It All Started With An Apple

Chapter 8

“How many?” Dannon inquired, his eyebrows rising.

I couldn’t help but let out a small grin.  “Three.”

Dannon paused before answering.  You could tell from the look in his eye that he expected Aunt Jill to have adopted more than she did.  I waited for him to exclaim in surprise or something along those lines.  But all he did was smile, nod, and say, “Cool.”

It was silent the rest of the way up to the house.  Once we got to the front porch, I rushed up the steps, my feet pounding loudly on the wood.  I didn’t really care.  I just wanted to get inside.  I loved being here with my aunt and cousins.  This was my second home, the place I loved to come and visit.

“Hey guys!” Aunt Jill called from the kitchen as we loaded in.  Unlike my mom, my aunt was a superb cook.  She worked at a bakery a few miles from her house.  I remembered when I was younger when my mom would take Garrett and me down to the bakery and we would taste-test the sweets.  Sometimes Britain, the eldest of my cousins, would join us.  We had so much fun there.

“Hey, Aunt Jill!” I called back, kicking off my shoes in the small crate sitting on the floor by the door.  It was already filled with a dozen pairs of my cousins’ shoes, almost filled to the top. 

“Is Brianne the only one here?”

Aunt Jill twisted away from the counter, flashing us a smile.  Unlike our house the dining room and the kitchen collided into one, and the front door opened up straight to the kitchen.  Their house was open, wide.  Everything seemed to be connected.  Only the bedrooms and bathrooms actually had doors.  The rest were just wide openings.

“Hey, Julie,” she said, her smile growing as her eyes landed on my mom.  “And her lovely family.”  Her eyes landed on Kyla.  “And Kyla.”  Her gaze fell on Dannon.  “And new person!”

We all laughed.  I glanced at Dannon.  He didn’t really look too hot.  He looked kind of worn out.  Maybe he still needed a nap.  Or maybe he was just really nervous.  I had the sudden urge to put a hand on his shoulder in reassurance.  But I resisted it. 

“Now who may this be?” Aunt Jill asked lightly, her hands going to her hips.

“Dannon,” I replied after a moment.  I nudged Dannon discreetly.  “Say hi, Dannon.”

Dannon immediately held out his hand, and when I caught his expression, I knew he was back to normal.  “Hello,” he said politely, a smile on his face.

“This boy’s got manners!” Aunt Jill squealed, her hand sliding into his and shaking it.  “We outta teach you kids some.”

My mom was about to reply, but at that moment, Vincent rushed into the room, his arms flailing in the air.  He collided with Aunt Jill, shaking her arm violently.  “Mommy, Mommy!” he called breathlessly.  His hair fell into his eyes and he struggled to push it out of the way while shaking his mom at the same time.  It was a rather comical sight.

Aunt Jill looked down at him like he was crazy.  I looked between them, a faint smile on my face.  Of all the kids, Vincent looked the most like her.  They both had the same curly locks of hair, the same soft facial features, and the same huge brown eyes.  They even had freckles in the same spots—dashed cross the nose and cheeks, so light that you could barely tell they were there unless you looked closely. 

Aunt Jill bent down, smiling.  “What’s up?” she asked cheerfully.

Vincent sent a wide-eyed, crazed expression in Dannon’s direction.  “Don’t talk to the boogie man,” he whispered loudly.