Fireflies at Midnight

TWO 2

"Hey babe, wake up, we're here." Evelyn groaned, shrugging off the hand that felt too heavy on her shoulder.

Everything felt hot as she woke up, sweat beads lining her forehead. She cracked open her eyes, trying hard to adjust to the lights that surrounded them. Evelyn leaned up from the window, grabbing her phone and stepping out of the car. The ground was softer than home, she noticed. Leaves crinkling slightly under her feet.

It was hot. If she noticed anything right off the rip, it's that the degree difference between here and back home was at least 15 degrees. The light jacket she'd been sporting came off quickly, rolling up the sleeves of her flannel to get extra cooling.

For a moment, Evelyn stepped back to survey the surroundings around her. The house was big, but not terribly huge. White with black trimmed double pane windows lined up all the way around it seemed. It was a beautiful wrap-around porch, stained with patio tables and chairs fixed neatly in the corner. There was a fireplace she noticed, thinking to herself that maybe she'll have to convince them to let her use it one time before they leave.

Aaron's mom, presumably, likes flowers. And lots of them she would say by the looks of the 20 plus that lined up against the house, on the porch, near the cobblestone walkway that led to the porch steps even. It was very pretty to her, especially with the big front yard she was seeing.

Under the porch light, Evelyn could see a woman stepping out of the doorway. Kathy, it had to be. The voice she'd heard so many times matched her small frame. Evelyn began to smile as she took in her appearance.

Kathy was very petite and definitely shorter than Evelyn. Her hair lay in kinky curls all around her head, fuzzing the slightest because of the humidity surrounding them. That was okay, Evelyn's was too.

The older woman, at least in her 40's, had dark features. Dark hair, dark eyebrows and a very tanned skin tone. Evelyn noticed one thing the closer she got: the woman loved makeup. It was 3AM at least and she had a full face on. But she was pretty, and she knew it. Evelyn could tell. She had this aura surrounding her that just spoke of confidence and grace. The woman kept up her appearance, for sure.

"Oh my gosh!" She exclaimed, the twang of her accent hinting at the end. She threw her arms around Aaron and squeezed. "Well if it isn't my long lost son! It must be a blue moon if you're here."

Kathy held onto him for a very long time. Evelyn thinks that she even heard a few sniffles from the woman. She was definitely more emotional than expected. However, Evelyn disregarded that as maybe it was because she hadn't seen her son in six months or more. She couldn't remember the last time that Aaron had traveled up here.

Aaron's mom pulled away and wiped her eyes, averting her attention to Evelyn. She smiled big and wrapped her arms around her frame. Evelyn froze, rigid in her body language. She was not a 'hugger', never had been. No one in her family was. Nevertheless, she raised a hand and placed it on the woman's back.

"The famous Evelyn! Eric and I have been dying to meet you these past couple years! Truly I'm sad it took this long." She crossed her arms, standing between the two and looking back and forth.

Evelyn had to look down next to her. The woman as a whole was much smaller. Evelyn was about 5'8 and chunky of sorts. She had thighs, a butt, bigger arms and breasts. Overall, she was just a bigger girl than his mom. But their features, the darkness, were similar.

"Speaking of, where is dad?" The 3 of them began walking to the door, carrying the bags as they went.

"Actually, he should be home very soon. He only worked a half shift tonight, thank God. That poor man never gets a break." She shook her head, holding open the door for them to enter.