Sugar Plum Fairy

"Thank you, Colin." She followed that with an awkward kiss, awkward because her bump was in the way. She was dressed in maternity trousers and a flowing top.

Sonja was still hugging me. Janet's arms wrapped round me too. The two sisters kissed me again and again.

"Let him have his coffee!" My sister Mary protested.

Sonja and Janet helped me on to a kitchen stool. I could have managed without their help, but they wouldn't let go of me.

Mary held the mug so that I could sip the black coffee. My arms were encumbered by two women, both of whom started talking at once.

"Don't confuse him!" Mary shouted. "He isn't awake yet."

"I am. At least I think I am," I replied cautiously. I ought to have a hangover but I hadn't.

"Colin," Mary said, "what these two are trying to say is thank you for looking after Sonja last night, and that Sonja and Brian have sorted themselves out this morning. I'm taking Sonja to see Brian shortly while you have your breakfast. Do you mind if I borrow your car?"

"Car?" I blurted. "Yes, Mary, of course. You're a named driver anyway. Keys are over there." I had to turn my head to show her. I couldn't point. Four female arms were too tightly wrapped around me to let me point with a hand.

"Janet?" Mary said. "I'm leaving you to look after Colin. Please make sure he eats something even if he has a hangover. I'll be back in an hour or so."

"Mary?" Janet said. "Take the suitcase. It's Sonja's panic bag in case she goes into labour. She's due in less than two weeks but..."

"OK, Janet. Will do," Mary replied. "Sonja? Ready?"

Sonja released me, giving me a final kiss, before going towards the kitchen door.

"Janet," she said. "Look after Colin properly. He's a good one..."

Mary and Sonja left. Janet was still hugging me.

"What do you want for breakfast, Colin?" Janet asked.

"I'm not sure..."

"You must eat something. What have you got?"

Janet let me go and went around the kitchen opening cupboards.

"Muesli, I suppose," I said. "Cupboard there."

"With milk?"

"Yes please, Janet."

Within a few seconds Janet placed a very large bowl of muesli in front of me.

"So much?" I queried.

"It's good for avoiding a hangover," she replied brightly.

"But I don't think I've got a hangover," I said. "I ought to have."

"I might have helped," Janet said.

"Helped? How?"

"Each time you woke up to go to the bathroom I gave you a glass of water and insisted that you drank it. You protested, but you did drink all of them. Of course that meant you went to the bathroom more often, but the water rehydrated your system and helped flush the alcohol."

"Thank you, Janet. It seems to have worked."

"It does."

"How do you know how to deal with an overdose of alcohol?" I asked.

Janet sighed.

"Our father was an alcoholic. He's now dry and has been for a couple of years. I had too much experience trying to keep him fit enough for work. My mother couldn't cope for a while and left him, and us, for several months. She hoped it would jolt him into doing something about his drinking. At first it didn't. He suddenly realised that Sonja and I were his carers and it was damaging our lives. He went on the 12-step programme..."

"I can hear an unspoken 'but', Janet," I said.

"You're right. Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. We hope that he can keep off the booze, but that hope is fragile."

"Aren't you worried about me?"

"No. I know from your sister Mary that you rarely get drunk, and that last night was one of those rare times. Why?"

"I was feeling too old, miserable and alone among a group of people enjoying themselves. I should have left earlier..."

"...but then you wouldn't have rescued Sonja."

"True. What about Sonja and Brian? Are they really OK?"

"Sonja, like me, has seen too much of the damage drinking can do. They started rowing last night because Brian was drinking. He hadn't drunk much -- then -- about two pints of lager, but Sonja laid into him. One thing led to another. They said things they shouldn't have said. Brian went off to really drown his sorrows. Sonja hid herself in the pantry to cry her eyes out. It was their first real argument."

"And the first one hurts the most."

"Exactly. They've been exchanging texts since before dawn, apologising to each other, and Mary's taken Sonja for the tearful reunion. They should be OK. Brian doesn't really drink. Last night was the closest he'll come to a Stag Night. They're getting married next Saturday. It will be a very minimal Registry Office event with close family only followed by a reception in an unlicensed restaurant. No alcohol at all."

"What I don't understand, Janet, is why you looked after me last night. You could have left me alone to suffer. Why didn't you? We were friends a few years ago, but last night and this morning you have behaved like more than a friend. Why? What has changed?"

Janet's first response was to hug me. She was standing behind me, her breasts pressed against the back of my head, and her arms across my chest. When she replied, she was almost whispering.

"Your sister Mary is one of Sonja's best friends. I know you hadn't met Sonja. That's because Mary's friends are much younger than you, and you have been living away from home for a couple of years. Your parents know Sonja very well.

Mary will be the Chief Bridesmaid on Saturday. I'm the other one. Mary has told me a few things about you, particularly when your engagement to Andrea ended. She wanted to help you, but didn't know how. There are some things that sisters can't do. She wanted to hug you, to kiss you, to dry your tears -- not that you were actually crying, but she could feel your pain.

I felt for her, and you. A few months before I had finished with my then boyfriend. He had tried to control my life, to insist I did things his way, and only his way. At first I thought he was caring and wanted to look after me. He didn't. Ultimately he was selfish. All he wanted was a compliant woman that he could walk all over. I'm not that sort of woman."

Janet paused, kissed the top of my head, and stroked my chest.

"Your ex-fiancée might have suited him. Or possibly not. Although she seemed flighty, if he had tried to control Andrea as he had done with me, I think she would have rebelled. She wanted her own way with a compliant doormat of a husband. I think she's found him in John.

But Mary's reports about you emphasised that you didn't want an Andrea. You wanted a partner, an equal partner, a woman who is her own person. The contrast between what she was saying about you, and my experience of my ex-boyfriend, was painful for me. You sounded just what I wanted. Then you rescued Sonja and looked after her. That confirmed what Mary had been saying. Last night I was grateful to you, but I had wanted to meet you and kiss you for weeks. You were drunk and perhaps I took advantage of that. I don't regret kissing you. I'm going to do it again and again..."

Janet did. She took my hand and pulled me into the living room. She gently pushed me on to the settee. She sat on my lap. I had to tilt my head back to keep our lips together.

"I want to see you again, soon, Colin but..."

My kiss cut her sentence short.

"You can, Janet. I'd like that." I said.

"You didn't let me finish," She said mock-accusingly. "I'm up to my eyeballs with the preparation for next Saturday's wedding. It may be a small event but Sonja needs a dress, so do your sister Mary and I. Mary, my mother and I will be sewing frantically for the rest of today, tomorrow and busy every evening this week.

We are trying to stop Sonja doing too much. We don't want her going into premature labour. The baby is due on Christmas Eve and the wedding is only a couple of days before that. Sonja wanted it earlier but next Saturday was the first free date at the Registry Office."

"It could be awkward if Sonja goes into labour before or during the wedding," I suggested.

"Awkward!" Janet snorted. "It would be disastrous. My father is panicking. Our mother is trying to calm him down but he is fretting. Sonja is his baby daughter. He knows I can look after myself but he underestimates Sonja. Underneath she's nearly as tough as I am. Sonja would happily walk down the aisle at the Registry Office even if she's having contractions. She'd do it with a new baby latched to her breast. But Dad would be worried sick. He is bad enough now."

"How about Brian?"

"Brian's OK. Last night was their first argument mainly started by pre-wedding nerves. They love each other and Brian doesn't really drink. The two pints last night were two per cent lager. He was nowhere near the drink drive limit until they argued and he went off to drown his sorrows. He thought he had lost Sonja over a minimal amount of alcohol. They'll be OK on Saturday. So will Mum, I and your Mary. It's Dad I'm worried about."

"Anything I can do, Janet?"

"Not really. Unless you have a secret passion for dressmaking..."

I shook my head.

"I have to ask my mother or Mary to sew on a button. I can, but they fall off after a couple of washes."

Janet looked at me as if she hadn't heard what I had said. There was a silence between us. She stroked my cheek.

"There is one thing, Colin..." she stopped.

"What thing?"

"I'm not sure whether..."

"Out with it, Janet! I won't be offended if you ask. I can always refuse."

"The wedding itself. There will only be a dozen of us including the Bride and Groom. There are their four parents, two bridesmaids -- Mary and I, two maternal grandmothers, Brian's brother Rory who is the Best Man and our Uncle Stuart. There is a doubt about Uncle Stuart because Aunt Rachel, his wife, is due to go into hospital for a hip replacement. That has already been postponed once. Uncle Stuart thinks it unlikely that the operation will be done this side of Christmas. But there might be a cancellation."

"I follow that, Janet, but I don't see what you might ask of me."

"Except the two grandmothers who are lovely but slightly frail, everyone has a role. Rory's looking after Brian. Mary's looking after Sonja. I'm the emergency, rush-to-the-maternity-unit driver with an empty car. I'm also the general dogsbody. The bride's parents are arranging the transport for the Groom, Best Man and everyone else except the Bridal Party to the Registry Office and restaurant. Mary will be driving the Bride and Bride's parents to the Wedding. She'll drive the Bride and Groom to the reception. Uncle Stuart is driving the Bride's Parents. He is also the photographer."

"What about your father? You didn't mention him."

"He's the Bride's Father. He has to walk Sonja up the aisle, give her away, and make a speech at the reception. But he is a very shy man and even that much is worrying him. His brother, Uncle Stuart, is there to support and encourage Dad."

"And if Uncle Stuart can't come?"

"Then we're in deep shit. I think Dad will fall apart without support. Mum and I will do our best but... Although we can take pictures on our mobiles, we wouldn't have a photographer. We couldn't have photos including all of us unless we ask some of the restaurant staff. But they'll be very busy that close to Christmas. We were very lucky that they had a room just large enough for the twelve of us."

"Let me get this straight. You want me to be an understudy in case Uncle Stuart can't make it?"

"Yes, I suppose that's what I'm thinking. It would help me, help your sister Mary, and take some worry away from my Dad just knowing that you are there in case."

"But I haven't met your parents. They don't know me. We've only just met again. Do they really want a stranger at their daughter's wedding?"

"They may not have met you, but they know of you from your sister Mary, and from me when I was Mary and working with you."

"But I think I ought to meet them at least once before the wedding, just in case. I don't know them. They don't know me."

"You're right, Colin. Let me think."

Janet pulled my head down to her breasts and I snuggled into her cleavage. I assume she looked at her mobile phone. I couldn't see anything except Janet.

"Wednesday evening might do. We're having a brief review of the arrangements and a rehearsal of who does what. You could play the part of Uncle Stuart because he won't be there. If he's coming, he'll arrive on Friday evening and stay in a hotel close to the Registry Office."

"Sounds OK to me. When?"

"You could bring Mary over at seven o'clock. It shouldn't take long. We should have sorted everything out by nine."

"OK, but I'd like to know Janet better too, not in a gathering of her family."

"You will, Colin, but that might have to wait until after Sonja's wedding. I'll be free Saturday evening. Brian and Sonja aren't having a honeymoon yet because the baby might arrive any time. As soon as the reception is over, Mary will drive them to Brian's flat and leave them there."

"Saturday night? OK, Janet. What do you want to do Saturday night? I assume you will want something not too strenuous after the wedding. Any ideas?"

Janet started crying. She hugged me so tight I was being smothered. I eased my head back enough to breathe.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Janet dragged my head back into her cleavage. She spoke very quietly, trying not to sob.

"No, Colin. You were just right. You have told me we can do what I want to do. He never let me choose. He decided everything. I was expected to do whatever he wanted."

I assumed 'he' was the ex-boyfriend. I swore under my breath. He must have been an arsehole. Letting Janet choose what to do at the end of a stressful day was no big deal. He had obviously damaged Janet's self confidence badly.

I picked her up and put her down beside me. I moved her head to my shoulder. She snuggled against it.

"I'm not like that," I said.

"I know you aren't, Colin. That's why..."

Janet started crying again. I hugged her. Her face was against my shoulder. After about five minutes she lifted her head and looked at me. I wriggled a clean handkerchief out of my pocket and dried her tears.

Janet was still resting on my shoulder when Mary returned. She poked her head around the living room door, saw us, and mouthed 'Coffee?".

I nodded.

Mary came in with three cups of coffee. She put two of them down on the side table beside the settee. She sat in an armchair.

"The blue mug is Janet's," Mary said.

Janet hadn't noticed that Mary was there. She sat up. The damage to her make-up was obvious.

"You might want to clean yourself up, Janet," Mary said. "But why? My brother doesn't usually make women cry."

Janet pulled a mirror out of her handbag, gasped, and rushed off to the bathroom.

"Well, Colin? Why was Janet crying?" Mary asked.

"Because I'm not like her ex-boyfriend, I think."

"I should hope not. He was an arsehole. He nearly destroyed her. When Sonja wasn't crying about the married bastard who ditched her, she was crying because Janet was being controlled and abused. A few months ago the whole family was depressed.

Brian has changed that. They like him. He's kind, considerate, and great for Sonja. He's nearly as good a man as my big brother."

"As good as your brother? That's not what you usually say, Mary."

"I'm your sister. I love you but I know you too well. You know too much about me. We don't say outright what we feel for each other. We know that either of us would be there to help, support, comfort or whatever if the other needed us. If you want Janet, and Janet wants you, I think you will be good for each other. You'll have to be gentle and patient with her. But you are anyway. Even your ex-girlfriends like you. That's rare."

"I'm no saint, Mary."

"I know. Neither am I. But you look like one to Janet. You have faults. One of them is that you are too vulnerable to designing women like Amanda. She twisted you round her little finger and you fell for it for a while. I think Janet could do the same. Be careful. I don't want either of you hurt. You're my brother and she's my best friend's big sister. You're both wounded. You need space to find out whether you two are just sympathetic or really made for each other. You might be. I don't know. After one night together? It's too soon."

That was a long speech from Mary. I knew she meant every word, and that she was right. Janet and I liked each other. Whether there could be more? Only time would tell.

"Janet's asked me to help with Sonja's wedding -- in case her Uncle Stuart can't make it. What do you think?"

"You could do it. Their Dad needs someone. He's fragile. You know he's an alcoholic?"

"Yes, but..."

"On the wagon? He is. But he isn't firmly there yet. The stress is affecting him. He's been worried by Sonja and Janet. After the wedding he should start to feel better about Sonja. He won't really be convinced until she's had a healthy baby. If you could give Janet her confidence back, even if you two don't work out, I think he'll be OK. His wife's lovely but she has been carrying the whole family."

We heard the toilet flush. Mary put a finger to her lips. Janet walked back in.

"You've been talking about me."

It was a statement, not an accusation.

"Yes," I said. "We don't really know each other yet, Janet."

"You could have heard," Mary said. "We didn't say anything except that both of you have been hurt."

"We have," Janet admitted. "But Colin seems so different. I liked what I had heard about him. Now I've met him, I still like him."

"I like you too, Janet," I said, "but..."

"We are really strangers who met for the first time last night?"

"Yes. It doesn't feel like that. I know it's only a few hours. I want more time with you."

"And we will have more time, Colin. Wednesday evening, the wedding, and afterwards. I've decided. We're coming back here Saturday night and we're going to share a bottle of wine."

"Wine? You're sure?"

"Yes. I'm not the alcoholic. Neither are you. I want a quiet evening together to relax. OK?"

"Of course, Janet, if that's what you want."

"It is. But now Mary and I should go. We have a lot to do before Wednesday and very little time."

I stood up. Janet hugged me. We kissed. At the front door Mary hugged me too.

"Look after yourself, big brother. I love you."

"I love you too, Mary."

I kissed her cheek. I watched them drive off in Janet's car.

Blast! I thought. Mary's still got my car keys. Maybe she'll bring them back later.

I went into the living room and took the coffee cups into the kitchen. Mary hadn't forgotten my car keys. They were on a work surface.

Mechanically I went around the flat restoring it to its normal tidiness. When I had finished I sat down with yet another cup of coffee. It was ten thirty in the morning. What was I going to do with the rest of the weekend?

While I drunk the coffee I was feeling miserable. Mary was right. Janet and I were damaged. Were we looking for a relationship on a rebound? What did we really know about each other? We knew we could kiss and cuddle and enjoy the intimacy. We seemed to be on the same wavelength and compatible, but one night during most of which I was drunk wasn't long enough to decide our future. We needed time together without the pressure of Sonja's forthcoming wedding and arriving baby.

I remembered Julie. She had moved into her new flat yesterday. Mary wouldn't be around to help her today or tomorrow because she would be involved in the wedding preparations. Maybe Julie could do with some help? Even if not, it might help me just to talk to someone uninvolved.

I picked up my phone and rang her.

"Julie? Colin here. How are you getting on with your new flat?"

Julie seemed pleased to speak to me. She was feeling deflated. She thought she shouldn't have gone to last night's party. She was relieved to be in the flat at last. She was surrounded by boxes and facing a massive task of sorting herself out. I asked if she wanted any help. She jumped at my offer. I told her I would be with her in minutes.