Beautiful Boy

park

amara haven

After spending a good few hours with Leah, I drove back to the Sheffs.

I parked on the driveway and sat for a moment.

I hadn't been in that house for two years.

It didn't seem like much time, 2 years, 24 months, 104 weeks, 730 days, 17,520 hours.

But it was.

It was a painfully long time.

Each second passing caused more pain, like acid dripping.

I took a deep breath and turned my car off.

Fifteen steps to the door and it was unlocked.

I entered slowly and heard chaos from Jasper and Daisy.

I walked into the kitchen, seeing Nic and his Dad talking.

Nic had a glass of water and David was prepping dinner.

"There she is!" David announced when he saw me.

I smiled and did a little sarcastic curtsey, "The one and only."

"Daisy, Jasper, Amara's here," Nic called, I glared at him.

He offered me a stupid grin as they ran into the room.

I bent down and gave both of them a big hug.

"Goodness me, you two have grown," I said enthusiastically, "How old are you now?"

I knew how old they were, but I knew it'd make them happy if I asked.

Jasper held up eight fingers and gave me a cheeky smile.

"I'm six, he's eight," Daisy said.

"How old are you?" Jasper asked.

"How old do I look?" I countered.

"Sixteen!" They chimed in unison.

"Close, what's sixteen plus two?"

They both paused for a moment, thinking.

"Eighteen!" Jasper answered.

"That's right," I nodded.

"Why don't you two go find something to do so I can talk to Amara," Nic cut in before they could say anything else.

"Okay," they both nodded and ran off.

I stood up and sat down next to Nic at the counter.

"How was Leah?" David asked.

"Same old Leah," I replied, "We mostly talked about- well, me."

"You know what, you've had a lot happen in a short time, you probably needed a good rant," he joked.

I nodded with a chuckle.

"Man, I am tired," Nic said, rubbing his eyes.

I nodded, "Me too."

"Early night for you too then," David teased.

We continued small talk between the three of us while David made dinner.

Karen emerged from her little art room around seven, when dinner was ready.

I hadn't had a proper family dinner in... well, ages.

Before Dad's funeral was the last one I remembered.

~

After dinner, Karen returned to her painting and David was on his computer making some phone calls.