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“Rosie. It is Sunday already?” He asked as Dad frowned at him.
“At least pretend that you’re happy to see your sister, Paul.” Mom told him with her mild accent as I laughed. He was twelve. He didn’t care about any of us. Dad went with him to watch something in the living room and I helped her finish dinner. We put the pasta and thick, meaty sauce into a large bowl with a serving spoon. I carried that to the long, cherry wood table and set it at the end that we sat at while Sabrina carried the sliced bread on a plate. Mom followed with the salad and returned to get the wine for her and Dad. I joined Sabrina and Paul in pouring glasses of milk, setting the can by my plate as well.
Dad asked a lot about school over the meal and what my plans were. They weren’t thrilled with my choice in majors, but he was hoping that I’d get a steady job at a well-known paper if Mom didn’t have me married off first. I answered his questions carefully, not wanting to start a big discussion. I just wanted to eat and relax with my family.
Dad got to talking about some land that was in a great part of the city that was being developed. He had a plan to open another investment company there, and I tuned him out as I ate the pasta. I was so tired of his plans for more companies. He was a millionaire, near billionaire. Why keep looking for more to come in? I rarely listened too closely to his shop talk, but my mother’s eyes lit up as she listened. His hard work served her well.
After dinner, I did the dishes with Sabrina and we walked out on the deck where I took in the beautiful blue water. I spent a lot of time here growing up. It was a favorite place to read and write for me. I found a lot of peace here when things were crazy. I looked at my sister, seeing myself in her as she took a seat on one of the cushioned chairs outside. It was surprisingly nice outside. Mom came out, and we talked about Thanksgiving and Christmas in a couple of months. She was planning to have some relatives stay at the house.
“Have you been dating at school?” Mom asked as I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I shrugged, knowing that she did not want to hear about my sleeping with Sterling.
“Nothing serious. Everyone is focused on getting out of there.” I looked at her disappointed face. “Not everyone meets their Mr. Right in college, Mom. There’s plenty of time for that.”
“It’s good to start young,” Mom reminded me as I watched sadness cross her face. She intended on having a much larger family but suffered a few miscarriages early on. I was the first pregnancy that worked out and later, she had Paul and Sabrina. I think she told me once that she wanted six kids.
“It will happen, Mom. If I met him now, I’d be too busy to spend any time with him.” I reminded her as she shrugged. I hoped that she wasn’t talking about this to my siblings already. Glancing at Sabrina, I saw how focused she was on the view as she sat beside me and smiled. She was learning how to check out early.
“What would you like to do to celebrate your graduation?” Mom asked as her face brightened up. “We could have a party here or go out to a nice dinner. You could bring your roommate over, so we could meet her.”
“I am sure that her family will be here, but we’ll see.” I didn’t have a lot of close friends at school other than Violet. There were acquaintances of course, but my closest friends were Violet and Sterling. “I don’t have a big group of friends so maybe dinner?”
“We can plan a family trip, so you can relax after all of that work. Something tropical,” Mom mused as I smiled.
“I’d like that.”
We had dessert in about an hour and Mom served coffee to the adults. I sipped the strong blend, knowing I’d be up for a while. I spent some time with Sabrina in her room talking about school and her friends. She was a happy but sassy girl who had a lot going on for someone so young. I promised her that I’d get her one weekend and we’d spend time together before looking at the clock. It was already past eight, and I knew that Mom would want them in bed soon. Sabrina joined me as I went to get my purse and the bag of leftovers that Mom was sending home with me. I hugged everyone goodbye and promised that I’d see them the following weekend.
I got into the car and started the engine, finding something soothing to play on the way home. My family always made me feel edgy, and I pulled out of the driveway as a text came through on the large screen of the phone.
S: Still at your folks? Want to meet for ice cream at Lucy’s before we go back to campus?
Everyone hung out there as a kid and the idea made me smile. It was still the same rundown and loved building and I told him I’d be there in ten minutes. I ate a ton of food tonight and would need to jog a few times this week. There was always room for a cone at Lucy’s, though. I turned right to head over and sang along to A Fine Frenzy as I took the curves in the car, loving the handling. I wasn’t entirely ungrateful for my family.
I pulled into the parking lot to see that it was relatively crowded inside. I parked and looked around for Sterling’s blue Lexus, smiling when I saw him leaning against it. I got out and slung my purse over my shoulder, walking over to him.
“Hi. How was dinner?” I asked him as he led the way through the glass doors.
“The usual. Work, work, work.” He replied as I nodded in agreement. “Dad is looking to start another company.”
“Same here.” We approached the counter, and I looked over the selections as if I didn’t have them memorized. I ordered a rocky road cone and Sterling asked for a vanilla cone, paying with some money from his wallet. We went to a round table near the window and sat down as he looked at me for a long moment. “Did they ask you to move back in after graduation?”
“It makes sense financially,” he mimicked his mom’s voice as I couldn’t help but laugh. “I took that to mean they’re not footing the bill anymore for me after college is over. Too bad it isn’t over for me.” I watched as he licked his cone and felt my body tense deep inside.
“I love seeing Sabrina. I might get her one weekend and rent a hotel room or something. She wants to hang out while Paul barely knows that I’m alive.” Sterling didn’t know them well at all. His family
had their kids early and by the time my siblings came along, our families were at odds. I saw Sterling away from the house at first and then we barely saw each other at all. Not until college.
“He’s a teen?” Sterling asked as I shook my head.
“Almost twelve. Isn’t it the same thing?” I asked as he nodded with a smile. I licked my cone, saving a drop from falling to the table.
“Were you okay earlier today?” Sterling asked me as I cleaned up the melting edge of my cone. I thought about my answer.
“It was just weird. We’ve never stayed that way before.” I shrugged and licked a walnut into my mouth as he watched with a dark look in his eyes.
“I know. I didn’t hate it, Rosie. It felt good but I’m not ready for that with anyone. If I was, I am sure it would be you,” he said as I nodded.
“Until we returned home after graduation.” He frowned but knew I was right. “It’s fine, Sterling. It happened. It’s over.”
