The Accidental Family
«Well, this is quite the manor,» remarked Emily, her university mate, as she wandered through all four rooms. «Turns out you’re quite the heiress.»
Louisa sank weakly into an armchair. «What brings you here? The deans office knows Ive been ill.»
Emily flopped onto an old leather sofa, which groaned in protest. Louisa winced. The house was full of antiques her family had collected over decades. «Well?» she pressed, eager to lie downshe felt dreadful.
«Right,» Emily drawled. «Our class rep, James, asked me to check on you. Found out I live nearby. You know what a stickler he is. Wanted to know if you needed anything. After all, youre all alone now.» She glanced around, poorly disguising her envy. «Though, in a place like this…»
Louisa struggled to her feet. «Thanks for stopping by, Emily. Tell James I appreciate the concern, but Im fine.» Emily rose reluctantly, following her to the door. But she couldnt resist one last jab. «I wouldnt mind living here myself. Perfect for parties. Some people have all the luck.»
Louisa, uninterested, asked, «Who does?»
Emily blurted on the threshold, «The blessed ones. The otherworldly sort.»
Louisa shut the door with a curt, «Goodbye.»
She lay down, but sleep wouldnt come. As long as she could remember, shed lived here with her grandmother, Antonia. A stern woman, Grandmother had drilled etiquette, French, English, and German into Louisa from childhood. At any moment, she might switch languages, and Louisa was expected to reply flawlessly.
Louisa had no memory of her parents. Grandmother spoke sparingly of her «ungrateful daughter,» whod had Louisa with some fellow named Alexander. Hed lured her mother into a commune, where, three years later, theyd perished in a fireduring some ritual or just a gathering, the details were never shared. Louisa didnt mourn them; shed never known them.
Few people visited. There was Margaret, the seamstress who tailored for them; Dr. Edward, an elderly physician; Grandmothers friends, Elizabeth and Archibald; and Peter, a former jeweller and Grandmothers longtime suitor.
Among them, Louisa grew up. Starting school had terrified herso much noise and chaos! But she adapted, learning to navigate two worlds: Grandmothers and the ordinary one beyond the flats walls.
Then disaster struck. Grandmother, whod never bought street food, suddenly brought home mushrooms. «I walked past, and they caught my eye. Reminded me of that mushroom soup our cook, Sarah, used to make at the country house.»
The soup was divine. Louisa had seconds. Grandmother fell ill first, then Louisa. They tried calling Dr. Edward, but his phone was offhe was at his cottage. Grandmother resisted calling an ambulance, trusting only her doctor. But when she fainted, and Louisas vision swam, she dialled 999 with trembling fingers, barely unlocking the door before collapsing.
Now, the worst was overexcept for the grief. But how to live? Her stipend, even increased, wouldnt cover the flats upkeep. When shed return to university was another question. Surviving deaths doorstep took time. And money.
Peter helped at first, buying a few antiquescheating her, but it kept her afloat. But the problem remained: the flat was a money pit.
Then she remembered Grandmothers stories. The flat had once been communal, later granted to her great-grandfather for his service.
Louisa decided to take in lodgers. Shed keep her room and rent out the otherspreferably to decent women.
She posted an ad online. Calls flooded in, but none suited: migrant workers, families with kids, giggling students asking if guests were allowed.
When interest waned, she considered an agencysurely theyd vet applicants properly.
But she never made it. Heading north, she spotted a young woman with two small children. A five-year-old girl gnawed a stale biscuit; a toddler wept quietly on his mothers lap. The woman argued into her phone: «Michael, how could you? The children are starvingIve lost my milk! Where can we go? Your friends wont take us in. Let your Vera live with us, thenjust give us a room! Michaeldont hang upMichael!» She burst into tears.
Louisas heart clenched. She approached, offering a tissue. «I overheard. Do you need help?»
The woman, Hope, sobbed, «Not methe children. My husband threw us out. Weve nowhere to sleep, no food, no money. And now my milks gone.»
An hour later, the children, fed and asleep, Louisa listened as Hope shared her story: orphaned at twelve, parents lost to drink, a care home, a derelict flat sold for a pittance, then a kind landlady whose grandson, Michael, swept her off her feetonly to abandon her for another woman.
Louisa offered a room. «Well figure the rest out later.»
But plans changed. Next came Anthony, an elderly man evicted by his sons widow after she tricked him into signing over his home, promising care, then remarrying. Louisa found him in the stairwell, about to be dragged into the cold by a neighbour.
The last room went to Paul, a blind young man swindled by his guardian and left homeless. Shed seen him tormented by youths tossing breadcrumbs like he was a pigeon, his lips trembling with hunger.
Now, Louisa had a family. Hope cleans at a shop; Paul, a brilliant storyteller, minds the children; Anthony, a former chef, turns simple ingredients into feasts.
Louisa doesnt regret a thing. Shes always welcomed homeby her accidental, found family.
