The Unexpected Family
Katrina glanced around the four spacious rooms, raising an eyebrow. «Quite the manor youve got here. Turns out youre a wealthy bride after all.»
Helen sank weakly into an armchair. «What brings you here? The deans office knows Ive been ill.»
Katrina flopped onto the worn leather sofa, which groaned under her weight. Helen winced. The house was filled with antique treasures her family had collected over decades. «Well?» she pressed, eager to lie downshe felt dreadful.
Katrina sighed. «Our student rep, Connor, asked me to check on you. He heard I live nearby. You know how he fusses. Wanted to know if you needed anything. Youre all alone now, after all.» Her tone carried barely concealed envy. «Though in a place like this…»
Helen struggled to her feet. «Thank you for visiting, Katrina. Tell Connor I appreciate the concern, but Im fine.» She led her guest to the door, but Katrina hesitated on the threshold. «Id kill to live in a flat like this. Throw parties, have fun. Youre lucky.»
Helen frowned. «Lucky? Whos we?»
Katrina blurted, «The blessed ones. Not of this world.»
Helen shut the door with a curt, «Goodbye.»
Sleep eluded her. Shed lived here her entire life with her grandmother, Antoniaa stern woman whod drilled etiquette, French, English, and German into her from childhood. Grandmother would switch languages without warning, expecting Helen to respond flawlessly.
Helen barely remembered her parents. Grandmother spoke sparingly of her «ungrateful daughter,» whod fallen for a man named Alexander and followed him into a commune. Three years later, word came theyd perished in a fire during some ritual or gathering. The details were kept from Helen, not that she mournedshed never known them.
Few crossed their threshold: Zina the seamstress, their elderly doctor, Elijah, Grandmothers friends Elizabeth and Archibald, and her long-time suitor, Peter, a retired jeweller.
Helen grew up between two worldsher grandmothers refined one and the noisy reality beyond their walls.
The trouble began unexpectedly. Grandmother, who never bought food from strangers, suddenly brought home mushrooms. «I passed by and saw them. Reminded me of the mushroom soup our cook, Seraphina, used to make at the country house.»
The soup was delicious, fragrant. Helen had seconds. Grandmother fell ill first, then Helen. They called Elijah, but his phone was disconnectedhe was at his cottage. Grandmother refused an ambulance, trusting only her doctor. But when she lost consciousness and Helens vision blurred, she dialled 999 with trembling fingers, barely unlocking the door before collapsing.
Now, with her grandmother gone, Helen faced life alone. Her stipend wouldnt cover the flats upkeep, let alone her return to university. Recovering from deaths doorstep took timeand money.
Peter helped initially, buying a few antiquesthough he lowballed her. But the bills piled up. Then she remembered: this had once been a shared flat, given to her great-grandfather for his service to the country.
Helen decided to take in lodgers. Shed keep her room and rent out the otherspreferably to decent women.
The ad brought a flood of calls, but no luck: migrant workers, families with children, giggling students asking if they could host parties. When inquiries dried up, Helen considered an agency.
But on her way, she spotted a young woman with two small children. A girl nibbled a stale gingerbread biscuit; a boy sobbed quietly in his mothers lap. The woman argued into her phone: «Michael, how could you? The children are starvingIve lost my milk. Where do we go? Ive no one. Let your Vera live with usjust give us a room. We wont bother you. Michael» Her voice broke.
Helen couldnt walk past. «Excuse me,» she said softly, offering a tissue. «I overheard. Do you need help?»
The woman sniffed. «The children do. My husband threw us out. No food, no shelter. I dont know what to do.»
An hour later, the children slept, fed, while Helen listened to Hopes story. Orphaned at twelve, shed inherited a derelict flat, sold it for a pittance, and ended up on the street. An elderly landlady took her inuntil her grandson, Michael, arrived. «Charming, but weak. I fell for him. We moved into his flat, had Maisie, then little Samuel. Then he grew tired of us. His new girlfriend wanted the flat too.»
Helen offered them a room. «Well figure something out.»
But plans changed. Next came Anthony, an elderly man evicted by his daughter-in-law after his sons death. Shed tricked him into signing over his home, then remarried and cast him out. Helen found him being dragged into the cold by a neighbour and took him in.
The last room went to Paul, a blind young man robbed and abandoned by his guardian. Helen spotted him outside her college, tormented by youths tossing breadcrumbs just beyond his reach.
Now, Helens home brims with life. Hope works as a shop cleaner; Paul, though blind, minds the children brilliantly, spinning tales they adore. Anthony, a former chef, turns simple ingredients into feasts.
Helen doesnt regret a thing. Every evening, shes greeted by her unexpected familywaiting just beyond the door.
