Safe Harbour

“Oh my God… I'm so sorry…I didn't know…I thought… she told me it would be a few months …I had no idea it would be so soon.” Death didn't always come on schedule, or as planned. In fact, it never did. And all she could think of as she sat there was of having been at the delivery with her, less than a year before. It had been so exciting and so joyful, and so moving, and as she thought of it, she realized that that was how she would remember her. And suddenly she was glad that she hadn't seen her when she was sick. After nearly twenty years of friendship, their lives had become unhooked, but maybe it was meant to be that way. Andrea had a path to follow that no longer included Ophélie. She had made a terrible mistake that had hurt Ophélie terribly, but a child had come of it, and now he was coming home to her. All of life's strange twists and turns never led where you expected them to. It was impossible to even guess at one's destiny.

“Is there a funeral?” Ophélie asked her, wondering if she was supposed to organize it. How odd that was too, they had always talked about weddings and affairs, and Ophélie had given a christening party for Willie because she was his godmother. And now they had to have a funeral for his mother. But the au pair explained that that wasn't what Andrea had wanted. They had already come to get her, she wanted to be cremated and sprinkled at sea. No service, no memorial, no mourners, no tombstone anywhere, just peo-ple's memories. It seemed cleaner to her that way, and for once Ophélie agreed. Under the circumstances, it was going to be less painful for everyone that way.

She had made her own arrangements to get rid of her apartment, and her things. All that was left was Willie. The au pair offered to bring him over later that day. Which meant that Ophélie had to tell Pip.

She was waiting for her in the kitchen when she came home from school with Matt. And Pip instantly reacted to the look on her mother's face. Matt already knew. She had called him in the car while he was on the way to school. And he had said he would do everything he could to support her, and Pip.

“Is something wrong?” Pip still remembered the last time she had seen her mother look like that, it had been a lot worse, but it frightened her anyway. She was afraid she was going to tell her that she and Matt had decided not to get married, but Ophélie instantly assured her that everything was all right, but she had sad news.

“Is it Mousse?” He was out in the garden and she hadn't seen him, and Ophélie smiled at her. Other than Matt, they had no one else left.

“No, it's Andrea. She died today.” Pip looked shocked at first and then sad. “She was very sick. She called me over two weeks ago, but I didn't want to tell you for a while.”

“Were you still mad at her?” Pip asked, watching her mother's face.

“Not really. We kind of made up when she called and told me she was sick.”

“What did she do to you?” Ophélie exchanged a look with Matt and he wondered what she would say, and he approved of what she did say to Pip.

“I'll tell you all about it one day, when you're grown up, but not till then.”

“It must have been very bad,” Pip said solemnly. She knew her mother well enough to know that she would have forgiven Andrea sooner otherwise, and seen her again.

“I thought it was.” But Pip also needed to know that Willie was her half brother one day.

“What's going to happen to Willie?” Pip asked sadly. He was an orphan now. It was a terrible thought, even to her.

“He's coming to live with us,” she said calmly, and Pip's eyes grew wide.

“He is? Now?”

“Today.” Pip looked pleased, and Matt smiled. It was a strange turn of events certainly, but like everything else, meant to be, if it happened that way. It made him realize again how odd life was. If things had turned out differently, Ophélie might have died of her gunshot wounds. Instead, they were getting married, and another woman's baby, who was also Ted's, was coming to live with them. Life and its extraordinary and often complicated and unexpected turn of events.

The au pair brought Willie over with all his belongings late that afternoon, and Ophélie and Pip were waiting for him when he arrived. It was an emotional moment for Ophélie, because the baby was not only Ted's, but Andrea's, and they had been friends for eighteen years. He had grown a lot, they hadn't seen him in four months, and Ophélie asked the woman if she would be willing to stay and work for them, and she agreed. The household was getting busier and more crowded by the minute. But Ophélie wasn't up to taking care of him herself yet. And it would have been a full-time job. For Pip and Matt's sake, she wanted help with him, or she wouldn't have enough time or energy for them.