A Walk Down Memory Lane

Chapter 6 - Reunions

Raven braced herself mentally for what was headed her way. You would think she was overreacting but think again: if you were to wake up from a coma and suddenly have a whole bunch of unfamiliar faces show up at your door being cheery-eyed and overjoyed to see you, how would you react? Raven didn't know what the day held for her but she tried to tell her mind that it would go well. She kept reminding herself that her panic was only temporary and not even legitimate panic. She was just scared of finally meeting the family that had decided to go non-existent since she had woken up.

Raven got up from where she was sitting as girl after girl started filing in through the entrance of the living room. She couldn't help but wonder why there was a complete lack of any male presence in the gathering. She looked around and slowly took in the unfamiliar faces, cousin after cousin, and it felt like she had accidentally entered a pageant. They're all so pretty! Raven thought to herself as she slowly took in every appearance in the room. Seven. There's seven of them, including Rosie and Daisy.  She thought to herself as she took a mental note of all the people present. She tried to place names to the faces that seemed slightly familiar through Facebook but gave up almost instantly. I'll leave the introductions to them. 

It felt almost as if her thought had been somehow transmitted through the room when one of her cousins spoke up. 

"Why don't we introduce ourselves, you guys? Since it looks as though Raven might run away any minute." She addressed everyone in the room, in a voice that seemed soft yet authoritative. A slight chuckle erupted from everyone in the room as the cousin spoke up again. 

"I'll start. I'm Serena. I'm 25, your Aunt Sarephina's youngest. That over there is Amelia, my older sister," She pointed towards a round-faced, fair looking woman, around her late 20's maybe, who smiled a warm smile at Raven, saying "Call me Mia. Slips off the tongue easier than Amelia." Raven smiled at her cousin, taking a mental note of how sweet she seemed to be, "Mia it is." She then turned her attention back to the short yet authoritative looking Serena as she continued with the introductions.

"That, there, is Aubrey, my oldest sister. She's 37 and..." Serena was cut off by the plump-looking, short-height cousin who stood up to hush her sister. "Married. I'm 37 and married and I have a 4 year-old daughter." She then averted her gaze towards Serena and continued, "Must you always bring up my age in every introduction?" The exasperation in her tone was vivid as day. A smile crept on to Serena's face but she hid it and sat back down. 

"Umm... Nice to meet you guys... again?" Raven attempted a slight joke and was relieved when she was met with a chuckling group of cousins. "Hey Aubrey? You said you had a daughter? Where is she?" Raven asked out of curiosity.

"Oh she's at a play date with her friends. We'll pick her up on our way out." Aubrey replied.

"Oh. cool. What's her name?"

"Melinda. Everyone calls her Mel." 

"That's sweet." 

And that conversation ended as soon as it had started. Small talk. Great. Just what's needed. Raven thought to herself, sarcastically, trying to rummage through her brain to find some other topic of conversation. But before she could think of something, Rosie noticed her cousin's distress and came to her rescue. 

"Well, they're Aunt Sarephina's kids. You've realised Aubrey's married," Raven nodded to Rosie's statement and let her continue. "Well, Amelia is also married, and Serena is engaged to be married." 

"Oh really? That's nice! When's the big day?" Raven enquired with a slight excitement that she didn't even expect to creep up in her voice. 

"The wedding's set for December. The weekend before Christmas hopefully." Serena smiled through her reply. Before Raven could say anything, Serena continued. "Which you're going to attend as a bridesmaid, Rae!"