Island Lake

one.

Taking in the sight of a place I once loved. It's mine now, I own it. I never thought this would happen, after being sold for 15 years. It was finally put on the market. I contacted the seller right away, sold at his price. He thinks the place is worthless, that it's gross and he can't believe why others would want to stay here. It's not a permanent home. It's a summer home. I finally have the key.

"Just like I promised, I have it Great Grandma." I say to myself. I walk onto the porch, my great grandpa built. I sit down and take a deep breath.

"Hi love." I smile up at my lovely husband. He's pretty tall, with long curly hair. "Ready to dig into my childhood?"

"Is that a question?" He smiled back, and we both started cleaning. First we got the porch. It's more of a sunroom, with mesh where the windows would be dead bugs stuck in all the corners dust filled the air. The owner in between me and my great grandma's cottage did not take care of the place at all. He used it for hunting land- it is obvious.

"Disrespect to the Brott family cottage." I mutter quietly. Collin heard it and turned towards me.

"Hey, don't worry we will turn this into what it once was. What it will be. Everything is still here, yeah?" He says smoothly.

"Yeah."

"Then it's a simple deep clean. Get all of the cobwebs out and it's back in business." He grabs my hands and guides me to stand up. He swayed us back and forth. I close my eyes and pierce my lips,

"How did I get so lucky to have someone like you?" I whisper, leaning up to the man and kissing him.

"I love you."

"I love you more."

"I love you most." He quoted Tangled. I smile and step back, getting ready for a day full of cleaning and at the end, the call to my aunt to tell her to pack her clothes for a weekend full of nostalgia and memories.

~*~

"4 hours later and we're done." I say. Sweat dripped down my forehead as the hot summer air hit my face. I didn't turn the air on because there was no reason to. Collin fixed the water pump and all that's left is to start supper and finish putting the swing set up.

The broken trailer I once loved so dearly was fixed and filled with love. I grab my phone and dial my aunt's phone number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, I have news. Meet me up north?"

"Karen what are you saying? Great grandma sold it a while ago."

"Auntie, meet me up north."

"What, so you and Collin are married less than a month and you're breaking into people's houses?"

"No. It's a big surprise. Am on speaker?"

"No."

"I bought the property."

"Karen what? You're joking?"

"No, pack for the weekend. You have your own room up here. Don't tell anyone."

"I won't, oh my god. Karen, I freaking love you!"

"See you in an hour."

I hung up and looked over to Collin, he was starting dinner. An up north classic. Burgers, hot dogs and brats. I finished the hard work, putting the swings up. They aren't the ones from my childhood but, they were uncomfortable before and these ones are only a lot better.

About 45 minutes later me and Collin are sitting by the fire pit roasting hot-dogs and cooking the potatoes when my aunt drives in. Her iconic dark blue car comes to a stop next to me and Collins. Evan comes running out of the car to give me a hug. I am met with a whole bunch of smiling faces and a very happy aunt.

"Karen!" She cries as she gives me a hug.

"I have one more thing to put up on the wall but I want you to do the honors." I say, motioning for everyone to follow me. We walk into the house part of the trailer to a super clean living room. Me and Collin's wedding pictures with pictures of my aunts, 3 kids and my mom on the wall. Collins family and their pictures on the other wall. An open space for the glue of our families.

"Karen, this looks beautiful." My aunt cried out. I grab a picture frame. It has our great grandma, great papa and their dog princess. I handed it to her and she placed it on the nail on the wall. It was a perfect family tree.

"I miss that old lady." I say. "Hey, come here. Just because you never met her doesn't mean you aren't a part of this family. Invite your mom up. I'm sure she and Chris would enjoy it up here." Collin nodded his head and pulled out his phone.

"Karen, it's perfect."

~*~

"Now explain to me please. Why do they call you Karen?" Collin asked. "We've been together for years and I never asked."

"What do you not like being married to a Karen?" I joked.

"No no I love it. You're like a mystery book; a new chapter always has an interesting adventure."

"Well this will be an interesting chapter for you." I sigh and turn over to face him. I met his pretty brown eyes. "It started when I first moved in with my aunt. I just got back from camp and I wanted to make a camp dinner. We went to the store to get everything. I was with my uncle and surprise surprise I was wearing mom jeans.

I was complaining about the price of beef and I jokingly said I wanted to talk to a manager. I managed to get the price of it taken down 35 cents. I gotta say, it's definitely a core memory. My uncle from that day started calling me Karen. Then there was a time where my aunt and Uncle were working so much they had me watching my cousins every weekend they started calling me "Mama Karen" from there it stuck. I don't think that there was a day that they called me Kade."

"I'm not calling you Karen." I laughed at him and cupped his face.

"Please don't call me Karen." I kissed his nose then his forehead. "I love you."

"I love you more." 

~*~

word count: 1563