I am Clara

My Second Family

I wasn't surprised to see the lights of the Andrews' home still on when I arrived. I had expected their get-together to go well into the morning. Arriving a little past one o'clock, I walked into the driveway just in time to wave goodbye to Tanya and Sam, Andrews' aunt, and uncle, the last of his relatives to go home.

     Anna and Jim were putting away the last of the dishes and from the snores coming from the living room, I assumed Andrews had passed out on the couch. Putting away my now empty bag, and reminding myself to refill it in the morning, I shot Anna and Jim a smile as I made my way to either check up on Andrews or take a picture of him. I hadn't decided yet. I was leaning towards the latter.

     "You alright?" Anna asked. She appeared in the doorway, just as I took a seat on the table in front of her sleeping son. She had likely noted the redness of my eyes and the blotches on my fact. I was suddenly relieved that Andrews wasn't awake to greet me. I probably wouldn't have been able to stop him from marching onto my mother's doorstep.

    "Yeah," I said genuinely. "Honestly, I feel better than I have in the past few months."

     Holding everything in for the past months, I was bound to explode. Now that I had, I couldn't help but feel relieved. A weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I felt better, as long as I didn't think of the man falling off the bridge. Which I wouldn't do at the moment, as I didn't particularly feel like having a second breakdown, and in front of Anna no less.

    She shot me a small smile. I didn't miss her attempt of hiding her pity, while she covered Andrews with a knitted orange blanket.

     "How was the rest of your night?" I changed the subject.

     "Good," she said, whilst I attempted to contain a laugh at the sight of a drop of drool at the corner of Andrews' opened mouth. "Easton gave us quite a laugh." She smirked as she recalled the memory and shot a side glance towards said boy. Intrigued by the idea of Andrews embarrassing himself, I raised my eyebrows urging her to continue.

     "He was very committed to our annual game of charades," she began, and I was already smiling. "We still don't know what he was trying to act out, but he was enthusiastic about it. So much so that he accidentally bumped into the table, knocking over the flowerpot in the process. Dirt and plant all over my carpet, he leaned forward to get a look at the mess he made, tripped over the table, and fell face first into the pile of dirt."

     I knew something had been missing from the table. Laughing quietly, even though a Mariachi band could have entered the room and Andrews wouldn't have even flinch, I shot a second glance at the darkness above his lip. Pleasantly, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't just a shadow plastered on his face or that he had forgotten to shave. Upon closer examination, I in fact took note of the line of dirt below his nose.

     "I really wish I had been here to see that."

     "I know." Anna laughed. "It's the first thing he said once Jim and Dylan got him up."

     Of course, he knew I'd never let him live it down if I had been there to witness it.

     "I'm going to go to bed," Anna eventually declared. "Though I expect Easton won't be eating much, I'm hoping you'll be up. Colton and Ali are staying in the room above the garage and he's expecting my special Christmas breakfast."

     I had only heard good things about her special breakfast. It felt a little strange that Colton was in the garage while I had his room, especially considering I didn't even intend on using it tonight. I was going to crash on the second couch, as I very much wanted to be present when Andrews woke up.

    "Merry Christmas, Clara," Anna startled me, kissing the top of my head as I took an extra blanket from the closet.

     "Merry Christmas." My smile transformed into a frown as she handed me a small purple box. I immediately began to protest. Sure, Andrews and I had split and bought her a gift, but I was living in her home rent free. I was already in her debt.

    "I know," she stopped me, arm gently holding me by the elbow. "I know I didn't have to. I wanted to." She rejected any other protests and bid me goodnight with a smile.

    Taking a seat on the substitute bed I made, I fiddled with the silver moon bracelet, until I fell asleep. The bracelet was almost identical to the one Ali sported. A bracelet Anna had given her middle child's fiancée, to her future daughter-in-law. I couldn't help but feel as though this gift was Anna's way of making sure I felt welcomed into her family.