“Let’s go home,” I say. “Let’s go back to our real family at the Nook.”
She smiles down at me.
“Let me make sure that’s okay first.”
She leans down and looks at Liam and Lucas still sitting in the taxi. They’re both grinning ear to ear.
“Well, what do you think, boys?” She asks them. “Think there’s room enough in your life for me and the girls at the book shop?”
They both cheer “yes.” I knew they would. They just adore her.
I laugh as the twins celebrate. It warms my heart to see them so happy. They’re going to be this happy every day for the rest of our lives.
I wish my sister could see them now. She’d be so happy.
“Let me get the rest of our things,” Lucille says. I love the sound of having our things. Our things will turn into our life together.
Lucille gives the cab driver more money to wait for us to pack up. We go back up to the house with the boys.
When we walk in, Aunt Adelaide is sitting by the front door.
“I’ve been watching you two,” she says. “I’ve heard the argument you had with Marcella as well. I’ve made my judgement.”
Lucille steps in front of me and the kids. “I don’t care if we don’t get the money, Aunt Adelaide,” she says. “We don’t need the money. But Sara and I are in love and that’s not going to change. She’s my family now.”
I expect Aunt Adelaide to do something as sour as the cousins have been doing. Instead, I see a small grin playing at the corners of her mouth.
I wonder what she could be up to. I half expect her to say she called the police to escort us off the property. Marcella would love that.
She stands up. “Come with me, Lucille. You and the boys as well, Sara.”
She begins walking towards the living room. Lucille and I exchange a look. I wonder what could be waiting for us in that room. If it’s anything like what else has happened over the last twenty four hours, it could very well be a pit of snakes waiting to eat us.
Lucille frowns and takes the lead. She follows after Aunt Adelaide with her head held high. She keeps a tight grip on my hand as we go.
Aunt Adelaide sits down on the couch when we get to the living room.
“Despite what you may think, I’m in a unique position to judge you, Lucille,” she says.
“I don’t want to be judged,” Lucille says. “I just want to go home with my girlfriend. We’re going to get our things.”
Aunt Adelaide smiles. “After our talk here, if you still want to go, I won’t stop you. I’m sure your cousins will help you pack your bags,” she says with a laugh.
“But I would like you to listen to me first,” she continues.
“This is who I am, Aunt Adelaide,” Lucille says. “I know my father was disappointed in me. There’s nothing I can do about that now. I just want to put this all behind me and start living the rest of my life with Sara by my side.”
Her impassioned words move me. My eyes well up with tears.
“Believe it or not, Lucille, when I was your age, I was a lot like you,” Aunt Adelaide says. “I wasn’t always the spinster you see before you. I have loved and lost. The way you look at Sara… Well, that’s the same way I looked at another young woman when I was your age.”
My eyes get wide. Is Aunt Adelaide saying she’s a lesbian too?
“It was different back in that time,” she continues. “Well, I suppose I hope it would be anyway. That was quite a long time ago. You couldn’t love who you wanted to love.”
Lucille’s grip on my hand tightens.
“But I would hope things are different now,” Aunt Adelaide says. “It broke my heart to hear what your father did to you. And it broke my heart again to hear that he’s continuing this torment into the afterlife.”