“I think it’s the perfect place to put them,” I said.
Aunt Grace took the urn and walked over to the mantel. She placed it in the center.
There was a huge bay window in the living room which overlooked the side yard of the house. It reminded me of Mr. Silverman’s office. The light coming in flowed through, glistening off the symbols of the urn. The light hit it in just the right way to make the engravings flash like diamonds in the sun.
“After we get everything inside I’ll show you around the rest of your new home,” Aunt Grace said placing her arm around my shoulder.
“I’d like that.”
“Yes, Jacey, it does look a bit like Mr. Silverman’s office,” she agreed.
I looked up at her, not missing the detail that yet again I hadn’t said anything out loud. We went outside to Hudson’s truck in time to help him and Jen move my trunk.
“Hey, you guys need any help?” I asked, watching both of them. I still hadn’t forgotten that the two of them seemed to be quite comfortable with one another.
“We could use a little help here. What in the world did you put in here, Jacey?” Hudson asked as he pulled my trunk to the tailgate. “It weighs a ton.” He grunted as he tried to lift the trunk on his own.
“I knew we wouldn’t be going back, so I pretty much packed everything I could get into it,” I said as I grabbed an end to help.
“Not to mention we both had to sit on it to close it,” Jen said with a laugh.
“No kidding,” Hudson replied.
He grabbed the other end of the trunk opposite to me, surprised at the weight as we took it into the house. We had both vehicles emptied within half an hour.
“Who’s ready for a tour to see where your rooms are?” Aunt Grace asked.
“I am,” I said.
We all followed Aunt Grace through the house. From what I’d seen so far, you’d think I would have been prepared for the rest of the house, but I wasn’t.
We went into the living room. The main focal point was the double-sided fireplace which Mom and Dad’s urn was situated upon. I sighed, knowing a home like this was something I’d always wanted our family to have. The dark wooden furniture was placed strategically throughout, allowing the fireplace and the bay window to be the focus of whoever sat in the room.
The flooring was polished wood, a couple of shades lighter than the furniture. There was a huge, plush area rug in the center, its deep gold laced with hues of purple and red. It completed the room, pulling all the furniture and fixtures together into a place of comfort and serenity. We walked past the fireplace and entered the kitchen.
In its center was an island. Its base was made of wood and its top of gleaming white granite. Surrounding it were six high-backed bar stools. The cabinets which hung over the double sink and counter top were made of the same deep rich wood we’d found in the other rooms. The fridge and stove were oversized and polished white, resembling something you’d expect to find in an old farmhouse.
Off to the left was a kitchenette with four chairs. We walked past it and stepped down into a sunroom. It ran the length of the back of the house. There wasn’t a solid wall in the room other than the ceiling. The entire room was windows, floor to ceiling, with a clear unobstructed view of the backyard. The sun was sinking in the far left corner of the yard, allowing me a quick glimpse outdoors. The yard itself seemed to go on forever. The grass looked like a golf course, pristinely cut and deep green in color. Bordering the grass were large leafy maples, birch, and evergreen trees. The yard looked like one you’d find in a storybook, something I knew my mom would have thrived in.
In the far right corner of the yard was a huge oak tree with a swing hanging from one of its large outstretched branches. A light breeze outside was moving it slightly. As I watched it sway, I could visualize Mom and Aunt Grace playing there as children.
“Your Mom and I would play for hours on that thing. She’d always be the one who’d want to push the limits. Me, well, I was the cautious one. Never going too high, just high enough so I knew if I fell off, I’d be all right. Your mother, though, was always the one who tried to see how high….” Aunt Grace trailed off into her own thoughts.
I turned away from the backyard spectacle and looked around the room. It only had two oversized recliners and an old piano off in the far left corner.
“Breathtaking, isn’t it?” Aunt Grace asked.
“Yeah, it’s more than I ever thought it would be,” Hudson said.
“The yard has grown in quite a bit since your Mom was here. The furniture, well, most of it was here when she was, but some of it is new. I’ve refurbished a lot of it,” Aunt Grace said as she looked around the room. “There’s more, do you want to see it?”
We jumped with anticipation and followed her out of the sunroom and to the right. There were two sets of stairs. One headed upstairs and the other into the basement. We chose to go downstairs first.
“There are three rooms upstairs, and a large room in the basement. It has its own entrance. I was thinking Hudson may like that,” Aunt Grace said as we descended into the basement.
Instantly, I saw Hudson was bowled over by the offer.
“Yeah, I would like that. Thanks, Aunt Grace,” he replied.
The basement had the same homey feel as the main floor. The entire area was open. There was a large flat screen TV on the far wall. It was encircled by a beautiful leather sectional. There were two doors off the basement on either side of the entertainment area. We went left first and found a laundry room with a lot of storage space and a door which led to the backyard. We then went to the other door.
Inside the door to the right was a small kitchenette with a small living room area. In behind the sofa was a room divider and behind it was a completely furnished bedroom.
“So, what do you think?” Aunt Grace asked.
Hudson was speechless.
Aunt Grace and I made our way out while Hudson looked around the room. I kept an eye on him and Jen as I passed by them. When I did, I noticed Hudson had reached out and tapped Jen’s thigh with his hand.
“This is your home now. I’m very blessed to have my family back where they all belong,” Aunt Grace said.
“I’m blown away. Thank you Aunt Grace.” Hudson said turning with Jen and following Aunt Grace and I upstairs.
We took the stairwell to the upper portion of the house. At the top of the stairs there was a long hallway. It was as comfortable and beautiful as the rest of the house. To the left, or front, of the house, there were two doors, and to the right, or rear, of the house, there were two doors.
“The last door on the right is the bathroom and the first door is my room. It used to be my parents’, your grandparents’, room but when they moved out, I moved into it. The first door to your left was my old room and the last door was Ria’s room. I haven’t changed a thing in either one of them.”
We went into Aunt Grace’s old room first. I felt like I was walking into one of my dreams. It literally mirrored the room with the beautiful wooden dresser adorned by the large mirror outlined in flowers with the crib which Mom had been staring into and screaming. The same crib was positioned in the far right corner of this room under the window. I walked in and went straight to it. At first, I was scared to look into it.
I took a deep, steadying breath and looked down. To my utter relief there were no screaming babies in it. I again felt the gust of wind come up, engulfing me within its embrace. Hudson, Aunt Grace, and Jen were all in the room, but weren’t feeling or seeing the same things I was. I didn’t dare move. I somehow knew if I did, Mom would leave. I stood staring out the window with my hand in the crib while the gust enveloped me. Aunt Grace brought me back.
“Jacey, you ready to see Ria’s old room?”
The gust left, flowing through the double door closet on the far wall of her old room.
“Let’s go.” I went back toward the hallway. Before I could leave her room, Aunt Grace stopped me.
&nbs
p; “Jacey, did you notice the double doors in this room?”
“I did. It’s the closet, isn’t it?” I asked.
“Why don’t you go take a closer look?” Aunt Grace suggested.
When I first entered the room, the crib and the dresser had completely drawn my attention. It wasn’t until Mom’s colors flowed through them that I even noticed the double doors.
I went over and took a good look. On the face of each door were engravings like the ones on Mom and Dad’s urn. It was pretty obvious the doors were not an entrance to a closet.
I grabbed the handle, looked over to Aunt Grace for her permission, and then opened them. They connected my aunt’s room to my Mom’s old room. I walked through them and instantly felt her there. Before I took in anything else, I looked up. There, just like in my room in Hewfawe, was a mural that was almost identical to the one Mom and I had painted. Mom was swirling around the one here on the ceiling.
I walked into the center of the room and took notice of two windows facing the front yard. Under them was a long, wide wooden bench with beautiful purple plush pillows atop it. I turned, taking in the rest of the room. In the center of the room was a bed positioned directly under the mural.
“Your Mom and I would lay here for hours staring at the ceiling. We planned our futures in this room,” Aunt Grace revealed. I turned to her and noticed Mom swirling around her. Aunt Grace was oblivious to her presence. Hudson and Jen then entered the room and stood beside Aunt Grace. They stared up at the mural.
“Wow, Jace, it’s almost the same,” Hudson said, looking up at the mural. I watched as the gust of colors—Mom—drifted over and swirled around him.
“They’re almost exact,” Aunt Grace said.
“Your Mom and I painted this when we were young. Of course our parents helped us, but the positioning of the symbols and the colors were all your Mom and I. We were given free rein to paint it the colors we wanted. Green was one of Ria’s favorite colors. When she was young, she also had terrible dreams. Our parents wanted us to paint this so when she went to bed, the last thing on her mind would be the symbols, and they’d be the first things she’d see when she got up.”
“This is amazing. I can really feel her here. Can any of you?” I asked.
“I think we can all feel your Mom here. This is where she grew up. There are a lot of memories here,” Aunt Grace said, crossing her arms around her waist as if to hug herself, embracing the memories of her own childhood.
Of course, I was waiting for someone to say, ‘Uh, yeah, Jace, she’s all over the room, can’t you see her?’ But that didn’t happen. I went over to the bed and lay down on it. Instantly, Mom was swirling above me and all around me. I was again in a time zone of my own. I looked up at everyone else in the room who were oblivious to the beautiful life force which was dancing about before them. Jen came over to the bed and laid down beside me. As soon as she did, Mom hovered above us.
“It’s amazing. It’s just like the one in your old room,” Jen said.
“No. It’s close, but nothing like it,” I said. “The one in my room was Mom and I. This one—it was Mom and Aunt Grace. A time I never knew anything about and things I never dreamed of. This was all Mom’s—”
“So, you guys ready to move all of your bags to where they need to go?” Aunt Grace asked.
I sat up on the bed and smiled.
“Yeah, I am.”
We all left the room, Mom included.
An hour later, Jen and I were in my room when she caught me off guard.
“Do you think what happened in the gas station is going to happen again?”
“I don’t know. It completely scared the crap out of me,” I said as a chill ran down my back. I turned to Jen with a burning question of my own.
“Are you and Hudson more than friends?”
At least she tried to look a little bit surprised by my question. It was so obvious to me over the last couple of hours seeing them together that I really didn’t need an answer from her to verify what I already knew. But I still waited for her to answer.
“I could try and tell you no—but I promised you when we started being friends that I wouldn’t lie or keep things from you that I didn’t have to,” she said slowly. “So, here goes—at first, no. There was nothing between us. But as we got to know one another, we… we started to talk and just found we had a lot in common.” She looked at me. But I didn’t look back, I just kept staring at the ceiling.
“I like him. Jacey, I like him a lot. It just happened.”
“How long?” I interrupted.
“What?”
“How long? How long have you been using me to get to Hudson?” I declared.
“I…I never used you. I didn’t even know Hudson until months after you and I started hanging out.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me about the two of you? What’s your reason for keeping it a big secret?” I asked.
“I—well, more like we, didn’t want you to think exactly what you’re thinking now.”
“You know I’d have been able to handle things better if you guys would have just trusted me enough to tell me about everything when it started. I’d never keep something like this from you. He’s my brother…ewwww… and you’re supposed to my best friend. I’m having real issues with people I care—” I stopped, sat up, and turned to faced her. I was now full out yelling at her. “Jen, I’m having real issues with everyone keeping things from me lately… You were the one person I thought I could trust and not worry about keeping things from me, too!” I finished.
Jen sat up while I was screaming at her and waited until I was finished to answer.
“The reason I didn’t tell you wasn’t because I wanted to keep things from you. I didn’t tell you because I thought I’d lose you as my friend. Jacey, it only started within the last couple of weeks. Every time we thought of telling you, something happened. I was going to tell you this weekend. You have to know that I don’t think of you as just a friend. I think of you more as my sister than as my friend.”
When Jen stopped she was flushed with emotion. Her eyes were red-rimmed and she was on the verge of crying. I was silent, taking everything in she had just said when Mom’s presence came swirling into the room and around Jen.
Jen was oblivious to her presence. Mom’s colors moved from circling Jen over to me. I closed my eyes and went into my own zone. Being with my Mom in this form was something I now found myself looking forward to and needing. The feeling I was getting from Mom indicated Jen was being honest with me and was like I had always felt—part of my family. I wasn’t going to second guess what I felt…not anymore.
Mom’s essence left the room and the conversation with Jen continued as if it’d never been stalled by my Star Trek time warp moment.
“Jacey, I would do anything to go back and tell you when it first started, but I didn’t even know it was happening until after it did. Does that make any sense at all?” Jen pleaded.
I grabbed Jen’s hand and looked at her. “I know Hudson, and I know you. Neither one of you would hurt me on purpose or use me. I just don’t want any more secrets when it comes to the two of you, all right?”
“Does that mean you’re okay with it, I mean, okay with us?”
“It means I love you both and yeah…I guess I’m okay with it—” Before I could finish Jen grabbed me into a bear hug. “Hey, one more thing, I don’t think I could handle the two of you being all gushy with one another around me.”
Jen lifted two fingers up and held them over her heart. “Scout’s honor, we won’t.” She laughed as she finished.
We both got up off the bed and started to put my stuff away. It took about an hour and by then we were both starving. We headed to the kitchen to see what we could pick at. The smell of freshly baked blueberry muffins met us as we entered the kitchen. We came around the corner and Hudson and Aunt Grace were sitting at the kitchenette.
“Hey, how’d everything go?” Hudson asked nervously, looking back and
forth between Jen and me.
“I’d have to say you made an excellent choice, Hudson, but Jen, on the other hand…” I teased and laughed as I saw the look on his face. Embarrassment, defensiveness, and something I hadn’t seen on Hudson before, a fierce devotion when he looked at Jen.
“Jen told me. It’s all right, I’m okay with it—the only thing—no more secrets.” I gave my most stern don’t mess with me look.
“No more secrets, Jace, I promise. You know I’d never do anything or keep anything from you to hurt you, right?”
“Hudson. I know you—you couldn’t hurt a fly on purpose. Now, I smell blueberry muffins. Are there any left for us?” I asked, looking at Aunt Grace, who hadn’t said a word since we came into the kitchen. She got up and went to the counter and came back with two steaming cups of hot chocolate and two blueberry muffins.
“Do you think I’d let Hudson eat all of them? I wouldn’t have heard the end of it,” Aunt Grace said as she put a cup of hot chocolate and a muffin in front of me and Jen.
Jen sat beside Hudson at the table and it looked right. As I was thinking it, Mom came into the room and swirled around Hudson and Jen. The feeling emanating from her was peace, love, and belonging. She disappeared as quickly as she appeared once I figured out what she was trying to convey.
“I think Mom and Dad would approve,” I said out loud without meaning to.
Hudson looked at Jen and smiled. “I think so, too,” he said.
CHAPTER TEN
Exploring your way
Finding new ones
Surprising yourself
Surprising others
We finished our snack and took our hot chocolates into the living room. As we picked a place to sit, Aunt Grace went to the mantle and placed her hand on the urn.
“It’s nice to have them home, even like this,” she said.
“When was the last time Mom was home?” I asked.
Awakenings (Elemental Series - Book 1) Page 9