Together forever

Chapter-7

August 2011

Althea.

"Allie, Look what I found!" Lydia, Aaron's sweet mom almost screamed as she entered the house. It's Friday night and we decided to spend the night at Aaron's place as Kay has a date lined up tonight.

"Woah! What made you this excited Lydia?" I ask laughing at the look of pure bliss on her face.

"Today's shopping sesh was such a success baby girl. You wouldn't believe all the stuff we finally got our hands on," she explained like a kid who got her favorite toffee. Kay and Lydia met for the first time when Kay came to pick me up from Aaron's place, a few weeks after I met the boys. With their similar interests and likes, they hit it off almost instantly, and soon they became as close as me the boys.

"Oh! Let me guess. That blue dress you were eyeing for almost 6 months is on sale?" I guessed. Both Kay and Lydia loved shopping and they made it a mission to go shop together at least once a week. Sometimes I would be dragged along. I love spending time with both of them but shopping with them is no less a torture.

"Nah girl! I could get it. However, Kay got her nude shoes she has been eyeing and I, found this," she said while revealing a beautiful red off-shoulder cock-tail dress. To say it's beautiful would be an understatement. The sheer elegance the dress radiated made me feel like royalty just by standing in its presence.

"Oh my god, Lydia! This is so beautiful!" I say as I move towards it to feel the softness of the material.

"It is! Isn't it? And guess what? It was on sale Allie! We got it for almost half the original price," she started screaming again making me laugh at her childlike excitement.

"Now go and try it on," she said thrusting the dress towards me.

"It's for me?" I ask, confused.

"Of course it's for you baby girl. I am too old for that kind of dress, remember," she answered wiggling her eyebrows.

"I love it Lydia. But I really can't accept something like this. It's too much," I say feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Oh hush now! Like I said it was on sale and Kay paid half the price. So it is an early birthday present from both of us," she says with a smile.

"And my birthday is 6 months away Lyds," I remind while moving towards the bedroom, fully aware that trying to convince her would be futile. With the number of dresses and other stuff she gets me, you'll probably think I am her child and not Aaron. I know she can afford it without a trouble. But, it still feels weird to accept gifts from someone that is not Kay or Jake. I think I am slowly getting used to it though.

After gushing over the dress and various other things she got from their shopping trip, we settled ourselves on the kitchen table and started gossiping while munching on her homemade cookies. Lydia makes mean cookies. Each one of us including Kay are addicted to them like a junkie to drugs. She remembers all our preferences and has a batch prepared at all times. Ray and Mase see more of a mother in Lydia than they do in their own mothers. So, in short, she became mother hen for a whole bunch of us.

"Let's get working on that piece of yours," she said while moving towards the gallery that held her paintings. And mind. I always knew I loved to paint. However, I considered it more of a hobby to kill my time than something I could seriously pursue. However, Lydia saw me sketch once and she decided to be my tutor. She thinks my skills are not supposed to go unnoticed and announced me as her artistic heir. Her words, not mine. I loved every moment I spent with her though. Every little trick she taught me to improve my skills made me fall in love with this world of paints more and more. Her passion rubbed me off and now, I am actually thinking of pursuing a career in making a living out of paintings.