by JA Low
“I could never hate you, little one. You’re my everything.” Stacey collapses into my arms crying. “Shh, baby. Shh, it’s going to be okay, I promise.” Stacey hiccups on a sob.
“I can’t do this without you, Oscar. I can’t.”
“I’m never leaving you. You hear me. If I have to become a sheep farmer and battle snakes and spiders and whatever other animals that can kill you in Australia I will do that.” This makes her smile.
“Wow. You must really love you me.” She laughs through her sobs.
“I do, little one, I do. And I’m sorry you heard that moment of weakness with my mom. The stupid chickens had just woken me up, not to mention all the fucking flies that want to impregnate my mouth. I was just a little overwhelmed by all this.” I look out over the red barren desert.
“I guess it is a little confronting.” At least this gets me a genuine smile. “I’m sorry, babe.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. You’re going through so much at the moment.”
“It’s not an excuse to be a bitch to you.”
“I can give you a spanking if you want.” I nuzzle into her neck which make her giggle.
“As tempting as that sounds, there isn’t a moment of alone time in these houses.” This is so true.
“Guess, I will just keep a score of how many spankings I owe you and when the time is right, I’ll deliver them.” She shivers ever so faintly. Now isn’t really the time for getting our kink on but I need her to know when the time does come she better watch out.
“Thank you.” She wraps her arms around my neck.
“Apology accepted. But never ever sleep apart from me again, do you hear me?” She nods her head eagerly. “I hated us being apart.”
“Me too.
267
Oscar
“Is everyone ready?” Stacey asks. The kids all nod somberly. Tonight they are scattering their family’s ashes underneath the big gum tree which overlooks the damn. Apparently they used to have family picnics by its banks and it was the family’s favorite spot. The funeral was yesterday and the whole community came out for it. Hundreds of people attended and paid their respects to the Ferguson/Davies family. The kids held up surprisingly well, as did Stacey. Not going to lie, seeing four coffins was heartbreaking. I can’t imagine nor do I want to imagine being in Stacey’s shoes. Just the thought of it kills me.
We jump into the farm Ute, all the kids piling into the back, each of the older kids holding an urn each. We make the journey out to the old gum tree. I help the girls out of the Ute; they dust themselves off and head toward the tree. There is an old picnic table sitting beside the now dried up bank of the damn. The sun is beginning to set as we all stop and look out over the landscape. Four kangaroos hop buy along the horizon.
“Did you see that?” Hunter points to the kangaroos.
“There are four,” Emma counts.
“That’s a sign.” Stacey smiles. The family all hold hands taking in the moment. “Does anyone want to say any words?”
“Love you, Mum, Dad, Pop and Gran, Amelia starts.
“Miss you all.” Emma sniffles. Becca shakes her head, she’s overcome with emotion.
“Look, star.” Lockie points to the lone star rising in the orange streaked sky.
“They’re going home.” Stacey smiles to herself. “Are you all ready?” She looks nervously over at her family. They all nod. “Goodbye, guys. We hope you are happy together. Miss you all. I promise to look after everyone,” Stacey says through her tears. Then one by one they each pour the ashes out, the wind taking them and scattering them across the red earth. The four kangaroos stay on the horizon until the very last spec of ash has blown away. They bound off into the darkness once it’s all done.
“I can’t believe it’s over,” Hunter says to the group. His sisters rush around him as they have a moment.
It’s been a couple of days since the funeral and Amelia has asked me to call a family meeting in regards to their wishes to leave and come back to America. Thankfully, Sienna and Derrick are still here, but they leave tomorrow.
“Hey.” I stick my head into Stacey’s parents’ house where she is sorting things out with Derrick and Sienna. “The kids want a family meeting in five.” Her eyes widen, but she follows me.
“What’s going on?” The concern is evident in her voice.
“It’s all good. The girls just want to talk to you.” I don’t think that relaxes her. We walk back into the other house where the girls are sitting at the dining room table. Hunter is playing cars with Lockie on the floor. He has no idea what this meeting is about either.
“Is everything okay?” Stacey asks them.
“We just want to talk about what happens next,” Amelia tells her. Stacey looks over at me and I indicate for her to sit down.
“Just hear them out before you say anything,” I warn her and Hunter. This gets Hunter’s attention and he moves from the floor to the table with them. Derrick and Sienna decide to sit with Lockie to entertain him while we all chat. The girls look nervous.
“We’ve been talking,” Amelia starts, she looks over at me for help. “Oscar can you…?” Wow, I’m flattered that they are seeking my help with this. Maybe I don’t suck too much at this adulting business.
“The girls would like to talk to you about maybe living somewhere else.”
“What the fuck?” Hunter raises his voice.
“Hunter!” Stacey scolds him.
“You can’t be serious. They want to move. Our parents have only been gone for two weeks and they are all ready to forget them.” The girls burst out crying. Stacey quickly consoles them.
“Hunter!” My voice rises loudly. He shrinks a little at my tone. “I asked you to listen to them. It took them a huge amount of courage to talk to me about this. Now I am asking you to respectively hear them out.” I look over but the girls are really upset. Hunter was way too harsh on them. “The girls would like to talk to you about maybe considering a move back to LA.” The room falls silent. Hunter looks shocked.
“You want to leave?” he asks his sisters.
“You have no idea, Hunter. We are sick of being bullied. We are sick of the kids making fun of us. We just want a new life,” Amelia shouts
“You’re getting bullied?” Stacey asks them.
“Because we’re different now,” Amelia tells her.
“What do you mean?”
“Because you’re with me,” I tell her. Stacey’s eyes widen.
“People are bulling you, because of me?” You can see the hurt registering on Stacey’s face.
“They think we are too good for them because we hang out with ‘celebrities’, Emma adds.
“You know how small this town is, Stace. Any little thing that makes you different makes you a target.” Amelia snuggles closer into Stacey.
“I had no idea.” Stacey is stunned.
“Mum never wanted to tell you. She thought it would make you feel bad,” Emma tells her.
“Of course I feel bad, why wouldn’t I? I’m the reason people are bullying you all.”
“Tell her,” Becca whispers to her sister.
“No,” Amelia says back.
“Tell me what?” Stacey looks between them.
“I swallowed some pills last year.” Ameila’s voice is barely a whisper as she confesses her secret.
“What?” Stacey’s raises her voice.
“It was stupid. Nothing happened. I just didn’t know what to do.” Amelia shrugs.
“Oh, Mia, I’m so sorry. So, so sorry,” Stacey cries.
“I don’t want to go back to school, Stacey. Please,” Amelia begs. Stacey turns to me looking lost. “It’s going to be so much worse. Everyone is going to treat us differently.”
“I don’t think your mum would want me to pull you from school,” she tells her niece.
“They couldn’t afford the private school. They looked into it.”
“Why did they not ask me for the money? I would have
helped.”
“The same reason you won’t let Oscar help you. Being stubborn is a family trait,” Amelia tells her Aunt.
“Where do you want to go?” Hunter asks quietly.
“I said they could live with us,” I tell them.
“Oscar!” Stacey gasps.
“I told them it would be up to you to decide, but they are welcome to live with us. We can even look at maybe purchasing a new house.”
“Oscar,” she says my name again with a stunned tone.
“It’s not his fault, Aunt Stacey. We asked him,” Amelia confesses.
“I think Oscar and I need to have a talk about this.” Stacey glares at me.
“You can’t be serious? Hunter questions her. “You’re seriously thinking about moving everyone to LA?”
“I said I need to talk to Oscar about it.”
“I don’t understand.” Hunter rakes his hand through his hair.
“You can stay,” Amelia tells him. Hunter glares at her before turning on his heel and walks out the door.
“I’ll get him.” I rush after him.
“Hey, buddy.” He ignores me. I grab his arm and he goes to take a swing at me. “You wanna hit me, tough guy?” He takes another swing at me, his punch getting me in the side. “Come on, again,” I goad him. Hunter swings violently at me, but I easily defend myself. He tries over and over and over again until he can’t lift his arms and falls into a puddle of tears. I wrap myself around him as he sobs. “Don’t be angry at them.”
“But how can they leave it all behind.”
“They just want a fresh start. Sounds like they have been having a bad time.” He looks defeated.
“But what about Mum and Dad, Gran and Pop?”
“We can keep this place. It will always be yours. Just because they aren’t with us anymore doesn’t mean the memories fade.”
“I feel like we are abandoning them.”
“No, you’re not. They will always be with you, no matter where you are.”
“You know Amelia is going to want a car? She’s turning sixteen this year.” This makes me chuckle.
“She’s going to have to get that past her Aunt first. I’m the easy one.” Hunter smiles at my comment.
“I’m sorry about hitting you.”
“It’s all good. But go easy on your sisters. It took them a lot of courage today to tell everyone about what they have been going through.” Hunter hangs his head.
“I had no idea it was that bad or that Amelia was so unhappy.”
“Yeah. That was scary to hear.” We sit in the dirt in silence.
“I guess it wouldn’t be so bad to go back.” I raise my brow at him.
“Really?” He nods.
“As long as we are all together, that’s all that matters.” I ruffle his hair.
“You’re a good kid, Hunter Davies.” He gives me a smile.
268
Stacey
The kids have gone to bed early after such an emotional afternoon. I had no idea the girls were getting bullied because I’m with Oscar. I’m even more shocked that Amelia took a bunch of pills because of it. God, I wish my mother was here to guide me. On one hand I want to make the girls happy but on the other I wonder if I should just change the girls’ school instead of their country.
Sienna, Derrick, Oscar and I are sitting on the back veranda, drinking beer and looking out into the darkness.
“That was a bit intense,” Derrick starts the conversation.
“I feel so bad for the girls,” Sienna adds.
“I don’t know what to do.” I confess.
“You should get married and adopt the kids.” Derrick states as he sips his beer. Oscar practically chokes on his and I’m just as stunned. “What? You’re already engaged. You’re going to court next month to finalize guardianship of them.”
“It’s not that simple, D,” I tell him.
“Yes it is. Oscar has enough money to hire good lawyers to speed up everything. The kids are having a crap time at school. Amelia has already had a bad brush with depression and suicide, it seems. The kids are telling you they want a fresh start. Don’t you think they deserve that? I’ve seen the way people in town look at your family. Everyone is awkward. You can see the pity. The kids pick up on all that shit. They’ve been through so much already.” Does Derrick actually have a point? “You would have support back home with all of us being there. You wouldn’t be alone.” He reminds me. I look over at Oscar who is nodding in agreement. It has been a fear of mine being stuck out here; just Oscar and I. We don’t know how to parent, well maybe I don’t. Oscar has done some pretty awesome parenting with regards to the girls. Especially as they felt comfortable enough to talk to him first about this.
“It will take a month or two to get your paperwork for the US ready. In that time, apply for a marriage license and you can get married after thirty days. It’s done. You’re a family. Then you can make a new life in America.” Has Derrick gone slightly insane?
“It might help our case being married,” Oscar adds.
“Ragnar, what the fuck? That’s not romantic,” Derrick tells him. Oscar turns to me.
“Stacey Ferguson. I love you with all my heart. What we have been through these past couple of weeks has only brought us closer together. It has made me realize what is important in my life, and that is you.” Oscar is down on one knee again. “Will you marry me in thirty days?” My heart is racing. He can’t be serious.
“Do it. Do it. Do it,” Derrick chants.
“Yes. Let’s do this.” Derrick and Sienna cheer us. Oscar picks me up and kisses me.
“You sure about this?” I ask him one last time.
“Fuck, yes.”
269
The End
Continue on with Suddenly Complete
Stacey and Oscar’s Novella
270
Stacey
I watch as the bright orange streaks light up the horizon. The birds’ morning call echoes all around us. I sip my freshly brewed coffee on the front veranda overlooking the house garden. Oscar is in there collecting the eggs from the chickens; his morning ritual. He’s really started to embrace this way of life, working on the land, seeing the fruits of his labor. Every morning he’s up at dawn, the bright sunlight making it hard to sleep in any further. Once dressed, and while it’s still cool, he goes for a run around the family’s house garden which connects the two homes via a wonderful green path, it's about a couple if acres in size. He’s mentioned he’s not brave enough to venture further after he and Don, our next door neighbor, ran into a brown snake while moving a wood heap. Oscar definitely milks that ‘near death’ experience, as he calls it, with me. I’m always happy to get on my knees for him, because that man has been my rock through all of this. I might not have been able to see it through my consuming grief this past month, but it’s been there in the simple things like putting the kettle on in the morning so it’s boiled by the time I get up, by taking the kids to school most mornings, helping me sort through my family’s clothing and belongings, holding me when I would catch a whiff of my mother’s perfume amongst her clothes and the grief would overwhelm me again. He has been my rock.
Oscar and I haven’t really had many tests in our relationship, until now, not that we needed one, what we had was good. Yes, it was focused a lot on our sex life, but we don’t have kids like all our friends, so we’ve been more selfish with our life and time. Now though, we’ve gone from a couple that wasn’t interested in the traditional life to being all about that life. And honestly, I think it suits us. It’s hard, don’t get me wrong, but those ratbags do give us joy, especially Lockie, with his finger painting and the crazy things he says. Before our lives got turned upside down, there was a tiny thought deep down that worried me; that maybe all Oscar and I had was a deep sexual connection, that without the kinky side of life maybe one of us would stray. Since we’ve been living together our time at The Paradise Club hasn’t been as frequent, but we still went. This is t
he longest we have gone without going there, and to add to it, we didn’t really have any sex for the first two weeks we were here, which for us is a long time. It worried me. It added to my stress about everything, it made me want to push him away, but he wouldn’t listen, he wouldn’t go. He would just tell me I was stuck with him forever. Yes, he loves sex, but he loves me more and he would be a real dick for pressuring me into sex while dealing with the awful tragedy. That man surprises me every day with the depth of his love and commitment, something I should never have questioned during my weakest moments. Our sex life has slowly gotten back on track, maybe not as wild and kinky as it used to be but still just as satisfying. Now I understand why Sienna and Evan continually bang at work; trying to find some alone time with your partner while having kids is hard, especially when Lockie jumps into bed with us in the middle of the night. The first time he did it was a shock, especially as Oscar likes to sleep naked. I’ve never seen Oscar move so quickly in his entire life to put some boxers on. Lockie then proceeded to tell everyone around the breakfast table in the morning that he saw Oscar’s penis. We quickly explained what happened there. Oscar now sleeps with boxers on.
“Morning, gorgeous.” Oscar comes bounding toward me with a basketful of eggs.
“Morning.” A smile forms on my face.
“The girls have been laying really well this week. I think I’m going to have to Google some egg recipes because we have dozens.” That’s right ladies, my man can cook too. It’s a new skill he has acquired recently, most nights he gets dinner for the family, the girls pitching in after they do their homework. It’s quite a domesticated scene with everyone finding a new routine around each other. Oscar takes the kids to school as he gets up so early, he’s learned how to drive on the ‘wrong side of the road’ as he calls it and Hunter picks them up in the afternoons. Afternoons he helps Don in the paddocks, getting the sheep ready for market. Unfortunately, we are not going to get a good price for them because of the drought. Everyone is selling their stock as it’s too expensive to keep feeding them and there is an oversupply in the market. We are experiencing one of the worst droughts in history at the moment; some places haven’t seen rain in years. Farmers who have worked this land for generations are shutting up shop and trying to get new jobs or are just leaving town. The flow on effect to the community is devastating; the little businesses in town that rely on the community don’t have enough business and slowly, one by one, shops close and people move away and it becomes a ghost town. I know this was a fear my family has had, they’ve been working on this land for four generations, our family’s farm has been passed down with each generation. We’ve decided to keep the farm and rent it out as we have the two houses. This will generate some income for the kids and the money will go into their trust funds which they will have access to when they are twenty-one. The money from the sheep sale will go to that too. I know that is what their parents would want, to set them up.