Rookie in Love [SYTYCW 2013]

Rookie in Love [Chapter Five]

Chapter Five

            Aunt Gwen looks beautiful as usual.  She hugs me tight when I see her and has lunch set out for us at her kitchen table.  It has been awhile since I have seen her and I have to admit that although it is still a little hard, it feels good to be with her again.  We drink tea and eat sandwiches, catching up on each other’s lives in between bites. Aunt Gwen is retired now and lives alone since her husband passed a few years ago.  They never had any children so she helps out at the retirement facility down the street to keep her days busy. 

            After lunch Aunt Gwen asks me to follow her into her small office so she can retrieve my gift.  I have only been here a few times since she moved into this smaller condo after my uncle died.  Her home is warm and cozy with pictures lining all of the walls.  Once in her office, she opens the small closet and retrieves a package.  I am still taking in all the pictures on the wall and how messy she keeps her books on her bookshelf.  My eyes catch on an old photo album and my curiosity has me asking her what ‘s inside.

            “Lots of pictures, Madeline.  I think that might be the photo album from my last year of high school.  That would have made your mom about your age.  You are welcome to look inside if you would like.”  I pull the old album from the shelf and dust off the cover.  When I open it up the first picture I see is my mother and aunt at some party, sitting next to each other on an old couch. 

            “Her twenty-first birthday.”  My aunt is now standing beside me looking at the picture over my shoulder.  She wraps her arm around my waist and then turns the page for me.  “We had a party at our parents’ house.  They were out of town so lots of our friends came over.”  When she turns the page again the picture is of my mother sitting across the lap of a man I have never seen before.  She is laughing and he is smiling, looking at her with an admiration that looks very much like love.

            “Who is that, Aunt Gwen?  I don’t think I have ever seen him before.” 

            “John.  Your mother dated him for about six months before she got serious with your father.”

            “They look so happy.  How come I have never heard about him?”  I am shocked and hurt.  My mother looks so in love and so happy and yet I didn’t even hear this guy’s name until today. 

            “It’s not my story to tell, Madeline.  Your mother never told your father either.  I will tell you this though; John loved her with every piece of his heart.  Our parents just didn’t approve of him, they wanted her with a man that could provide for her and offer her the finer things in life.  John was a hard worker, but he wasn’t born into money.”  I flip through the next few pages of my mother and aunt together at different events.  The last photo in the album is of my mother and father on their wedding day.  I had seen this photo many times in my life but now I looked at it with new eyes. 

            As I close the album my aunt hands me a small package and offers me a smile as she puts the album back in its spot.  We sit down on the small loveseat in her office, and I open the beautifully wrapped package and uncover a small jewelry box with a dancing ballerina on top.  It looks very old and a little worn on the hinges.  My aunt sweeps her finger across the top below the dancer’s delicate feet. “It was your mother’s, Madeline.  I think she would have wanted it to be yours now.”

            “It’s wonderful,” I whisper as I open the top to find the delicate little box lined with red velvet.  I twist the small knob inside but the dancer remains still.  My aunt places her hand on my shoulder and kisses my cheek.