Gran's House
by Kit
Chapter 5
Quite late in the evening of the following Wednesday, David called me and said that having a video chat with the boys would be okay. He said that the children in the house had just gone to bed, so he had a little free time if I wanted to try and set it up then. He configured it on the boys' phone, and I added their number to my phone and to my laptop. It was agreed that I would talk with my brothers at two o'clock on the following Sunday afternoon.
When the connection was made, I could see that Connor was standing and holding the phone and that Liam was slightly behind him. It appeared that it was a case of Liam partially hiding behind his brother rather than Connor pushing forward. Although the younger boy had been relatively confident during our chats, it seemed that perhaps he was more shy when he could be seen.
Before making the call, I'd made sure that I was reasonably presentable, with fresh clothes, combed hair and a clean-shaven face. It seemed that my brothers had also taken care of their appearance, and their matching grey sweatshirts were not just clean but probably also freshly ironed. From glimpses of a desk and filing cabinets, I deduced that they were in an office with walls painted in the same beige colour I'd seen in the first photo they'd shared.
"Hello, brothers!" I greeted them. "It's great to see you."
"Hi, Paul," they both responded, with Connor actually showing a genuine smile.
"I can't see!" Liam complained. "Bring it closer."
"You'd see better if you weren't behind me," the older boy said gently, "and maybe put your specs on."
Connor held the phone unsteadily, making my view of the scene jerk around so much that someone who was sensitive to such things might have suffered from motion sickness. Catching a glimpse of a desk behind them, I made a suggestion.
"Maybe you could both sit next to each other at the desk so that I can see you both better. And, Connor, until you get used to using the phone camera, it might help if you rested your elbow on the desk."
"I already suggested that," David, who was out of view, said with good humour. "But they were too eager and excited to wait until they'd settled down."
The boys rearranged themselves, and once the phone was held more stably, I could see my brothers side by side and close together. Liam had put on his glasses, which had a thin, dark frame. Now that I could see him close up and not just in a still photo, his eyes became even more entrancing. Suddenly, the view swung around, and I saw David about two or three metres away, sitting on a desk chair near a tall filing cabinet.
"David's here," Connor said, though the fact that David had already spoken made the announcement unnecessary.
David smiled and gave a little wave. Then the view swung around again, and I could see both my brothers.
"Can I hold it now?" Liam asked without taking his eyes off the screen.
"In a minute," his brother said impatiently. "Remember, we said we'd take turns, but if we swap too much, it'll be hard for Paul to see us properly."
"Okay," Liam said, clearly not totally happy with the arrangement.
The boys seemed to have developed almost a ritual in the format of our Sunday chats. They always asked me about my lunch, and it always pleased Connor that theirs had been superior to mine. Next we talked about our plans for the rest of the day, and my response was usually 'Studying', to which Connor always commented, 'Boring!'.
After that, the chat became more interesting, as if all three of us had gained some confidence and trust from the almost predictable preamble. This time, Liam was the first to open the main part of the conversation.
"Thanks for the new pictures. Your hair looks different from the ones you sent before."
"Oh, yeah. I had a haircut just before I came back to uni."
"I like it shorter," Connor commented.
"I liked it longer," his brother said.
"Well, you can't please all of the people all of the time," I said. "Maybe you'll both like it in a few weeks when it's grown a little."
"Was the room with the bed and the desk your room?" Liam asked.
"Yes, it's my room when I'm at uni."
"It doesn't look very big," the older boy commented.
"It isn't. It's tiny."
"But it's very neat and tidy," Liam said, trying to be more positive.
"Thanks. I tidied up before I took the photos," I replied and gave him a big smile. "I didn't want you to think you have a messy brother."
"I already have a messy brother," he said, casting a cheeky grin at his big brother, who playfully gave his shoulder a gentle punch.
"I saw in the pictures that you have a laptop and a desktop computer," the older boy said, emphasising the word 'and'. "Are they both yours?"
"Yes. I like to keep my work stuff and private stuff separate," I replied. "Are you still interested in computers?"
"Of course I am," he said in a tone that indicated he thought my question was stupid.
"When I was your age," I said, trying to excuse myself, "I often changed my main interests and kept changing my mind about what I wanted to be. For example, at one stage, I wanted to pilot fighter jets. Then for a time I wanted to become a famous singer, and after that I wanted to become a doctor. Young people are allowed to change their minds."
"I won't change my mind," he stated emphatically.
"I guess you have to share a computer at school and at home?" I asked.
"Yeah. At school they keep changing the computer we have to share, and here I have to share it with the other kids, even when I have to do homework."
"If it's really homework and not just playing," David chided, "you can sometimes use the office computer."
From the look on Connor's face, it seemed as if he was going to challenge that, or at least continue with his complaint, but instead he looked directly at me on the screen and changed the subject completely.
"I've decided that I agree to the rule you mentioned. So if you and Liam agree, does that mean it's a rule for us now?"
"Yes," I said.
"And what happens if one of us breaks the rule?" he asked. "What's the punishment?"
"There is no punishment. It's a voluntary rule," I pointed out. "But just because there is no punishment doesn't mean that there are no consequences. For example, if one person breaks it, then the rule no longer exists, and the others don't need to stick to it. Also, how can we keep trusting the person who broke the rule?"
He frowned as if he was trying to work out if I was trying to trick him.
"Why did you decide that you wanted the rule?" I asked.
"Because I wanted to be able to believe what you said."
"Exactly. If we all agree and if we know we can trust one another, then we can all feel more secure. But if one of us breaks the trust, then we all feel less secure. That isn't a punishment, but it is a consequence. So do we all still agree?"
Both boys said 'yes', but I got a strong feeling that Liam had become bored and we'd lost his attention during the somewhat philosophical discussion.
"It's my turn to hold the phone now!" he said impatiently.
He leaned closer to the screen and seemed to study my image closely.
"Now the rule is here," he said, frowning, "do you really like us? Not just feel sorry for us?"
"Of course I really like you," I assured him. "Even if you weren't my brothers, I'd still like you. But because you're my brothers, I like you even more. And of course I feel sorry that you lost your mum, but that isn't why I like you. We're family, and I'm really, really happy to know that I have you both as my brothers."
Liam grinned, and his eyes seemed to flash.
"Do you really like me, or do you just feel sorry for me?" I asked, reflecting his question.
"Why should we feel sorry for you?" Connor asked, as if the very idea was preposterous.
"I never knew my mother," I said, "and my gran, who was like a mother to me, died just over a year ago. So I'm an orphan like you."
"But you've got me and Connor," Liam said while the older boy was apparently taking time to consider my words.
"I didn't know that when Gran died," I said, "but you and Connor always knew that you had each other."
"So did you like it when you found out you had brothers?" Connor asked.
"At first I was so surprised that I didn't know how to feel. It felt weird. But then I got to know you, and now I really like the fact that I have brothers."
"Why'd it feel weird?" Liam asked.
"For my whole life, I grew up as an only child. There was no one close to my age living in the house. Then I found out that you existed, and I had to get used to the idea that I had brothers. But the two of you have known you had a brother for as long as you can remember, but for me, having a brother is completely new and different," I replied. Feeling that I was beginning to ramble, I decided to get to my main point. "Don't you think it's easier for you to find out you have an extra brother than for me to go from having no brother to having two brothers?"
"I s'pose," Connor said.
"Yeah," his little brother said, "it must be horrible not having a mum and being the only kid in the house."
"It wasn't all that horrible! I never knew anything else, so I never missed what I never had. And I never had to share my toys, " I said and chuckled.
"I still feel sorry for you," Liam said sympathetically.
"Anyway, I never had any practice being a brother, so I suppose that I need to learn," I said, hoping to raise the mood a little. "Liam, is Connor a good big brother?"
Connor frowned, and his younger brother seemed a little puzzled. For a moment, I thought that he'd invoke Rule Two and decline to answer, but then he spoke up.
"Yeah," he said, and with a sly little smile he added, "most of the time."
"Then I think that maybe I need to learn from Connor how to be a big brother."
"I'm Liam's big brother, and it's my job to look out for him," the older boy said defensively.
The way he strongly emphasised 'I' and 'my' gave me an insight into some of his previous attitudes toward me. The relationship between the three of us was more complex than I'd appreciated, and I knew that the situation needed careful handling.
"Yes, I know," I said gently, "and Liam's already said that you do a good job of being a big brother. You'll always be his big brother. I could never replace you even if I wanted to, which I don't. Maybe I could learn from you how to be a big brother to you."
"I don't need a big brother!" he protested, frowning.
"Even if you don't need one, maybe it would be nice to have one," I suggested. "I never thought I needed any brothers, but now I find that I really like having them."
"Maybe," he conceded, but he didn't sound very convinced.
"Did you know that how we grow up affects how we think?" I said. "I'll always basically think like an only child. You'll always think like a big brother, and Liam will always think like a little brother."
"I didn't know that," Connor said, then with a hint of suspicion, he added, "Are you just making that up?"
"Making things up is the same as lying," I replied, "and our rule means that I won't lie to you."
"I like being a little brother," Liam chipped in brightly, then after a brief pause, he added. "Well, most of the time. And it's nice having Connor looking out for me."
"So, Liam," I said affectionately, "it seems that you'll find it the easiest to get used to this new situation. You're still the little brother, but I will have to learn how to be a brother, and Connor will maybe occasionally make me his deputy big brother."
There was a pause of a few seconds, during which both boys seemed to be absorbing what had been said. The older boy now seemed to be more content with the situation. Suddenly, in a complete change of topic, Liam spoke up.
"Do you have any pictures of Mum when she lived with Grandma and Grandad?" he asked, and given his fixation with photos, I wasn't completely surprised.
"Yes. Actually, I sent a couple to Rose ages ago. I thought she might have shown you."
"She showed us," Connor said, "but we don't have them cos we didn't have a phone then."
"Okay, I'll send them to you soon."
"And when she was a little girl?" Liam asked.
"Those would be very old photos. I'll see what I can find, but it will have to wait until next time I go home from uni. Do you have any of you two with your mum that you can send to me?"
"We have some special pictures in a box, but most were on her phone," Connor said sadly.
"What happened to her phone?" I asked.
"Dunno," he replied. "I s'pose she took it to work."
"What about the photos you have?"
"They're the ones she printed out. We have them in our room."
"You can see them when you come to see us!" Liam said loudly and excitedly.
"Okay," I said, my spirits raised by his enthusiasm, "but that will have to wait until after my exams have finished, so that won't be for a few weeks."
"That's ages!" Connor complained.
"But you will come, really?" his little brother asked.
"Yes, really," I replied.
At that point, David announced that he had things he needed to do and that we'd have to wind up the conversation. After we three brothers chorused a disappointed 'Awwww', I asked David if he could spare a couple of minutes to chat with me when the boys had gone.
"I'm sorry to have to end your chat when you were obviously getting on so well," he said after my brothers had handed him the phone and left the room, "but with five children there's always a lot that needs to be done, and it's not fair to leave Sarah with two children and a toddler to look after when there's so much to do."
"No need to apologise," I said. "It's totally understandable, and I'm very grateful to you for giving so much time for us."
"Actually, I was intending to contact Rose and recommend that you and your brothers could call one another without monitoring in future. Of course, you'll have to keep calls outside of school time and avoid mealtimes, bedtimes, and so on."
"That's fine with me. If Rose agrees, you can send me a list of times to avoid," I said. "The reason I asked to speak with you without the boys is because I wanted to ask if it was okay for me to send an old laptop to them. Maybe it could be for Connor's birthday because he does seem to be really interested in computing, and of course he would be expected to share it with Liam."
"But first of all," he said, both his face and his voice showing he was not really happy with my idea, "I'd want to consult with Rose, and if she agreed, it would have to be sent to her so that it can be properly checked."
"Yes, I understand," I said. "But I think there's something else you're concerned about?"
"As you'll appreciate, I have to consider the wellbeing of all the children here. Not just physically but also how we all get along together. My concern is that your expensive gift might cause friction and bad feelings that will have a negative impact on everyone, including Liam and Connor."
"You mean the other children will be jealous."
"It goes beyond just jealousy," he said earnestly. "Imagine you are a child who has no family or whose family doesn't want them or doesn't care about them. How do you think you might feel when you see two boys you live with who have a family member who clearly cares for them and gives them expensive gifts? Whether or not you disapprove of jealousy or envy doesn't matter; it can still cause problems."
Of course, I immediately saw his point of view, and it took only a couple of seconds for me to see a possible solution.
"I could send a couple of spare laptops for Katie and Mike," I suggested, feeling proud that I'd remembered their names. "You can decide whether or not to say who sent them. I'm happy to be just an anonymous donor."
"What? Are you serious? You really have spare laptops just lying around?" he asked.
"Yes. Remember, I'm studying computer sciences. I like to update my computers, and I keep older ones as spares, just in case. And there's also Gran's laptop that's no longer needed."
"Okay, well, that may be a possibility. I'll consult with Sarah and Rose, and it will probably be Rose who gets back to you."
"Great!" I replied, after which we both said our goodbyes and closed the connection.
A few days later, I got a text message from Rose asking if I would be available for a phone call at three o'clock that afternoon. She called at the appointed time and got straight down to business.
"David contacted me about providing laptops for the children," she said. "Thank you for that very generous offer. Perhaps you didn't consider any possible, erm, complications. For example, their internet connection isn't very fast, and neither Sarah nor David are technical experts, so it would take considerable time and effort to set up and control wireless access for three laptops. Also, even after parental controls are set up, some monitoring will be required for all computers that the children have access to."
"I'm sorry," I said, feeling guilty and embarrassed. "I just didn't think of anything like that."
"That's understandable. After all, it's not your job to consider such things," she said kindly. "Anyway, David and Sarah say they are prepared to take on the additional workload, and after discussing the matter at length, it has been decided that your offer will be accepted."
"That's great! I'll remember to thank David and Sarah next time I speak with them."
"I'm sure you appreciate that it's not just a job for them. They truly love children, and to be honest, I don't think that I'd be able to do what they do," she said. "Well, back to business. I understand that you want Connor to have a laptop for his birthday, which is only about two weeks from now. However, given the checking and setup time required, you'd have to get them to me within a week, and even then I can't guarantee he'll get it in time."
"Okay, I'll get onto it," I said. "One thing that occurred to me after I spoke with David was that as it will be Connor's birthday present, I want to give him a new laptop and give my spare and Gran's old one to Katie and Mike. Is that okay?"
"How old is 'old'?" she asked.
"The oldest is Gran's, which was about a year old when she died. So it will be just over two years old now."
"Oh, right! For us, two years old counts as 'new'," she said and laughed. "If the new-new one has never been used, you can send it direct to David, and then Connor should get it for his birthday. The other two you can send to me, and it won't matter too much if they reach the other children a little later."
"Great, I'll order the new one tonight, and if you let me have the address, I can have it delivered directly to David."
"Okay, I'll send it in an email after we finish the call," she said, and after a brief pause, she added, "By the way, after some discussion, we decided that we should tell Katie and Mike that you provided the laptops. It's always best for everything to be out in the open.
"As for your other generous offer about extra counselling sessions for your brothers, I'm happy to say that the counsellor told me that the boys have been making great progress since Easter. So she doesn't think they need more than they are getting already. In fact, she thinks that it may not be long until they don't need any more regular sessions."
"That's great news!"
"Yes, indeed it is," she agreed. "Now, one final thing before I have to go. David and Sarah said that they couldn't see any need for your communications with your brothers to be monitored. Janet and I discussed it, and having looked at your references and results of the background checks, we agreed with them. Therefore, from now on, you can contact your brothers without any monitoring at any reasonable time, and, presuming you agree, they can contact you."
"That's even more good news," I said happily. "David said that he'd send me a list of their meal times, bedtimes, and other schedules so that I can avoid unreasonable times."
"When the boys get the news, you can probably expect frequent calls from them, especially Liam. That may use up a lot of your time, and at least until after your exams, you might want to make some scheduling arrangements with them. Maybe you could ask them to text you before calling."
"Yes, I'm sure we can arrange something. I'll have to explain that I may not respond immediately, and if I'm in an exam, I won't even get their text for a few hours. After the exams, I'm happy if they want to use up a lot of my time. I'm sure they'll get bored of it before I do."
"I wouldn't bet on that," she said, sounding very amused.
After the call ended, I went online to order the new laptop and had it scheduled for delivery on the following Monday. Then I sent David an email with details of the order and when to expect it. After checking to see if my brothers' SIM card needed topping up, I had a snack and then returned to my studies.
A little later, I got an email from Sarah confirming that she would be available to accept the delivery. She also included a listing of my brothers' daily and weekly schedules. From that, I saw that Connor's counselling sessions were Tuesdays after school and Liam's were Thursdays after school. There was a note that sometimes they had combined sessions.
As I lay in bed that night, I was mentally juggling the possibilities of when might be a good time to get in touch with the boys and when I could fit in a visit home to get the laptops. Now that Connor's present was likely to get to him in time for his birthday, there was less urgency to send off the spares. However, apart from the possibility of causing bad feelings, it didn't seem fair to make Mike and Katie wait too long for theirs.
The following evening, Stephane, Kelvin, and I decided to share a food delivery from a local Indian restaurant. Martin was out somewhere with his girlfriend. We were still eating when I got a text message.
'We finished homework Can we call u? Sarah said txt 1st'
'Will call u in 15m. OK?' I replied.
'OK'
Having finished my meal, I tried to contact my brothers but couldn't get a video connection, so I just made a voice call.
"Hi, guys," I said. "I couldn't get a video connection. Is there a problem with the phone?"
"Oh," Connor replied, "David showed me how to do it, but maybe I messed it up. I'll go and ask him to get it working."
"No, don't do that now. We can talk like this now, and you can get him to show you again before our next chat," I said. "Anyway, I thought all kids nowadays knew everything about mobile phones."
"We never had one before, but sometimes Mum let us play on hers," Connor said. "This is the first, and it was only yesterday that David said we could use it on our own."
"What were you doing when we sent the text?" Liam asked. "Why did we have to wait?"
"I was eating dinner."
"But that was after seven," he replied. "That's late."
"It's around the time I normally eat in the evening."
"What did you have?" Connor asked.
When I gave him a brief summary of the dishes that I'd shared with my flatmates, he asked if they were very spicy-hot. I told him that Kelvin usually chose the hottest dishes.
"I don't like spicy-hot stuff," he commented.
Then immediately, Liam completely changed the topic by saying, "Thanks for the pictures of Mum. Will you remember to send the others from when she was a little girl?"
"Yes, I will. But like I said, it may be a few weeks before I can do it."
"You look a lot like Mum," Connor said.
"Are you saying I look like a girl?" I joked.
"No, silly!" he replied in a tone that made me imagine that he was rolling his eyes. "I mean that if Mum had a brother, I think he'd look like you."
"Yeah," his little brother agreed.
The sounds of their voices seemed different from our previous chats, and it occurred to me that it might be caused by different room acoustics.
"Are you in David's office?" I asked.
"Oh, no," Connor replied. "We're in our bedroom."
"I remember seeing a couple of the photos of you in the bedroom, but all I could see then was the bunk beds. What other things are in your room?"
"There's a desk, and two chairs, and a wardrobe, and drawers, and a box for games and toys and stuff," Connor said.
"Just one wardrobe? Is there space for clothes for both of you?"
"There's lots of space," the older boy said. "We don't have lots of clothes, and most of them are new from Sarah and David."
"Yeah!" his little brother said happily. "I got new clothes. Most of the ones I had before were Connor's old stuff."
"Do you have lots of stuff in your games box?"
"Just a few things, like some board games," Conor said without enthusiasm, making me wonder if he was getting bored of talking about their room.
"And our teddies are sitting on top of the box," Liam commented, sounding much happier than his brother.
"Liam!" his older brother hissed. Then in a more normal voice, he added, "They're just our old toys from when we were little kids. We're too old for things like that now, but we keep them just for, erm, making the room look more like home."
"Ah, yes. I still have a few of my old cuddly toys in my wardrobe. I used to sleep with my favourite one until I was about eleven."
"That's too old to be doing that," Connor commented, sounding a little shocked.
I thought it best not to tell them that one reason I'd kept on sleeping with my favourite stuffed toy had been because it had been the perfect size and had the softest fur for being humped.
"My bear's called Snuggles. He's brown," Liam said. "Connor's is called Ted. He's black."
"Liam!" his big brother hissed again.
"The first one I can remember that I still have was brown and was called Teddy, but my favourite was a panda, and I called him Pan. Another was a tiger, called Tigger, and one was a huge blue elephant called Lump. Oh, and before you comment, I do know that the names I chose weren't very imaginative, except maybe for Lump, and he only got that name because I was too young to pronounce 'elephant' properly."
"You really still have them?" Liam asked.
"Yes, in the bottom of one of my wardrobes. Lump is too big for that, so he sits in the corner of my bedroom."
"Is he really very big?" the younger boy asked.
"When I was a little boy, maybe three or four, he was as big as I was, and when I first met him, I was a bit scared. But then I quickly got to like him, and it was fun wrestling with him because I usually won."
"Usually won?" the older boy said incredulously, emphasising the word 'usually'. "But it was only a toy."
"Ah, but it had four legs and a trunk, and I just had two arms and two legs. He had an extra limb," I joked.
Connor groaned, and Liam laughed.
"You're funny!" the younger boy said.
"How long do you have for chatting tonight? Is there anything else you need to do before bedtime?" I asked, conscious of the fact they would have school the next day and remembering being told about phoning them at 'reasonable times'.
"There's loads of time yet!" Liam said.
"We have to have a bath and be ready for bed by nine o'clock," the older boy added, "but we don't have to actually be in bed until nine thirty."
"Okay," I said, "but I don't want to take up too much of your time if there are other things you need to do."
"Talking to you is more fun than other things," Connor said definitively, making me realise how much his attitude toward me had changed since our first-ever phone conversation.
"Yeah," the younger boy agreed.
"You know that now we can chat when we want without needing David or Sarah," I said. "That means they trust us to be reasonable about it and not let it get in the way of other stuff. So if we aren't reasonable about it, they may not trust us anymore. And then we'd have to go back to talking only when David or Sarah can be there."
They both agreed that it would be a good idea not to risk losing the freedom we'd been given, and we continued to chat about various other topics for a few more minutes before deciding it was time to end the call.
"But now we can call you when we want?" Liam asked anxiously.
"Do we have to text first?" the older boy said.
"No, you don't have to text first. You can send me a text when you want to say something that doesn't need a full call or if you try phoning and I don't answer."
"You won't answer?" Liam asked, even more anxiously.
"Sometimes I switch off my phone, like when I'm in classes, or exams, or sleeping. Sometimes I may not answer immediately, like if I'm driving or working hard on my computer."
"Okay," he replied, sounding a little relieved. "Can we call you tomorrow?"
"Yes, of course you can, but make sure you pick a time when you shouldn't be doing anything else, like eating or getting ready for bed."
That night, I decided that I'd go home on Saturday, prepare the spare laptops, return to university on Sunday afternoon, and send them off to Rose on Monday morning. That way, I could minimise disruption to my studies. I also decided that it would be better if I didn't inform my godparents that I would be home. Aunt Anne would certainly insist on me joining them for a meal, which would almost certainly mean that I wouldn't be able to get everything done in the very limited time available.
A little after seven o'clock on Friday night, my brothers called. They'd managed to set up the video so that I could see their faces as we talked. They also appeared to have mastered the art of passing the phone between them in a relatively smooth manner. One of the first things that Liam did when he got control of the phone was to show Snuggles and Ted sitting on the toy box.
During our talk, I explained that I'd probably not be able to chat to them again until Sunday afternoon because on Saturday I'd be driving home and staying overnight. While I was there I would be very busy and wouldn't have time for a phone call.
"Will you be getting the pictures of when Mum was a girl?" Liam asked eagerly.
"Sorry, but I'll be very busy and won't have time for that on this visit. Maybe on a later visit."
"What will you be busy with?" Connor asked.
"Rule Two," I responded.
"Will you be seeing a girlfriend?" he persisted, prompting me to wonder why he should think of asking that particular question.
"Remember," I said solemnly, "the rule means that we accept it when one of us doesn't answer a question. If you ask follow-up questions or try guessing games, it breaks the spirit of the rule."
Liam's smile indicated that he was happy to accept my response, but his brother had a look of frustration.
"I'll tell you when it's a better time," I said to placate him.
"You told us about Rule Two, so there must be at least a Rule One. What are the other rules?" Connor asked after a brief pause for thought.
"I didn't mention them before because they really only apply to family living in the same house. But as you ask, there are five rules."
"Are they all like Rule Two, that everyone has to agree?" he asked.
"No. Rules Two, Three and Four are agreed, but Rules One and Five are always active," I said. Then a thought occurred to me, and I added, "Also, Rule Five used to apply only to me, so I guess maybe it shouldn't be included with the others."
"That's too complicated!" Liam complained, frowning.
"Maybe it is, but it worked for me and Gran and Grandad for years. And, like I said, you don't need to be concerned about it because we don't live in the same house."
"But it's still interesting to know what the other rules were," Connor said.
I sighed and said, "Rule One was that there should be absolutely no violence to people or property in the house."
"No spanking!" the younger boy exclaimed happily.
"So you could hit people outside the house?" Connor asked, making me wonder if he might make a good lawyer.
"Hitting someone outside the house would be a bad thing to do and would be punished, but it wouldn't break that particular rule. The rules were designed to make us all feel safe and comfortable in our home."
"Sometimes I really feel like hitting people," he confessed, making me wonder if this subject had cropped up in his counselling sessions.
"Yes, it can be very frustrating," I agreed and laughed. "When I was a young teen, Grandad set up part of the basement so I could hit things safely. When I was fourteen, he even provided me with a punchbag."
"You have a basement?" Liam asked.
"Sometimes I wish I could punch something," Connor said almost simultaneously.
"Well, it's plastered and painted and has electricity and ventilation. Grandad always called it the basement, but maybe originally it was just a cellar." I said. "Anyway, it doesn't go under the whole house, just under one corner. Grandad said maybe in Victorian times it had been used for storing coal or maybe for ice."
"Ice? What for?" the younger boy asked.
"A long time ago, before people had refrigerators in their houses, they used ice to keep things cold. They could have the ice delivered and could store it in special rooms that could keep it cold until they needed it."
"Your house must be very old," Liam commented.
"I think it's more than one hundred and thirty years old."
"What about the other rules?" Connor asked.
"Let's leave that for another time," I said. "Tonight I've got lots of study work to do before bed, and then I need a good sleep because tomorrow will be very busy."
They correctly interpreted my words as signalling the end of the call, uttered their usual chorus of 'Awwww', and said a reluctant 'goodnight'.
There was indeed a lot for me to do when I got home late on Saturday afternoon. After Gran died, I'd already made an external backup of the files on her laptop, which included many family photos, some of which I didn't remember seeing before. Getting access to the files hadn't required any hacking skills because she'd used the same password as she'd used on the office computer, and I already knew that.
Because I valued the photos, I decided to make an additional backup before reformatting the internal drive and reinstalling the operating system. I did the same with my spare laptop. Of course, I'd already backed up those files, too, but I felt that there was no such thing as too many backups. Then I went and foraged in the kitchen, and from dried pasta and the contents of a couple of tins and jars, I made myself a tasty evening meal.
While all that was happening, I'd also been doing some laundry because I didn't like using the laundry room that was shared by all the students in our block of flats. Despite all the things I had to get done, I also found a little time to look in the cupboard where my godmother had put Gran's photo albums. Although I didn't have time to scan them and put them on my phone, I selected a few that I thought would interest my brothers.
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