Visions Of Us

22 | The Big It

After a couple of minutes, the car stopped near the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center. Big crowds of people of different shapes and colors, all dressed in formal wear, were walking their merry way inside the place. New York's elite and also bored. Earlier today, I got a call from Uncle John confirming that he would be here with his wife and newborn. He also said he was happy to see me since it had been a long time since we'd last seen each other, which truthfully made my heart melt. Uncle John is my dad's brother and complete opposite of him. Personality wise, anyway. Side by side, they looked the exact same.

I paid the taxi driver with the loose cash I had in my wallet and we got ourselves out of the cab. Rory was angrily walking ahead of me to the ticket entry line, instead of with me. She looked absolutely mesmerising tonight, those smokey eyes, the silky black dress and of course the bracelet on her wrist I gave her, sparkled in the darkness of night. The bracelet was another apology gift I had planned with the David Bowie vinyl but a quick talk with Blake had me convinced it would be overkill. Rory looked so happy when she saw it, but it felt as if she was also trying to reject that feeling, too? I don't know. It just felt that way when she asked me if I did that to every woman I had been with. As if. Only one woman named Aurora Conway. Eventually, we get to our Parterre box, and they are already there.

His wife, my Aunt Margaret, was wearing a navy blue dress with a sweetheart neckline, while a pearl necklace hung loosely around her neck, shining brightly under the lights of the auditorium, although it also brought notice to the bags forming under her eyes. The cause of that wrapped in her arms, a baby pink blanket swaddled around the small body. Uncle John matched, wearing a navy blue suit with a red handkerchief in his breast pocket. A happy grin appeared on his face when his eyes met mine.

"Uncle John, how are you?" I asked as I went out to shake his hand.

"As good as someone who just had a baby," he joked with me before firmly shaking the hand I had offered. "And who is this young lady?"

Rory faltered a bit in his gaze, so to calm her down, I wrapped my arm around her waist. She relaxed in my touch, and it made me feel whole lot better considering the cold shoulder she was giving me before. "She's my girlfriend. Rory, this is my Uncle John. Uncle John, this is Aurora Conway."

A surprised expression etched across his face, and the grin stayed on his lips. "Oh well it's nice to meet you." He gave me a I'm definitely going to hold this against you look and I let him because it is my fault for bringing my girlfriend here. "How is your mom? Especially after the divorce"

Then, it felt as if someone punched me with a heavy boxing glove. The brunnette beside me, held my hand, intertwining our fingers, the thought of how our hands melded so well together was enough for me to speak now. "She's fine. You must have already seen dad with his new girlfriend. Heard she's fitting in with him pretty well."

"Yeah, we did, actually. Sonya is nice and your dad seems happy with her. Margaret and I had only come to visit him to tell him he's stupid for signing those divorce papers, but we got quiet when we realized how comfortable he was with her. I mean- I know my responsibility as the younger sibling is to make my brother's life a living hell, but . . . I couldn't bring myself to bring it up."

Sonya. So, that's the name of the person who tore our family apart. Yeah, I know my dad is to blame too but that woman should have known who she was hooking up with. She should have known better . . . right? Or did my dad just not care enough to tell her that he was married? Was he certain since the moment they met that he was going to forget about his family? I had only questions and absolutely no answers. I couldn't believe what he said. My mind didn't fully process it until my Aunt Margaret got up from her seat and put an arm around me.