7. Chapter 7
When Loren and I enter the house, every voice erupts with excitement. Mom starts crying, Dad starts laughing, and Loren”s face lights up with joy.
”Mom, please don”t cry,” Loren says, hugging Mom. ”We just saw each other last month. I”m here to stay. Don”t make me cry.”
”You”re glowing, Peanut,” Dad says as he hugs Loren and kisses her forehead.
”Thank you, Daddy,” Loren says, smiling.
Peanut is the nickname Dad gave Loren when she was born because she was a tiny baby. By the time I was three, and she was five, I was much taller than her, and to this day, Loren is the shortest member of the family.
When Katherine takes her turn hugging our sister, she touches Loren”s big belly with one hand and her own with the other.
”They”ll only be a few months apart,” Katherine says.
”They”re going to grow up together, like the girls,” Loren says.
Adam walks up to Loren with Tori at his heels and gives her a hug and a kiss. ”Jon”s right,” he says. ”You look beautiful.”
”Thank you,” says Loren.
”Where”s Holly, Auntie Loren?” asks Tori, trying her best to look behind Loren.
”Holly and Grandma Tina are on their way,” says Loren. ”They”ll be here soon, Sweetie.”
”Where”s Sam?” asks Dad.
”He”s on his way, Daddy,” I say, smiling. Dad has managed to procure three grown sons for himself in a six-year period. If you count little Jon, baby Adam, and Loren”s baby, if it”s a boy, the Linder women will soon be outnumbered.
When the doorbell rings, I rush to open it, thinking it”s Sam.
”Hi, Christina,” I say, hugging her and then Holly.
”Come in,” I say, looking out the door to see if Sam is here.
After we pray over our meal of chicken, ribs, rice pilaf, and salad, I pick up the phone to call Sam and get his voicemail. Where could he be?
”Auntie Laila,” says Holly, ”is Uncle Sammy coming?”
”He should be here soon,” I say. ”Why, Baby?”
”Tori said he has a gift for me,” she says.
”Look who I found outside,” says Adam, walking in with the last tray of barbequed ribs and chicken.
”I couldn”t come empty-handed,” says Sam. ”I stopped by the bakery but had to wait for them to put out more cheesecakes.”
He flashes me a big smile when he sees me, and a rush of warmth spreads through me. I”m so happy to see him.
He brought my favorite dessert, strawberry cheesecake.
”You remembered,” I say.
”I remember everything about that night,” he says. ”Don”t you?”
I do. That night we shared a slice of strawberry cheesecake and then almost shared a kiss.
”How did you get here?” I ask. ”You didn”t walk all the way here with a cheesecake in hand, did you?”
”Well,” he says, ”I could have, but no, I took an Uber.”
”I should”ve left you my car,” I say. ”We could”ve brought Loren”s car. I”m sorry, I didn”t think about it.”
”No worries,” he says. “I”m used to public transportation. I don”t have a car in Athens either.”
When we all sit down to eat, Sam pulls the small barrette from his shirt pocket.
”Holly,” he says, ”I made something for you in Athens.”
”Wow!” Holly exclaims when he puts the barrette in her hand.
”This is for me?” she asks.
”Yes,” Sam says. ”It”s yours.”
”I love it, Uncle Sammy. Thank you.”
”Do you want me to put it on you?” I ask Holly.
”Yes, please,” she says.
Her hair has gotten blonder in the two years she”s been gone. She”s graduated from the baby girl stage and is now a tall, slim little girl with long, wavy hair and bright blue eyes.
”You look beautiful,” I say.
”Thank you, Auntie Laila. You”re pretty, too.”
”Ah, thank you,” I say.
”I agree with her,” says Sam, smiling.
I smile and nudge his side with my elbow before addressing Loren.
”What are you doing later today?” I ask. ”Do you need help at the house?”
”No,” she says. ”Lisa took care of everything. The house is spotless, and the refrigerator and pantry are stocked.”
”Did you see the nursery?” Katherine asks.
”Yes,” Loren says. ”Thank you so much. It looks beautiful. The colors are perfect. Once the baby”s here, we can add more color depending on what we have.”
”That”s what we thought, too,” says Katherine. ”Laura picked all the furnishings, and it was her idea to include the creams as an accent color. She said cream goes with everything.”
”Speaking of furniture,” says Christina, ”remind Aaron that he needs to come by and pick up his changing table.”
”I spoke to Aaron this morning,” says Dad. ”I”ll stop by in the morning to pick it up.”
”You still have Aaron”s changing table?” I ask.
”Yes,” she says, ”It”s beautiful. It”s solid wood with a removable changing table and pad on top and a chest of drawers on the bottom.”
”I have the perfect spot for it in the room,” says Loren. ”You won”t mind if we paint it?”
”Oh, of course not,” says Christina. ”It”s old but solid. It”ll look beautiful in white.”
”Thank you,” says Loren. ”It”ll look perfect in the room. Oh, and before I forget, who painted Holly”s room?”
”I did,” Adam says. ”Aaron told me her favorite color is now aqua, so I hope you don”t mind.”
”No,” says Loren. ”Of course not. Thank you for doing that. She”s going to love it.”
”I”m going to love it, Uncle Adam,” says Holly.
Turning to Loren, Holly asks, ”Mommy, will I be sleeping in my room tonight?”
”Yes, Princess, you”ll be back in your old room tonight.”
”Thank you, Uncle Adam,” Holly says. ”I can”t wait to see it.”
”You”re most welcome,” says Adam.
Holly turns to Tori and invites her to spend the night.
”Mommy,” Tori says, ”can I spend the night at Holly”s house? I want to see her room.”
Katherine glances at Loren, and without saying a word, they agree to have Tori spend the night.
”Yes,” Katherine says. ”You can go home with Auntie Loren and Holly after lunch.”
I feel Loren reach for my hand, and she places it over her belly. I wait for a little kick, but what I get is a massive wave of movement that spreads across her entire belly.
”Oh my gosh!” I exclaim. ”That was amazing!”
”I know,” Loren says. ”It”s incredible. I can”t tell you how much I enjoy being pregnant.”
After lunch, I help Mom clear the table. Sam has left his seat and is now entertaining Jon. They”re engrossed in conversation, and it looks like Jon brought his entire dinosaur collection in a shoebox. From what I can gather, he”s quizzing Sam on colors. Jon is lining his dinosaurs on the table one by one as Sam calls out the colors. Jon is too young to know the different species of dinosaurs, but he knows all his colors.
”Now it”s your turn,” Sam says, putting all the toys back in the shoebox. He starts taking the toys out one at a time. ”What color is this?” he asks Jon. If Jon gets it right, the toy goes on the table. If he gets it wrong, it goes back into the box, and he tries again. Sam must be saying something funny because I can hear Jon giggling. I think about how much he loves tickling.
Glancing at Sam, I wonder what his love language is. I make a mental note to find out.
When everyone has found a comfortable spot in the den to sit and eat a slice of cheesecake, I sit next to Sam.
”What are you doing today?” I ask him.
”I was planning on going to the studio,” he says. ”I need to check the kilns to ensure they”re in good working condition. They”re old, so I”ll have to check if anything needs maintenance.”
”Are you sure you”re not stopping by to see Zoe?”
”You can come with me if you”d like,” he says, his tone playful and teasing. ”That way, you can keep an eye on me.”
”Oh, you”re trying to be funny,” I say. ”Ha, ha.”
Later, when Mom and I talk about the trip to San Diego, I see Dad, Adam, and Sam enter the garage. I would love to be a fly on that wall. Something tells me they”re talking about me, but it might just be my oversized ego telling me that I”m the center of their universe.
Sam and I take Loren and the girls home an hour later and then stop by the studio. When I see how busy it is, I almost feel sorry for Zoe and her assistant.
”What”s your assistant”s name?” I ask Zoe as I pull some drop cloths from a shelf to cover some tables.
”His name is Luis,” she says. ”He”s a senior in high school, and this is his summer job.”
”That”s right,” I say. ”He was here during spring break when I came in with Loren,” I remember now.
Sam walks down the hallway to check the kilns. I stay with Zoe and Luis to help them with the customers.
”Is it always this busy?” I ask.
”Business has been picking up,” says Zoe. ”I think we need to hire one more person. Luis is part-time, so sometimes I”m here alone when it gets this busy.”
When Sam is done with the kilns, we stay for a couple more hours to help. Sam asks Zoe to hire one or two more people as soon as possible to help her.
When we leave the studio after closing, Sam asks, ”Can I take you to dinner?”
I slip my arm through his, and we walk a few blocks to a nearby cafe we often frequented when Sam lived here.
For dinner, we order turkey sandwiches and sparkling water. We eat and spend an hour laughing and reminiscing about the fun times we shared working together in Loren”s studio.
”Did you come in to help your sister or to see me?”
”That”s a little presumptuous of you, don”t you think?” I say. ”Loren managed the studio for four years before you came along. I had no idea you even existed back then, and I was still constantly here to help her.”
”Ouch!” he exclaims.
”I”m sorry,” I say. ”That was harsh. Meeting you is one of the best things that”s ever happened to me.”
He reaches for my hand and gives it a little squeeze before lifting it to his lips and kissing it.
After dinner, we go back to his temporary home.
”Aaron will be here tomorrow,” I say, walking into the house. ”We”ll have the entire family back together, including you.”
”Do you want some coffee?” he asks.
”No,” I say. ”I think I”m good. Come sit next to me.”
I scoot over to make room for him on the couch so he can sit close to me.
When he sits, he instinctively throws his arm around my shoulder, resting it behind me on the back of the couch, but he doesn”t touch me.
”I have a question for you,” I say.
”Shoot,” he says.
”Have you heard of the different love languages?”
”Yes,” he says. ”Affirmation, time, gifts, touch, and, what”s the last one?”
”Wow,” I say. ”I”m impressed. The last one is acts of service.”
”That”s right,” he says. ”So would a foot rub fall under touch or acts of service?”
”Touch for the person getting the foot massage,” I say, ”and acts of service for the person giving the massage.”
”Is that how it works?” he asks.
”Yeah,” I say. ”I was just wondering if you know what yours is.”
”You first,” he says. ”No, wait, don”t tell me.”
He looks intently at me, his blue eyes searching mine for the answer.
”Touch,” he says. ”Your love language is physical touch.”
”How do you know?” I ask.
”Because you can”t keep your hands off me,” he laughs.
”Funny,” I say. ”What about yours?”
”Mine”s not on the list.”
”What do you mean it”s not on the list?” I ask. ”It has to be.”
”What made you think of this anyway?” he asks.
”I was playing with Jon the other day. He got such a kick out of tickling me, and when I tickled him back, he got so excited. It made me think that his love language is physical touch, tickling.”
”I see,” says Sam, nodding.
”So, what”s your love language?” I ask.
”Kissing,” he says.
”Kissing, huh? Do you mean physical touch? Kissing is a form of touching.”
”Touching is one thing,” he says. ”Kissing is quite another.”