Both suitably smartened up, and with Sarah wearing the other dress that Millie had persuaded her to buy, they arrived outside the flats with five minutes to spare, and found Tom waiting for them outside the lobby entrance. He gave Sarah a hug and shook Al’s hand, but looked a little sheepish.

“What have you done, Tom?” asked Sarah.  Her years of working with adolescents had taught her to recognise a guilty conscience when she saw one.

“Erm, you remember when I was home before Mum went off gallivanting?”

“Been out to see your mates then?”

“Yeah.  Mum was a bit frosty, and Jiara said I was disrespectful.  She’s even more of a nag than Mum is.  I thought I’d hang around here and wait for you. Can you keep them both off my back this evening, Sarah?”

“From what your Mum has told me, Jiara had little or no friends in Delhi. Her sisters were grooming her for marriage and watched her every move.  I’m not taking sides Tom, but you have to expect her to feel a bit strange when she sees how much freedom her little brother has. As for your Mum, I think that we both know she was hoping to bring your father home with her.  It was too late for him, but you have a beautiful and very bright sister who is the spitting image of your father apparently.  Give them both some time.  When are you going back to Cambridge?”

“Any time tomorrow.  Depends on how much pressure I can cope with.  I quite wanted to catch up with some more friends but…”

“Spend some time with your family tomorrow?  You know the area very well, take the ladies out for lunch – well – your Mum will probably pay if you’re a bit short of cash.  Let them see you off at the train tomorrow evening.  If your Mum gets Jiara fixed up with this women’s group, by the time you come up for another visit she will have made loads of new friends and feel more settled.”

Al discreetly reached into his trouser pocket and pushed some money into Tom’s hand.  “Lunch is on us, okay? If it wasn’t for Millie, Sarah and I would never have met.  Let’s get upstairs now, I’m sure I saw the curtain on the balcony twitching a minute ago.”

Tom used his key to get in, and stowed the cash inside his wallet as they rode up in the lift. He looked at them both and grinned.

“Apart for the face bandage, you two make a handsome pair.  Nice dress too, Sarah.  I bet Mum helped you choose it. From a strictly medical point of view, can I have a look at your wound later?  After dinner of course.”

Millie and Jiara were waiting behind the front door.  Sarah thrust Tom forward and said, “Thank you both for sending Tom to meet us. It was a lovely gesture.  I’d far rather see his handsome face than the mad Dutchwoman waiting in the shadows!”

Millie hugged Sarah, and whispered in her ear, “I was a bit hard on Tom earlier and he stormed out, thank you for bringing him back. I recognise that dress; didn’t you buy it when we went holiday shopping?”

“I did, and both Al and Tom have complimented me on it.  I never knew wearing a dress could be such fun.  If I wore anything as beautiful as Jiara’s sari, I’m sure I would have received even more compliments.  What do you think Tom?”

Tom raised his eyebrows, hugged his mother, and rather tentatively held Jiara’s hand. “She is indeed very beautiful but that’s because she looks like me!”

“Excuse me, little brother, but I was born first, so it is you that looks like me, and our late father.”

“Well said, Jiara.” said Sarah.   “The flat smells wonderful by the way, and we are famished, aren’t we Al?”

“A small bread and cheese lunch with some very boozy cake at Jude and Dan’s.” said Al.  “I have now been christened ‘Big’ by Jude’s youngest, and Sarah will confirm that I have an appetite to match my new name.”

Jiara led the way into the dining room which had been transformed with the brightly patterned wall hangings that Millie and Jiara had brought back from India.  The table had been laid up with a variety of appetisers, some familiar but others intriguingly unknown. Jiara, with Millie’s assistance explained what the dishes were, and having seen Al and Tom begin to tuck in, disappeared back into the kitchen to finish off the main dishes.

“This is wonderful Millie,” said Sarah taking small portions of everything.  “Did Jiara do all this herself, or did she have a fascinated sous chef?”

“I helped, but only when asked.  We took another trip to the Asian supermarket this afternoon – whilst Tom was out with his mates.” Millie looked pointedly at Tom, who, busy savouring every mouthful, was oblivious to the sarcasm.

“Tom mentioned to us downstairs that he’s intending to take the two of you out for lunch tomorrow, and go back to Uni in the evening.” said Sarah, with her fingers slightly crossed. “Did any of your friends come up with any nice places to eat?”

Being a bright lad and quick off the mark, Tom stopped eating for a few moments.

“After a feast like this, it would be overkill to eat at an Indian restaurant.  I thought that perhaps we could introduce Jiara to some other cultural food delights.  Italian maybe?  Your favourite restaurant at the Quays would fit the bill, wouldn’t it Mum?”

“That’s a lovely idea darling.  Do we really get you all to yourselves tomorrow?” asked Millie.

“Yeah, it’s not every day that you discover that you have a sister, especially one that can cook like this AND play on an X-Box.”

“I beat you on the X-Box.” said Jiara as she brought in the first of several pots of food, and took out the emptied appetiser plates. Millie smiled at Sarah, and the meal continued in a much more relaxed manner now that Tom had shown his appreciation, and committed himself to a family lunch.  Al took a moment to slip some more notes into Tom’s hand, knowing that the Italian restaurant wasn’t the cheapest place to eat.

“I need a favour from you before we go Millie.” said Sarah as she mopped up the last of her meal with some home-made naan bread. “I want to write to Shane, Andy’s friend in Thailand, but I want to send a nice card rather than just a letter.  Have you got anything that would fit the bill?”

“You know me too well.  I brought back some really unusual cards and pictures. I’ll go and have a rummage.  Do you and Al fancy a bit of washing up duty, Tom?”

“I will supervise.” said Jiara. “Some of the pots have to be cleaned in a particular way.” Tom looked as if he was about to object, but a small hand gesture from Al reminded him that he was in receipt of funds, and a spot of washing up would be a suitable form of thanks.

Millie came back with a box of cards; brightly coloured depictions of Indian landscapes and idols. Just looking through them was a delight; Sarah spotted a beautiful forest scene, with a bird of prey soaring high over the mountains.  It made her gulp, and fight back the tears.  Millie hugged her.

“This is just right,” she said.  “The bird is like Andy, going on to better things, free from any more worries and guilt.  It must be you too now. Tissue?”

“Thanks. I need to contact Simon to find out about Andy’s funeral.  I think it should happen in Thailand, but that Andy’s estate should pay for it.  Abigail will throw a wobbler; she’ll demand that Andy’s body is brought home, and that I pay for the funeral because I made him go away.   I have a feeling that Simon will see it my way though.”

“I wonder if he knows anyone that could help me with Jiara’s application to stay in this country.  Will you pass on my contact details to him?” Millie asked.

“Of course.  I also have to pass on to you the fact that the manager of the storage unit was rather disappointed that it was just me and Al that turned up to collect my stuff.  He asked me to give you his very kind regards, and this card in case you ever need any storage.”

“Well, he was quite cute.  You never know.  If the show goes belly up, I might have to move out to the sticks like you and Al; a little house with three good-sized bedrooms so that Tom and Jiara don’t bicker.  Thank you for your diplomacy with Tom.  How much did you have to pay him?”

“Al may have given him a sub to help out with lunch tomorrow, but that was only after I explained that coming home for a visit means spending time with your family too.  I felt something of a hypocrite because I remembered how you and I could only be persuaded to go home for a weekend if there was some kind of inducement at the other end.  Birthdays and Christmas in particular?  Earning money in the summer break was a good excuse for not going home as well, wasn’t it?”

“You made your point.  I like to think that I am far more tolerant and accepting than my parents ever were though.”

“Of course, you are. You’re in a position to make a comparison though.  Tom never knew his grandparents.  You’ve been his life, and now he has to share you with Jiara, although judging from the laughter coming from the kitchen, they seem to be getting along quite well.”

“Al will be facilitating.  It’s very hard to be grumpy when he’s around – but then you know that now.  Have you found any negative aspects yet?”

“He’s been honest with me from the start. He says that he isn’t romantic but I think he is.  He tells me that his marriage failed because of his addiction to work, but Maggie tells a different story that puts the blame in both camps. I am nothing like Al’s ex-wife Sonia apparently, and I have seen evidence of the fact that he has a temper, but learned to control it.  I love the cottage to bits, but Al has invited me to make changes wherever I want to.  I don’t want to be the passive and accepting person that I was when Andy and I lived together, but I’m not about to start painting the walls bright green nor insisting on filling the front room with garish and uncomfortable scatter cushions. I like the cushions that are already there. How’s that?”

“Good analysis if a little subjective.  You suit each other, and seeing you together makes me feel very happy. I found some things that you left behind.  I’ve put them in a bag for you.”

Tom came out of the kitchen, drying his hands on a tea towel.

“I’ve seen Al’s pictures of your cut Sarah, but I’d really like to see the real thing if you don’t mind?”

“I don’t have any dressings on me, Tom”

“But I do,” said Al pulling a small plastic bag out of his pocket. “Can you oblige me with some cotton wool and a bowl of warm water, Millie?”

Millie went off to fetch the items while Al sat down next to Sarah and carefully removed the dressing from her face.  Jiara and Tom were fascinated, and although Sarah was feeling as if she was in side show, Al’s very gentle cleaning of the cut was reassuring and quite soothing.  Tom disappeared into his room and came back wearing a pair of surgical gloves, more for effect than necessity.  He examined Sarah’s face very closely, and she tried not to flinch when he touched the middle area of the cut.

“It’s very neat, and I don’t think that they’ve used many stitches. There’s no redness, and hopefully you’ll be left with the type of very thin scar that can be covered up with foundation, or powder, or whatever it is that women use.”

“Thank you for professional opinion Tom.  I suppose that now I’m in my late-thirties I’ll have to start using more make-up anyway, to cover up the lines and wrinkles as well as the scar.”

Al put on the new dressing and took Sarah’s face in his hands. “Lipstick is sufficient.  I love you just the way you are.”

“Oh yuk!” said Tom.  “Fancy another match on the X-Box, big sister?”

“I will beat you again, little brother.  Can you handle that?”

Watching the two of them race each other into the lounge, Millie leaned back in her chair and sighed.  Sarah took her hand and squeezed it.

“You and I were only children.  We never encountered sibling rivalry. Andy and Abigail were extreme forms due to her jealousy, but even Al and Maggie bicker occasionally.  Don’t you Al?”

Al grinned.  “We might do, it’s never serious though. I was expecting Maggie to kick up more of a fight about having security cameras installed, but Sarah seems to have done the persuading for me.”

“Yes.  And I may have found homes for all the storage stuff.  Maggie’s having some of it, and she has a new neighbour with small children who has very little in the way of belongings. I’m just hoping that she isn’t one of the shows ex-guests.”

“That would be too awful! said Millie. “It makes the thought of independent social work looking more attractive by the minute.”

“If that happens, would there be a place for another very experienced social worker with family commitments who might have to work from home at times?”

“I think Jude’s skills would be a wonderful enhancement.  I take it that you’ve mentioned the idea to her?”

“You knew I would.”

“Good.  Give her some time to think it over.  If the show gets pulled, we should get some severance pay, but I doubt there will be much notice.”

Al stood up. He could see that Sarah was flagging a little and due for more medication.  As they were leaving, a victorious Jiara came out of the lounge clutching a little gift-wrapped box that she handed to Sarah.

“Do not open it until you get home, please.  It is a little engagement present from me.  Thank you for enjoying my feast.  It was a pleasure to see such happiness and gratitude. Not something I ever received from my sisters, especially since my parents died.”

Once downstairs, Sarah looked back up at the flat and saw Tom, Millie and Jiara waving and blowing kisses. She squeezed Al’s arm, got into the car, and waved back as they drove home.

Their home.