Untimely Wake

1

Untimely Wake

January 24th, 2055

"Hi Grandpa!" an excited seven year old Annie yelled running to her grandfather, Noah, as she rushed into the warm house to get away from the cold January air.

"Annie, my dear, you’ve grown! You're going to be passing ole Nicholas!" Noah joked towards Nick as he walked into house. He was followed by Kylie, his mother, and her husband Jack.

"Ha-Ha grandpa." Nick laughed sarcastically as he hugged his grandfather.

"Sorry we're late, dad. Traffic was horrible and it started to snow pretty bad once we hit the highway." Kylie said removing her jacket and hanging it up with the children’s'.

"It's fine, dear." Noah said standing to hug his daughter and shake Jack's hand. "I used the extra time to make some cookies." Noah said as he walked towards the marble counter and grabbed the cookie jar out of the cabinet. Annie and Nick excitedly grabbed a few cookies from the jar and thanked Noah as they ran out of the kitchen.

"Are Bailey and the others coming soon?" Kylie asked as she adjusted her cream, wool sweater.

"Oh yes, they should be here any-" Noah was interrupted by the door opening and in walked his brother, Toby, and Toby's wife, Jane, and their daughter Bailey, and Bailey's husband, Anthony, and their three children.

"We're here and we brought presents!" Bailey yelled excitedly as she walked through the door.

"Oh goodness, keep your voice down. Most of us have hearing aids." Bailey's mother, Jane, jokingly scowled at Bailey as she hung up her coat. Noah laughed as he hugged his brother and the rest of the family.

"Good to see ya, champ!" Toby said to his younger brother as he made his way through the kitchen to greet Kylie.

"Are Nick and Annie here?" Anthony and Bailey's son, Caleb, asked.

"Yes, they're in the lounge munching on some cookies." Noah said handing a cookie to Caleb Hanna, and Maria. The children than ran off to find the others.

As the rest of the adults gathered into the living room Noah smiled. He listened as the younger men chatted about the most recent football game and then veered his attention to Bailey as she talked about her recent decision to go back to college. Noah sat in his large rocking chair in comforting silence as he observed the many conversations all at once.

"Grandpa, what's this?" Noah looked up to see Annie, and the rest of the children, as they walked towards him. He noticed the grey, dusty photo album that accompanied Annie's small, fragile hands. The room became silent as Noah spoke.

"Where did you find this, my dear?" Noah asked gently taking the book from her hands.