Full Hearted and Heartbroken

Chapter Nine

9

“Why Father?  Why do you need to get married again?” I hear Noah ask Aaron as I wash the dishes in the kitchen.

“Well, Susan Sil is a very nice woman, and your sister will be leaving soon, so someone will have to take care of the house,” Aaron answers my little brother. 

Noah and Henry both look at me as though I don’t know what is happening to this “family”.  I look at Aaron with my eyebrows up, my lips a line, and my eyes on his.  What does he mean that I am leaving soon?  I didn’t know that I was leaving?

“What do you mean that I am leaving, Mr. Louis?” I ask half politely and half snottily. 

“Susan found a man around twenty who is looking for a wife.  She told him about you, and he is very excited to meet you.  The two of you will be meeting tomorrow afternoon,” Aaron states as if this is nothing but a friendly meeting, but it means more than that to me.

This man that Susan found, he could be anybody!  He could be part of her family!  He could be a man that lived on the streets for ten years!  Who knows if he is fat, skinny, tall, short, mean, nice, cute, ugly, or any other body characteristics.  I am so mad at Aaron for not telling me about this man before now!  I am always mad at him, but now he has really gone too far!  How dare he pick my own husband!  I don’t want to get married yet!; especially not to a twenty year old when I am only fifteen!  I want to marry Lucas, but now I don’t see that happening as long as Aaron and Susan are alive!

I am about to yell at Aaron about Susan and the man she found for me, but the door suddenly opens wide with a bang.  And guess who walks in.  Susan stupid Sil.  Her big body and big feet make the floor rumble as she walks over to Aaron and sits down next to him on the sofa.  When she sits down next to Aaron, her end of the sofa sinks down to the floor.      

“Good-evening darling,” Aaron flirts with Susan, kissing her on the cheek. 

I just roll my eyes at them because I know that Aaron doesn’t really love her.  He is just using her.  He said earlier that someone has to take care of the house when I am gone, and that is going to be Susan’s job, but not for love.  I am wondering if Susan loves Aaron or is just finding a man that fits in her puzzle of life.  What do Aaron and Susan see in each other anyway?  Neither of them are very pleasant.  And plus, both of them are parents of something.  Aaron is a parent to my two brothers, and unfortunately, me too.  And Susan is a parent to her dog…whatever that means. 

I want to ask Susan about this man that she found, but I don’t want to sound interested in him.  So, instead, I cross my arms, stare at Susan, and snap, “What in the world were you thinking!?”  Susan and Aaron abruptly turn to me and stare at me.  “I am not interested in a twenty year old!  And I am defiantly not interested in marrying anybody but Lucas!  Especially someone you found on the street!  You are not my mother, and nobody can ever replace her!  So stop acting like you have control over me, because I will never listen to a fat pig like you!”  And then I march downstairs, where Lucas raps his arms around me and comforts me until I stop crying.

We lay in Lucas’ bed that is in his basement room for what feels like ages, but it is only minutes.  He holds and comforts me until I forget all about this man that I am about to meet.  My bones feel like bricks, pulling me down to the ground.  My skin is crawling on my body, and my mind will not stop thinking.  My eyes hurt and are red from crying, and my lips are flat from frowning too much.

   Lucas kisses me on my lips, and I kiss back.  I haven’t told him about Susan’s plan to introduce me to a man I don’t know.  I just came down the stairs, crying, and immediately Lucas took me into his arms, no question.  But I probably should tell him.  I bet that he is worried about what is bothering me, and I don’t know if telling him is the greatest idea.  But, if he cares about me, and if he loves me, he will understand what I want and don’t want.