@ First Sight

She awoke to the calling of her name just outside the door. "Beeeccaaaa. Wake up. Lunch is almost ready."

Lunch?

She hadn't yet opened her eyes, knowing the curtains were always tied open, rolled over to spare them the abuse of the morning light. Mornings were always the worst. The dull ache pulsating throughout her head was a reminder of the amount of alcohol she'd thrown back last night. This was not going to be a pleasant awakening.

Might as well get this over with.

Her eyes popped open, and for a moment, allowed her to take in the fullness of the midday sunlight blaring throughout the room.
Then it hit. Enough pain to have brought her to her knees if she'd been standing. Her head felt like a throbbing mound of flesh. Hangovers were not her specialty given the little amount of alcohol she'd consumed in her short twenty five years. She moaned in a whisper, " I'll never do that again," while fluttering her eyelids to slowly adjust her eyes to the light.
After propping herself up, swallowing a couple of aspirin she retrieved from the nightstand and sighing in anticipation of relief, she relaxed her back against the headboard and looked around the room. It was the same bedroom she had slept in for the past five years. Nothing new.
Why then did she have this nagging feeling that something was different? Not a difference with the room, but a change in her. Like her mind held a secret that it was intent on keeping, for the sheer enjoyment of teasing her with its knowledge.

What happened last night?

Nothing she could recall outside the normal Walker family Fourth of July reunion. Her family had always been very close and her mother had a hard time letting go of her and Charlie when it was time to leave the nest, so she implemented a rule of at least one reunion a year. Most years the family was able to get together more than the required one time, but if not, they were always guaranteed a gathering on Independence Day.

So what made last night any different?

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember.
She recalled arriving around six, and being greeted with a near suffocating hug from her brother. Things had surely changed between her and Charlie since they were younger. Back then he would have acknowledged her with a swift kick to the shin or a punch in the arm, before spinning around and running out of sight. She never took the time to chase after him knowing that he would always return home around dinner time. He wouldn't dream of missing a good meal. She'd wait in his room or in the upstairs bathroom, ready to pounce the second he walked into range. It was a continuous game of cat and mouse throughout their entire adolescence. But eventually everyone grows up. And with his first year of wedded bliss, and the expectancy of a baby next month, he'd by all means grown up into a fine young man.


"How's it flowing, Sprinkle?"

Okay, so he hadn't matured in all aspects.

"Stop calling me that," she replied with a swift punch in the arm.
"I can't help it. Am I wrong or wasn't it you who almost peed their pants in public?" he teased.
"That was a long time ago, not to mention the fact that I was drunk at the time, so drop it already. Anyway, I'm doing just fine, thanks for asking. Where's Sharon?"
"Bed rest. The doctor thinks it's best that she take it easy. Besides, she's miserable anyway, the heat's really getting to her."
He leaned in close, "Personally, I love this time of year."

"Yeah well, you might feel differently if you were carrying around a baby in this kind of heat."
She tapped him on the belly and laughed. "Although, it does appear that you've sprouted quite a pooch of your own since I last saw you."

Her eyes fluttered open, pausing the memory. The conversation between her and Charlie last night had flowed as easily as ever.....