Esther, Be Tender With My Love

II - Six

Esther

"Es," a quiet voice sounded in my ear followed by a gentle shake. "Esther, wake up. My parents are on their way and they want to meet you." I groaned and pulled the blanket up to my head. Almost immediately, the whole blanket was thrown off me, leaving my legs feeling freezing and my attitude worsening. I sat up in annoyance. Why was my roomate Allison so worried about me meeting her parents? Did she forget that I'd already met them?

"Allison, why would you wake me up from such a good dream?" My voice was rough from the deep sleep I must've been in. I tried to open my eyes but they burned at the brightness of the room. Instead, I used the back of my hands to rub the sleep out of them while yawning. "It was the weirdest dream but it felt so real. Remember those guys I told you about that I met back in high school? I had a dream that I went back in time to the seventies and met them again. And then I went shopping with-" My mouth shut when I opened my eyes to see Maurice smirking at me. "That wasn't a dream, was it?"

"Nope, and I'm glad it isn't." He replied. I got out of bed and hugged him. It still felt so surreal to be here. You'd think I'd be used to it by now.

A knock sounded at the front door downstair, followed by loud voices of greetings.

"My parents and little brother Andy are here." Maurice said and released me from the hug.

"Oh no!" I panicked and moved behind him to look at my reflection in the mirror on the wall. My hair resembled a bird's nest. My hands found their way up into it to try and detangle it. "I don't want their first time seeing me to look like this!"

"Relax love, you look fine!" He assured and placed his hands on my waist to spin me around. "Seriously, they will love you." I nodded my head and checked one more time to make sure I looked presentable, then followed Maurice downstairs.

The first person I saw was Robin who grinned from ear to ear upon seeing me. He rushed over and threw his arms around my back. We'd already seen each other that first night I arrived but it was only for a few minutes.

"Esther, I would like for you to meet my wife Molly. Molly, this is Esther." A short brunette girl appeared at Robin's side and held her hand out for me to shake. She seemed to be pretty shy as she barely spoke a word.

"It's nice to meet you Molly." She nodded with a closed smile. In front of her and Robin were two small children - a girl and a boy. "And who might you two be?" I kneeled down to their height and offered a friendly wave.

"I'm Spencer," replied the boy. He was a splitting image of his father. His shaggy brown hair sat on his head in a bowl cut. Next to him, his sister was grasping tightly onto Molly's leg. "This is my sister Melissa." She looked up at me for a moment but then hid her face again.

"I'm Esther and I'm very happy to meet the both of you. How old are you?"

"I'm six and she's four." I was happy that Spencer was outgoing or else this would've been awkward if neither of the kids had answered me.

An older lady came up and hugged Robin, followed by who I'm assuming was her husband. They then moved on to Molly and the kids before stopping at me.

"Hello dear, you must be Esther!" She greeted warmly. She was quite short, the top of her head only reaching right up to my nose. She engulfed me in a tight hug but it felt nice. It felt exactly like the hugs my grandmother would give. "I'm Barbara, the boys' mother." Her eyes scanned my face for a second, making me feel a little self conscious. "You have the most gorgeous eyes I've ever seen!" My cheeks warmed at her compliment. I'd received many compliments on my eyes as they were quite different - sea green with tiny specks of gold, but receiving a compliment from Barbara Gibb made me feel special.