Chapter 9

Both parents sat on the old brown leather couch in the family room with the wooden box they had found seated beside them on the lounge. Their mum's eyes lingered on the box as she traced the pattern engraved on the box with her finger. She wouldn't look at the two girls that were pacing around the room with calculating expressions on their faces.

"Alright, stop it Melanie," Ordered her dad in clear frustration.

Melanie slammed her fist down on the wooden coffee table. "No! Only if you tell us what the hell is going on here!"

Holly broke into tears and ran to her mother who invited her in with loving arms. She cuddled her mum and the tears that streaked down her face were wiped away with a gentle sweep of her mum's hands and her face was replaced by a soft smile.

Great now I'm going to have to deal with this situation by myself. Mel thought glumly.

Their dad picked up the box and held the contents of it. "I don't know what to say. This has all blown out of proportion and there is nothing to tell."

Melanie gaped and pointed her finger in agitation at him. "Liar!"

"Now Melanie!" Their mother retorted. "Do not speak to your parents like that." She turned away from Mel and spoke gently to her husband. "We will tell them the truth."

Wow, this is finally going to happen. I'm finally going to know this... I dunno... this family secret.

Melanie's father nodded and spoke softly. "You tell them then."

Their mother cleared her throat and moved into a comfortable position. Holly sat on the floor in front of her parents with her legs crossed like a kindergarten student waiting for praise by the teacher. Melanie walked over stubbornly. "Oh great is this going to be a long story? Coz I have homework to do."

"Sit down and be quiet." Her mother snapped. "I'm going to tell finally tell you both this."

"Yeah after you lied to us." Melanie looked at the ground.

Her mum's face grew gentle. "I had to keep this from you. Just please understand."

"Alright start," Their dad prompted.

"Okay as you both should know already I'm 32 years old and what I'm about to tell you happened when I was 18 years old. You both weren't even planned about so it was just me... and your dad-"

"Dad?" Melanie interrupted curiously.

Melanie's mum looked completely annoyed. "Yes, dad, now if you stop interrupting I will explain." Mel crossed her arms and her mother continued.

"I fell inlove with your dad when I was in High School, and you have to remember we were both young and rebellious." She heard a snicker from Melanie as she paused to look out the window. Holly wiped her mother's face softly as she caught a tear.

"Mummy what's wrong?" Holly asked.

Holly's mother smiled gently as she turned back towards Holly and Melanie.

The smile didn't touch her lips but it was enough to continue on. "Everything was perfect for me. I had good grades, the best boyfriend." She squeezed her husband's hand. "But then my mum and dad divored. I couldn't take it so I did everything I could that was stupid. I... went out to parties and wasted my life. It was then a few months later I-"

She hesitated slightly as Holly and Melanie listened with eager ears.

"I found out I was pregnant. I couldn't believe it. I was 18 years old and I was going to be a mother. So I ran away from home and came to live with your father. He didn't have a nice home or good job but we would some how manage to get through. I was really scared. I was weighing upon two options. Abortion or putting the baby up for adoption. Of course I couldn't go through the first one, and the second one seemed stupid so I had the baby." Melanie and Holly gasped in utter shock but continued to listen.

"Mum and dad found out, obviously, and they didn't or couldn't do anything about it so they just cut themselves out of my life. I didn't really care, I already had so much happening. The baby was as beautiful as anything I had ever seen and we both decided to keep it." Their mother was smiling now as she remembered what had happened.

"What was the baby's name?" Melanie asked suspiciously. Both Mel and Holly already knew what the answer was but they needed to make sure.

Their mum sighed. "Tommy, my baby boy was named Tommy." Melanie nodded with a blank expression on her face. "He was family Melanie, he still is. He would've been your big brother." All Melanie could do was nod.

"Years passed and your father and I, along with the baby, were happy and enjoyed many birthdays." She fished out the two papers from the wooden box and held up one in the air. It was the photo of the three of them, Tommy opening up a present.

"This here, is a picture of Tommy's 6th birthday... his last birthday." She sniffed and dabbed a tissue from her pocket to her eyes.

"We didn't know it would be his last birthday. We never knew he would die. I remember so clearly what had happened that afternoon. Your father had been at work, working back, and I was in our new house... a house exactly two blocks from here."

Melanie stood up. "What?" Her mum silenced her and she sank back down.

"Yes we bought a house near here many years ago. There is a cemetery across from us which we can see clearly from this house, but we couldn't see from our other house. I had been in the kitchen cooking for neighbours while Tommy was playing with a ball we had gotten him for his birthday in the front yard. I warned him not to go near the road and he promised he wouldn't-" She broke into tears as we all hugged around her. Melanie was on the verge of tears too. She remembered the story and continued.

"That's when I heard a loud screech. I was in the kitchen and I thought it was some stupid teenagers showing off in their car while turning the corner, but it sounded like someone was braking to avoid something. I remembered Tommy was playing and ran to the door. I heard screams from neighbours and a car had smashed into a tree on the nature strip. I yelled at the top of my lungs for Tommy but I couldn't see him. The driver looked like he had been seriously hit and was unconscious. I rounded the car and fell to the ground screaming my lungs out. My... my beautiful boy was lying on the ground. Blood was everywhere and I screamed out for someone to call an ambulance. I held him and prayed, I don't believe in all this religious god stuff but I needed him. Everyone was rushing around us, helping out, on the phone, but I couldn't care less. He went to hospital but died later that night. We promised to bury him at Red Gum Cemetery and would move far away. Everything that was his or reminded us of him was buried deep under the house."

"Wait." Melanie held out her hand. "You said everything was buried under the house. How come the stuff was buried under this house?" She asked suspiciously.

Her mum hesitated. "Yes well. This was our old house." She heard two horrified gasps.

"Why the hell would you move back here then?" Melanie demanded.

Melanie's mum shook her head at Mel but spoke. "We could not just forget about him so when I had you both, we would hopefully somehow bring the memory of him by living in this very house." Melanie shook her head as she was utterly speechless.

"I miss him so much and I just wish he knew how much I loved and still love him."

Just then Tommy appeared beside their mother and Holly screamed in surprise. Their mother and father questioned them but Melanie smiled.

"You don't have to wish. Tommy is right next to you mum."

Their mum gaped. "What? Don't be so stupid. There are no such thing as ghosts." She turned her head and looked like she was going to faint. She gazed right into Tommy's big brown eyes and smiled. "I don't care if I'm seeing things right now but I see my Tommy." She retraced his features and smiled to herself.

"He is real mum and his finally going to move on. His the one who had shown us where to find the box. He used clues that we followed and well... now we all know the truth." Melanie shrugged casually.

Their mum smiled softly as she just gazed back with awed eyes at Tommy. It didn't seem affectionate or anything but somehow the moment felt special... to their mum at least. She'd been through a lot and after so many heart broken years of pain, she would finally say goodbye to her baby and move on.

Their dad squeezed her hand as Tommy faded with a smile and left them all staring at nothing.

Melanie got up and stretched. "Well that's the end of that. We can all move on now. I kinda wish I got to know Tommy, he had my eyes." She smiled to herself.

"No more family secrets okay?" She craned her head towards her mother and father.

"Okay." They said in synchronization.

Melanie nodded and then sighed in frustration. "Good, because I have homework to do now."