired woman of about 30, about five years older than us, who was almost as tall as me. "She wants some of your grilled chicken in a sandwich."
"Hi, Michelle," I said, "I hope you're feeling better than you did yesterday."
She grinned in embarrassment, "Actually I was on a hot date last night. Someone invited me to the new pub opening, so I called in sick. I heard that you two are getting hitched, congratulations."
"Thanks, Michelle," I said as I pressed a breast of chicken in a bun in her hand, "Barry's special hot sauce and a selection of salads are on the table over there. Are you working tonight?"
"Ahh! Of course! You want Carla to throw a sickie, so you can have your wicked way with her all night, again?" Michelle laughed, getting a light slap on her arm from Carla.
"I have told her no such thing, Darling, she has a vivid imagination and can see how gloriously happy I am."
"You positively glow, my Darling," I laughed, with my eyes focused on hers, "I think even on the most ordinary day you can imagine, you are always my hot date."
"So." I replied to Michelle's earlier question, "I just wanted to know so we can keep the babysitting arrangements simple."
"How does the munchkin feel about the wedding?" Michelle asked us.
"She loves Bryan already, who wouldn't?" Carla said, pulling her friend away, "We'll leave Bryan to grill while you tell me all about your hot date."
"Well, it turned out to be not so hot...." Michelle said as she was being pulled away and I couldn't hear any more.
There were a few other guests at the BBQ, apparently a regular thing at the Browns' during the summer. Brenda Cox was a shy, mousey middle-aged woman who arrived quietly and disappeared into the kitchen to help Myra butter rolls, heat up crisps and make salads. I assumed from her name that she was the neighbour and therefore Gary Cox's Mum. I remember when I was helping to carry and stack bricks during the building and Barry chewing Mr Cox off for using mortar that had gone off in the mix and started setting, that Cox Senior was a surly individual, and Brenda seemed to have the timid attitude of a woman who was bullied, by her husband while he was around and now by her son.
I was formally introduced to my future brothers-in-law. John, I recognized from his Army Cadet days, as he was only a couple of years younger than myself and Carla, but Paul, George and Richard were meeting me for the first time. They all seemed friendly and interested in my travels, but the eldest three collected their food and drifted off immediately their girlfriends arrived. Richard was the youngest and didn't have a girlfriend yet.
"I'm the bookworm in the family," Richard confided in me after his brothers deserted him for their girls, although he looked to have the potential to develop a similar frame to his brothers, once he grew out of his smaller 13-year-old body, "I want to be an engineer and work on escape velocity rockets and strategies for refuelling vessels on other worlds and moons, rather than always having to take enough fuel for the return journey to Earth." He was a smart kid and I expressed the wish that he'd achieve his objective.
My father Clive and his girlfriend Sadie turned up with their one-year-old baby, who was at the stage where he was beginning to crawl everywhere. Unasked, three-year-old Brie put herself in charge as Mother Hen to my half-brother, to ensure that he didn't go where it was dangerous or too dirty, and shield him from the danger of being stepped on. I was so touched and proud of her that I had to seek out Carla to hug and kiss her for bringing our child up to be such a lovely creature. Carla swatted me lightly on my arm saying to Michelle that I was prepared to use any excuse to squeeze and kiss her.
"Do I need an excuse?" I asked, to which she replied, "No, of course not. In fact you'll have to come up with excuses NOT to kiss me, and if you want to keep me happy they better be good ones!"
Jenny Kingstone was another arrival, Carla's best friend. After embracing Carla, and being introduced to Michelle, she greeted me like an old friend, which we were, having been close neighbours for as long as we could remember, up until I left home and she married. She pulled me into a passionate hug and mouth kiss with tongue, which took me by surprise, whispering in my ear, "At one time I hoped that I would be the one you'd ask to marry, but I wish you and Carla every happiness."
I was at a loss for words, having long regarded her as a sister, but tried to take in what my Mother had said earlier about Jenny's feelings, presumably confessed to er mother, who was a close friend of my mother. But then she broke off the embrace and skipped away to speak to the group of girlfriends of the Brown boys. Before I could get the possible implications of that kiss sorted out in my logical mind, I was swamped with orders for more platefuls of grilled chicken, steaks and sausages from my stockpile and I loaded a few more on the grill to cook. The beauty of cooking too much food on the BBQ is that most of it can be eaten cold later in the week or provide filling for sandwiches. With so many fast growing males in the Brown household I assumed that leftovers rarely went to waste.
Most of the youngsters were on their second platefuls before three new arrivals came through the garden gate and I stood up from enjoying my own repast sitting next to Carla to greet them, with Carla still holding one of my hands and holding out a hand for Brie to join us.
"Hi Mum," I said, giving the first of the arrivals to reach me a one-handed hug, then I turned to Carla, "Carla, this is my mother, Cathy Taylor, Mum this is Carla Brown...."
"Pleased to meet you Mrs Taylor."
"Oh, call me Cathy, dear, please, come here!" Mrs Taylor was released by me and she put both arms around Carla and gave her a warm hug.
"... and this, Mum," I continued proudly, "is your granddaughter Bryanna Myra Brown, Brie for short."
Mrs Taylor released her hug around Carla and turned her attention to the little girl standing expectantly beside her mother. She dropped to her haunches and held her arms out to the little girl.
"Hello, Princess, I'm your other Nan, Nanny Catherine. I've been dying to see you all day, can you give me a hug?"
"Yes," Brie said with a smile and fell into her arms. Cathy Taylor clutched the little girl to her with tears in her eyes. She looked towards me, "Oh Bryan, Carla, she's absolutely beautiful, just as you said she was. Thank you, I believe she's the spitting image of my dear sister Helen."
I whispered in Carla's ear, "Helen was about four or five years younger than Mum and died when she was about 10. We only have a couple of grainy snapshots of her at home." I didn't say anything, but from those tiny overexposed photos I really couldn't tell if Brie was a good match of her or not.
Carla released her hand holding onto mine and knelt down to embrace the pair and soon all three were shedding tears of joy. I looked down the three generations of Taylor and soon-to-be-Taylors, none of them originally born as Taylors, and my heart melted too.
Then, while my attention was diverted by the scene before me, I was almost bowled over by Aunt Ann, my father's youngest sister. She put her arms around the middle of her favourite nephew and squeezed me, burying her head in my chest.
"Hi, Aunt Ann," I managed while I had still had air in my lungs.
I looked up and the hulking figure of my mother's boyfriend, Arthur Campbell, had come to the BBQ in his best Scottish kilt, a reflection of him embracing his heritage, although his family had been born in London and then Brighton for several generations. His long ginger hair was thinning on top and streaked with grey, but he had a certain bearing and always had a lively twinkle in his eye and a taste for getting full enjoyment out of life. Having stayed with them a couple of times, I was certain that he and my mother were deeply in love, but Mum was still uncertain about her ability to hold onto a man having lost a husband to a much younger woman, before she could commit to a new marriage.
