The sister

Sarah was singing along to her Spotify playlist while Tom drove. He couldn’t understand how she could be so positive right now. They were on their way to her parent's house. Before the wish, her parents were both deceased. He had known them well enough and got on with them. Now they were both alive and they hated his guts. They managed to keep civil and had frowned their way through the wedding ceremony but they both saw him as a deviant who stole their daughter and had been quite clear about expressing it to him. If it wasn’t for Sarah threatening to remove herself from them completely, a threat she was quite capable of following through on considering she was married to a man who could support her, they would have forbidden the marriage.

It wasn’t like Sarah missed her parents particularly. She had been something of a loose cannon since puberty hit and it was possible that marrying Tom would stop her from getting into all kinds of trouble. She would quite happily not see them much but this was a special occasion. Her sister was coming home.

A sister's existence was also a completely new development. This person had never existed before. While Tom was curious to meet her, Sarah was **** to see her again. That was why they were subjecting themselves to her parents. Tom had offered for her to stay with them but she wanted to be at her family home while she got settled back in and Sarah couldn’t wait. All he knew was that she had completed university and gone to work in the far east for a while. She travelled around several countries while taking whatever jobs she could and now she was back to settle down and start a career.

Tom took a deep breath and let it out slowly as they pulled into the driveway and got ready to get out. “Come on,” urged Sarah. “They won’t do anything to you. They don’t want to lose me.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to look forward to this.,” he said and pushed himself to get out of the car.

They knocked on the door and a couple not much older than Tom opened it. Her mother dashed out while the father extended his hand for an overly assertive handshake. This couple hardly resembled the parents he had known before. Her father had been of average height and not especially broad and her mother had been overweight and plain. The couple who greeted him at the door was a tall and broad man with a well-groomed beard and a woman who spent a lot of time and money looking after herself. She had clearly had some work done, from her facelift to her enhanced chest. They were a fit and mostly attractive couple, neither of whom had a kind word or glance for him. For Sarah they had nothing but hugs and kisses.

Tom resolved himself to a difficult day and hoped that by the time they had eaten lunch, they could make their excuses. It was late morning already and he was looking at the clock trying to work out when he could get away when he heard two women scream and turned to see Sarah charging towards another young woman. The family had gathered around her and he couldn’t get a good look but eventually, the woman said, “Introduce me to the cradle robber then,” and they turned to Tom.

Sarah came towards him pulling her sister behind. “Tom, this is Tamzin, my big sister.”

Tom was gobsmacked. They were definitely related but Tamzin was a similar height, her long hair was dark brown but lightened by the sun and her skin was lightly tanned with a hint of freckles on her nose. She was a little bustier than Sarah and her hips were a little wider but she was just as pretty. Whereas Sarah had flashy good looks, Tamzin was a more natural beauty. She exuded confidence as she walked towards him, a look of mild amusement on her face.

“Hello cradle snatcher,” she said. She was not being mean. She had an amused look on her face and her tone was warm, not hostile. “Maybe I should call you brother-in-law instead. Talking with mum and dad, it’s always what you get referred to as.” Tom was unsure of how to greet her. What level of formality would be right for the occasion? She took the decision out of his hands as she put her hand on his shoulder and pulled him into a kiss on the cheek. His hand came to rest on her waist and he noted that, while she was a little curvier than Sarah, it was not fat as he could feel a trim middle under the fabric of her top.

“You can call me Tom. I think I prefer that to cradle snatcher,” he said.

Tamzin laughed. “Are you sure? I think it fits but only if I start calling Sarah grave robber.”

“Oof, I’m not that old.”

“Indeed you aren’t. I think Sarah has made quite the catch,” she said before turning to her sister. “You were right. He is much better looking in person.”

“I told you. He always looks awkward in photos,” said Sarah.

They moved through to the living room and things settled into polite conversation as Tamzin regaled them with stories of her adventures. She was eloquent and outgoing and Tom couldn’t help but be a little infatuated. In fact, he was so taken with her that he didn’t care about the pointed comments that his in-laws kept making, especially because Tamzin was clearly on her sister’s side and she would spring to Tom’s defence when a comment was too cutting, disarming it with a witty comeback.

After lunch, Tamzin said, “Tom and I will clean up. I want to quiz my sister’s husband to ascertain his suitability.” She gave him a wink and they began moving pots through to the kitchen. “You might have guessed by now that I don’t care that you married my sister,” she told him as they stood at the sink together.

“I’m glad but do you mind if I ask why?”

“I grew up with Sarah. I know what her taste in men was like. She has always had certain tastes. I’m just glad you turned out to be a good guy.”

“I don’t know if I’m that good,” said Tom, thinking about the wishes he’d been making.

“Well, everyone has shades of grey. Our own father has no room to judge. It’s an open secret that he cheats on mother. They aren’t the perfect couple. Why do you think I was so keen to get out of the country instead of moving back in with them? Anyway, you can’t be all that bad. You agreed to marry her when she asked you. It at least shows you are serious about her. That means something.”

“Thanks, Tamzin. It’s been nice having someone on our side. What do you plan to do now?”

“Get a job and get out of here sharpish. I got some great experience, I’ll find something.”

“You know, you are welcome to stay with us. If staying here gets too much, we have a spare room you could use,” offered Tom.

“I can see what my sister saw in you,” she flirted. Tom looked a bit embarrassed so she just smiled. “Thank you. I might just do that. I’ll come and visit if nothing else.”

“It would be a pleasure to have you and I know Sarah would love it.”

“I’m not sure you could cope with the two of us in the house. We drove my dad bonkers.”

“I’m not your dad,” said Tom.

Tamzin looked at him and he felt as though he was being checked out. “No, you aren’t.”

After another hour, Tom began to make moves to get them out of the house. He had gotten thoroughly annoyed by all the comments. The family saw them to the door But Tamzin came to the car with them. She gave her sister a big hug and did the same to Tom with promises of visiting soon.

Sarah spoke about her sister most of the way home but then set up her laptop on the kitchen table to get on with an essay she was supposed to be doing. Tom went into his office and reclined in his chair thinking. He loved Sarah but he was a little besotted with her sister. He rubbed the coin wondering if it might work on Tamzin too if they were related. “I wish Tamzin and Sarah were both in a relationship with me.” Nothing happened. He knew he was being greedy but he couldn’t resist trying to work out a way he could have both of them.

It struck him in an instant and he wrote it down on a scrap of paper so he could tweak the wording first. He looked at what he had written. It was a little complicated but he decided to risk it. “I wish that Sarah was my sister-in-law who lived here to go to university and is trying to have an affair with me.” He felt the dip but it wasn’t huge. For a moment he wondered if anything had changed.

“Dinner’s ready. Come and get it.” It was Sarah’s voice. That was confusing. Why had she made dinner?

He made his way downstairs and caught sight of two women dishing up food and the rich smell of Indian spices coming from the saucepan. “Sit down darling, we’ve got this,” said Tamzin, turning to give him a smile.

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