"Mom you have a lot of explaining to do," August said, once we'd all sat down inside.
It wasn't a very big house. It was a bungalow and had four rooms. We walked into the first room which seemed like the living room. The walls had cream coloured paint peeling off and the whole room had a total of four pieces of furniture, an old, mangy sofa that had lost its colour due to age, an old, mangy armchair that might have once been part of a set with the sofa, a wooden table that was uneven and wobbled when pressure was applied to it and a wooden cabinet that looked like it was about to disintegrate at any moment.
"You too Auggie," she said.
"I think you've got a little more explaining that me to do," he laughed.
"Not too sure about that," she smiled.
"Well unless people can rise from the dead I seriously doubt you'll win this argument," he laughed again.
June looked confused. Her eyebrows knitted as if she were trying to think.
"Excuse me?"
"Well you apparently died when I was twelve, so why did you lie to me?"
She looked even more confused.
"What? Who told you I died?" She asked.
"Dad, he refused to let me go to the funeral though so I never got to say goodbye," August said sadly.
"He did? I never agreed to let him tell you I was dead!" She exclaimed.
"Oh, so what happened exactly?"
She sighed.
"Well August, I was very into art, like drawing, painting and stuff like that when I met your Dad and my passion grew stronger the older I got. By the time we were married and you were born I already knew that I had to become an artist or at least work with art and I'd been trying for years. I got a couple of opportunities around the place but they never worked out until one day when I got a huge offer and I had to take it. The only problem was I'd have to live in Paris and we couldn't all move there. You were twelve at the time August. Everyone told me I couldn't miss the opportunity. It was only for a year so I took the offer, it was my dream and I just had to follow it. Your Dad was furious. He told me that if I left he'd vow to have nothing to do with me ever again. I still went, as much as I loved you both we needed to money anyways. It was great for six months but then everything went pear shaped and I lost everything. I came back to our old house to find you two gone. I was devastated. I then got a job around the place and started making money to rent an apartment around there. I met some amazing friends, we travelled around a bit together but then they both fell in love and settled in Madrid together. I went on to live in America. Then things got bad again. I lost my job and house. I got labelled badly there so I had to move out of the state. I ended up here, finding this old, abandoned house. Then the day after I met your Dad again. I was so happy. It was the best day of my life since I'd left you both. But he just gave me the the threat that if I showed myself to you he'd move to Australia and I wouldn't have a hope of getting enough money together to follow. I was absolutely devastated but I kept a low profile. I stayed in this house and kept my job which I stiff have now in fact. It's in a small restaurant out of the way that not many people know about. And well that's the story. Now that I think about it, to you, it's as if I died," she said, looking as if she were about to cry.
"Oh Mom," August cried.
He gave her a big hug. I immediately felt warm inside.
"I only saw you once before this," she whispered.
"Really? When?"
"The same time I saw your lovely girlfriend over there," she smiled.
"When?" August asked again.
"I talked to you both," she whispered.
"You did?"
I wracked my brains trying to think where she could have met us. I remember thinking she was familiar when she first opened the door. My eyes lit it up. It had hit me.
"You were our waiter in that romantic restaurant August took me to," I exclaimed.
"Yes dear, I was," she sighed, happily.
"Really?" August looked mind blown.
"I can prove it," she smiled.
August just stared at her, speechless.
"Do you think I'd set myself on fire if I leaned over and kissed you?" June mimicked in August's voice.
August blushed bright red.
"You were the woman who served us and switched the candle holder for us?" August smiled.
"Yeah."
"Unbelievable," he cried.
"So that's my explaining done, I think it's your turn."