Chapter 3: The Lake House
Antonia and Joel push their empty bikes to the top of a hill. They've been traveling for hours, avoiding any infected and military along the way. But, they've finally made it to the Rodriguez Family Lake House.
"There it is. Looks the same as the last time I saw it last year."
Antonia starts to make her way down the hill. Joel stays where he's at for a moment in awe of the lake. It was at its peak level, sparkling with the setting sun reflecting on the surface. Joel could not believe that something this beautiful still exists. He was in awe of nature when Antonia's voice brings him back.
"Hey! Come on! I'm not gonna wait forever for ya. We'll have plenty of time to gawk over nature later."
She continues down the hill and parks her bike next to the house. Joel joins her and parks his bike right next to hers. He looks up and sees Antonia at the door to the house. She is staring at it with a glazed look. Antonia was remembering the last time she was there.
It was early June and Antonia had just reached the lake house. She pulled up in her 2012 black diamond colored Hyundai Elantra. She stayed in her car for a moment. She was alone with her thoughts. She hasn't seen her family since Christmas because her masters work kept her busy during the school year. Now she has two months free, and what better way to spend her free months than with her family on the lake. She went inside and her sister noticed her as soon as the door closed.
"TONI!" her sister squealed. She ran over to Antonia and gave her a big hug, almost knocking Antonia over. Antonia was the oldest and her sister was the middle child. Her parents had four kids; Antonia was 23, Roberto was 20, Alexandra was 17 and Ricardo was 10.
"Hey, Alex. How was school?"
Alexandra looked at Antonia and rolled her eyes.
"Junior year? Boring as ever! But senior year is gonna be AWESOME!"
Antonia chuckled. Alex sounded just like Antonia when she was in high school. Antonia hated school, and now shes entering into her seventh year of college. She enjoys it now and her masters program is giving her a lot of opportunities that she never thought about.
"Well, I hope so. You don't want to leave high school on a sour note and not want to go to college." Antonia paused for a second. "You are going to college right?"
"Of course! Juilliard is looking into recruiting me into their acting program. I'll be one step closer to Broadway!"
Alex always dreamed big. Antonia smiled.
"Ok good. Where's the rest of the gang?"
"Rob is out on the lake fishing already, Ricky is upstairs sleeping, mom is finishing settling in upstairs and dad getting the grill ready for dinner."
"Ok. I'll go get settled in and meet you in ten minutes. Got get your swimsuit on."
"Already got it on! I'll go and help dad until you're ready."
Alex ran outside. Antonia grabbed her bags that she dropped when Alex grabbed her and went upstairs to her room. She plopped down her stuff on the bed and grabbed her swimsuit and cover dress. As soon as she took off her shoes, there was a knock on her door. Antonia went to the door and opened it to her mother's smiling face.
"Mom!" Antonia grabbed her mom in a big hug. Her and her mom have always had a special bond together.
"Careful Toni," her mom said. Antonia let go and realised what her mom ment. She looked down and gasped.
"Mom," Antonia looked back up. "You're pregnant again?!"
"Yep," her mom chuckled. "You're gonna have another sister."
"How long have you been expecting?"
"I'm four months along. And no, the doctor hasn't told us what we are having yet but I've figured out the pattern. I had you, then your brother, then your sister and then your little brother. So if the pattern holds, I'll have a little girl."
"Mom! Why didn't you text me when you found out?"
"You were busy and I thought to wait until now. Since I'm in my 40's this is a huge risk pregnancy. The doctor's keeping a close eye on this one. Ricky was a high risk because we waited so long before having him after Alex. So waiting 10 years before this one is a bigger risk. Not just for the baby but for me as well."
"I understand mom. Especially since grandma was diagnosed with cancer at this age. How she battled it for 16 years, I will never know."
"Your grandmother was a very strong woman and went into remission twice before she died from it. She would be proud of you, you know that Toni."
"Yeah, I know. She's the reason why I wanted to study Biochemistry. To find new ways of treating cancer. Perhaps even curing it one day."
Her mom hugged Antonia. She looked at her mother and smiled. Her mom smiled back.
"Get changed. Your sister is anxious to get out on the lake. I'll go wake Ricky and get him ready."
Her mom went down the hall and Antonia closed the door. She was excited for this summer. It would be the best summer ever.
Joel touched Antonia's shoulder and she was startled a bit.
"It's just me. Don't worry."
"Oh. Sorry. I was lost in my memories for a moment. My last summer with my family was truly the best summer of my life. I just wish they were here with me now. I bet little Alejandra would love crawling around in the sand."
Antonia trails off. Joel sees her eyes start to glaze over again, then her head snaps back up and she's fully back to the present day.
"Ok. Let's go inside."
She pulls a key out of her pocket and opens the door to the lake house. She goes inside and Joel follows behind her. Antonia goes to the kitchen to see if her family left any food and water in the pantry. Joel looks around and is in awe of how simple the house looks, even though the Rodriguez family was known as one of the richest families in Texas. The living room had simple furniture, low tech kitchen and beautiful wooden flooring. Antonia sees him looking around and chuckles.
"Toni! Over here!"
Antonia emerged from the back door as Alex was calling to her near the pier.
"Alright Alex! Give me a minute."
Antonia ran over to the pier and joined her sister and her brother Roberto.
"Hey Rob. Catch anything?"
He looked up and stared at Antonia for a moment. Then reality hit him and he realised it was his big sis.
"Toni!"
He jumped up and gave her a hug.
"How's school going?" He asked.
"Good. Starting year three of masters program in August. How's yours going?"
"Good. Business school is really interesting. It will definitely prepare me to take over the restaurant chain, unlike some first born who wanted to become a scientist."
"Really?! Really. You're gonna use the 'Firstborn' thing against me? Be thankful that you're getting it! Besides, dad always said you would get it. I never wanted it."
Rob chuckled. Antonia started to laugh and Alex joined along. Soon all three were laughing. Antonia and Rob always had that argument and it ended the same every time, with them laughing. Rickey and their mom came behind them and smiled.
"Toni!"
Antonia turned around. Little Ricky was standing there with a huge grin on his face. She loved her little Ricky so much. Antonia smiled back and he ran to her to give her a big hug. She returned the hug and picked him up and spun him around like she always did.
"Hey Rickey. How have you been?"
"Great! Toni," Rickey leaned into her ear and whispered, "Did you know mommy's gonna have a baby?" He moved his face away from her ear and looked at her. Antonia chuckled.
"Yes, Rickey. I know mommy's gonna have a baby. Are you excited to be a big brother?"
"Yes! Mommy said that I'm gonna have a little sister to look after. I can't wait!"
"Well good. You'll make a great big brother."
Antonia put him down and he took her hand. She looked at her family and smiled.
"So, who's ready to swim?"
Antonia had the back door open. She leaned on the frame and looked out to the lake. She heard Joel's footsteps coming down the stairs. She looked over her shoulder then back at the lake.
"There's enough canned food here to last us a few days then a few more on the road before we reach the next town. As for water, we can purify the lake water and use that for when we leave."
"This lake house is amazing. It's so simple and yet there's something that makes it feel like a mansion. You lived here every summer?"
Antonia turned her head to Joel.
"Yep. Every summer since I was 4. When my dad made his first million dollars from the restaurant, he bought this and surprised my mom and I." She looked at the lake. "My dad taught me to swim that year. My mom was sitting on the pier, pregnant with my brother Roberto, and dad and I were in the lake. I had my floaties on and he told me that I needed to learn to swim. So he took them off and supported me as I swam. When he wanted me to float on my back, he held his hand there and then took it away really fast. It scared me and I felt like I would drown. But I looked and I was swimming. All on my own. He used that trick to teach all of us how to swim."
Antonia straightened herself and walked inside, leaving the back door open. Joel went to close it, but Antonia stopped him.
"Don't close it. I like the breeze that comes through with the sunset. You can close it when the sun's gone."
Antonia walked to the stairs and stopped.
"Oh. And don't touch anything!"
"Got it!"
"I'm serious Joel!"
After spending a month with her family, Antonia lost track of time. Before she knew it, it was July 16. She woke up that morning to a very quiet house. As she came down the stairs, her whole family was huddled in the kitchen.
"Morning guys." Antonia said with a yawn.
As soon as she said that her whole family faced her and exclaimed "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONI!"
Antonia had forgotten it was her birthday. She laughed.
Alexandra hugged her and smiled. "The big 24 huh?"
"Yeah…." Antonia trailed off. "Oh my gosh I'm old!"
"Toni," her mother scolded. "Don't go off saying that. You're not old."
"You're not old either mom."
Her mom smiled, "Good one Toni. Now come over here and have the first chocolate chip pancake before Rickey grabs one."
Antonia did as she was told, almost fighting Ricardo for the pancakes.
After breakfast, the family spent the whole morning on the lake. Antonia wasn't thinking that in a little over a month she would have to leave and go back to college. She was only thinking about now. Being with her family on the lake and enjoying life.
