Rubies And Wine

V-9

Birman has been assigning more work and essays to his class. He says it's only part of the course but it still feels like he's trying to fill his time to avoid facing his... troubles.

Now, I find myself at on the living room typing away on my laptop. Suzanne, works rigorously in the kitchen cooking up two boxes worth of mac and cheese. Her upbeat look in the day contrast how she sulks and sloths at night. Still, I can't focus on her or whatever show on Netflix she's switched on.

"Lunch is almost ready," she calls from across the room. "How's the paper coming?"

"Not too great. Birman wants us to write about what type of parenting technique was used on us when we were kids. But, mom did kind of everything."

"Maybe write what she did since she raised you alone."

"Not really. Uncle Langston was always there. The there was Sylvia, Jess, and Gene. I basically got five parents."

"Then write about that? Sounds interesting."

"We'll see." Just as I finish my sentence, the doorbell rings. "Could you get that for me, Suze?"

She steps out of the kitchen and heads towards the front door before peeking out the peephole. She turns to me with a large grin. "Speak of the devil, Em."

"What?" i asked without looking up from my laptop.

I hear her open the door and a familiar bubbly voice "Emily F. Lage, put down your work for a sec and say hi." I've heard that same bubbly tone for nineteen years and it never loses it's touch. I look up and see Aunt Sylvia.

I immediately slap my laptop and run up to greet her. "SYLV!" I cry in joy.

My Aunt Sylvia is quite a sight to hold. She is just entering her forties and still acts like she is approaching twenty-one. I love looking through her old photos and seeing her innocent smiles with her bleach blonde hair on one side of her head. Now the only hint it existed is the small gold tipped ends on her right. Her small frame is coated in perfect skin with the exception of a small tattoo of a raven's feather on the back of her forearm. She said she got it a month after my father's and her brother's, death. It peers through the thin fabric of her beige blouse as she walks in with her tight leather pants.

I charge into her arms and feel her use my momentum to sweep me off my feet and spin me around. "Awww, Em-baby," she cooes as she holds me closer. "We've missed you, hun!"

"I've missed you guys too!" I then take a second thought and rethought what she said. "Wait. Someone came with you?!" I'm pretty much a little girl at this point. I always love being with my aunts and uncles because they've always been like older friends to me.

"You be she did, sweetie," another voice calls from the doorway.

"JESS!" I squeal yet again as another woman comes into view. I once again charge full force as she takes one step back before holding me close and petting my head.

Jess is Sylvia's wife. Although she is only two years older than her, Jess is obviously the more grounded and more mature of the two. Her hair is cut about two inches long and is pushed forward before swooshing up. Aunt Sylv would always joke that her hair is sponsored by Nike. I burro my head against her thin scarf, tank top, and jean jacket.

To be honest, I never seen Jess too much as a child. She was always working on her law practice and would be knee deep in whatever work she had. Due to this, her face is slightly less youthful and her hair is beginning to lose it's luster and color.

"I can't believe you're both here!." I exclaim once again.

Jess just laughs at me. "Believe it, Em. We thought we'd come by and say hi to you." She turns to Suzanne. "How are you, Suze?"

"I'm doing fine. Just trying to help this one keep sane with her classwork."

Suzanne always loved being around Jess and Sylvia when she came over in high school. She said they were like the cool moms that came in a package deal and weren't actually your mom. The best part is despite their age, they still have moments where they act more my age than I do.

"Oh, did you guys bring Gabe along?" Gabe is their twelve year old son. Technically, Jess is the biological mother and Langston, Sylvia's half-brother, is the father. It was the best they could do to have both of their DNA but they love him to the ends of the earth.

"Of course," Sylvia said. "We told him we'd come over to visit but he was worn out after helping unpack."

"Unpacking? How long are you guys staying here?"

Sylvia turns to Jess. "You really didn't say anything to her?"

"Nope," she grins. "I wanted it to be a surprise." She walks forward and leads us all to the couch. "For a few months, I've been debating moving to a new law firm and I've had my eyes on a place here for a while. I decided to save up some money for the move and planned it all out. Just before we were gonna announce it, you started talking about college and packing. So, we thought you and Suzanne could use a few familiar faces."

"So, you guys are staying?!" I say with glee.

"You bet we are, honey," Sylvia cheers as she plops herself onto the couch. "Jess's firm is downtown so we'll be a good distance from here but we'll be around if you ever need anything."

"That's awesome. It'll be nice to have you guys around."

Suzanne laughs at us. "Yeah, Now The Pack parties will be have a bit more people."

"Oh, those guys are downtown too?" Jess asks. "I haven't seen him since a few months ago when I caught you and him..." she stops herself. "Hugging. You were hugging."

"You guys really need to start locking doors." Suzanne laughs with a bit of a chuckle.

"Oh, shut up."

Sylvia just pats my shoulder. "Happened once to me and Jess when Gene was sleep walking one night."

"Anyways," Jess says. "It'll be nice having the nine of us hang out one time."

"Eight," Suzanne says quietly.

Jess looks at me with confusion. "Some stuff has happened since I left. I'll tell you later."

"Well, I don't know about you guys but that mac and cheese you guys have is calling my name," Sylvia giggles.

With that the four of us begin serving ourselves and catching each other up on what has happened her and back in that small town in Arizona.