Chapter 8

Life took a strange turn over the next three weeks. I wondered if two people could be so in love that, without their partner, their will to live left with their mate; as if they were two souls meant to be together, never separated, neither here on Earth nor in Heaven.

Betty went downhill rapidly. She’d been a robust, stout, white-haired woman with a larger than life personality everyone loved; a Bea Arthur twin. But she aged, the life simply departing, skin sagging from lost elasticity. I saw it in her eyes. She had no spark left in her. She lost weight. Even having Amelia in her life couldn’t compensate for the void in her soul.

She knew it, too. On a Thursday evening, she visited me and made a strange request.

Seating her in the living room, pouring her some Darjeeling tea - she seemed so frail and chilled now - she turned to me on the couch.

“Michael, I don’t know if you know this, but I’m the only family Amelia has left. Harold, bless his soul, had no one left on his side after his younger sister passed away. I’m mentioning this because I need to plan for Amelia.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” I said with false conviction.

Betty sipped her tea. “I can’t live without him,” she whispered, a tear emerging. With a lace handkerchief she wiped her eyes, braced herself, and looked at me. “I cannot let Amelia hurt. I can’t leave her to the foster system. She’s been hurt enough for two lifetimes. I know she adores you and you like her. You’re the one I’m supposed to trust to take care of her.”

Reaching down, she opened a small portfolio, pulled some papers out and placed them in her lap, her hands resting on top of them.

“I’d never ask this of you. I know it’s a burden and you’re so young. But I can’t leave Amelia to fate, the vagaries of the social welfare system. You hear such horror stories about children in their care.”

Glancing down, she patted the papers, sighed, and handed them to me. “Would you consider this?” she asked. “For Amelia?”

I read the top sheet and my world tilted. Petition for the Appointment of Guardianship for Amelia Destiny.

An old memory flashed back to me; Darren Faith. My hands shook. He’d been right! All this time when I’d thought I was in charge, I hadn’t been! Like the Michelina’s frozen dinner, so long ago, my life was being influenced and directed.

“Are you okay, Michael?”

How blind had I been? And yet, would I change anything in the past thirteen years? I saw Amelia in my mind’s eye, so beautiful and talented. Peace settled over me like a warm, familiar blanket. Had I been given the chance to influence things, to be able to direct my future, if I’d known then what I know now, I wouldn’t change a thing. Not one thing.

“Michael?”

Glancing up from the legal papers, I smiled at Betty.

“I’m fine. Of course I’ll look after Amelia if anything happens to you. But, I think you’re going to be around for quite a while. Just give it time. You’ll always miss Harold but every day it will get better.”

She smiled ruefully. “Tell me that when you’ve lived with someone for half a century.”

After she left, I read the legal documents carefully. In my hands, along with the legal guardianship papers, were copies of Betty’s will leaving everything to Amelia in trust, and the details of an existing trust for Amelia’s inheritance from her parents, all to be administered by me.

I discovered Betty was an astute woman. For almost two months, she had Amelia staying over at my house with increasing frequency, until Amelia was, for all intents and purposes, living with me. I became the caregiver, ensuring Amelia got to school and her singing lessons. Every day more of her belongings would find their way into the bedroom she was using. My work took a back seat - something my assistant Peter wasn’t pleased with, but understood. And every time I saw Betty she looked evermore frail.