Chapter-6

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 druggie to junk. 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.

"How far is it along?" She asks as I reach my palette.

"I am almost done Lydia. I just can't get this one detail right. I want it to look like she is reluctant to leave her safe haven. But I think this looks more clingy-ish." I point towards my painting, featuring a bright butterfly that morphed out of the pupa. One of its wings spread beautifully, ready to explore the world, while the other wing is still holding onto the pupa.

"It's beautiful Allie. I knew you had it in you. But this crossed all my expectations darling. Those tiny details, the background. Even those tiny eyes which look unsure. It looks professional." She comments making my cheeks warm with embarrassment. Lydia Alverez is a very big deal in the Art industry. My biggest critic and even big supporter. To receive such a huge compliment about my work from her means the world to me.

"Thanks, I guess. But Lydia, something still feels off," I whine.

"Umm... Maybe you should try sharpening the wing that is ready to fly. Like, let that wing grab viewers' eyes first. That way, it looks more like it is ready to fly but hesitating," she explains with her brows furrowed in concentration.

"I guess I'll just do that. Thanks a lot Lydia. You are my savior," I say as I go back to making the changes she suggested.

After almost an hour of silence filled with nothing but sounds of brush strokes, I completed my piece, and the final output, made me feel at ease. It looked more like how I visioned it in my head.

The sound of Lydia cleaning her brushes made me turn to find her almost done with her work. Her work never fails to amaze me. It's as if with just a few strokes of the brush, she could summon life to her paintings. It's mesmerizing to watch her work.

"You ready to show it to him?" She asks referring to Aaron making me shrug. I wasn't planning on keeping it a secret from Aaron or anything. It's just that, it never came up. And, I wasn't confident enough.

"He'll love it," she added. I know Aaron loves my paintings. But he is probably being a good friend.

"That boy is a sucker for anything remotely related to you and I am sure he'll consider it a blephasmy to not know about this beautiful creation of his," she said making me laugh at her comments. She wasn't wrong though. He is gonna sulk so bad when he gets to know I got a whole painting done without his knowledge.

A sudden thought crossed my mind out of nowhere making me frown.

"What's wrong Allie girl?" Lydia asks as she crosses the space between us.

"Lydia, are you really ok with Aaron spending so much time with me? I mean, he could do so many things in the time he takes care of me. Aren't you worried that I'm going to hold him back from making it big?" I voiced out my concerns. Lydia was happy to have me home. Aaron said she did not mind Aaron spending his nights at my place. But we never actually talked about it in person.

"What? Are you alright sweetie? Did someone feed you such bullshit? Just give me the names and I'll kick their asses into the sunset" She answers totally missing my point.

"I am not a kid Lydia. I don't need someone to point out the facts for me. You and I, both of us know how talented Aaron is. Without the hindrance of a little girl who needs his constant supervision and emotional support, I am sure he can in a totally different place than he is today," I rambled. I never voiced them out with Aaron, but the fact that I could be baggage in his life bothers me constantly.

"Yeah! In a totally different place. Like in juvie or maybe some hospital after getting beaten to pulp." Her answer made my eyes go wide. She did not mean it. Did she?

"By now, I'll assume you know all about his birth and past," I nodded in confirmation.

"The day my parents decided it would be fun to ruin his childhood by dumping their nightmare on him is the day I lost him Allie. From then on, I've never seen my little boy laugh wholeheartedly. Not until you entered his life. You have not seen Aaron before you Allie. He was constantly angry. Angry at my parents, angry at himself, angry at the world. I was afraid for him Allie. There wasn't a day I went to bed praying that by some miracle, I d get my baby boy back. You were that miracle sweetie. You changed his life for good," she said making my jaw drop. She has no clue. Aaron changed his ways for her. To make her happy.

"No Lydia, you are the miracle in his life. The day Aaron saw tears in your eyes was the day he decided he'd chose you over his stupidity. I know its not my place to tell you this, but that boy will do anything to see you happy. And changing his ways was easiest of them," I said trying to convince her of the fact the she was in fact the reason for her son getting better. Lydia nodded her head, a small weak one with tears in her eyes.

"Maybe sweet girl. Maybe I am the reason for him trying to change his ways as you are saying. But you, my girl, make him happy. Happier than I've ever seen him," she said.

"You know Allie, you aren't a miracle just in his life. You were one in mine too. Both you and Kay. Growing up, I always wanted a sister. Someone I can share every little detail of my life with. Someone to gossip. I was always jealous of the bond my friends shared with their sisters. I had a cousin. You can say we were very close, still are. But she wasn't mine.

When I realized having a sister is no more possible, I started dreaming of having a daughter. A little girl I can dress up, play tea parties with, someone I can spoil all I want. Don't get me wrong. Aaron is, and will always be the best thing that happened in my life. But there was always a little regret for not having a daughter.

However, you, my darling, changed it all. You became the daughter I always wanted and gave me a sister in form of Kay. There is no way I d ever think of you as anything less than a miracle that changed our lives. Mine and Aaron. You brought us the happiness we thought we lost. And for that, I'll forever be grateful.

You are not holding him back Allie. You are the reason he is moving forward in his life without getting lost in the past." Even before she ended her sentence, I hugged her, hard. Big ugly tears started rolling down my face. I wanted to hear those words. And to know that I am not a bad thing in his life, from the one person who always believes that her son deserves the best put my doubts to rest.

And above all, to know that she saw a daughter in me and a sister in Kay made me realize just how lucky we got. She took up the role of being a mother and sister we lost when mom died. I had no words to explain how this feeling. The feeling of finally reaching home after a long tiring journey. The happiness of being belonged.

"This... This... Thank... I don't... I love you" I stutter.

"Hush little girl. You don't have to say a thing. I know you love me. And I love you more. Don't let my boy hear that though. He'll go ballistic because you said those words to me before him," she joked making me smile.

" You know it's not like that Lydia," I smiled. My chest feels a little heavy as I say those words though. Is it because of my earlier conversation with Lydia? Or is it because of the realization that it in fact is not like that.