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“And then when my husband died, I thought ‘Why sell this house and live in a smaller one?’ The best memories of my life occurred in this home, and I love it. Leaving it would mean leaving a part of me.”
The woman rambled on as she set the table. “By the way, I never properly introduced myself. My name is Clotilde, I’m 45 years old, and this is the home I moved into when I married Harold. May he rest in peace.” She rubbed her eyes. “I’m not usually awake this early, but I wanted to go for a walk. It’s okay though, because instead I found these two beautiful children outside.”
Cole grinned wildly and gave her a high five.
“He sure is something,” Clotilde told Avery “Those eyes…”
Avery simply nodded.
“Would you guys like to take a bath while I cook breakfast? I don’t have any children’s clothes, but I’ve got robes. You can wear those while your clothes wash…” she paused, then quickly added “That is, if you want.”
Avery simply looked at her in amazement. Why was this woman being to kind to her? This must be some kind of trick. No one had truly cared in years.
Nodding again, she followed Clotilde to the bathroom.
A few minutes later she found herself seated at the table, her blond hair tightly wrapped in a towel, her body enveloped in an enormous white robe. Cole was in one of Clotilde’s shirts, except it looked more like a dress on him.
Avery looked at him, and he made a funny face. A smile slowly formed on her face, and Clotilde was delighted.
“Just as I thought, you’ve got a beautiful smile! Would you like more toast?” she asked.
"Okay.."
“Aww.. looks like somebody is still tired” Clotilde whispered.
Cole was fast asleep on the table.
“Where did he get those eyes? They’re beautiful…you have them too.”
Avery smiled inwardly. It was the third time she had called them beautiful.
She hadn’t heard anybody compliment her in years.
“He got them from my mother, ” she found herself whisper slowly, “so does my other brother, ”she paused, but then decided to tell her “so did my little sister. She’s gone now.”
Clotilde’s eye’s filled with tears. “I’m so sorry sweetie, I’m sure she was amazing.”
Avery simply nodded. She got up and picked up Cole, then gently placed him on the couch.
Walking back, she began clearing the table. She snuck a look at Clotilde, and noticed the woman looking genuinely concerned and curious.
Avery didn’t know what to do. Should she trust her? I have nothing to lose. I’m going to trust one more person, I’m going to give it one more try. I'll tell her. I've already hit rock bottom, there's not much else that can go wrong.
“His eyes, they were the bluest. It used to drive girls crazy” she smiled, it hurt to remember, but she had to. “He would apologize to his girlfriends just by looking deep into their eyes. They’d be lost. It used to make them angry, that he had that power over them.”
Clotilde was listening carefully, smiling as she imagined this boy.
“When my other brother was born, not Taylor… that's the one with the blue eyes.. but the one after him, he didn’t have those eyes. Neither did my oldest brother, the one older than Tay..”
Clotilde looked slightly confused at all the siblings she was naming, but beckoned her to continue.
“After Zac, the one after Tay, my older sister was born. She didn’t have them either, and Taylor was thrilled. He loved being the only one with blue eyes.”
She sat on the couch now right next to Cole, and Clotilde sat on the one in front of her.
“Then… then I was born. I didn't have them either. He was ecstatic.”
Clotilde laughed, slightly surprised at all that this girl was telling her. Little did she know who Avery was, who her brothers were, and how empty Avery felt.
“There seems to have been a lot of you guys..” Clotilde told her “I never had any brothers or sisters.”
“Oh there’s more! Then came my little brother Mackenzie. Well he’s not so little anymore. He’s gotta be umm..”
Avery’s forehead wrinkled in thought .
“He’s gotta be eleven now. Wow… Anyways, he just had these brown eyes. Tay was like ‘Alright! Still the only man with the girl getter eyes.’”
Clotilde laughed, “I like this kid… he sounds like an entertaining one to be around.”
Avery smiled “He was silly…a clothes freak too, he wore tight pants when the style was baggy, listened to the Beatles when it should have been rap… Well we all did, but everyone just picked on him the most. He was such an easy target. ”
She drew her legs in and wrapped her arm around them.
“Then came my little sister Zoe… My mom was going to name her Kaylee, or maybe Christina, but she looked so much like Zac … so mom wanted a name that started with the letter Z. Mackenzie yelled ‘ZOE!’ out one day during dinner; he loved Sesame Street… and my mother’s eyes lit up. We all thought she was insane when she exclaimed 'Mac… you’re a genius!' but nothing could change her mind. She laughed and laughed… she was so happy back then..” Her voice trailed away, and her eyes clouded over.
Clotilde found herself fascinated with this child’s story.
“Did she have the eyes... did she?”
“She did.”
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