by T. M. Meek
Unlike earlier that afternoon back home, Alex's first night at Aunt Meredith and Uncle Samuel's home was relatively uneventful. Alex was glad to see them again but at the same time she had never thought she would visit them under the circumstances of the day. The Andrews’ home was definitely smaller than the previous home they had. Their current home was a small condo located with several others near the front of a much wealthier subdivision that had much larger homes.
As Aunt Meredith passed food around the table, she said to Alex, "This is a meal that your father would be proud of since it's very healthy."
"What do you call it?" Alex asked.
"Baked chicken breast with grilled asparagus and sweet bell peppers," Meredith smiled. Alex wasn't sure if it would actually taste good but it sounded good and certainly smelled good.
Both Meredith and Samuel Andrews were an attractive white couple. They were good, honest and caring people and Alex loved that they were family. Samuel was a clean shaven man with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes who had recently turned thirty. He often dressed professionally but was modest in his spending on most clothing designs. At six feet tall, he stood almost eight inches taller than Meredith who was twenty-nine years old. Her light brown hair had highlights and was often in curls but not always. It was long enough to touch her shoulders. She too dressed well but was more practical than most women in that she never felt the need to wear designer labels.
Her style was always modest so no cleavage or thighs would ever be seen unless she was wearing her one-piece bathing suit at the pool. Meredith bore a strong family resemblance to her older sister Raylene although Raylene's hair was more sandy in color. Meredith's eyes were a lighter brown than her husband Samuel's and together they looked like the perfect couple. With no children of their own yet, they liked the idea of being parental figures for Alex for awhile.
"Is there dessert afterwards?" Alex eagerly inquired.
"There is. I'm sure you'll like it, but don't be surprised if you enjoy it just as much as you enjoy this. When you eat healthy, the dinner usually tastes as good as––if not better than––the dessert," Meredith said with a wink.
Alex knew it was good manners to finish whatever you put on your plate to eat if you can and that it was always a smart move to only serve a small amount of any food you're not sure you'll like onto your plate so it makes it easier to finish all of your food. But everything smelled so good and looked pretty good too so she helped herself to moderate servings of food as the main course and different sides were passed around. The dinner rolls were moderately sized, whole grain, high fiber rolls with 5g of fiber per roll and Alex thought they smelled great. She helped herself to two of them. She then served up some salad onto a small plate near her dinner plate.
"What's this?" she asked while pointing to a small carrying rack which held two small bottles of liquid.
"It's salad dressing. The green one is olive oil and the clear one is vinegar. Most people who use it will put a little of both on their salad," Meredith replied. They drank only water with dinner and enjoyed dessert afterward. Alex was surprised at how simple yet elegant the entire meal was. The dessert was nothing more than sliced nectarines and fresh blueberries with some lowfat, naturally sweetened vanilla yogurt. But she felt like it came straight from heaven as it tasted so good. Eating more healthy foods at mealtime was clearly a habit Alex would enjoy adapting to in the Andrews’ home.
Samuel had his own career in the construction industry. He had quickly earned himself a reputation as someone who provided the highest quality results. Samuel had proven early on that he was worthy of the trust to successfully and honestly carry on his father’s business, so when his father passed away three years earlier, there was no question that he would be the one who would inherit his father’s commercial construction business.
Samuel had started working for his dad at the young age of thirteen so by the time Samuel was twenty-five he had nearly twice the experience in both business management and construction as most men in that industry did at the same age. Samuel was still in college with only one year left until he graduated. He had recently become engaged to Meredith and his plan was to marry her, graduate from college and get out of commercial construction so he could pursue his real passion of residential home building and design. But when his father passed away, due to an accident on a construction job just a few weeks after he became engaged to Meredith, his plans changed as he carried on his father’s business as a general contractor and married Meredith later than planned.
Now three years had passed and although he and Meredith had been married for over two years, he still hadn’t finished his last year of college due to business demands. Meredith was pushing him to get that last year of college finished. He planned on making time to complete it within the next two years.
“Just bring your dishes over here, Alex,” Meredith politely suggested as she rinsed her own dishes in the sink now that the meal was over. She began putting the rinsed dishes in the dishwasher.
Meredith worked also. She taught two courses at a local university: Home Economics and Personal Finance. Even if she had taught different subjects, she and Samuel had already agreed to both be involved in all decisions affecting the financial aspects of their marriage with the only exception being that he would work mostly with a CPA to handle the money in his construction business. She loved that Samuel wanted to design and build homes more than commercial buildings but she knew not to push him to pursue it before he was ready.
“You’re probably used to helping clean up at home, huh?” she asked Alex as she rinsed more dishes.
“Sometimes. I guess it depends on who’s cooking at my house,” Alex shrugged.
“Well, Samuel and I clean up together as much as possible right after meals,” said Meredith. She was wise to teach Alex as early as possible that it was expected for everyone to clean up after themselves and pitch in to clean up as a family. Alex saw both Meredith and Samuel bring their own dishes over to the sink to rinse them and put them in the dishwasher so Alex didn’t want to be the odd one out.
Although Alex was a guest in their home, her stay was more as a member of the family than someone visiting on vacation so Alex understood the logic behind doing her part to add to the harmony of the Andrews’ existing family unity.
“Alex, don’t do too much, honey. As long as you need crutches I’m not going to expect you to be on your feet cleaning all the time. Until you’re healed up Samuel and I can take care of most things.”
“Yeah, if all you do is use your crutches and rarely rest then it sort of defeats the purpose of having them,” Samuel added gently. Samuel may have been as tall as a bear but he was usually tender in a way that maintained his masculinity. “Using the crutches is a bit of a catch-22, isn’t it? I mean you’re not supposed to put any weight on your foot but in order to use them you’ve got to put a fair amount of pressure on your still healing shoulder, right?” he asked Alex.
“ It’s not too bad,” Alex said. The mild over-the-counter pain meds the doctor recommended for her helped to ease any discomfort. After Alex helped them to finish putting away a few of the dinner items off of the table, she started to help more by wiping down the counter tops.
“I think you’d best take a rest now Alex,” Meredith said with gentle concern in her voice. “Why don’t you go have a seat in the living room and Uncle Samuel and I will be in there in a minute.”
“Okay,” Alex said in a tired voice. It had been a particularly rough day for her so any fatigue she felt was definitely justified. As Alex went to go sit down, Meredith put dish detergent in the dishwasher and turned it on. Then they all gathered in their small living room by the kitchen to have family prayer just before they all retired to bed.
Alex continued her own routine of changing into her pajamas and brushing and flossing her teeth before she went to bed. She would usually then rinse her teeth with a reliable name brand mouth rinse that would fight bad breath and stre
ngthen her tooth enamel.
Alex may have been young, but she knew two important things when it came to dental care: (1) tooth problems are often very painful, and (2) appointments to see a dentist were usually very expensive when you were there to solve a tooth problem. So Alex brushed, flossed and rinsed every day to prevent painful dental problems. She didn't mind going in for tooth cleanings and regular checkups, but she would do all that she could to avoid any other dental appointments––and that meant she needed to brush three times a day, and floss and rinse her teeth on a regular basis.
As Meredith made sure Alex had clean linens on the bed in what would be her new bedroom, she also showed her where the extra towels and washcloths were for the bathroom Alex would use. It would take awhile for her to get used to living in a new place and learn where everything was. Meredith even put a special night light in the hallway near the entry to the guest bathroom Alex would use so she could find it more easily if Alex had to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.
"Do you guys always pray like that before you go to bed?" Alex asked Meredith.
"We do,” Meredith nodded. “We wanted to get in the habit before we had children so that once they started to arrive, we'd already be doing it each night before bed. We pray on our own privately but we also pray as a family. We'll do that again tomorrow morning just before we all go our separate ways for the day. That way we can have more peace, safety and guidance for success throughout the day."
This wasn’t something Alex was used to. Her parents taught her some things about God but other than that, not much religion was practiced at home as Alex was growing up. They rarely went to church on Sundays. But Alex didn't mind the idea of praying as a family with Meredith and Samuel. The evening prayer Samuel offered was brief but sincere and he prayed for Alex by name that she would feel comfortable in their home and not miss out on any good opportunities God had intended for her happiness as she lived with them. Alex liked that part of the prayer.
After Meredith finished tucking Alex into bed, she turned out the light and wished her goodnight. Although Alex was grateful for a safer place to live, who knew how long it would last? So Alex was already thinking of what she could do to earn her own money as soon as she could so she could buy her own home and move out. She would earn that money honorably and nothing would stop her from being able to have her own place so she and Glade could be together as brother and sister again. She couldn't fall asleep yet. She listened as she heard Meredith's footsteps walking away from her down the hall. It was strange to hear her aunt and uncle's voices in another room as she tried to fall asleep. It was strange not to be given a hug goodnight by Glade. She missed Twinkles and Bubbles terribly. Alex tried to accept the fact that things were different now and that it really was a good thing. Eventually she fell asleep.