Premonitions | ✓

twelve

 "Stand By Me" -Ben E. King

"Anna!"

     Lars jumped some at the sound of the loud house. 

     It was well after dinner time, the time of winding down for the night, but that's not what was happening in the one-story home. Anna let go of Lars' hand, making him honestly sad about it due to him no longer having her as a crutch to hold onto.

     The moment the couple walked through the door, after Lars had to bend down some, the squeals of children and barking bounced off the plain white walls. 

     Anna almost jumped Lars because of the action of him having to duck his head under the door frame. Still, she had to refrain herself as two large and lean dogs of different breeds jumped the pair in excitement, just as two very different-looking women squeezed Anna in a tight embrace. 

     "Hi, Kat, Aunt Lynn," Anna mumbled into their shoulders with a sad smile. 

     Kat was a tall woman, almost as tall as Lars. She had large hips and pasty skin with dirty blonde hair. This was the cousin Anna told Lars about on the plane ride over.

      On the aircraft, Anna had quizzed the large man on her family members that might be at the house when they arrived. Scott was very vague about who was there visiting, so Anna had to guess. 

     The other woman, Aunt Lynn, was extremely tan with ash brown hair and blonde highlights. She and Anna shared a similar nose, but that was about it, the fifty-year-old woman was also taller than Anna, but only by a few inches. Aunt Lynn, as Lars remembered it was her mother's sister. 

     She had always looked at her aunt as a second mom. 

     "Oh my God," the cousin groaned excitedly, "Who the hell is this hunk of beef behind you looking like a deer caught in headlights?" Kat asked.

     Anna giggled, a blush overtaking her cheeks as she looked back at him with love, "This is, Lars. Be nice to him, please."

     Kat waved a hand in the air, taking Lars' bicep in her slim fingers to drag him out of the mudroom. The room was so small, that Anna had to move up against the wall for Lars to follow Kat out and into the small living room. He once again had to duck his head under the doorway, making Anna's blush stay. 

     Her Aunt Lynn laughed down at her niece, "God, Anna. You look amazing. I always knew you could lose the weight, but I didn't know you were gonna lose so much."

      Anna learned a long time ago how to bite her tongue. 

      She also always knew that her weight was the talk of the town when her family got together, even behind doors she heard them gossip. She didn't know why since almost everyone in her family had large figures. 

     "Thanks, Lynn. Did the kids come with you?" Her aunt nodded, ushering her into the living room where she found four kids running around. The oldest was Nicholas who sat on his phone on the couch, petting one of the dogs absentmindedly.

      Last time she saw him, he was eleven years old. Now he was a full adult. Anna stopped herself from running up to the tan and lanky kid, squeezing him to death. 

     Next was Scarlet, who had pink dyed into the natural blonde hair she had inherited from her biological father. Last time Anna saw her, the girl was only eight and had a mouth that ran a mile a minute. She played with two younger kids that were ginger, like their father. A girl that was no more than seven and a boy that couldn't be more than two years old.