Jacki and Lucy Two Sisters at War

I used that as a chance to dig around in their personal life. Having them so recently back in my life, I realised how little I knew about them. I was shocked when I learnt that Mr. B had been forced to take early retirement because of an accident he had, which did actually do a lot of damage to his shoulder.

He was given a bit of a golden handshake to leave, but once their mortgage was paid off and their car was paid for, there wasn't a lot left.

Bedtime came quickly, and it made the atmosphere very uncomfortable. Luce knew as well as I did that we were going to she sharing our old room, as we always did. After a few quick hugs and kisses, we were shipped off to our room, like teenagers with a curfew.

Once the door was shut, she hissed at me. "Why did you come tonight? You knew I didn't want you here."

I was about to speak when she cut me off with, "And what's all this Mum and Dad crap? Since when do you even care? You hated them, you said so yourself."

"Fair comment," I whispered. Fighting in whispered hisses is so hard. "I want to start over. I made their lives a living hell, and I am trying to make amends, which is why I came tonight."

"Amends," she spat out. "I doubt you even know what it means."

"Actually, I did my share of therapy while I was inside. I didn't accept or understand at the time. Now, though, I have an understanding, and I appreciate some of what I remember. Now, I'm comfortable accepting that I am responsible for what happens in my life. Nobody else is to blame; responsibility for my actions rests on my shoulders."

"You never once accepted responsibility. You blamed Mum and Dad for everything that went wrong. Well, either them or me, or both."

"I know, and that was wrong. I am trying, Luce, I am trying so hard here."

"Bullshit, just like always, you're playing a part. You don't know how to be honest."

"Oh yeah, right." I snarled, my hissed response taking away my advantage. "You are in no position to fire those barbs. You have been living a lie for years. You cut Mum out of your relationship, you are so embarrassed about who you really are, you keep the real you buried."

The tears flowed, she wiped her eyes frantically trying to stem the tide. Seeing her in so much pain, I stepped forward to hug her, but she saw me and put her hand up quickly. "Stay right there. I may have not been honest, but at least I didn't try to hurt the people I love."

"Luce, I'm sorry Leeza treated you so badly. I know you must have loved her deeply, but you can't let that colour your whole world."

"Fuck you, what do you know about Leeza and me? Nothing that's what." With her eyes burning into me like fiery laser beams, I flinched under her scrutiny. "I did love her, I loved her with all my heart. I gave her everything."

"I know, Luce, and I'm sorry," I said collapsing back on my bed. She turned and stormed out. I heard the toilet door slam, and quickly stripped, pulled on my PJs and jumped into bed.

I lay with the blankets pulled up around my neck, staring up at the ceiling. So many years ago, I did exactly this. Then it was usually to the sound of Luce's bright happy voice as she told me some story from her day, or cajoled me for not doing my homework.

When she walked back in, she flicked off the light and quickly dived under her blankets.

The morning was awkward. When I opened my eyes, I was alone. She must have got up early. I found her and Mum in a swaying embrace in the kitchen. Dad, who was in the dining room eating breakfast, just gave me a confused shrug. I leaned over and gave him a kiss as I walked around the table.

"Watcha doing today?" I asked.

"Nothing in particular, why do you ask?"

I tossed him the keys to the bike. "I filled the tank."

He chuckled. "I better talk to Mary, otherwise I'll get in trouble."

"For what?" Mum asked, as she carried in a plate of poached egg on toast.

He held up the keys and dangled them in front of her. "Oh, I see. Well, just be careful. If you damage that bike, we will have to fix it."

He grinned at me. "Do you mind?"

"Oh, hell no, you go for it. Fill your boots, Pop."

I helped him check the bike out before he burned rubber heading for somewhere.

Walking back in, there was Luce with her bag packed, and she was obviously saying goodbye to Mum.

"No Lucy my love, you are staying. I have some things to say, and you're going to hear me out."

Luce glared at me, as if to say, "Bitch, now I'm in trouble."

Mum was like a big old momma bear as she more pushed than guided us into the living room. Luce picked the big old armchair and flopped back into it with a haughty huff, Her arms folded tightly across her chest in an insulating coccoon.

Mum pointed me to the sofa, and snapped, "Sit."

She stood between us, glaring back and forth. "Lucy, you know how much I love you." Staring at me she added. "Jackie, I know you haven't always accepted it, but I love you just as much. You two beautiful souls are my biggest treasure. Now having you both here, our family reunited, I am not going to let something silly destroy that."

"Mum..." Luce said, trying to speak.

"No, Lucy," She snorted. "You need to listen to me. I don't know what happened between you two, but it stops right here. You were like some spoiled little brat yesterday. Jackie tried to show you how much she loves you."

"She doesn't love me," Luce screeched at the top of her voice. Jesus, even I was shocked at her violent outburst. Mum looked horrified.

"Oh child, that isn't true." Mum whispered as Luce started bawling her eyes out, her head in her hands.

I watched in shock as Mum placed her hand on Luce's shoulder, her hand moving in slow circles, stroking, and comforting. "Lucy, I know how hard the last eighteen months have been for you. That evil witch crushed you and ripped out your heart, but you have to let that go, my darling."

Luce, spluttered, her eyes flashing around the room in fright. "Mum, what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Leeza. That girl was evil. I never said anything, and I am sorry for that. I saw how much you loved her, you forgave her everything, and she kept taking, and taking. She never returned your love."

Luce was like a possum caught in a trap. Her face went white, all blood draining from her body. "Mum..."

"No, Luce, I know about you and Leeza, I always did. I would have been happy for you, except I knew she was awful. I disliked her from the first time we met."

"Mum..."

"No, Luce, it's all right. I understand, and I don't care. If you are gay, then that is fine by me. I love you unequivocally."

Luce sobbed uncontrollably as she fought for something to say, something that would take the spotlight off her. Mum knelt down in from of her and lifted Luce's hands from her face. Gripping them in her hands, she repeated, "It's all right, Lucy, my sweet. Everything is going to be okay. I love you, all I want is for you to be happy."

Luce wrapped her arms around Mum's neck, and buried her head in Mum's shoulder. I could see her body convulsing as she sobbed and sobbed. Mum softly rubbed her back as the big wet patch on her cotton frock, got bigger and bigger.

I realised I was crying myself. It was impossible not to.

As they slowly separated, Mum started again. "Now, all we have to do is fix whatever is going on between you and Jackie. I love you Lucy, you can trust me. All I want is what's best for both my girls."

Luce stared at me, her eyes red and bloodshot. She couldn't hold my gaze and buried her head in Mum's shoulder again.

It was now or never. I walked over, knelt down beside Mum and whispered. "Luce, I do love you. I love you as my sister, but it doesn't stop there. I love you totally. I want you in my life. I want to marry you, to be with you forever."

She peeked at me from the safety of Mum's arms. "But..."

"Forget it, she already knows. She busted us ages ago," I said as I directed my eyes at Mum.

"Lucy, you are not as sneaky as you think you are," Mum said.

She turned and gave me a hug. "You, as well, young lady. You need to be totally honest. Don't lose the best thing that has ever happened to you. I'm going next door. Elsie and I have things to do. I'll be back in about thirty minutes."

She walked out, leaving Luce and me staring at each other. "Wow, that was intense." I said with a sigh.

"Yeah, god, she knew all the time. God I feel stupid, all the lies I told her about Leeza."

"Yeah, she's a pretty intuitive old duck. She came up and saw me last week. Laid it all out on the table. Made me confess. Jesus, she should work for the bloody police as an interrogator."

Luce giggled. "Yeah, she's pretty good all right."

"Good! Fuck, that's an understatement."

"Jax, I don't know what to say."

"What about we start again. I love you, Luce. I'm not pissing around, Sis, I have missed the fuck out of you. I hate not having you around."

"What about that guy?"

"Ross? Shit girl, I tried to tell you. He's nothing more than an old friend. There's nothing going on there. I have mates like him; they're gonna be around. You need to know that."

"What if Leeza wanted to come and stay with me? How would you feel about that?" She retorted angrily.

Everything mum had said about Laaza, came flooding back into my mind, and I let fly. "I would love it, because it would mean I could get my hands on her and rip every hair on her head out, and break every bone in her body. I hate what she did to you, Luce. She sounds like a real bitch."

Her hand slipped into mine, her fingers toying with mine. Her eyes caught mine. "I missed you, as well. I felt so empty."

"Yeah, empty's a good word. I hated not having your annoying whiny voice in my head."

"I'm not whiny." She smirked.

There was a moment, time slowed, we stared back and forth, then her mouth was over mine, she fell on the floor beside me, her arms tightened around me.

Heaven must be like that, where time stands still and every painful memory is erased with one kiss, one embrace.

As her ravenous mouth separated from mine, her hot breath feeding me, she whispered, "I love you, Jax. God I can't believe how much I missed you."

The sound of the front door opening dragged us both out of our elation. "Shit, it's Mum." We both jumped up, frantically pulling and straightening our clothes.

As she emerged into the living room, we were standing together, red faced. She grinned. "Good, I'm glad you worked out your differences."

She pulled us both into a big hug. "That's all I ever wanted, my two girls to find true love. I am so happy you found that."

"What about Dad?" Luce shivered, her voice showing the concern she felt.

"That will be difficult, but when he sees what I see. He will be happy."

The big reveal wasn't half as bad as we all expected. He was shocked. There was no hiding from that, but with Mum on our side, she soon had him convinced.

That night, we shared a bed and all of the emotions evaporated. Her lips on mine made everything better. Although, now that we knew that Mum knew, we were paranoid about the noises we made. It made the lovemaking like a game, as we tried to be quiet. Every second, I expected to hear that voice we heard so often when we were little: "Will you girls cut it out in there."

Sunday morning it was a bit awkward, but when Mum suggested we go down to the town market and do some shopping, it eased the tension. We walked down, Luce's hand sliding in and out of mine as we strolled along. Walking through the main street, we walked past an empty shop. I remembered it from when we were kids, it used to be a toy shop. Now it was vacant and looking run down. The windows painted over. Peering through the window, Luce came back and grabbed my hand. "I remember this shop. It was toys, right?"

"Yeah, I used to love going in there."

"Been empty for a while," Luce mused. Mum came back, and said, "What are you girls doing?"

"Memories, Mum."

She tittered, "Yes, I remember all right. I remember a couple of tantrums when I tried to tell you I didn't have any money."

"Sorry, Mum," We both replied simultaneously. "How long has it been empty?" I asked.

"A long time, sweetheart. A shame really, Jackie, you used to love it more than most, as I remember."

Luce gave me a funny look as I wrote down the leasing agent's number. "What are you doing?"

I shrugged. "Dunno, it's just a feeling."

We both went a bit nuts at the market, buying Mum all sorts of stuff. On the walk home, I said to Luce. "Can you give me a ride back to your place?"

"What about your bike?" She said frowning uneasily.

"Well, my place is pretty packed at the moment. It would be great if I could leave it in Dad's shed, just for a while."

Mum heard and shook her head. "You will make him very happy, Jacki. You know he will be out on it every day, don't you?"

"Well, if it makes him happy, then it's a start. I have a lot of amends to make."

On the drive back to Hamilton, Luce asked, "What was that with the shop?"

"Okay, you're probably going to call me crazy, because I couldn't wait to get out of that bloody town, but I was wondering about moving back there."

She looked completely disconcerted, "Oh my god, are you serious?"

"Yeah, I want to be closer to you, and I want to be closer to Mum and Dad. I have this feeling, I can't explain it, but for years. I never felt like this was home, but now, now I feel it. I understand that they did love me. I need to make things right. I was a fucking bitch to everybody. Plus, I need to get out of Auckland."

She was silent for a while. "Where would you live?"

"I might see if I could stay with Mum and Dad while I fix up the shop. I could even employ Dad to help with the heavy stuff. I recall he's pretty handy with a paintbrush."

"Shit, you've given this a lot of thought."

"No, not really, but there are some stars aligning here, things for once in my life make sense."

"I hate Hamilton," she said. "It has nothing but bad memories for me."

When she gave me a thin smile, I replied. "Then when I find a place to live, you could move in with me, you could commute to Hamilton for work."

She shivered, her whole body shuddered. "Commute, oh god, I couldn't think of anything worse. No, I was thinking of selling up."

When she saw my smile, she added. "You know, I have actually had an offer on my practice, already. They wanted me to stay on and become part of this franchise, but of I accepted their offer. It would give me a chance to get out."

"You'd have to put up with me."

She grinned widely. "I would love that."

Once stars start to align, it's funny how the pieces all fall into place. The shop rental was cheap, less than half of what I paid for the K road shop. Dad didn't want to take money for helping, at first, but I kept finding ways to give them money. I learned some other things about my father; he was a dab hand with a soldering iron, and he had a deft touch. That was going to come in very handy later.

Luce sold her practice and her house. She brought a place on the outskirts of Te Awamutu that became our home. She found a spot at a local doctor's surgery.

Not everything went smoothly. It was impossible to hide the fact that the new couple in town was gay. I had no issues. Luce on the other hand, had much closer ties to the town. She struggled, but it was Mum, our strongest ally, who turned the tide. She proudly stood by our side.

The biggest argument was who was giving away who at our wedding.

A prouder set of parents have never been seen.

Mum and Dad were also surprised when we forewent our honeymoon and paid for them to go to the Isle of Mann. Dad was finally going to live out his dream.