New Father (18+)

1

I brought the green straw to my lips and the cool liquid of my favorite Starbucks drink trickled down my throat. The caramel taste made me hum in satisfaction because It was so refreshing. I've been unpacking all day and I think I've met my yearly workout quota. I'll never have to hit the gym again until 2019. My pink tongue swiped against my lips as I pulled the drink away and sat it down on the white nightstand next to my bed. The house was old, but it was new to me. All of this was new to me, new town, new school, new house, and new parents. The town was called, "Verboden Liefde." It was an old town that was first claimed by a Dutch family- with the surname of Liefde, in the 1800's. It was a beautiful place nonetheless with its old architecture and grassy countrysides. Verboden- as everyone called the town- was just a few miles out of Broek in Waterland. We were located in North Holland only 20 minutes out of Amsterdam, so the Starbucks I've acquired was just a little watered down due to the long drive, but it was still delicious.

It was the middle of July and the cool temperature of 60 degrees weather flowed through the open window in my new room. Now you may be wondering why I describe everything as new. Well, the short and very blunt answer is, my mother passed away. A car crash. She took a trip with her friends to somewhere in the Dominican Republic. It was only a weekend trip, but one drunk driver was all it took to take her away forever. My mother, Linda, and I, are from London. So now you must be wondering what the heck was I doing in the Netherlands!

My Mother was all that I had- I never knew my father-and when she died I was given to the next living relative. This being my Mother's' sister, Rebecca. Aunt Becky-a woman I have only seen a handful of times-is now my legal guardian and care provider. She was a short woman with a blunt blonde bob that framed her heart-shaped face. Her eyes mirrored my mothers, golden brown. That was the reason I avoided eye contact with Aunt Becky because it hurt too much to see my mother in her.

I wasn't the same anymore because after my mother's death every trait my friends and family admired shut down. I no longer smiled genuinely or laughed till tears fell from my eyes. Joke's never left my lips or sarcastic expressions never humored people around me. I was a blank slate now, nothing. I couldn't help it, I tried to smile, but it was forced and I tried to laugh, but the sound sounded fake. I wanted so badly to be the same girl I was before my mother's death, but I wasn't. I was bland.

"Eleanor?" I heard my Aunts voice sound from behind the door, even her voice sounded like my mothers. The blonde woman opened the door without knocking and smiled at me, but it seemed fake,"How's the unpacking coming?" She asked as her hand still held onto the doorknob and she leaned against the white door frame. She looked like she wanted to leave the room the moment she opened the door.

I shrugged and looked around the room that held only three cardboard boxes. That's all that I had brought, the rest was my mother's stuff was in storage because my Aunt Becky claimed, 'It would clutter her house,' which I found disheartening because it was no secret she was loaded and her house was spacious and enormous. Maybe it pained her to see her sisters things around the house?

"I just finished moving my furniture around," I said looking down at my hands and brushing my finger over my soft nail beds. I wanted her to leave just as much as she already did.

She sighed and looked around, "Eleanor," She said in a tone that mimicked a mother, but she would never be my mother, "I thought I told you to wait on moving it," I bit my lip and bowed my head in shame of already getting scolded and it was my first day here. "I was going to have Gabriel do it so you wouldn't scuff up the floors," She finally entered the room and she began to examine the floors for scratches. Jokes on her I covered up the scratches with the rug she was standing on right now.

Gabriel. A name I've heard only a handful of times. He was my Aunt Becky's husband. They got married last year and the invitation didn't quite make it to London so my Mother and I never got to meet him. I've seen him in pictures and he was a handsome man, a good match for my Aunt considering she was also attractive. I don't remember much of what he looked like or anything about him other than the faint memory of my mother saying, "He must be the kinda douche that likes women only for their looks," In response to seeing them married. My aunt's personality was fake. She seemed nice on the outside, but once you got to know her you see the constant backhanded expressions she feeds you.

For example, when I arrived at her doorstep the first thing she said before I was engulfed in an awkward hug was,"Oh you look so much better than the last time I saw you". It made me cringe and give her an awkward look that she just brushed off and ushered me inside of her home. The last time I saw her was almost three years ago when I turned 15, for my birthday I wanted to go to Amsterdam. It was a 6-hour travel, but we did it and spent the day with my Aunt and Grandparents (may they rest in peace). At 15 I was at my awkward stage of puberty with acne littering my body and braces lining my teeth I still had my baby fat so I was just awkward looking. I didn't know how to tame my curly brown hair so it was always frizzy and my clothes never fit right. I wanted to apologize to my Aunt for that being the last image she had of me in her mind, but I kept my mouth shut.

Now I was 17 with my birthday just around the corner and my brown curly hair was waiver due to its length and I learned how to control the frizzy mess. My teeth were straight, but there was a slight gap every now and then when I forgot to wear my retainer for a while. I've remembered to wear it at night so the gap was nonexistent. My skin was clear most of the time, but if I ate too much chocolate I would wake up with red bumps on my pale skin.

A car door and a dog barking made me jump slightly on my seated position on the bed and my Aunt clapped her hands in excitement as she took off running down the steps. I furrowed my eyebrows and got to my feet and walked over to the window that out looked the garden and the circle driveway. I peaked my head slightly out so I could see what the commotion was and I saw my aunt run into the tan arms of a man and a golden retriever barked and ran around them. He was a lot taller than her so she really had to jump to wrap her arms around his neck. His short hair was dark and thick with curls and my aunt ran her fingers through them as she locked lips with the man. Her hand ran down and cupped his jaw that was had a slight stubble coating his skin. From here I could see that his lips were pink and plump as they caressed my aunts.

She giggled and pulled away, she smiled up at him and I wondered how she didn't faint from the pearly whites he showed her as he grinned back. He seemed younger than her, maybe he was older than he looked because from where I sat he looked maybe in his late 20's as opposed to my aunt in her late thirties. She'll be forty next month, but if you asked her how old she was turning she would lie and say 36. She's been saying that for three years now.

His muscles flexed under his blue t-shirt as he set her down and they began to talk, my Aunt doing most of the talking as she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. He let her pull him inside and just when they were almost inside he glanced up to my window and my eyes widened when we made eye contact. I quickly fell back into the room, embarrassed I was caught watching them, but I was a curious person I wanted to see what the commotion was about. I fell back onto my butt, but the rug I laid out to cover the scratches I created, broke my fall. So it didn't hurt too much, but I knew a bruise would find its way onto my hip or butt because I bruise like a peach.

"Eleanor! Eleanor, come down here!" I heard my Aunt shout and I sighed and got to my feet so I could begin my venture down the stairs and into the living room where I was commanded to come. I took a deep breath and I smoothed out the lilac summer dress I was wearing before I peaked my head around and looked into the living room. I saw the man and my Aunt talking and the dog from outside laid stretched out on the carpet and played with a rubber bone. He was awfully cute.

The dog or the man?

I cleared my throat to both stop my mind and my aunt's conversation and six eyes snapped in my direction. The dog hopped to its feet and began to run my way.

"Oh be careful he...bites," My aunt's words died on her tongue as the furry golden retriever began to lick my hand, begging to be pet. My eyes crinkled slightly at the adorable dog and I ran my fingers through his fur and gave him a good scratch. I loved dogs so maybe this place might not be too bad. I looked up at the couple in front of me and my Aunt looked confused, but the man next to her looked amused. I wonder why.

"Blue doesn't normally take to kindly to new people," The man spoke and his voice was deep and warm. Each word wrapped around me as I wordlessly nodded in reply.

"He f*****g hates me," My aunt said as she rolled her eyes and pouted with her arms crossed. Her language and her demeanor was juvenile and almost made her seem as young as the man next to her. My aunt did have a foul mouth and from the stern look, the man held I could tell he wasn't too fond of the language either. My mother and my aunt got their cursing from my grandfather and I too had the trait, but I learned to bite my tongue to prevent the crude words from falling from my lips. Sometimes a few words would escape, but that was rare.

The man took a deep breath and shrugged his lips into a smile as he held his hand out to me,"Hello, I'm Gabriel Wood It's so nice to finally meet you," He said and my eyes found it hard not to make eye contact. It was rare I looked directly at people, but it was like a magnet was making our eyes meet and it was strange. His eyes were like caramel and when he stepped forward the sun shined on his face through the open window and made them glow like a flame of a fire.

"Eleanor Hobbs," I muttered and lamely gripped his hand and I was quick to pull away from his warm hand. I gripped my arm with the opposite hand and looked down to the ground. I could tell he was still looking at me, but my aunt was quick to pull his attention back to hers.

"Gabriel, What are you think we should do for dinner?" She asked and she didn't wait for his reply because she began rattling off all the things she was hungry for, but he stopped her.

"How about we let Eleanor decide?" He said and I glanced up through my eyelashes and my lips parted in surprise. I quickly shook my head and awkwardly cleared my throat.

"No-No Aunt Becky can decide," I said and Aunt Becky smiled at my idea and she continued talking about where she wanted, not giving Gabriel enough time to change my mind. I decided to excuse myself while they discussed where they wanted to eat and I escaped to my room. It was odd calling this new room my room because when I thought of my room I imagined my posh styled room with floral prints on the wall and a quilted blanket that my mother and I made was on my bed. It was an awfully made quilt, but I slept with it all the time because it reminded me of the time we made it. We giggled for hours as we tried to stitch the fabric, but failed miserably. I knew that blanket was under the other items from our home in storage and I wished I would have packed it in my suitcase to have in my new room. This room had white walls and mahogany wood floors. There was a full-sized bed with two white nightstands and a white dresser and that was it. Nothing else. I had nothing else to put into it.

I collapsed onto my bed and I felt the breeze from the window brush over my thighs and I didn't even bother brushing down my dress to cover the skin. I let the fabric bunch on my hip bones and my legs fall off the side of the bed in an unladylike position. I stretched my arms out and I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was quiet in the room, but once my ears adjusted I could hear the birds chirping outside my window and I heard the ice in my forgotten Starbucks drink collapse as it melted. My breath began to get heavy as the relaxing sounds of summer lulled me to sleep. Even the water fountain in the garden out front made its way to my ears. Just as I was almost asleep my door burst open and a golden-haired dog ran into my room and jumped onto the bed and began to attack my face.

"Oh s**t, Blue!" I heard from the doorway, but I couldn't look over to see the man because the dog had no mercy as it attacked my face with puppy kisses.

"Blu-Bl-e-" My voice was muffled as I constantly had to purse my lips when his tongue slobbered over my lips.

I felt denim brush against my bare leg and I heard Blue getting scolded and soon the dog jumped off of my bed. I opened my eyes and i grimaced as I wiped my face with the back of my hand. It was gross, but I forgave the dog because it was so cute.

"Sorry about that, Eleanor ," Gabriel said with a sheepish smile and I was frozen as I looked up at him standing with one leg between my legs and the other bent on the bed. He quickly stepped back and I noticed his eyes glance down my body before he averted his gaze to the window and scratched the back of his neck. " I was going to knock and I didn't know blue was behind me he kinda just barged past me," He explained and I nodded as I sat up and a blush crept onto my cheeks as I brushed the dress back down my legs to cover my pink underwear. "Sorry," He said and he glanced over at me and he too had a slight blush of embarrassment on his cheeks.

"I-It's fine," I said dismissively and I stood and walked over and shuffled my feet into my sandals.

"We decided on Barbecue," He said and I looked down at my hands as I cringed slightly at the thought of eating meat, but I still nodded my head, "Sound good to you?" he asked and I forced a curt smile and nodded and said Barbecue sounded fine. When in reality it sounded like the worst possible choice they could have decided on, but I didn't want to be a bother considering I was the one intruding on their lives.

"I'm hungry, let's go you two!" We heard Aunt Becky shout from downstairs and that was enough to make our legs move and hurry down the stairs.