Chapter Text
It had been two years since Carla and Lisa had said “I do.” Two years of learning how to make space for each other in a home that sometimes felt too small, and in a life that had once been filled with more trauma than trust. But they’d done it. No.6 had become a home, one filled with soft laughter, late-night cups of tea, and a surprisingly decent shoe rack by the door thanks to Betsy’s organisational streak.
Carla had taken to step-parenthood better than she ever thought she could. She and Betsy had a quiet understanding — respect, space, and the occasional bonding moment over crap TV or crisis-level chocolate cravings. Lisa often watched the two of them with a soft smile, heart full.
That peace shattered one rainy Tuesday morning when Lisa’s phone rang. She was halfway through tying her boots, still in uniform, when she saw the name flash up on the screen.
Ruth - Sister
She hesitated. Carla was at the kitchen counter, fiddling with her coffee machine, humming lowly to herself. Betsy was already at college.
Lisa stared at the phone for a moment too long before stepping into the hallway and answering.
“Ruth?”
“Hi,” her sister’s voice wobbled. “Mum wants to see you.”
Lisa froze. “Sorry — what?”
“She’s… she’s been asking about you. Properly, this time. Not in that nasty way. She’s… different. I think she regrets what happened.”
Lisa’s throat tightened. “You mean when they threw me out for being gay? When Dad called me disgusting and Mum didn’t say a word?”
“I know,” Ruth said softly. “But Dad’s gone now. Mum’s not the same.”
Lisa closed her eyes, chest tightening. “It’s been over twenty years.”
“I think she knows that,” Ruth said. “She wants to meet you. She said she wants to meet… your wife.”
Lisa’s eyes fluttered open. Her gaze landed on Carla through the doorway, who’d now turned to lean against the counter, sipping coffee, watching her. She tilted her head curiously.
Lisa ended the call quietly and put the phone down on the hallway table.
⸻
Carla raised an eyebrow as Lisa came back in. “Everything alright?”
Lisa nodded too quickly. “Yeah. Just Ruth. Family stuff.”
Carla gave her a look — not suspicious, just concerned. “You never talk about your family.”
Lisa’s jaw clenched, a storm rising behind her eyes. She shrugged. “Not much to say.”
“Come on,” Carla said gently, placing her coffee cup down. “You never even told me if they were alive. You said you didn’t speak to them, but… I thought maybe they’d died, the way you shut it down.”
Lisa let out a slow breath and dropped into the armchair. “They might as well have. They kicked me out when I was eighteen. Found out about me and my first girlfriend. Called me every name under the sun. Said I was no daughter of theirs.”
Carla blinked, stunned. She sat opposite her. “Lisa… I didn’t know. You never said.”
“I couldn’t. I didn’t want to bring that into us — into this. I spent years hiding who I was just to survive. By the time I met Becky, I’d learned how to build walls no one could see. And with you… it was different. I didn’t want that poison near us.”
There was a long silence, then Carla reached across and took her hand. “You could’ve told me. I’ve been through my own kind of hell too, you know. It’s not a competition, but… I get it. The kind of stuff that haunts you even when you’re happy.”
Lisa nodded, her eyes glassy. “Ruth rang. Said Mum wants to meet me. Said she wants to meet you .”
Carla sat back. “And how do you feel about that?”
“I don’t know. Angry. Confused. Like I’m Eighteen again and terrified I’m going to lose everything for being myself.”
“You’re not that girl anymore,” Carla said firmly. “And you’ve got a family now. Me. Betsy. You’re safe.”
Lisa smiled weakly. “That’s the thing. I’m not sure I want her in our life. She didn’t just walk away — she slammed the door. And now she wants to waltz back in?”
Carla stood and moved to sit beside her. “Then we set the rules. You decide how this goes. I’ll be there if you want me, or I’ll stay out of it. But whatever you choose — I’m on your side.”
Lisa turned to her, her heart aching with love and fear and something in between. “Even if I say I’m not ready?”
“Especially then,” Carla said with a quiet smile. “Because this isn’t about her. It’s about you. And what you need.”
Lisa nodded, her grip tightening around Carla’s hand. She didn’t know what she was going to say to her mother, or if she’d even respond at all. But for now, she knew this — No.6 was her home. These two women were her family. And no amount of ghosts from the past could ever change that.