Page 31 of Our Unexpected Beginning
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Julia hefted the last bin of craft linens from the attic, it was her third and final trip of diving into her aunt’s fabric archives for a nineteen-twenties style lace suited for glovelettes for Mia’s dress.
“I thought I had too many bins.” Julia laughed, setting the bin on the bench in the kitchen.
“I have over sixty-two years worth of clutter that I’ve accumulated. Of course, I have more bins. Some were even my mothers!” Aunt Elaine sat on the kitchen floor, two bins fully rifled through and scattered around her. Her long salted brown hair was pulled up in a bun with two pencils. “Don’t worry, all this will be yours someday.”
“Perish the thought!”
“What, you don’t want a Singer from nineteen-twenty-two? Or Kayser stockings?”
“I’m talking about the thought of you being gone.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll live forever.” The older woman stood and fixed her tank top and yoga pants before heading to the fridge. “What pattern did you decide? Ring finger Disney princess style or are we encapsulating the thumb?” She returned to the table with two bottles of water.
“Mia is definitely a princess of course. I’m going to do an index loop, it will be more comfortable. I’ll do a web chain so we have wiggle room if we need it.” A pattern caught Julia’s attention and she pulled it from the side pile.
“I know the lace is supposed to be dainty and airy.”
“But. What were you thinking?”
Julia grabbed a pen and paper from the table and began scribbling as she talked. “Okay, what if underneath, from wrist to forearm, I could thread D-rings for some light ribbon tension?” She would love to incorporate a little bit of Nolan into Mia’s dress. The women had talked about the bride saving them for their daughter’s wedding, and it would make a beautiful heirloom piece.
“Well, if you do a corset tie like that, you’ll have to use a thicker thread. If you double-feed it you’ll have a hell of a time, but the work is worth it. I have extra finishing rods and bobbins.”
“I’d tell you that you were my favorite Aunt.”
“Thank heavens you only have one.”
“You got that right.” Julia closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose she sighed. The tension was building behind her eyes.
“You getting another headache?”
“I think it’s all the dust, it’s irritating my eyes.”
“There’s medicine in the bathroom, go lay down, we can finish tomorrow. You’ll be here a few more days?”
“I can stay until Thursday, I have a meeting on Friday.”
“Wonderful,” Aunt Elaine wrapped her arm around Julia’s shoulders. “Thank you for coming to help. It’s been hard with your uncle gone.”
“Hey, I get some spoils out of it too.” She hugged the older woman and took the bottle of water shoved in her hand.
“Lay down, I’ll order pizza in a bit.”
Julia headed upstairs, intent on burying herself under the blankets and succumbing to the darkness. Passing a gallery wall of art projects from decades before, she walked down the all-too-familiar hallway to the guest room.
Unofficially the room was hers, Devin’s death slowed family events, while Uncle Steven’s passing halted them entirely.
Growing up Julia would spend every spare moment either in her aunt’s kitchen or uncle’s garden. It was her favorite place to be.
It was an escape away from a home filled with the shadows of being the spare surprise child who would never meet the unattainable expectations of her mother.
Too loud, too weird, too big. She was the too much sibling—the child who wasn’t enough for Cassandra Sinclair.
Julia turned on the nightstand light and climbed into the double-sized bed. As she slipped beneath the covers, her phone binged, and she pulled it into the blanket cocoon to check her messages.
Before she could check her messages, a new one popped up, and she smiled at Graham’s message. The saved photo showed him and Sarah at a family outing. Sarah had convinced him to get matching face paint butterflies with her. She could charm her uncle into buying her an igloo in the tropics.
