Against The Odds (31 page)

“
Despite their strange ways, this couple have been wonderful
to my family. They have given us so much love and have done for us
that few people would ever do. They have given to us,
unconditionally and we will always thank them for that. They have
shown us the full power of love.”

Mia
was making
noises again

“And
even Mia agrees. Clayton and Rebecca, thank you so much for being
the best friends we could have asked for. We know that you will be
happy, even on your strange terms.”

Jackie
looked at Rebecca and mouthed ‘thank you’. Rebecca had tears in her
eyes.

Don’t cry Princess.

I have to. I am so happy.

Defying me already wife?

Yes, husband, get used to it.

She went
to Jackie and they hugged and she hugged Jonathan and cried. She
went to her parents and they cried too. Clayton just stood near
Jonathan

“
So, did I behave?”

“
Well this is the best you have been in a while. I got a bit
nervous when you were having a silent fight. Visions of tigers and
dragons.”

Clayton
laughed. “She never listens to me. She always must have the last
say.”

“
Welcome to married life. You will soon learn that it is
easier to agree than to fight.”

“
Not a chance. I will just shock her.”

“
I would not be surprised. Clayton, I am so glad that all this
is over. I am so happy, really, because the two of you deserve
it.”

“Thanks.
But I will no doubt need you to keep me logical and
sane.”

“
Glad to be of service.”

Zane and
John were approaching and definitely heard that. Zane was so
pleased. He had wanted John to hear it himself.

“Congratulations, Clayton. This is a lovely
wedding.”

“
Thank you.”

“
Jono that was a beautiful speech. That stuff about the power
of love. I tell you, we all had tears in our eyes.”

“Well, I
really meant it. Clayton here, ferocious as he might look, is a
great friend, even though he likes to do strange things and has
weird ideas about the world. All in all, he always comes
through.”

“
Oh, that is amazing. I must say, I never imagine you to be
the marrying type, Clayton.”

“Yes,
well I was lucky enough to meet the woman who could put up with my
‘strange and weird’ ways.”

He
was laughing, because he could see that Zane had some seriously
debauched thoughts in his mind.
Well, let me entertain
him.

“
She is the only woman in the whole world who lets me shock
her to high heaven.”

And Jono
laughed. “Oh no, don’t start that, not in public,
please.”

“
Well, that sounds quite bizarre, Clayton.”

“
Yes it is. That is why she is so special. I told you, she
likes my weird ways.”

“
Clayton what are you on about? What have you said to make
Zane look so horrified?”

She was
standing near Clayton now. “I just told him how you love my weird
ways, don’t you Princess?”

He
looked at her for a long while.

Come on, he is looking for entertainment. Let’s
give it to him.

“
Yes, I do. My favorite is when you become a tiger. That
ferocious beast in you, oooohhh I get goose bumps thinking about
it. Yummy.”

Jonathan, now realising that it all sounded so bizarre that
nobody would believe Zane, joined in the fun. Zane and John were
staring at them, their eyes wide.

“Come on, Clayton, what about your
favorites
? Well, like when she
traps you in a web of lust and you can’t get
out?”

“
What do you mean, Jono?”

“
Well, as you know, Rebecca here is a witch. She can trap a
man in a web of lust and debauchery and there is nothing he can do,
until she says otherwise.”

“
Wow, you are a wicked couple, aren’t you?”

“
Yes, would you like to try it, Zane?” Rebecca smiled
sweetly.

John
moved suddenly. Zane looked positively afraid.

“
No thanks. Anyway, we won’t keep you from your guests. We had
better run along.”

They had
such a good laugh that Clayton battled to stand up
straight.

“
Now, do you believe me, John?”

“
Okay, I admit that they are not quite the normal couple.
Also, that speech of Jono’s, about being taught the full power of
love and doing anything for them. Well, it was quite
obvious.”

Zane was
so happy that someone had at last accepted his fundamental belief
that those four were depraved that he grabbed John and kissed
him.

“
I love you John. Now can we leave the weirdoes for something
more regular? Our chalet must be getting so lonely without
us.”

And they
left, relieved to be outside the range of Clayton and Rebecca’s
lust. Zane checked that the door was locked twice, ‘just to be
sure’.

Hello, crone, why so sad?

Not sad, just thinking how happy they look, laughing
together.

I know, I am also happy, but Rowena, I want to go up there
tomorrow.

Up where?

To the place my daughter died for love.

Oh George, do we have to? Can’t we leave well
alone?

I just want to see it, to feel it, to know that she is
okay.

Alright, I suppose with your own experience, it is
important.

What experience?

I love you George.

I love you too, Rowena.

They
held hands, looking at their daughter and her Protector laughing so
much.

Clayton
was laughing, not just at Zane, but at his wife. She had no idea
that he had worked hard to rebuild the energy in his left hand.
George had taught him he could invoke its power with visualization
and how he could ‘see’ how much power he had. He looked at his
wife, laughing and teasing Jonathan and Brad. No doubt she was
still trying to convince Brad that she was happy and safe. If only
he knew how right his instinct had been about her. Her head was
thrown back, and she touched Brad on his arm, teasing him about his
red girl, who had managed to dump him again. Clay loved her so much
and tonight, he could not wait to see her face, her eyes flashing,
when he shocked her to high heaven. He was patiently dealing with
their guests, because he knew that the wait for his wife was worth
it.

Rebecca
looked at Clayton. At least he is in a good mood. She wanted to
have a baby, as she had always known, but she was not sure how he
would take it. He had always said that she must trust him with her
thoughts and desires and this one was so strong, she knew she had
to tell him. Tonight was the night, she decided. When he was
relaxed and had a little too much to drink. When he was in the
depths of his sleep, she would wake him and confess
sweetly.

*****

Chloe sat on the front porch, watching the few people who
walked past her house enjoying a Sunday morning stroll. She was
tired and looked forward to a quiet Sunday morning. Her three kids
were gone to the
Mayville Youth Activity Centre two streets away, where they
were entertained with sports and games. She was thinking about her
husband Derek, how he had just left them with no word or
explanation, almost two years ago. She thought about how she had
first learned to hate him and then miss him and eventually, she
had
accepted his betrayal. She could never understand how a
professional man with professional responsibilities could simply
walk out of his wife and move away with a young waitress from the
local pub.
What makes a man do such a thing?
She knew that
she would always feel hurt and betrayed by him, especially because
it has taken him four months to remember his three children and to
phone them.

She pondered the pattern that had marked her family and
their lives. Her mother and her grandmother had lived the same
pattern as her now.
Both had three children and both had
been abandoned by their seemingly good husbands.
What is it
about us that make men leave? Why don’t they decide to leave in the
beginning? Before you are settled and have three children?
Chloe thought of her mother with great sadness. She had never
gotten over her father’s betrayal and had spent the rest of her
life ravaged by twin emotions of hatred and self-pity. She had lost
her will to live by the time she was forty-five, but had lived to
the ripe old age of seventy-three. It had been a long and tortured
life. Her father, begging for forgiveness over the years and had
finally given up and moved away. None of them saw him again and had
no idea whether he was still alive. Chloe wondered what it would
have been like had he stayed with them. Would he have been a good
father? Her twin brothers, who were six years old when he left, had
fond memories of him and she knew they secretly believed that their
mother had turned him away. She had only been six months old when
he left and when he came over the years to try and speak to their
mother, he was simply one of her mother’s ‘friends’. Chloe never
regarded him as her father, nor did her mother want her
to.

Perhaps her mother had been right about their
family. She had cried over the years, lamenting ‘The Curse of the
Darkness’, saying that their great-grandmother Felicia, had hexed
some friend of hers and the spell had worked on her family instead.
But Chloe did not believe in magic. For her, the explanation was
rational. Each of them had grown up with dysfunctional parents, so
they learned that behavior. So, when her brother Timothy phoned to
say he had left his wife for some younger woman, she had not been
surprised. In her mind, that is what he had lived and learned. Only
Trevor, the other twin, seemed stable and seemed unlikely to leave
his wife. But Trevor was not a happy man. He was dull and
uninspired and his wife controlled him like a naughty
child.

Chloe sighed.
Where would it end? Will my children also behave
like this? Will my children have such bad luck in
relationships?
She had tried so hard to make a difference
this time. Derek had seemed like the right kind of man who would
provide the stability and love she had badly craved. He had been a
warm and loving husband, most of the time and she had believed it
would work. The odd thing about Derek leaving and what infuriated
her the most was that he seemed unable to explain his actions. They
had had a bitter fight.

“What do you mean you don’
t know why you did it? You
are a grownup, Derek. At least have the decency to take
responsibility.”

“But Chloe, I want to be honest with you. I am not going to
give you some bullshit explanation to make you feel better. I don’t
know how I moved from being
your husband, to some sleaze-bag
who chases younger women. I don’t know, because until it happened
to me, I would despise men who did that. I don’t know.”

“Well, when you know, speak to me about it. You’ve had your
fun, now you want to come back? Are you
crazy? Get
out!”

However, in the last year, since the night she dreamt of an
old lady with short red hair, her attitude towards Derek had
softened. When he came round to see the children, she was civil and
sometimes, he even made her laugh. She did not know
what had
happened that night, but the old lady had taken her back in her
life, when things were so good with Derek. She had also shown Chloe
an image of the two of them, old and grey, sitting outside on this
porch, watching the people walk by. That image had tugged at her
heart and when Derek brought her flowers a few weeks ago, she had
been beaming. She wanted to be with him now, but she could not bear
him doing the same thing. She knew he missed her and the children,
but she was not ready to forgive hi
m yet.

She
looked up and saw the Raymonds walking by. They waved at her and
Mrs Raymond walked up to the stairs.

“Hello, Chloe, how are
you?”

“
Fine, thank you. I did not see you these last few days. Have
you been away?”

“Yes, our daughter Rebecca got married on Friday, so we
only got back this morning. We missed our
neighbor
hood and friends. Where
are those delightful kids of yours?”

“
They are spending the day at the Activity Centre, so I will
get some peace.”

“Oh Good. We saw your husband earlier in the
week
and he spent time speaking to George. My dear, he loves you very
much. One day, you will understand, but it was not his
fault.”

“
What? I’m sorry. I don’t ....want to talk about
it.”

“I
know, dear. But remember that it was not your fault either.
Both
of you were victims of circumstances beyond your
control. In this house, you will learn the power of love. It
belonged to my mother, Nana, as we called her. With love, comes
forgiveness.”