I sat down next to her and she handed me one of the beer bottles. “Auntie, I don’t know,” I said coyly. “I’m only 20… I probably shouldn’t.”
She rolled her eyes, knowing better as always. “Just take the damn thing,” she said. “You’ve earned it. I won’t tell Mom.” She was always the one to sneak me candy when I was a kid and my mom had forbidden it. Some things never change.
I took the beer, pretending to be reluctant about it, and started to drink. It was refreshingly cold and before I knew it, it was already half gone. My aunt had landed on one of the drama-laden reality shows she loved so much. We sat and watched it for a bit together, with me making snide comments about the show and her smacking me when I did. It felt like we hadn’t missed a beat.
Soon, she was out to the kitchen again and bringing me another beer. This one went a little more slowly, and I relaxed and enjoyed the company.
“You know,” my aunt said suddenly, “it’s occuring to me now how much you are starting to look like your dad. Is it bad if I say that?”
“Of course not, Auntie T,” I said. “I mean, he is… I mean, he was my dad. I was bound to look like him somehow. I guess I could do worse.”
Auntie T smiled. “He was a wonderful man, your dad. And by the way, you are both very handsome,” she teased, pinching my cheek. “I was always so jealous of your mom for having him. I wish I could have met a man like him for myself,” she said. Thinking back, we had a running joke in the family about who Auntie T would be bringing to Thanksgiving this year. She always found some characters. I think she was a little too much for most men, though. She was very determined, and didn’t take crap from anyone.
“Auntie T!” I exclaimed. “Are you saying you had a crush on my dad?” I smiled out of the corner of my mouth and took another drink. “I’m totally telling Mom.”
She turned bright red immediately. “Stop it, sweetie!” she said, pushing me jokingly. “Of course I could never do something like that. Your dad was far too in love with your mom to ever consider anyone else. And I had never seen your mom act the way she does … well, did, around your dad. I just wished I could have something like that. Something that was like, well, my destiny, I guess. I always felt like the men in my life were just there to pass the time.” She took another drink and gazed out the window for a minute. We both sat quietly for a moment in reflection.
My aunt went to the kitchen to get another beer for both of us. I sat there, taking it all in. Thinking about where our lives had all been just a couple years ago, and now, here we all were. I snapped back into reality when she came back and handed me my beer.
“You’re so much like him,” she said suddenly. “You have a really good heart. When I needed help moving, I knew you would be the first to volunteer. I think your sister stopped taking my calls, when she heard I was moving,” she said with a smirk. “You always do the right thing.” She rubbed my shoulder gently. “He would have been here helping, too.”
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