Aubrey (Axis Rising)

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My niece Hannah is a year, or not quite a year older than her sister Abbie. She was taller than Abbie, and didn't have quite as strawberry blonde of hair. Hers was more brownish red, I'd say, even in the glinting sun, it wasn't the same tawny tint. Her eyes were pale bluish green, reminiscent of her parents', and her pale cheeks told me she'd not been hanging out in the sun all summer so far as had her sister, my nanny.

In fact, it was pretty obvious she'd been busy at school. I hadn't seen her since the day she'd yelled at me for knowing that Abbie was dating Jeremy.

And you have to understand this.

Hannah and Abbie came over to a barbecue at our house last November and met Jeremy at the same time on the same day. Hannah hit it off with him instantly and they'd started this whirlwind romance. While Abbie had quit her college experience completely to come be my full time live in nanny when I'd found out I was expecting again.

Then came the fateful trip to the US Virgin Islands for Christmas. Hannah and Abbie had come, and Jeremy too. It hadn't been especially awkward--- at all. They seemed to be good friends. Jeremy has been around the block a number of times, and he's a charmer--- for the most part, not my kind of charmer, but considering who the girls' parents are, Jared Patrick and Melia Mann, he could be the kind of charmer that would appeal to a Patrick Girl.

Jeremy had an amazing heart too. He'd accepted the gospel a year ago in Mexico, and been baptized right after my wedding. He was golden as they say, someone who heard it himself, and made the decisions without any ulterior motives, and no one pushing him. He found Abbie to be a faithful and attentive listener when Hannah time after time rejected his advances. It became obvious to Jeremy at least that he was engaged to the wrong sister, and they'd broken it off. Or she had, I think.

Anyway, Abbie was living with us in Montana at our place there, on my parent's compound property. Which is where I'd done a late night discovery of their interest in each other, and by the time I did, they were well into it. However, they wanted to spare Hannah's feelings, which were obviously volatile, and had kept their own liaison discreet until the last second, when they'd simply announced their engagement and subsequent wedding the same day as my and Rafe's family sealing day at the temple.

As soon as they did Rafe had commissioned that side of the house, namely the formal dining area, and the bedroom off of it that Abbie had been staying in be remodeled into an apartment, to entice Abbie to stay with us, even married to Jeremy. It took roughly three weeks--- a super busy and super emotional three weeks, it was finished and they were moved in, and we had newlyweds living with us, when we were simply under a year newlyweds ourselves.

And here was Hannah, beautiful, sweet, displaced Hannah standing in my kitchen, waiting for me to say something.

"Hi."

She nodded, having got herself a bottle of water, and sipped it. "Hi." I eyed her surreptitiously, then took a deep breath and plunged in. "How's it going?"

"Aren't you glad to see me?" She asked. You have to understand, I just turned thirty a week ago, and she just turned twenty-one. I babysat her when she was a baby. I may have been the cool Auntie for a short time, but I think it was a very short time. Because then I went off to school.

"I am glad to see you, but I'm understandably wary of you. The last time we were together you bit my head off for something completely out of my control." I got my own bottled water, and watched as Lance and Rafe walked through on their way to the patio and the kids. Their eyes focused on getting out of there as quickly and unobtrusively as possible.