Love is Illegal

-- Four years ago --

I watched lazily as the moving van pulled up into the empty house. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder had moved out of that house almost a month to this exact date. I had been sad when they moved, but the possibility of a cute boy moving in made my sadness disappear. A man jumped out of the truck and ran over to their car. He opened the door for a woman who was heavily pregnant. She wobbled out and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. They started talking, but I couldn't read their lips well enough to know what they were saying.

"Matilda! Come help me make brownies for the new neighbors!" My mother called from inside my house.

I groaned but got off my bottom to help her disappointed that our new neighbors didn't have any children my age. I made the batter after my older brother Harrison cracked an egg on my head. My mother stopped us just in time before we started World War III. I waited patiently browsing through a magazine until the oven beeped alarming me. I carefully pulled them out smiling at their perfection. I wish I could be perfect like the brownies. I grabbed the tinfoil and covered them up hoping to keep them as warm as possible.

"Mom, do you want me to go over there or do you?" I yelled up the stairs.

"We can both go." She smiled as she jogged down the flight of stairs.

We walked over, the brownies in my mother's hands. I rang the doorbell and we both patiently await their arrival. The pregnant woman opened the door slowly, screws in her swollen hand. She looked at us warily, her husband coming up behind her and wrapping an arm around her round belly. He smiled, a warm smile with his teeth glowing. His smile was contagious making both my mother and me to smile just as hard as him. He shuffled in front of his wife and accepted the brownies.

"Hi, I'm Laura and this is my daughter," she pointed to me, "Matilda."

He handed the delicious smelling brownies to his wife and shook both of our hands. His large hand fully engulfed mine making me a little uneasy.

"I'm Henry and this is my wife Iliana. Thank you so much for the brownies. You're both welcomed inside, but it's a mess." He chuckled sheepishly.

"No, no. It's fine. We just wanted to say welcome to the neighborhood! Stop by anytime if you need anything!" Henry waved goodbye as we walked away while Iliana simply stares at us, her dark eyes filling my stomach with dread. For some reason, that lady didn't like me.

Weeks later, I noticed they had two bright blue balloons floating above their empty mailbox. Cars began showing up later that afternoon, family I was guessing. By the time they left the next day, their faces were tiresome. Being curious, a couple of days after their family left, I knocked on their white door. Henry answered the door, a sleeping baby in his arms. He shushed me but backed up, and I took this as an invitation inside. The baby's cheeks were bright red almost as if it just finished a long crying session.

"Matilda, right?"

The question caught me off guard. I was staring at the baby, so lost in a silent world. I pushed my glasses back and twirled my light blond hair around my finger.

"Ye... Yeah." I stuttered. I stole a glance at the sleeping baby again, blue socks on his tiny feet. I could barely tell he had any hair, but as I focused long enough at his soft head, I could tell he had very light blond hair.

"He's precious." I sighed in awe at this miracle.

Henry laughed, "you wouldn't be saying that if you lived with this monster. His name is Coen by the way, in case you were wondering." He smiled.

He lead me upstairs to a blue, white, and green nursery putting the sleeping baby in his crib. I noticed another crib on the opposite side of the room. I raised my eyebrows at Henry and he stifled a laugh. He sat down on the rocker and closed his eyes. I watched him, his thick blond hair resembling his son's for the most part. His dark lashes fanning on his high cheek bones. His perfect structured nose and right below his perfect, full lips. His broad shoulders itching to breath in his tight white t-shirt. His mouth opened and he started snoring lightly. I backed up, not wanting to interrupt his sleeping pattern. As I reached the door, he mumbled something I couldn't understand.