The Unexpected Family
“What a grand place,” remarked Emily, Lenas university mate, as she wandered through all four rooms. “Turns out youre quite the wealthy bride.” Lena sank weakly into an armchair. “Why have you come? The deans office knows Ive been ill.”
Emily flopped onto an old leather sofa, which groaned pitifully. Lena winced. The house was full of antiques, collected by her family over decades. “Well?” she pressed, eager for Emily to leave so she could restshe felt wretched.
“Right,” Emily drawled. “Our head boy, James, asked me to check on you. He heard I lived nearby. You know how he ispersistent. Wanted to know if you needed anything. Youre all alone now, after all.” She couldnt hide her envy. “Though in a flat like this…”
Lena struggled to her feet. “Thank you for visiting, Emily. Tell James I appreciate his concern, but I dont need anything.” Emily rose reluctantly, following her hostess to the door. But she couldnt resist one last remark. “Id kill to live here. Throw parties every night. Some people have all the luck.”
Lena, uninterested, asked, “Who does?”
Emily blurted from the threshold, “The blessed. The odd ones.”
Lena shut the door with a curt, “Goodbye.”
She lay down, but sleep wouldnt come. For as long as she could remember, shed lived here with her grandmother, Beatrice. A stern woman, Beatrice had raised Lena with strict etiquette, fluency in French, German, and of course, English. At any moment, her grandmother might switch languages, and Lena was expected to respond in kind.
Lena had no memory of her parents. Beatrice spoke sparingly of her “ungrateful daughter,” Lenas mother, whod borne her to some fellow named Alexander. Hed lured her into a commune, where, three years later, both perished in a firewhether during a ritual or mere gathering, Lena never learned the details. Nor did she care. Shed never known them, so their loss brought little grief.
Few visitors crossed their threshold: Margaret the seamstress, who clothed Beatrice and Lena; Dr. Edward, an elderly physician; Beatrices friends, Eleanor and Archibald; and her long-time suitor, Peter Nicholson, a once-renowned jeweller.
In this quiet world, Lena grew up. Starting school terrified herthe noise and chaos were overwhelmingbut she adapted, learning to navigate both her grandmothers refined world and the raucous one beyond their flats walls.
Then disaster struck. Beatrice, whod never bought food from strangers, suddenly brought home mushrooms. “I passed by and spotted them,” shed said. “They reminded me of the mushroom soup our cook, Agnes, used to make at the country house. I thought Id prepare it.”
The soup was divine, its aroma irresistible. Lena had seconds. Beatrice fell ill first, then Lena. They called Dr. Edward, but his phone was disconnectedhe was away at his cottage. Beatrice refused to call an ambulance, trusting only her doctor. But when she lost consciousness and Lenas vision swam, she dialled 999 with shaking hands, then dragged herself to unlock the door before collapsing on the threshold.
Now, with her grandmother gone, Lena faced life alone. Her scholarship, though generous, wouldnt cover the flats upkeep. Returning to university seemed distantrecovering from deaths doorstep took time. And money.
Peter Nicholson helped at first, buying a few antiquesthough he underpaid. But the flats expenses loomed large. Then Lena remembered Beatrices stories: this had once been a shared tenancy, later granted solely to her great-grandfather for his service to the Crown.
Lena decided to take in lodgers. Shed keep her room; renting out the other three would ease her burden. She needed decent tenantspreferably women.
She posted an advert online. Calls flooded in, but none suited: migrant workers, families with children, giggling students asking if they could host guests. When interest waned, Lena resolved to visit an agencysurely theyd vet applicants properly.
But she never made it. Walking through the borough, she spotted a young woman with two small children. A five-year-old girl gnawed a stale biscuit; a toddler sobbed quietly on his mothers lap. The woman shouted into her phone, “Michael, how could you? The children are starvingIve no milk left! Where can we go? Ive no one! Let your Vera live with us, just give us a roomwe wont bother you. Michaeldont hang up!” Her sobs followed.
Lenas heart clenched. She approached, offering a tissue. “Excuse meI overheard. Do you need help?”
The woman, Hope, wept. “Not methe children. My husband threw us out. Weve nowhere to sleep, no food, no money. I dont know what to do.”
An hour later, the children slept, fed. Lena listened as Hope shared her story: orphaned at twelve, raised in care, swindled out of her inheritance, then swept off her feet by Michaela charmer whod abandoned her for another woman.
“Stay with me,” Lena offered. “Take a room. Well figure the rest later.”
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 cast him out. Lena found him in the stairwell, dragged there by a neighbour.
The last room went to Paul, a blind youth whose guardian had robbed him blindthen thrown him onto the street. Lena rescued him from bullies taunting him with breadcrumbs.
Now, Lenas flat brims with life. Hope works as a shop cleaner; Paul, though sightless, is a gifted storyteller, enchanting the children. Anthony, a former chef, turns simple ingredients into feasts.
Lena doesnt regret a thing. Every evening, she unlocks the door to her unexpected familyall waiting, all home.
