Davidson Family                                                                        

Janet Davidson- Part 1     (Fiction story)                                                     

Chapter 1

Janet was a very beautiful girl, she came from a family of 8 children and she was the youngest.

Her family doted on her, everybody loved her and it was not just that she was the youngest; she was also the only daughter.

Her brothers were Daniel, Jack, Reuben, Alex, Jim, Matthew, Andy, and then came Janet by the order of birth.

It was wonderful to be doted on by all these handsome brothers, Janet knew that she was the envy of many girls of her age.

All the brothers were between the ages of 10 – 20 years of age and Janet was 9.

Everyday she walks down to school with her five brothers and they would walk with her like her bodyguards. She never fought with any of them; it was only Andy, her immediate older brother that was her problem. Though their ages were close but sometimes she used to wonder whether he was younger than her and her family were covering up.   The other time he insisted on taking over the space close to the dinning where she kept her dolls and other play things. He even told her that she was too old to be carrying dolls, that he rather replaced the space with his comic books.    

Andy loved comic books and he was always using most of his savings to buy them from a gift shop close to their house.

Janet knew that they had enough space in their house where he could keep his increasing comic books since he no longer wanted them in his room,  why was he after her precious space close to the dinning. She must talk with their mum.

As they walked to school, she could see other children and teenagers moving along with them on the road and the girls close to her brothers’ ages were starring and smiling funnily to her brothers but her brothers always seem not to notice.

She and five of her brothers were in the same school. She and Andy were still in the primary section of the school while the other four were in the secondary section. Daniel and Jack her two older brothers were already in the university.

She loved her brothers and Daniel the eldest was her favorite.

Today’s school would be very solemn because the term’s examination for both the Primary and the Secondary students was starting today with Mathematics being the first subject, to be followed by English Language and they were all looking forward to it; she and her brothers.  

In the class, Janet was sitting between Lori and Rita and they were all her good friends.    

The first bell for the exam rang and Janet’s classmates with Janet started clearing their tables for the first paper. They finally settled down as the examiner entered. Their own teacher had gone to handle another primary 4 class.

When the examiner entered, she was glad that the pupils were already settled. That’s one thing she loved about Anita’s class, Annabel thought, they were always well behaved. Anita had a way with children that marked her out.

Annabel started sharing the papers, when she got to Janet’s side she smiled; Janet was her niece, her sister’s last child. Her sister married early at the age of 18 and had 8 children. She used to wonder how Abigail used to cope with her 8 children.

Janet looked up and smiled at her aunt. She knew that some chocolates or biscuits would be awaiting her during the break period. Aunt Annabel promised her yesterday.

The examination went smoothly, and finally ended. Janet was good in all her subjects including Mathematics as well as her friends seated by her side.

By 3 pm that day the children were on their way back to their homes and everybody was talking about the first exam day.

                          Chapter 2

It was Saturday Afternoon; Abigail just prepared a meal for her family. Daniel and Jack had returned from their school in celebration of their mother’s birthday tomorrow. Abigail knew that her husband had been looking forward to this birthday, he has made it clear to everyone in their home and he had openly made arrangements. She would be 41 years old soon but she still felt as if she was 30 years old.

Joe her husband had told everyone in their household to invite their friends, it would be a very big celebration.

Nobody had ever planned her birthday like this including Joe. Events planners had been busy nonstop. They have started decorating the front yard of the house. Caterers had been calling for one thing or the other, in fact they have been busy.

Today Janet dressed carefully for her mummy’s birthday party, thank God the exams were over, she thought.  Her Mummy had taken her and her brothers to the malls to buy new wears. Her two older brothers came back yesterday for this birthday and Janet was happy to see them.

Each one of them threw her up and caught her again, and both of them complained that she was getting too big for them.

Janet smiled at her reflections in the mirror; her older brothers had grown so tall and huge, even taller than Daddy.

The birthday party was awesome, and Janet had used her savings to buy a birthday gift for her Mum.

She was surprised when Andy approached her and asked her to help him to choose a gift for their mum. Janet purchased her own gift that day too with the money she saved for it.

A lot of people came for the birthday party, Lori and Rita came because Janet invited them, all her brothers invited their friends too but their parents’ invitees were more in numbers.

Aunt Annabel came with her family and also Uncle Richard; Daddy’s only brother; he came with his family too.

As the party was gradually coming to a close, Janet saw her father standing up to address everybody. They were all quiet as he told everyone how he met his wife. They have heard that story many times in their home about Mummy standing on the road and Daddy splashing mud water on her with his motorcycle as she was waiting for a taxi on the road side after a heavy downpour.     

This time around the story was told with so much emotion and by the time Daddy was expressing his feelings for everyone to hear some people brought out their handkerchief and started to dab their eyes. Janet looked towards her mother and saw her dabbing her eyes and she felt like hugging her.

Daddy continued his speech by saying that he has a birthday gift for Mum and wanted everyone to follow him outside.

“Janet, what does your Daddy have for your mum?’’ Lori asked.

“I don’t know.’’ Janet answered.

Janet saw her Aunt whispering something in her mother’s ears, probably asking her own questions.

“I would love you all to join me in appreciating my wife as I give her this token.’’ Joe’s voice boomed.

A tarpaulin cover was raised from a beautiful car that Janet couldn’t tell when it was parked. Two men she had never seen before raised the cover and everyone started to clap.

Her mother was dazzled, she just stood there looking. The family had two cars before but this is something else. She went to her husband, hugged and kissed him while everyone applauded.

Her brothers were already entering the car to touch things and Janet watched them and smiled. She could imagine herself already seated beside her Mum in the car as they go to the malls for their purchases.

Her Mum takes her to the malls more times than all her brothers.

The party later came to end. Her Mum received a lot of gifts from people that day and also from all her children.

“Mum, why is Andy trying to take my space for his comic books?’’ Janet was asking her Mum three days later as two of them were preparing their meals.

“Is he asking for your space dear?’’ Her Mother asked.

“He is not asking Mum, he wants me to hand it over for his comic books.’’ Janet responded.

“Which space is he actually talking about?’’

“Where I keep my dolls, he says that I am too old for dolls.’’ Janet was emphatic.

Abigail smiled; she knew that her two youngest children were always arguing over one thing or the other.

“Please speak to him Mum.’’ She pleaded.

“I will dear.’’ Abigail assured her daughter.

Abigail knew that she had to talk with Andy to end this rift. 

The school term later ended and the Davidson Family started preparing for a holiday in the country. A small community where the children’s grandparents; the Davidson seniors lived in the past.

Janet was excited that they would be going for a long holidays of two weeks with their parents. Daniel and Jack were still in school but they might join them if they could come, it all depends on their school program as Daddy explained yesterday to them but Janet prayed in her heart that they would come.

This holiday would be awesome, Janet thought. She had already reconciled with Andy, and that means more adventures in the country.

They all had very good results and even received prizes during closure and their parents could not be any happier.