The anniversary of Jacob and Barbara's death was hard on the entire Langston family, even eleven years after the fact. So they always spent the day together and that anniversary was no different. Maggie and Fred came over to Lucille and Henry's and ate dinner. When the night came to an end, Fred decided it would be best if he didn't drive home because he had had too much to drink. On the rare occasion that both he and Maggie slept over, Fred slept in the guest bedroom and Maggie slept in Jacob's bedroom. But that night was particularly hard on Maggie because she knew how much her father missed her mother and it was hard growing up without a mother, which was something that no eleven-year-old should go through. She knew that Lucille had a hard time too because she had lost a son, which is also something no parent should go through. Maggie figured that Lucille was still up, for an eleven-year-old, she was very intuitive to how her family members reacted to various things, and so she walked down the stairs, hoping she was still up. When she got closer to the bottom floor, she heard the familiar sounds of the television. She smiled to herself and continued walking down the stairs. When she made it down the stairs, she made her way into the living room.
Lucille heard the familiar sounds of feet walking down the stairs and looked over, thinking it was going to be her husband looking for her. But she was surprised when she saw her niece. She propped herself onto her elbow and looked at the young girl.
"Are you okay, sweetheart?" she asked softly. Maggie smiled at her aunt and nodded her head.
"Yeah, I can't sleep," Maggie replied. Lucille scooted closer to the back of couch. She was lying on her side, so Maggie had enough space to lie down as well. Lucille lifted up the blanket she was using and patted the couch, inviting Maggie over. Maggie immediately walked over to the couch and crawled in next to her aunt, lying on her side as well. Lucille covered her niece with the blanket she was using. She then wrapped her arm around Maggie comfortably. The closeness Maggie felt to her aunt was comforting to her because Lucille was as much of a mother to her as she was an aunt. She even cuddled closer to her, enjoying not only the comfort from her aunt, but also the heat. Both of them watched the late night infomercial that was currently playing. Nothing else was on, so that was what Lucille had decided on watching. She just needed something that keep her mind off of what that day signified.
Comfortable silence fell over Lucille and Maggie before that silence was broken.
"Auntie Lucille?" she asked.
"Hm?" Lucille breathed as she looked down at Maggie.
"What was my mom like?" she asked. Maggie flipped over at looked up at Lucille.
Lucille looked surprisingly down at her niece.
"Oh," Lucille said. She thought about what she was going to say. "You remind me of her," she added. Lucille moved her hand and ran her thumb against Maggie's cheek, smiling at her lovingly. "You have her eyes," she added. Maggie just smiled at all of the information.
"Really?" she asked, obviously happy.
"Oh, yeah," Lucille said as she softly laughed. "She was so smart, just like you," she added. She thought Barbara and Fred where a perfect match for each other. She always liked Barbara, but when Henry told her that she was having an affair, her thoughts about the other woman changed. She also couldn't help but blame her for the death of her baby boy. True, it wasn't entirely her fault, but she couldn't help herself. But that wasn't to stop Lucille from telling the truths about her similarities with her daughter. Maggie just looked up at her with the happiest expression. Lucille couldn't help but mirror that happiness. She loved seeing the younger girl happy. Lucille kissed her niece on the forehead and moved a strand of hair away from her face.
"Thank you, Auntie Lucille," Maggie said softly as she gave her aunt the best hug she could give while lying on the couch on her side. Lucille hugged Maggie back and kissed her forehead again.
"You're welcome, sweetheart," Lucille replied. Maggie just stayed in the position she had turned over to. She even cuddled closer to her aunt's body. Lucille wrapped her arm around Maggie's body again. With the heat from her aunt's body and the information about her and her mom's similarities fresh in her mind, Maggie's eyes started to droop with sleep. Lucille watched as her eyes fluttered with sleep.
"I love you, Auntie," Maggie said sleepily. Maggie saw Lucille as her mother and she loved her all the more for it.
"I love you too," Lucille replied as she looked at the eleven-year-old cuddling closer to her body and smiled. Even though she missed Jacob more than anything in the world, she was happy to have a child to cuddle with, to take care of, to do the typical mother things with. That's when Lucille started to fall asleep as well. So she turned off the TV, moved around the couch so she was comfortable and fell asleep.
The next morning, Fred and Henry, who usually woke at the same time, both stumbled out of their rooms and down the stairs, grunting 'good mornings' to each other.
"Is Lucille up yet?" Fred asked his bother.
"I don't know, she never came back up last night," Henry replied. Both of them came downstairs and found Maggie and Lucille sleeping on the couch. They both looked at each other and just laughed.
"That does not look comfortable," Fred said when his laughter subsided.
"They're both really small," Henry said when his laughter subsided as well. "So it's easy for them to get comfortable," he added almost jealously. His wife could fall asleep in the most unusual places or positions and most of the time it was because of her size. Both of them just then walked into the kitchen and made breakfast for themselves before both women woke up. Lucille woke up first and then Maggie woke up not long after.
"Hi, sweetie," Lucille said as Maggie started to rub her eyes.
"Hey," Maggie said as she smiled up at her aunt. She couldn't remember the last time she slept next to someone and she was glad it was with Lucille. After the two of them finally woke up, they both sat up and walked into the kitchen, where the Langston brothers making breakfast. The rest of the morning the Langston family ate breakfast together and enjoyed each other's company.