Chapter Text
“Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin”.
Tristan smiled sadly as he flicked through an old family favourite. James must have had it out to read with young Jimmy after all the excitement.
He could remember Siegfried doing the same. Such childhood innocence seemed so far away; and yet his older brother was still there, by his side.
He thought of the memory Siegfried had shared earlier, of the day he had taken a pea-shooter to church. “Anyone but the vicar”. Tristan chuckled. His brother might not always be his favourite person, but he still loved the old fool.
He looked back at the book sadly. The only shame was that life had never given his brother the chance to share this with a family of his own.
*****
The war was over. Everyone was home … well, almost. Helen and Rosie would be back at Heston soon, and he would be straight up there to make amends. To start putting things right.
In the early hours of the morning, Siegfried listened to the summer breeze and thought about the day that had been. They had finally got to the cause of what had been troubling Tristan all this time.
They.
He looked down at his dearest friend, asleep beside him. She really was a wonder. One whose love he wasn’t sure he deserved.
After all their years of friendship, this particular evening had come about as something of a surprise. Perhaps it was the shared relief of seeing Tristan moving forward. Perhaps it was appreciation for all that they had, for coming through the war with their accumulated family intact. A recognition that they were journeying forward together.
Or perhaps this had simply been a night when they couldn’t hide from … didn’t want to hide from all that they meant to each other.
What it would mean tomorrow? For once, they had chosen to leave that question unanswered.
However, the sun rose, as it always will, and with it came the reality of their situation. A housekeeper and her employer. The truth that risking Skeldale’s good name could impact far more than simply the two of them.
As they lay in each other’s arms, they spoke honestly, lovingly.
What would it mean for their friendship if they tried, and failed?
Could it really work?
Not without risking all they held dear.
It was a heartbreaking truth. That the love they shared was the same love neither felt they could afford to lose.
And so, that morning, as the world woke up to a new dawn, so life at Skeldale returned to a new normal.
“Good morning, Mr Farnon.”
“Good morning … Mrs Hall.”
A familiar rhythm continued with a scarcely discernible shift, looks that lasted a moment longer than they should.
Fleeting reminders of a dream that could never be. But they were together; and a life of companionship lived together was preferable to a life apart. If they had nothing but that, they had each other, and they were happy.
Then came Christmas.
As she watched Siegfried finally, rightly, give into Dorothy’s advances, Audrey had faced a difficult truth.
The reality that a life of companionship was always going to be at risk while they both craved so much more.
As Siegfried looked over at her, he knew. Either they were honest and took their chance … or they would, one day, have to admit defeat.
In the end, the answer was simple. Audrey’s visit to Sunderland had been long in the planning. A chance to visit her granddaughter after Christmas. Siegfried had still been out with Dorothy when she left.
Two weeks later, he had raced through his list for morning surgery, driving to the station to meet her train. There was no need for grand gestures this time. To be early was to be on time.
But as the platform had cleared, a part of him wasn’t surprised.
She hadn’t come back. She had gone.
***
For Audrey, life in Sunderland this time had felt like a breath on hold. A new chapter that could never quite start.
Until one warm morning, as the late April sun finally broke through, everything changed.
At first, she had thought it was simply illness. An extension of the back pain she had been suffering with these past few weeks. Another frustration that would pass.
It didn’t.
By the time she had understood why, she was alone. Until she wasn’t.