Dad, you remember Nancy Alexandra Martinson, dont you? Look, its a bit late tonight, but pop round tomorrow. Ill introduce you to my younger brother. Yes, your son! Thats all for now. Goodbye.
The boy was asleep right by her door. Alice blinked. What on earth was a child doing, snoozing in a strange block of flats at this hour? With ten years of teaching under her belt, Alice was genetically incapable of stepping past a child in need. She bent down and gave his skinny shoulder a gentle nudge.
Hey, lad, wake up!
Huh? The boy lurched upright, still half in dreamland.
Who are you? And why are you sleeping here?
Im not asleep. Honest. Its justyour doorsteps so comfy. I sat down for a bit and dozed off by accident, he replied, sheepish.
Alice had only moved into this block six months ago, picking up a flat after her divorce. She hardly knew anyone, but it was plain as day the boy wasn’t a resident.
He looked about ten or eleven, dressed in battered but clean clothes. He shifted from foot to foot, doing a little nervous dance.
It suddenly hit Alicehe clearly needed the loo. Go on then, sharpish. Im already late for work! She waved him into the flat.
He eyed her warily with the most astonishing pale blue eyes shed ever seen.
Unusual eyes, she mused. While he washed his hands, Alice made up a quick ham sandwich for him in the kitchen.
Here you go, love. Have a little bite to eat.
Thank you! he chirped, already half out the door. Youve saved me. Now I can wait calmly.
Wait for whom? Alice asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
For Granny Antonia Perkins. She lives near you. You know her?
I know Mrs Perkins a bit, but she was taken to hospital in an ambulance the day before yesterday. I saw them carrying her out as I got home.
Which hospital? The boy paled.
Yesterday, the 20th City Hospital was on call. Most likely there, said Alice.
Right. Whats your name? the boy decided suddenly to up the formality.
Alice Fletcher, she called out, already grabbing her bag and dashing off to school.
School was the usual rolling snowball of little (and big) disasters, but her mind kept circling back to the boy.
Motherly instincts, must be, Alice sighed. Shed never had children, one of many reasons she and her ex went separate ways. Shed let him go off with a woman who gave him a daughter, barely a blink.
On her lunch break, Alice rang the hospital. Mrs Perkins had suffered a stroke; prognosis wasnt good. She was 78, after all.
After work, Alice saw the boy again, this time on the landing, sitting on the window ledge.
I waited for you! he beamed. They wont let me visit Gran yet.
She finally asked his name. He was Frederick. And it was Frederick, not Freddie.
With her guest washed and fed, Alice conducted a gentle interrogation.
So, runaway? Your parents must be worried sick!
Ive no parents. I live with my aunt.
So, your aunt must be in a right panic? Alice frowned.
She doesnt know. I told her I was going to Grans. She doesnt know Grannys in hospital. I dont want to go back, though shes kind and barely drinks. My uncles awfulalways at the pub, comes home angry. Theyve already got four children, soon to be five, and then theres me on top.
They say they’ll send me to care, but I really don’t want that. Am I bothering you? Mum always said I was hyperjust like my dad, and with the same bright blue eyes. She died two years ago.
What was your mums name?
Nancy Alexandra Martinson. She was lovely. Worked as a secretary to the head of some chemical plantI forget the name.
And your dad? Alices heart thudded.
There never was a dad. Not ever, Frederick replied quietly.
It struck Alice at last why this blue-eyed boy unsettled her sothe eyes! Shed only ever seen eyes like that in one person: her father.
And, yesher father was the director of a chemical plant.
Alice suddenly found it hard to breathe. A director and his secretarywell, what a classic! she thought. Did he know she had his child? Had he noticed her disappearing from the office?
And she called her son after himmeans she mustve really loved him.
Alice had always longed for a sibling as a child, but she was her parents only child.
Pop across the road and get some bread, will you? she said to Frederick, nudging him gently out the door.
As soon as hed gone, Alice rang her father.
Dad, do you remember Nancy Alexandra Martinson? Dont come tonight, its late. Come to mine tomorrow. I need to introduce you to your other sonmy little brother. Thats it, see you then. Alice hung up.
When Frederick got back, Alice pointed him towards the living room sofa. Ive made up the couch for you. Off you go for a shower and then straight to bed, she said.
She truly had no idea what would happen next, but one thing was certainshe wasnt about to let her brother fall into the hands of those unsavoury relatives, and definitely not into the care system.
Her father arrived bright and early the next morning. Normally, Alice would have been snoring until nine on a weekend, but not today.
She loved her dadhed always been her champion, unlike her mother. He backed her decision to become a teacher, while her mother declared that only peasants and failures chose that line of work (strange, given her mother was a farm girl herself). And it was her father who wiped her tears and helped pick up the pieces after her divorce.
He swept in, as always: pressed trousers, polished shoes, subtle whiff of expensive aftershave, projecting an air of solid, successful Englishness.
So, whats this about a brother? I slept terriblyyouve got me worried, he called as he walked in.
Shh, Dad, my guests still asleep, Alice whispered, steering him to the kitchen. Sit down, you must be famished.
Over breakfast, she filled him in.
Well, this is peculiar, her father said. Yes, I had a secretaryNancy Martinson. Smart, young, beautiful. Used to look at me with those green eyescompletely smitten. I mean, Im a man, not made of stone. Humans are human, arent they?
I confess. You know faithful men are rare. Of course I was flattered. I assure you, I never for one second considered leaving your mother.
One day, Nancy asked if Id like a son. I said I already had a daughter and was probably a bit old for a son now.
Soon after, her own mum fell ill. Nancy took extended leave, went back to her village. We had a stand-in secretary for a year or so. Nancy came back, looking even more radiant, like a fresh Coxs apple. I jokedDid you marry while you were away? She said yes, had a son, and her husband was lovely. They were renting a flat.
Her documents never changedstill Martinson. But, you know what folks are like these days, living together without all the paperwork. After that, our relationship was simply professionalnothing more.
About three years ago, Nancy became seriously ill, and then, suddenly, died. I only learned when I signed for a company payout for her family.
A real shameshe was so young. But, darling, you cant just stick a son onto me. She said she had a husband, he finished.
Just then, Frederick wandered in, nodded politely in his pyjamas. For a split second, Alices father turned ghost-pale. Standing side-by-side, the similarity was unmistakable.
Lets get acquainted, shall we? her father suggested, sticking out a trembling hand. Frederick Nicholas.
Im Frederick Frederick Martinson, replied the boy, his hand disappearing into her fathers firm handshake.
They both stared at each other and almost in unison raised their eyebrows in identical surprise.
Well, isnt this a day! Seems all the Fredericks are visiting me at once! Alice said, trying to keep it light.
Frederick Junior went off to splash his face, while Frederick Senior gazed at Alice.
I dont get it. He looks just like me when I was his age. She said she married and had a child by someone else?
She didnt marry, Dad. She went home to have her son in secret. Call HR, check her maternity leave dates. She made up the marriage for your sake. She really loved you, if you ask me. Frederick swears he never had a dad, ever.
Waitanother thing that doesnt match. Nancy was an only child. Her mothers passed, too. Whered the aunt and gran come from? her father wondered.
Frederick, standing at the doorway, answered, Youre talking about my mum? Aunt Val isnt really my auntshes some distant relative. They moved to town when Mum couldnt get out of bed anymore. Granny Antonia is Aunt Vals mum. After Mum died, Aunt Val took me in.
But what was I meant to do? We had to leave the rented flat and the relatives took me. They even get extra money for me nowmy uncle never lets me forget it, either. But I remembered you, siryour photo was always on Mums dressing table. I thought you were her favourite actor at first.
She said shed tell me all about it when I was older.
Alice fed Frederick breakfast and sent him off to the morning picture house, just around the corner.
Well, Dad, still got doubts? she asked after the door clicked shut.
I suppose not. But youll need a DNA test. Well have to go through the courts and everything, her father replied.
There followed uproar: her mother, Lillian Ivy, feigned a spectacular blood pressure crisis and (almost) a heart attack upon hearing the news. She soon recovered and whisked herself off to the seaside. Only later did she agree to meet Frederick. She took a shine to him, but wasnt keen to take on a full-time child under her own roof. Visits, yes; permanent, no. My nerves, you know.
Nobody insisted, Alice thought. Her father spent loads of time with his new-found son, which he adored. Every time, another similarity popped up: both detested porridge, both adored cats.
Unfortunately, Mrs Frederick Senior was fiercely allergic to felines and Frederick Junior had never had a home for a pet. They both lisped ever so slightly; the resemblance was uncanny.
Eventually, all the paperwork to confirm paternity was finishedabout two months of officialdom. Frederick Senior called Frederick Junior over and said,
From today, youre legally my son. Heres your new document. You’ve always been my boy, even if I didnt know it until now. Forgive me, if you can. I wont force you to call me Dadcall me whatever you like. Just remember: youre not alone in the world now. Youve got protectionyouve got a father. And youve got Alice, your sister.
I knew you were my dad the moment I saw you, Frederick beamed.
Blimey, kids these days! laughed Alices father, giving his son a hug.
Alice caught her father brushing a tear from his eye as he pulled himself together. Frederick stayed with Alice from then on. He visited his stepmother now and then, and his father dropped in almost every day. Eventually, Alice and Frederick even got a kitten.
One afternoon, some old gent was giving away kittens outside the Sainsburys. Frederick picked out the smallest of the lot. They called him Whiskers. At that moment, Frederick felt like the luckiest boy in Britain.
P.S. Frederick Senior arranged for a white marble headstone for Nancy.
He and Frederick often visit her resting place, bringing fresh flowers.
One day, Frederick said, You know, Dad, the day before Mum diedwell, she told me not to cry too much. That she wasnt really going away. That shed be in another world, looking out for me. That shed help from beyond, if she could. I think she brought me to Alice and to you. I know she did. Do you believe me, Dad?
Of course, I do, replied his father, quietly.
