The next morning, I showed up at the Alteara residence with a large bag slung over my shoulder, stuffed with photo albums, a camera (if it was the same Claire I thought it would be, I'd want tons of pictures with that cutie pie) and the letter from Mom to Joy tucked neatly inside of an album.
Quil answered the door - and my prediction had been right, it was Quil as in 'Quilly' Quil - with a small little girl peeking out from behind his legs. "You must be Anne-" he cut himself off, brow wrinkling. "Wait... you couldn't be..."
"Couldn't be what?" I asked dumbly.
"Have I seen you before?" Quil wondered, scratching the back of his head.
"Do I need to sing to you, Quilly?" I emphasized for him. I knelt down, giving a bright smile to the tiny girl. "Hello there, Claire-bear? Remember me?"
She wrinkled her nose up in the most adorable way (Quil and I chorused an "Aww!"), thinking deeply. She suddenly figured it out, pointing at me. "You're the bad singing lady!"
"Ouch, I'm hurt." I mimed death, falling dramatically onto the floor in front of Claire. "My lady has... damaged my very soul!'"
Claire giggled, kissing her finger and pressing it against my forehead. "All better now!"
Quil watched us carefully, lips pursed. "Are you sure that's where we met? I feel like I've seen you somewhere else... but not just when you were belting out sharp notes to Holly Jolly Christmas."
"I haven't talked to many people since I arrived." I assured him, sweeping Claire into my arms. "Now, may I come in?"
Quil nodded once, but before I could step in the house, he snatched Claire from my arms. There was no negative intention in it - I mean, I hadn't done anything to make him hate me... or at least, I didn't think I had done anything to make him upset.
Wait, what if he didn't want a cousin? What if he thought that I was trying to intrude on his family?
I hesitated at the doorstep and Quil, who had, with one step, crossed half of the hallway, glanced back. "You comin', Anne?"
I blinked, hefting my bag over my shoulder and shutting the door behind me. "Yeah."
Joy wasn't home - she had made a quick run to the supermarket to get a couple boxes of macaroni since Quil, Claire and I were supposedly having a 'bonding day'.
I thought one box would have been enough and I mentioned this to Quil, who gave me a weird look.
"That's barely even a midnight snack." he snorted in response.
"Did she go to the Paisley Shopping Center?" I asked, trying to make conversation. Quil seemed mostly interested in Claire, which was perfectly alright, but I felt like I was intruding a bit.
"That's the only one in town." he paused. "You been there?"
"Yeah, my uterus was dripping blood when I came into town and I needed to take care of it." I shrugged.
Quil laughed. "That's exactly how Em - one of my friends - found the love of his life. He said that she was standing right in front of the pads and suddenly he had seen the light."
"How romantic." I drawled, picking pieces of lint off of my jeans. "Love at first blood."
"I know, right?" Quil snickered at the very thought of it. "Better yet, he never even learned her name. He's been trying to find her for days - he literally cannot stop thinking about her." Quil grinned at some inside joke.
"I met someone while I was in the feminine hygiene section too." I tugged a penny out of Claire's hand. "Please don't eat these, honey- and he was shopping for his girlfriend or something. Their names were really similar. His name was like Em-bee Call and her name was Emily. Em-bee was huge! Speaking of which, you're huge too... is there something in the water in this town that makes you that big? 'Cuz like, I could use that, for my chest area if ya know what I mean."
Quil froze. "...Anne, if you will excuse me, I must make a call."
"You're uhh, excused?"
He promptly scrambled down the hall, disappearing up the stairs. As he raced up the stairs, he tore the banister out of its place and left it swinging on the pedestals.
I turned to Claire. "Well, that was weird."
Quil Ateara the Fifth, everyone's favorite dumbass!
