Relatives

Kieron had no contact with his birth father from the age of 1. Therefore there is a lack of  relatives for him, of which he has always been very aware so he would always enjoy time with my parents before they died and in later years with my aunt, who all my kids called Dow because of a rattling window in her sitting room and she would say 'be quiet window'.
Kieron, like his siblings, kept a shopping bag in her cupboard. Kieron's bag held (and still holds) colouring stuff, lego, toy cars minus wheels and farm animals. In her kitchen is a little sweet tin with his own biscuit stash and a redundant sweetener container containing chocolate chips. Each child has these with their names on them, irrespective of age. Kieron loved seeing Dow. Having spent all her working life as an infant/primary teacher he could easily cajole her into doing messy stuff. Making muffins was a firm favourite and Kieron would spend time during school holidays with Dow making these, picking flowers for her chapel arrangements and making lego mansions for her dream house. On my arrival to take him home, I would be presented with a muffin to sample and the rest in a bag for his siblings. I would dutifully admire the lego which would then be put safely away to alter the next time. My aunt would giggle in fake horror at some of the things Kieron would say, and on several times she became his confidant and partner-in-crime. He climbed trees for her benefit and fed a friendly fox. He did little jobs for her, which she usually invented so that Kieron would feel that he was helping her in her dotage. He became a surrogate grandson and she was a surrogate grandparent.
He would chatter away, often prefixing with 'you know what Dow.....' and would regale her with his exploits at school and home. As the youngest member of the family he helped to keep her young, and since he went she has aged quite suddenly. A sprightly dame of 85 going on 30 is now 85. She has a special table in her sitting room holding pictures of Kieron, a little bean bag he liked playing with and at the moment a mini musical Christmas tree and other Christmasy bits. She has tears in her eyes when she talks of him, although she's a strong woman who has known many personal tragedies. She wants to take his place but no deals can be done.