Far

twenty

I wake up to Harry gently shaking me and I look out the car window to figure out where I am at. My eyes lock with the beautiful house in front of me; it's dark, with trees all around it, flowers and vines, there's a woman standing on the porch with a cigarette in her mouth. I watch her take one last hit before she turns around and puts it in a tray.

"Is that your mother?" I ask.

What the hell?

He nods his head before unbuckling his seat belt and getting out of the car. He helps me down before interlocking our hands as we make our way to his mom.

He stops at the bottom of the stairs, "Mum, this is Ariana. Ariana, this is my mother, Anne."

"Hi," I smile as I walk up to shake hands with her.

She laughs and pulls me into a hug, "It's nice to meet you."

She smells like a warm fall night with a small hint of a freshly lit cigarette. Which is no surprise.

"Harry's told me a lot about you," she smiles.

He's away from one leg to the other, looking up at the sky.

Harry's never mentioned his mom to me, and I can't help but get that uneasy feeling back in my stomach. This feels so real but what if it's all a lie? Something's off and I can't figure it out.

Her eyes are bright and full of excitement, "I hope it's all good things."

She laughs and nods her head, "You two come inside. Dinner is almost ready."

Harry's accent sounds so much like hers. The only difference is how soft her voice is compared to Harry's.

She opens the door and my eyes widen at the beauty of the home. It reminds me of a cabin, but there's no wooden logs. There's tan walls with a dark oak lining, family pictures, there's a stair case lined with dim lights. It feels warm in here. Not just because of the heat, but it feels like what a home should feel like. We walk further into the house, and we get to the kitchen. To my right, there's a family room with the large TV turned to the news channel.

"There's a bad storm coming in tonight," she says after a few seconds.

"What time?" Harry asks.

"I think in about an hour or so. They said the rain is going to start soon. I hope it's not too bad when you guys leave."

I look straight ahead and there's, what my mother would call, a sun room. With plants and chairs, blankets and rug underneath the glass ceiling.

"Will that ever break?" I ask out of curiosity.

She follows my eyes, "Oh! No, those were designed specifically to withstand storms and such. They won't break."

I nod my head and smile. She tells us dinner is ready and we sit at the table, with Anne across from me and Harry to my left. For the next hour, we sit and talk about Harry as a child and he grumbles for seconds after the story of his diaper incident.

We eventually move to the family room, after I help Anne with the dishes. After a few minutes, we hear the rain hit the windows. It was slow at first, and then it started pouring.

"Are you kidding me?" Harry frowns as we look out the front door.

You can't see three feet in front of you, it's like we're behind a waterfall.