The Secret Keeper's Sister.

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“ There is no fool like an April fool “ and so Chrissy decided to wait till after lunch to be born on April 1st.

Her decision to enter the planet had begun nine months previously, sometime in late summer.

She soon forgot her original contract and some of the conditions to which she, in spirit form, had agreed.

Within days she assumed the guise of a normal human being, an adorable baby, quickly forgetting her predestined intentions. She entered into a family that enfolded her into the bosom of their love.

True, her birth was a bit of a conundrum.

She was conceived in an era much different from the world we know today.

Patriarchy reigned supreme, men ruled and women knew better than to question the predestined order of their lives.

Morals were rigid and few had the nerve to step outside the bounds dictated by a society determined to keep women in their place.

True, the 1960’s had shaken the status quo leaving in its wake a wreckage of souls caught between two worlds.

Many paid the price, mostly the already marginalized - homosexuals or ‘queers’ as they were then called, people of colour, the poor and other riff raff not able to climb over backs  to rise up into the towers of success and worldly trappings.

The privileged and entitled managed to convince themselves that they deserved all that they possessed and that those beneath them were somehow ‘less than’ and did not deserve their pity nor their help.

Even in the aftermath of a sexual revolution where ‘free love’ had unleashed inhibitions that in the past somewhat protected women, pregnancy outside the sanctity of marriage was very much frowned upon. Few girls were able to withstand the condemnation from both their family and a society which looked upon such an occurrence with much judgement, criticism and disdain.

Many were unable to survive the double standard that labelled a pregnant girl as a ‘slut’, ‘fallen woman’ and yet patted the back of the impregnating male as a ‘stud’.

Most girls chose to remain virgins until marriage, doing their best to catch the man of their dreams and begin life in the suburbs in a house surrounded by a white picket fence.

Those who became trapped after being lured into having sex by some hormone driven teenaged ‘stud’ had  few alternatives and many marriages began with this caveat, “Well you know they HAD to get married.”

True, times had begun to change, just not fast enough to accommodate the needs of many women.

Chrissy’s mother Lily came from a relatively enlightened family. Her father, a staunch Roman Catholic did his best to maintain the old world order but floundered in the sea of change. Though he believed that a woman’s  place was in the home, having children and faithfully serving her husband, he had reluctantly agreed to allow Lily the privilege of going to university to become a teacher, one of the few acceptable career choices offered to women.

With great excitement and the added bonus of escape from her family farm to a large city, Lily prepared for university in the fall.

What she had not prepared for was meeting and falling in love with Finn, a hard-working man who took responsibility seriously with a determination to win whatever he set his sights upon.

He also came from a good family and had been raised in an atmosphere of love and tolerance.

By nature he was somewhat stubborn and inclined to be a tad possessive.

He did not share well and often resorted to bursts of quick anger when provoked. Those closest to him knew better than to challenge his barely concealed temper.

When he met Lily it was love at first sight for him and he set his sails, determined to capture this prize at any cost.

 Lily was considered a beauty. Intelligent, loving and kind, indeed a ‘catch’.

 Her desire for an education was somewhat of an impediment for him but he began to feel confident that somehow he could work around this defect.

There were a number of obstacles that stood in his way. 

However, with an uncanny ability to mesmerize and blind Lily to his true intentions, he managed bit by bit to set his game plan in motion.

When they first met, Lily had just just broken up with a boyfriend renowned for his possessive grip on her. They had dated as teenagers, overcoming the worried concerns of Lily's parents and were well on their way to building a life together. An unwanted pregnancy, ending in an illegal abortion managed to do what Lily’s parents had not. The relationship ended and Lily went on with her life determined not to make the same mistake twice.

Life had other plans for her.

Finn was a master of disguise and in his initial wooing of Lily, cleverly masked his growing determination to make her his and his alone.

He embarked on a campaign to separate Lily from the family herd and as he edged her closer and closer to that point, grew more and more confident of his future conquest.

His most formidable enemy was Lily's mother, Trixie.

More precisely, it was Lily's attachment to Trixie that was his real enemy. 

Trixie and Lily had a bond which had been forged at birth and tempered by life into an unbreakable chain. Even Finn could not seem to break this bond and the attachment pissed him off. 

His cunning instinct warned him to keep his temper in check, bide his time and wait for an outcome he felt confident he could create.

He began searching for the weak link.

His game plan started with the seduction of his victim. By a great stroke of luck, combined with the darkness of the times and limited access to birth control, he managed to impregnate Lily.

She was terrified. Though she had fallen deeply in love with Finn, she knew that her family’s expectations, indeed, her own, did not include a child, let alone one born out of wedlock.

Trixie, with great determination that Lily would surpass her own failed attempts to escape patriarchal dictates had used her influence to steer her youngest daughter in a direction that seemed to afford her the best chance at a life different from her own.

Thus the scene was set for the event that was to shake the plans of both Trixie and Lily while playing into the hand of a conniving Finn, determined to rock the boat that would give Lily freedom to steer her own destiny.

The ‘unplanned’ for pregnancy was the wedge he’d been seeking and his campaign to snare her seemed set in stone.

His infatuation with his prize impeded his ability to convince Lily to abandon her plans for an education and marry him, settling into a life of domesticity. With great determination he steadily chipped away at this obstacle in hopes of eventually eroding the foundation until an inevitable collapse left him able to pick up the pieces.

Lily began her own campaign, stalling, a tactic she had honed over the years. 

Being a middle child,  she was gifted at dodging bullets and hiding behind others. 

Her older sister, Ginny,  bore many emotional scars from shielding Lily and often took the brunt for her manipulative behaviours.

She paid a heavy price for keeping many of Lily’s secrets and  carried the poison of these decisions for years. 

One of  her greatest debates was what ‘loyalty’ entailed and how this fit into her determination to be the best big sister possible.

Lily embarked on her own mission, the sole purpose being to hide her pregnancy until a solution might miraculously appear, relieving her of the task of making a decision.

She told Ginny about the pregnancy, swearing her to secrecy.

A few weeks into her pregnancy, Lily went on a summer holiday with her parents.

No one noticed the initial stages of her condition and she managed to hide her violent bouts of nausea. She phoned Ginny several times, weeping, hoping for Ginny to solve this seemingly unsolvable problem.

Ginny advised her to come clean but understood this was a futile exercise.

Lily returned home in September, began university and continued to hide her secret.

Finn of course knew and though thrilled with his entrapment, was not able to convince Lily to marry.

He persisted, ruthlessly. Eventually Lily, terrified of any of the other alternatives, capitulated to his pursuit.

By February, she was finding it increasingly more difficult to hide the evidence. Even with the cover of voluminous blouses, girdles that bound and almost hid Chrissy’s developing being, some began to suspect.

They were married in a courthouse, with no one present to witness the event. They announced their marriage to their families several days later and promptly moved into a new apartment. Lily quit university, left her part time job and began figuring out a cover story as to why a child would appear two months into the marriage.

Trixie aided her plan. Though initially shocked by the sudden marriage, she quickly rolled with the new story and prepared to ease the way for Lily to present her news.

She and Ginny, travelled to visit the newlyweds. Trixie, a great secret keeper, discussed with Ginny the likelihood of there being a pregnancy and how they might best ease into the topic while visiting.

Ginny wanted to giggle with her knowledge of the ‘secret’, but knew better than to alert Trixie to her part in the story. 

She almost relished the entertainment which was about to unfold.

They arrived at their destination. Lily proudly gave them a tour of her new home, began making coffee, doing her best to hide her blossoming condition from her mother.

Trixie, a trained nurse, observed carefully while maintaining courteous civil small talk. She eventually was able to steer the conversation to a place where she discreetly asked, “Lily, is there any possibility that you are pregnant?”

Lily blushed with embarrassment and replied, “Yes mom, I am.”

Trixie smiled, doing her best to convey tolerance and acceptance. 

She and Ginny had discussed this possibility during their trip, with Trixie guessing that Lily was perhaps several months along. Ginny had stoically kept her silence, honouring her sister’s request for secrecy.

So, Trixie was prepared for this news. 

What took her by surprise, almost making her spit out her coffee, was Lily’s answer to the question, “How far along are you dear?”

“Seven months.”

Trixie was nothing if not fast on the draw. She managed to hide her shock and began planning on how she would break the  news to Lily’s father.  Trixie knew she had her work cut out for her but felt confident she could win him over and that he would eventually join others in the delight of this grandchild.

Both Lily and Finn’s families were indeed good people and though the times were none too enlightened, accepted the approaching birth with great joy and anticipation. Chrissy’s arrival marked the beginning of a journey that held both joy and sorrow.

Finn now had Lily firmly in a vice grip that further aided his plan to possess and have sole ownership of a prize he was not inclined to share.

His strongest weapon was his violent temper. Everyone was aware of this defect and yet did their best to ignore, overlook it, or, run and hide when it exploded.

This temper, combined with his single-minded possessiveness, produced a rather lethal concoction. When challenged, it  made Finn a most dangerous adversary.

Trixie never gave up. Though she detested Finn with a passion, she hid her disdain with a false show of respect. Finn, equally skilled at deception, kept up a similar act. They managed to hide the depth of their true feelings towards each other.

Each knew better than to push Lily too far. 

The balancing act took its toll on the entire family.

Forty years passed and eventually so did Trixie. 

Her death left Finn with only a bit of housecleaning.

First on his list was to  eliminate Ginny from the scene.

This proved to be a relatively simple task.

He instructed Lily to tell Ginny she was no longer welcome in his home. 

There was no explanation offered.

Lily didn’t even have the courage to tell Ginny herself, she asked their father to do the deed. He cried when he relayed the information to his incredulous older daughter and admonished her not to make trouble for Lily and simply find other ways  to maintain their relationship. 

This almost worked for several years, until Ginny could no longer bear the hypocrisy and moved to another province. 

Lily’s father was an even easier cleanup.

He was so adverse to confrontation that he chose to ignore Finn’s more and more blatant demonstrations of disdain.

His act of blindness came at a price. He developed cancer which he was unable to beat and died much before he believed he should.

Her father’s death marked the final dissolution of any bond with Lily’s family. There were none left to conquer and Finn’s prize became his and his alone.

The one enemy he was unable to conquer was an illness that gradually destroyed the woman he loved. 

In helpless frustration, he watched his beloved possession slowly wither and deteriorate before his eyes. He was unable to beat this formidable foe.

Lily eventually succumbed to her illness. 

She died on April 1st, three minutes after noon.