celebrate

verb

1. acknowledge a significant day or event, with a social gathering or enjoyable activity

2. perform a religious ceremony

3. honour or praise publicly

The end of the week finally arrived. After everything that had been going on, it felt like I'd been waiting years for my house warming party to arrive. I spent Friday after class in the supermarket with Patricia buying groceries for tonight's dinner meal at the new apartment.

"Do you think we should go with the shitake mushrooms, or the button ones?" I asked my assistant. I was making a mushroom sauce to go over top of small porterhouse beef steak, green salad, seared peppers and tomatoes with a balsamic dressing. For dessert I had an Italian affogato with a few different liqueurs for the different tastes people had. The vanilla gelato I had made this morning in an ice cream maker that I had Grant set up for me before classes.

"Shitake." Patricia replied, a woman of few words. I turned towards her, a packet of each mushroom in each hand, carefully balancing on one leg. I was still ordered to keep off my knee. Raising my eyebrow, I waited to see if she was going to qualify her opinion. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Tastes better." She then moved out of the way so I could hop back to the trolley and place my shitake mushrooms in.

"Shitake it is."

We were finished shopping at up in the new apartment within half an hour. By this stage I was getting really tired, so when I arrived to find Grant with his mother in the kitchen getting things ready for cooking the house warming meal, I nearly cried.

"OK, OK. Get yourself seated and your knee up, Missy." Mrs H took one look at me and took over the directing the whole evening. Grant outlined the meal, Patricia carried in the groceries, Mrs H started on the entree that I hadn't even remembered to include, and I sat on my arse. With a large glass of Gin and Tonic. Bliss.

My step father, Jac-Jac and Steppy Eyva arrived with a cacophony of sound.

"Yay, Big Sis, Big Sis. I got to pwess the lifts bowttons." Jac-Jac ran towards where I was sitting as soon as he saw me. He slowed down at the last minute and climbed up on the lounger I was sitting on, slowly and carefully. It was so sweet to see how much he was being careful of my sore and healing knee.

"How many trips did you make them take?" I asked my adorable little brother. I looked up to find Eyva approaching me. Her new hair style was still a bit of a shock to me as I was so used to her prim and proper style of Eyva 0.1. She kissed my cheek as she neared and sat down on the other side of Jac-Jac.

"I ownlys took one ride. Dadda wouldn't let me puwsh any mowre bowttons."

"That's because it is impolite to arrive late as guests to a formal function." Wallace scooped Jac-Jac up in his arms and sat down in his place.

"How's settling in been going for you, Lily?" Wallace's voice was warm and soothing, rumbling through the new lounge space.

"Wallace, this place is amazing. Thank you again for the gift." I replied and bumped my shoulder into his.

"You're welcome,"

"What abowt me?" Jac-Jac asked.

"What about you, Squidlet?" Wallace asked.

"I wanna lives hewe too." He complained.

"But what about mummy? Or daddy? They would miss you if you lived here instead of at home with them." When Jac-Jac realised that if he wanted to live with his big sister in the new apartment, he would have to forgo living with his mummy and daddy, get got upset. You could see the emotions on his face changing until his little eyes crunched up and he began to cry.

"No, I wanna live togeva!" He cried. "Togeva!" He tucked himself into Wallace's chest and cried.

"Hey, its OK, buddy. I will be seeing you every week and you can come here to stay occasionally. If you're a good boy at Kindy and you listen to mum and stop stealing her dessert, then I'm sure Daddy will let you come and stay."

"Owkay." He sniffled and we all breathed in relief as he stopped being so sad.

"Can I rwide on da lifts when I comes?" he asked and I could see the cheeky little monkey was already smiling like he'd just got exactly what he wanted. Did he just emotionally blackmail me into giving in to him? I looked at Wallace with an eyebrow raised. He just shook his head, exasperated.

Dinner was called and served in the new dining area over looking the evening city sky line. It was a beautiful meal with a beautiful family. Mrs H joined us with Grant and Patricia once everything was served and we ate a wonderful meal. It would have been a much more comfortable evening if my mum was here instead of on a business trip.

We laughed together, mostly at Jac-Jac's antics, then everyone asked for a tour of the place.

"Actually, can I ask Grant to give you the tour, please?" I asked as Patricia laid down a glass of water and a couple of pain killers. My knee was aching terribly tonight. I'd spent too long on it today.

"Yes, I can do that. How about we all take our plates into the kitchen for Mum to wash up and begin the tour from in there?" Grant asked and everyone nodded, getting up and following him into the kitchen area with plates, salad bowls, glasses and cutlery to be washed. Wallace was the last to leave, asking if I was doing alright.

"Yeah, just sore from the kidnapping. There wasn't any major damage done to the ACL ligament that was repaired, but the bruising and swelling has only just started to go down. I spent too long on it today."

"You know this can't happen again, Lily. If you want to get back to your sports achievements, you will need to rest to let it heal properly. But I think you already know that." Wallace picked up the last of the condiments on the table, patted me on the shoulder and took them to the kitchen.

I carefully got up from my seat at the table and hobbled into the lounge and sat on the main settee where I could see everything on this floor. I watched as my closest group of friends and family wandered through my new place, from the kitchen and dining area, through the lounge space I was in, to the office and down stairs rooms. When they started climbing the stairs I could hear Jac-Jac asking about the lack of lifts and when told it wasn't needed he then asked if it was because his big sis could fly.

I smiled at that. He's so young. Sometimes I see in him a young Wallace, mature beyond his years. Then other times, like now, his imagination goes wild. The group left my line of sight as I sat down stairs, but I could hear murmurs as they walked in and out of each room. When they entered the master bedroom I could hear Jac-Jac's exclamation then a tonk tonk tonk on the grand piano in the corner of the room. It didn't last long before an adult began to play a lovely melody full of life and vigour.

"Here's your tea, Miss Lily." Mrs H interrupted my musing with a cup of my favourite herbal white tea infusion.

"Thank you, Mrs H. Would you please join me for a cuppa on the couch here, please?"

"The dishes..."

"Will be done later." I interrupted her. "Please do not fret. Now go get a cuppa and come and join us." She nodded and went to get herself a hot after-dinner drink.

The group of family and friends arrived back down stairs to find Mrs H and I sitting and chatting in the lounge area. I felt so warm and happy inside. I had friends who worked with me, helping me in my business and study life where I couldn't do everything all by my self. I had a step father who actually cared for me, and I almost grieved for the loss of this the first time around. My brother Jac-Jac who would survive this life and not die in a fire, if I could help it. And a step-sister who currently is nothing like her former self.

I smiled over my cup, looked around my apartment, thought of the businesses I'd started up and the clothing I'd designed. The building that was now mine and cafe that would soon become my new teahouse. It felt so good to be here in this place, right here, right now. Something bubbled in my heart, breaking away the last of the chains that seemed to keep me tied into the memories of what once was.

I finally felt home. And it feel so damn good.

Then Wallace received a phone call from his head of security and my world came crashing down once again.

"What do you mean my wife is missing?"

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

This is the end of the first arc of Lily Twice's rebirth story. Just as Lily is settling into her new life, something else goes wrong and her mother is missing.

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