The Love We Choose

Chapter 2

'Let me check.' Lynne signed back to her as she went on a hunt for the purse that she had put up on a shelf earlier in the day.  Digging through her bag she found one at the bottom of it and handed it over to her sister who signed back 'you are a lifesaver,' then hugged her.

Once the night was over, everything was cleaned and packed up, their petite mother gathered the whole team up and thanked them for their exemplary service for the night.   When her workers had been dismissed, she hugged and kissed each of her children. "You guys are the best!  I knew I could count on you to help your poor mother out.  I love you all for coming to help out your dear old momma.  Now be safe and text the family chat when you get home. I will see you all at dinner for your father's birthday party in two weeks. Lover you all!" She walked over to her red jeep and pulled off into the night.

"Lover you mom!" They chorused her in response.

David came up behind Lynne and tapped her on the shoulder.  "Hey, I'm gonna drive Elisa back home. She's not feeling too hot."

"Ok Davy Crockett.  You be safe." She told him, pulling him into a bear hug.  Turning to Elisa she signed 'everything ok?'

'Cramps are murder.'  She signed back.

'Enough said. Go home and put on a heating pad.'

'Thanks Doctor,' Elissa signed back with a sarcastic look on her face.  'I never would have thought of that on my own.'

'Asshole.'

'Lover you too.'  She signed as she pulled her into a hug.

'Tell that sexy husband of yours I'm coming for him.'  Lynne signed back before doing a lewd pantomime in the air with her hips and sticking out her tongue.  

'Not a chance in Hell, Lynne.' Elisa signed with a smile as she got into the passenger side of her car before David pulled off.

Walking over to her car Lynne saw her older brothers hugging as Julissa stood looking at her cellphone.  "Alright crazy people, it's a Saturday night and you all have children and spouses who miss you.  Go home."  Lynne announced to them as she came around for hugs.

"We wanted to say bye to you since we haven't seen you in a month of Sundays." Julissa informed her, pulling her in for a tight hug.  She was a couple of inches shorter than Lynne at five foot three, with long dark brown hair that she had french-braided down her back. They were the same cinnamon-brown skin-tone with their father's high cheekbones and angular features.  Unluckily, they were the only two of the siblings to take their height from their mother's side of the family.  On a good day with a pair of three inch heels, their mother was Julissa's height.       

"Eh, we're busy people.  The stars don't always line up for us to be in the same place or even country at the same time.  I mean we are all in vastly different industries: Vinny you're in healthcare, Kris is security, Jules you're in law, Elisa in the food industry, me in education, and David in whatever it is he is doing these days.  Not a lot of coinciding vacation time there.   Add in everybody's spouses and kids, and our datebooks are hard-pressed for free time."

"Well thank you for painting that bleak image of what our middle-age has become." Vinny stated.

"Excuse me, but me, Kris, and David aren't old like y'all and Lis.   We still have some time yet before we hit official middle-age.    However, we make time when it counts and there's always the family chat and the sibling chat."  She told them as she hugged her two brothers at the same time.  "And this is where I take my leave of y'all.  Now that my shottie has abandoned me, I need to get home before I fall asleep at the wheel.  I lover you all, but I have a two-hour drive to conquer and y'all are only about thirty minutes away."