A Season of Firsts

Chapter 32 - Not Enough Time

A day before December 31st

AIDEN

"Really, mom?"

"Really." Mom looks ready for anything. Well, anything except a warmer temperature. Clothed head to toe in a beanie, a scarf, gloves, earmuffs, boots and no doubt at least three pairs of socks, layers of shirts and a winter coat on top of it all, she looks like she put on her entire closet.

"But I was just about to go visit Emma," I say.

I haven't been able to see Emma once since I got home four days ago, even though that's all I want to do. Mom and dad have been insisting we spend some more 'family time' together, which has consisted of playing games such as Scrabble and Boggle, eating gingerbread cookies and drinking hot chocolate, skyping our grandparents who love to talk for ages (that must be where Stevie gets it from) and Stevie and I bickering with each other when we get bored. Now mom is insisting that we go for a walk in the absolutely freezing weather outside.

"Does she know that you're coming?" Mom asks.

I shake my head.

"Well, then, you can just drop by after our quick family walk." Mom smiles at me.

"But I want to-" I start.

"Enjoy a lovely walk with your sister and parents. I know." Mom finishes for me.

"You don't know-" I try again.

"How much you're looking forward to it." Mom grins at me childishly.

"Can we just-"

"Leave already? But of course," mom winks at me and then yells for my dad and Stevie to get here so that we can go.

I hang my head slightly in submission. I know when I've been beat.

Once we're out of the house and trudging, me miserably, Stevie with a skip in her step, and mom and dad amiably, across the sludgy, snowy lawn, I look up at the sky. It looks dark and threatening, like there will be a storm later.

"How long will this walk be, exactly?" I wonder aloud.

"Hmm...since you seem to be enjoying it so much, there's no rush," mom smiles smugly at me.

I give her a 'seriously?' look and carry on walking. Jiro, my German shepherd and faithful companion, bounds along beside us, chasing after Stevie.

We're walking on the pavement beside the street when an old black Ford whizzes past us. It gives Stevie a fright, which serves her right for walking so close to the road when I've repeatedly told her not to. It gives me a fright too, not because of the speed it passes us at, but because of the face I saw behind the wheel.

I thought he'd left, Emma said he had.

What is Blaze doing here?

~ ~ ~

After the hour long walk, we finally start to make our way back home.

"See, Aiden? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No," I tell my mom, before grumbling under my breath, "it was worse."

"I heard that," Stevie gives me a sly look.

"Me too," mom says, and throws a play punch to my shoulder. "You just wish it could be longer, don't you?"

I shake my head at her and grin. My mom can be a tease sometimes, and I'm grateful she has a sense of humour.
My dad, on the other hand, is a very serious man. I glance at him now only to see he's frowning, oblivious to the moment the rest of us are sharing and probably deep in thought. Maybe he's thinking about something to do with work.