Matthew, Lily and Sebastian were the first to arrive with Sebastian making a dart to the sweet table and stuffing as many biscuits into his mouth as he possibly could. Since Sebastian was going, James had set up the spare room, so he had somewhere to sleep if he became too tired as the night wore on. I didn't think that would happen judging by the number of sweets he ate in just a few minutes. My biggest fear was that he would be sick all over the floor.

The few guests that James had invited started to arrive, including Winnie and her father who jumped up and down the moment she saw the ribbon in my hair. Her face lit up even more when she saw the strawberry tarts – her favourite – and ran over to eat as many as possible. Winnie and Sebastian were likely to spend all evening standing by the sweet table, but at least it kept them distracted. Aunt Molly would always arrive late, she always said it was her duty to arrive late and make an entrance, it used to annoy Mother to no end.

The soft sound of Christopher's piano playing moved over the low hum of conversation. Drinks were flowing and the treats made by me and Mrs Baker seemed to be going down well with the guests, especially the younger ones. A few people asked about the candle and we offered them an explanation. Of course, none of them really understood our reasoning for it and no explanation would help them to understand it. The candle would always be a personal addition for us, it didn't matter if no one else understood it.

"Who made the shortbread?" Tommy asked, shoving another one into his mouth.

"That was me," I said.

"Have I ever told you 'ow much I love you?"

"Shut up." I grinned at Tommy and shook my head, ignoring the way he moved his eyebrows and trying not to laugh. All he ever thought about was his stomach, James said he was like a bottomless pit sometimes.

I turned away from him and towards the crowd of people milling around the drawing-room, sipping wine or lemonade. The candles created a soft glow throughout the room and the small strips of light that came through the window added to that. A smile tugged on the corner of my lips as I looked at the site in front of me. Lady Thatcher's ball had been showy, dramatic, the party was a warm, comforting environment. The same feeling Mother used to create.

Someone nudged me in the side, and I turned towards Lucy and frowned. She moved her head towards the drawing-room door and a smile emerged on her face. I turned away from her and looked towards the door, spotting Robert, Doctor Ealing and the twins talking to James. Robert was dressed slightly differently to how he was at the ball.

He hadn't bothered to slick his hair back and had forgone the coattails, so he wore just his shirt and tie. Without the coattails, or his hair slicked back he looked just like Robert, not some fancy version that Mrs Ealing had tried to create. She had wanted him to keep an image, a pretence of wealth and formality that certainly didn't fit the Robert I knew. I lightly patted the pocket on my dress, feeling the box of cufflinks inside. All I needed was an opportunity to give it to him.

Robert smiled and waved slightly from the doorway. He said something to his father and twisted his way through the people to join us at the sweet table.

"Good evening," he said, nodding towards Lucy and the others.

"Strawberry tart?" Tommy said, gesturing to the table.

"Not right now."

"I'd get in there before he eats it all. Or Winnie and Sebastian. Between the three of them, it'll all be gone by nine," I said.

"I'll keep that in mind." He smiled slightly.

"When is your aunt supposed to be arriving, Rosie? I want to see if the rumours are true," Suzanna said.

"No idea. She likes to be late for things. If she doesn't arrive soon, I expect James might faint. He was already worried, her not turning up only makes it worse."

"Hm, reminds me of someone," Robert muttered.

I furrowed my eyebrows at him, watching as he stared at the twins across the room and knotted his hands in front of him. He seemed nervous, as though he expected something to happen at any moment, but he would never say what it was. Instead, he kept glancing towards the entranceway and the twins so whatever he expected to happen appeared to be related to them. Whatever it may have been, I knew it had to involve Mrs Ealing, it usually did.

Robert glanced over to the sweet table and removed a piece of shortbread from the plate. I watched as he nibbled the corner off but didn't eat that much of it. Something was playing on his mind and I wanted to ask just what it was, but I knew he wouldn't tell me in front of the others. I would have to ask him on his own although that would be hard since getting away was a next to impossible task. Still, I knew the opportunity would present itself eventually, I just needed to wait for that chance.

We made small talk around the sweet table with me refusing to interact with any of the people I didn't know. James had invited Kitty and Lily's family and I had yet to meet them, so I decided to lurk in the shadows for as long as possible. I didn't like meeting new people on the best of days due to the number of questions they ask, but a party involved a lot of new people and me lot of introductions I just didn't want to make. I would speak to them eventually, just not yet. A party didn't seem like the place for a thousand and one questions.

After a few minutes, I shuffled over to Christopher at the piano and leaned on the back of it, watching his fingers move across the keys and fill the room with the soft sound of music. He smiled at me and then pulled a face, momentarily becoming distracted from the piece he was trying to play. Christopher couldn't do more than one thing at a time and that included playing the piano and smiling at the same time. How he managed to become a lawyer remained a mystery and I expected it would for a while to come.

"Look who's here," Christopher said, his voice slightly raised so I could hear him over the music. I turned and saw Aunt Molly standing in the doorway. She hadn't changed in seven years.

"This should be fun," I said.

"Perhaps if we stay still, she won't notice us."

I snorted and Christopher made another mistake as he tried to keep from laughing. I turned back to Aunt Molly, watching her remove her shawl and hand James the cane she used as a statement more than a mode of transport. Her red hair had been pinned on the top of her head and she wore a scarlet red dress that stood out far more than it should have. She looked around the room, her eyes taking in everyone around, including the younger ones who were sitting on the furniture stuffing their faces with sweets.

James caught my eye and gestured me over, but I refused to move from my spot by the piano. From behind me, Christopher stopped playing and Lily quickly jumped in to keep the music going. Christopher placed a hand on my shoulder and steered me over to James and Aunt Molly who continued to linger in the doorway. It looked as though Aunt Molly was judging everyone in attendance at the party and she didn't appear to like anyone.

"Aunt Molly, it is good to see you," Christopher said. He always seemed to put on the airs and graces as far as she was concerned.

"Christopher. You have grown. It is my understanding that you are a lawyer are you not?" She said.

"Yes, Ma'am. I worked in America until recently. I decided it was time to come home."

"Hm, a lawyer in the family! Who would have thought it? I take it Matthew still works as a carpenter? A job that has always been beneath him."

"He does. He's over there with his son, Sebastian."

"A son and a wife? It seems you have all bypassed my previous expectations of you. When you were small, I did not think you would be a successful lawyer or your brothers married, let alone with a child. You have all done well for yourselves."

Christopher looked at me and raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting to be complemented by Aunt Molly. She had never been all that forthcoming with compliments let alone complimenting all three of them at the same time. Although she appeared to be being nice to them, she hadn't noticed me lurking in the corner beside Christopher. I was somewhat glad about it. I didn't think I could handle a lecture on my bad posture or my hair being out of control and untameable – both things my brothers have called me in the past.

I tried to hide behind Christopher, slowly side-stepping out of sight before James tried to drag me into view and expose who I was to Aunt Molly. It was as if she didn't recognise me, as if I had changed that much in almost eight years that she had no idea who I was or why I was hanging around. The eight years had given me a sense of anonymity towards my own family members, even Matthew took a little while to identify me fully.

It was just another thing the factory had stolen from me. My connection to my family.

"You can't hide forever, Rosie," Christopher hissed.

"I can try," I muttered.

"Come on you, that's enough." James lightly grabbed my arm and pulled me from behind Christopher. "Aunt Molly, I'm sure you remember Rosie."

"Ah, yes. Rosalie." She looked me up and down whilst I fought a cringe at the use of my full name. No one ever called me Rosalie apart from her. After staring at me for what felt like forever, she did the unthinkable. She smiled. "You've grown."

"Not by much, she still can't reach the top shelf in the kitchen."

"No matter, she has you to do that for her. When I heard where you had ended up, I could have wrung the neck of that no-good brother-in-law of mine. As it stands, you are with your family now and I for one am glad for the rejuvenation of my sisters Christmas party. It was always such an event."

"Well, let's hope tonight lives up to the legacy."

"I'm sure it will. You have all done a wonderful job."

"Rosie, you can go back to your friends. Try and drag them away from the sweets table. Between them and the little ones, we'll have nothing left.

"I will, although I expect Tommy will be back as soon as he can."

James laughed and gestured me back to the sweet table where I physically had to drag Tommy away from the sweet table before he inhaled the entire lot. Our reunion with Aunt Molly had gone rather well considering how often she would chastise us when we were growing up. Every time we saw her, she took the opportunity to insult something about us and for it was always about my lack of ladylike behaviour. It seemed she may have changed her tune after eight years. Either that or she didn't think the party to be a suitable setting.

Whatever the case may have been, I was glad I didn't get the lecture I would have gotten in the past. There were more things for her to pick fault with then there were eight years ago. Perhaps she thought bringing up the burn would have been a step too far given the circumstances under which I gained it. Even for Aunt Molly, it would be underhanded to mention something that wasn't my fault and couldn't be changed.

Christopher returned to the piano and took his position back from Lily, lightly pressing the keys and filling the room with the soft tune of various Christmas carols. On the mantlepiece, Isabel's candle flickered with the movement of people as they passed by it. I hoped it wouldn't go out because of the constant movement, but it didn't look as though it would. Robert stood staring at the candle. I approached him and stood to the side, watching the flame on the candle dance in the early evening light.

"We lit it for Isabel. We thought she should be here as well," I said.

"I thought it would be something like that. It's a good idea."

"Hm. Out of all of us, she would be the one most excited for the party, it seemed right that we honoured her in some way. She should be here, but since she's not, this will have to do."

"I think it's a great way of remembering her. You can tell people about who she was."

"Are you alright? You're really quiet and you look as though you cannot wait to get out of here."

Robert turned to look at me. In the short time, he had been at the party, his hair was a mess of curl that stuck up and he had loosened his tie a little. His shirt had become untucked from his trousers. When I looked at him there wasn't different in his eyes. There used to a mischievous glint, a little light that would shine brighter than anything in the room. That light was gone. There was no mischievous glint, there was nothing.

"It's nothing. This is your party and I'm not about to put a downer on it," he said.

"None of that. Come on, out with it. I'm not having you walk around all evening looking as though you've eaten a lemon."

He laughed a little. "Mother came to see us this morning. She is still demanding the twins go back with her and she didn't want them to come tonight. The way she spoke, it put me on edge a little more than I would ever confess to Father. She scared me."

"Is that why you keep looking at the door? You think she's going to turn up here?"

"Part of me thinks she would. I wouldn't put it past her, and she was adamant that the twins shouldn't be here regardless of what Father thinks. They're both scared to be around her and if she came barging in here it would only make it worse. Father is determined to keep them away from her but if she keeps showing up out of the blue then he cannot protect them."

"She won't even make it in the door, James will see to that. The twins are enjoying themselves and you should as well. Whatever is going on between your parents, is down to them and not you. Besides, Mrs Ealing would never show her face so publicly and act out in front of everyone her. It goes against her standards."

Robert looked at me and tilted his head, almost as though confused with what I had said or surprised that I had even said it. After a little while, I felt him take my hand, lacing my fingers with his and giving it a light squeeze before letting go. I wished he hadn't let go, but I would never say that to him. It felt like too much of a personal thing to say and despite the letter, I still didn't believe he felt the same way about me.

After our conversation, Robert seemed to perk up a little more and the mischievous glint had started to return. He approached Christopher and asked to take the reigns of playing the piano so Christopher could wander around and talk to people rather than being confined to one place for the entire evening. Christopher seemed grateful for the opportunity to flex his fingers before they stiffened up from all that playing and allowed Robert to take the seat instead.

When he started to play, my mind went back to that afternoon all those months ago, when Robert had suggested teaching me the piano to try and stop my fingers from seizing up after the burn. That opportunity had never emerged. Mrs Ealing forbade the idea the moment it came up, citing that I was there to work and not learn the piano. Despite that, Robert had attempted to teach me a few scales, but I never learnt more than that. Not even Christopher could teach me to play, although he did try.

"He's not half bad," James said, sneaking up behind me.

"Hm, he wrote his own piece for Matilda's birthday and tried to teach me a little, but much like Christopher's attempt, it wasn't very successful."

"I saw you two earlier."

"Don't say anything."

"I wasn't going to, even though I really want to. If Robert makes you happy then I am not one to stand in the way. Just be careful. Doctor Ealing told me about what happened this morning and I just don't want you getting hurt. Again."

"If I ever see Mrs Ealing again, I'll walk in the other direction. I promise."

James smiled. "Good. I hope you're not planning on spending the entire night in the corner. This is supposed to be a celebration for your birthday as well as the Christmas party and I don't want you to spend it hiding."

"I won't, I promise."

James placed his hand on my shoulder, smiled and walked away to mingle with those around. Although I promised James I would actually talk to people, I had no intention of doing that. Regardless of what the party was for, I would never be the sort of person that could easily approach others and start up a conversation. I would always prefer to stay in the corner that put myself as the centre of attention where everyone could stare and talk about me when they thought I couldn't hear them.

I turned away from Robert playing the piano and instead looked around the room. The younger kids were clambering all over the furniture with Matthew trying and failing to restrain them before they caused an accident. Everyone else milled around drinking or eating from the sweet table. I watched the other side of the room. Doctor Ealing appeared from the hallway and whispered something in James' ear.

He shouldered his way through the crowds, pausing briefly to say a few muttered words to Christopher who moved towards the piano and once again swapped places with Robert who darted over to his father. James approached me, crouching slightly to whisper in my ear.

"Mrs Ealing's outside."

~~~

A/N - And we're approaching the end! We're now two chapters away from finishing TAG which is insane to me! I've started the prequel and I think it's a little different from the original series in terms of style, but I hope you enjoy it when it goes up!

More on that later. 

Anyways, I bet you all thought the party would be drama free xD Never! The next chapter was a really fun one to write so much sure your here next week!

Dedication - There isn't one! Shocking, I know xD

First Published - August 25th, 2020