Chapter 1

Margaret had just removed the last apple pie from the oven and was setting it on the large family dining table when she heard a knock on the kitchen door. This only meant it had to be one of her daughters.

"Come in, the door isn't locked," she said as she adjusted another pie on the table.

The door opened and a young freckled girl of about twenty years came in with a lot of groceries. As usual, she had on a bright smile and her jet black hair stood out against her pale skin color.

"Mom I'm back! Oh they smell yummy, are those pies?" she bellowed as she put down the bags she was holding and hopped down to the table.

"Wow apple pies! My favorite!" she said with a bright smile. For a girl her age, Audrey was not fully matured and simple things excited her. People often said she was retarded, but she was actually a brilliant girl who just saw the world in a different light.

"Could you help me put the groceries in their places, sweetie?" Margaret was already setting the glasses and Audrey went to get the groceries. "Sure thing," she replied. "By the way, where's dad?" Pete was usually doing one thing or the other and right now he was changing a light bulb in his room.

"He's fixing a faulty bulb in his room. Christina will soon be here with her husband," She added, as she thought Audrey might want to know.

Margaret finished setting the table and went to have a quick shower while Audrey went to her room. Soon enough they heard a knock on the front door and Audrey went to open it.

As expected, it was Christina and Michael who had arrived.

"Hello Christina! Hello Michael!"

"Hello Audrey" Michael replied with a smile.

Audrey went to hug her sister and she returned the embrace. "Hello Audrey. How have you been?" She asked with a polite smile. She dusted her dress and straightened her back after the hug.

"I've been fine, you?" Audrey was more than excited to see her sister home and was hyperactive.

"Good," she replied simply with a small brief smile and she went to sit in the sofa close by with Michael who followed her. Unlike her younger sister, Christina was always calm and way too mature for her age. She was a person who didn't show much emotion and spoke little. Audrey had once told her that she was sometimes scared of her because no one knew what she was thinking or what she was planning in her mind. But that was how she had always been and nothing Audrey would say could change it.

"I'll go tell mom and dad you're here. You can sit at the table while you wait, okay?" Audrey said and she went off to call them. "Mooom! Daaad! Christina and Michael are here!" she hollered before even leaving the sitting room.

Moments later the whole family was at the table eating, having fun conversations, with Christina contributing little at a time to the discussions and Audrey sharing funny stories of her wild adventures.

"Are you okay, Christina?" Pete had asked when he saw that she was a little duller than she usually was. Pete was always the first to notice something about his daughters and he was starting to be more concerned about her. When she got married, she was happy, possibly happier than she had ever been at home but that started to change three years into the marriage.

"I'm fine, Dad" she smiled politely and was genuinely thankful for his concern. Among everyone in her family, she was closest to her father and she shared a lot of things with him.

"You know," Margaret began to speak but stopped to take a sip of her orange juice, "your former schoolmate, Mary, remember her? She gave birth to a set of twins last month. A boy and a girl."

As she said this, Christina only turned duller and said nothing to respond.

"Oh wow! this casserole is really delicious! Have you all tried some?" Audrey quickly spoke as she sensed the fun atmosphere subtly changing. But nobody said anything else throughout the rest of dinner.

After dinner, Pete and Michael went out on the porch at the back of the house while Audrey went out to buy some stuff she had forgotten to buy when she went to the store earlier in the day. Margaret was in the kitchen doing the dishes with Christina assisting her. She said nothing at all while they were washing the plates and neither did her mother. But she remembered her mother's comment during dinner and felt very sad.

Outside, Michael was telling Pete about some funny football moments he had watched and they shared a good laugh until Pete decided to say what was weighing on his mind.

"Michael, I'm sure you know that Christina has been feeling down because of her condition. And I know that you don't like seeing her like this. What can we do to help her out?" Christina was unable to give birth nor carry a child. She had suffered three miscarriages all around the third months of pregnancy. This was her sixth year married and they all knew how much she wanted a baby. They had tried adopting a baby but it was so complicated that they gave up on it. They had also tried IVF twice but neither was successful.

"I don't know, honestly. The last surrogacy we tried failed. We've done everything possible, it honestly hurts to see her so deep in her shell," Michael sighed heavily. They sat together silently for a while, each in their own thoughts but what neither of them knew was that someone was listening in on their conversation from the door, inside.

Audrey had returned from the store a while ago and, finding nothing else to do, she decided to hang out with her father and Michael. She was already at the door that lead to the porch when she stopped on hearing their conversation. She waited to hear what they were saying to see if it was okay to join in.