Eight months earlier.
The sun shone through, unshaded and unhindered into the park. It illuminated the air in a golden hue, giving the day an eerie, almost divine, glow. The smell of freshly cut grass mingled with the mouth-watering aroma of grilled meat. And – to top it off – nothing but the sound of wind through the eucalypts above and children’s laughter. All in all, it was a truly beautiful day.
Aaron turned another sausage as he watched his wife prepare some salads on the park bench. I can’t wait for her potato bake, Oh ... I hope she made it! “Hey Honey, you made potato bake didn’t you?” Aaron asked.
“Yeah Love, I think it’s still in the car. I’ll get it in a sec,” she answered, stopping to brush her long brown hair out of her face. Regardless, her locks continued to dance about in the summer breeze.
She seemed to try to ignore it, but it covered her eyes and went in her mouth every time she bowed her head to mix another salad. She spat out her hair and brushed it away. And again. And again. And finally standing up straight, she twirled all her hair in her hands and shoved the twist down the back of her shirt with an air of victory about her. Aaron watched on with a mischievous smile on his face.
His wife looked up at him, catching him out. She grinned playfully at him, showing the dimples in her rosy cheeks, and said: “Oi! Your snags are burning!” She raised an eyebrow at him.
No they’re not. He smiled at her and turned them anyway. He looked at the way the meat popped and sizzled and browned nicely. The oil bubbled and caramelised the onions. Almost done.
He returned his gaze upward, but to the park just beyond his wife. He watched as his two children swung on the swing set; trying to out-swing one another. They reached their legs out straight. Flicking their heads back. Pushing to get that little bit further in front of the other.
Clara is winning. She was taller by a good foot or so; all legs and arms just like her father. Josh – her brother – would get taller once he was her age, but for the moment everything else resembled his mother. All three had the same chestnut brown hair and deep brown doe eyes, round face and kind features. Both the kids laughed, smiles matching the golden day.
What a bloody beautiful day.
“How nice is it today?” His wife said, she had sidled up next to him, holding an empty plate. She put it down next to him.
“Thanks Honey,” he said as he put the onions on the clean plate. “I was just thinking the same thing.” He rolled the sausages round on the barbeque a few more moments and then began putting them onto the plate.
Aaron used his free arm to wrap around his wife’s waist and pull her in for a kiss. Her hard bulging belly did not bother him. He felt her body pressing up against his own. Her sweet cherry lips on his. And he could not help but feel a yearning for her. He moved his hand a little further south.
She pushed him away a little. “Later,” she warned him and tried to walk away. “I’ve gotta go wrangle the kids.” She rubbed her hand across her tight protruding stomach.
He held on a moment longer and then let her go, giving her a pat on the rump as she walked away. Bloody hell, I love that woman. Aaron watched his wife walk away.
He finished plating up the sausages and moved them over to the bench. “C‘mon kids! Clara! Josh! Get your buts over here!” he hollered, assuming they were giving their mother a bit of grief. He heard their thundering footfalls trampling down the hill behind him. “Dig in guys, start serving yourselves.”
Aaron turned to check for his wife. She slowly and carefully made her way back down the embankment. “I’m coming, start without me,” she said.
Aaron looked at his kids who had already sat down, made their sausage rolls and were woofing them down. He smiled pleased with the sight.
“Mama?” Josh called through a mouth full of saucy bread and meat. “Didn’t you make your potato bake?”
“Oh crap! That’s right, Thanks for reminding me mate. I think baby-brain is finally setting in. I’ll go and get it,” she said, picking up the pace.
“Nah, it’s alright Honey. You and the bub start eating, I’ll go get it. It’s just in the back, yeah?” Aaron started heading off to the roadside where they had parked the car.
“Yeah Love, thanks,” she said, “wait...” she reached him just before he left the barbeque area. She leant into him and they kissed with PG rated passion, like before.
Aaron smiled at her and turned toward the car. He felt his wife’s swift palm across his backside, returning the love-tap he had given her previously. He smiled and kept walking.
He stepped off the car-lined curb onto the hot bitumen asphalt; the road wavered under the sun’s unforgiving glare. Jeez, it’s a lot bloody hotter down here. He looked left and right before going round the other side of the car. He listened. He heard the distant oonce-oonce of bass and the hiss of a turbo engine. Ruddy kids. He shook his head and stepped out.
He poked around in the car for a moment looking for a large metallic baking tray. He thought he could hear his wife’s voice asking if he had found the bake, but he ignored it. Finally, he saw the bake out of the corner of his eye. It sat on the floor in front of the passenger-side seat. There you are.
He ducked his head out and stepped back into the road. The sound of the turbo engine was louder this time. Aaron looked around but saw nothing. The cars parked along the street bumper-to-bumper, dangerously along both sides of the road. Saturday. It must be a sports day. He heard the vroom-hiss again; it sounded like it was just around the corner.
He hurried to close the car door. He looked to his right. To his left …
Screeching, brakes. Kids screaming. The car was sideways. Heading straight for him through the narrow passage. Aaron looked back to his kids and his wife.
I love you guys.
Crunching metal. Horrifying. Wet. Agony. Fear. Terror. Darkness. So cold. So cold.
Eight Months Later.
Clara?
A girl walked into the room. A tall girl, all arms and legs. I look at her smile. I love you Clara, I laugh and gurgle.
My ... sister?
Mama struggled to hold me up as I bopped, trying out my new legs and smile at my big sister. “He likes you Clara,” Mama says. “You should go get your brother.”
Clara smiles, a warm smile, “Josh! Come see AJ, he is talking!” she yells out from where she stands, then comes and kneels down next to her mother.
Mama looks at her disapprovingly, “I could’ve done that,” she says. Clara just smiles that warm smile again.
A young boy comes in and kneels down behind them. “Hey AJ, you talking, are you?” he says, playfully. He yawns.
“You tired, mate?” Mama asks Josh.
“Yeah, AJ was screaming again last night,” he says, stifling another yawn.
“You don’t have to tell me!” Mama laughs.
“Why does he still cry like that, is it bad dreams?” Clara asks sweetly.
“I think so,” says Mama.
“What could a little baby be having bad dreams about?” Josh asks.
“I really don’t know mate.” Mama gives me a kiss on the cheek. “I really don’t know, but I think he is getting better.”
I stand, assisted, on wobbly little legs. Three people stare at me, all of them have the same chestnut brown hair and deep brown doe eyes, round face and kind features. They smile at me, smiles as bright as golden sunlight.
I love you guys.
Stockholm Page 2