Her Saving Grace

Moving On

It was now a day before New Year's Eve. I was in the kitchen helping Marilyn cook dinner, when I heard the doorbell ring. I told Marilyn that I would get it as she had given Ms. Nordia and Linda the holidays off.

I opened the door to see a woman standing on the other side. She looked me over, a kind smile on her face. "Hello, are you Kayla?"

I nodded my head and looked at her curiously. "Yes."

The woman's smile light up and her brown eyes sparkled. I couldn't shake the idea that I knew her somehow. There was something about her black hair that was caught up into a bun at the back of her head and in the way she smiled. "Oh my! Look at you!" She exclaimed. "You have grown into a beautiful young lady."

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Eloise Green-Russell. I'm Tristan's older sister." She explained.

I looked at her in shock. She was my father's sister? I couldn't believe it. All this time I thought I didn't have any relatives nearby or one that even cared about me.

"You're my aunt?" I asked, still unable to grasp what she had said.

She nodded. A frown wrinkled my eyebrows as I studied her. There was no doubt about it, she did have a slight look of my father. Now that I thought about it, I remembered my mom and dad talking about Dad's older sister now and then, but I didn't remember her name. Why haven't I seen her or heard from her before? Before I could voice my questions, she spoke again. "Can I come in?"

"Yes, sure." I said and opened the door wider for her to enter. When she entered the living room, Marilyn came from the kitchen to see who it was. Her eyes landed on the woman and then to me. "Who is this, dear?" She asked.

"She said she's my aunt." I responded. "She's Eloise."

"Oh, that's great." She then looked to the woman again. "Do you want something to drink?"

Eloise nodded her head. "Yes, thank you."

Marilyn gave her best welcome smile. "Okay, I'll be right back with it. Please have a seat. You two have a lot to talk about." With that she left us and head to the kitchen again.

I directed Eloise to the couch and I sat beside her. She looked at me. "I know you have a lot of questions." She began.

"Yes. How is it that we have never met?" I asked.

"We have met actually, but you wouldn't remember. I came and visited you and your patents a lot. Sometimes your father would bring you by my house. The last time I saw you, you were three years old." She then smiled. "Oh, how he would talk about you a lot. His little angel."

I smiled as I remembered my father. That was exactly who he was. He was always calling me his little angel. Dad was the nicest and kindest man I've ever known. He had a great personality and he was fun. I looked up to him as my hero then and even though he was dead, he was still my hero.

I was brought back from my memories, when Eloise continued. "Anyway, I got married and left the state. I wanted to stay in contact, but a few years later, I was going through some things and I neglected to call. I know that's not an excuse, but I wasn't thinking at the time."

I nodded my head in understanding. I don't know what her reasons were, so who am I to judge her? I remained silent and waited for her to continue.

"Two years ago, I got divorced and moved back here with my daughter and son. When I got here, I came to visit you and your mom. Your stepfather answered the door and said that Lydia had died and that you were at school. I was shocked, because I didn't know about Lydia's passing." She gave me a sad look. "I'm really sorry. That must have been hard for you."