"It's so good to be home. I'm glad I decided not to stay at school all summer. I miss us." Seth finished making a PB&J sandwich and wrapped his arm around his little sister.
The early summer sun shone through the screen door and filled the house with a brilliant yellow light. This was how life was supposed to be. Abby didn't have any school work to worry about. It was summer!!! It was going to be the best summer of all the summer's she'd ever had. It was like the whole family was back again. Seth was home, Sandy was on a weeks' vacation from work and Kiersten was rarely at the office anymore because of the baby. It was the same, yet different in a way knowing that the new baby would come and change everything again.
"So, I was thinking we could go shopping for the baby today. Just some basics, essentials that it'll need. You know, a crib, some toys, that kinda stuff. We could make a day of it, what do you say?" Kiersten seemed excited, which was an unusual emotion for her lately. Seth looked at Abby, she looked at her father and Sandy looked at Kiersten.
"Well, I was actually going to go---you know---do other stuff." Seth covered.
"Yeah, I have plans too." Abby replied. Sandy looked at them sternly.
"Well, you know. I'm sure we could get out of them----right Abs?" Seth nodded.
"Great, we'll go in about a 2 hours. Have fun till then!" Kiersten smiled and happily left the room touching her bump.
When she was gone, Seth looked around to make sure she truly was out of ear shot.
"What was that? She's so joyful and happy. I think I liked it better when she was crabby." Seth whispered.
"I know, it's actually disturbing!" Abby replied.
"So, we have 2 hours. What do you wanna do?"
"Well, I wanted to head down to the sand, maybe tan a little bit---catch up on my reading."
"We could invite Ryan and Anna, play a little "beach volleyball" if you know what I mean?!" He made a bumping motion as you do in volleyball.
"Sure, I'll get my suit." She smiled and Seth picked up the phone.
20 minutes later, in full bathing attire Abby put the car to a stop at the edge of the parking lot near the beach. Seth, Ryan and Anna piled out. Seth carrying a volleyball and Ryan holding the beach chairs. The sand was pretty packed but they finally found a spot next to a net and set down the chairs. Abby laid her towel out over the chair and lay down. Anna did the same but just sat.
"Abs, are you sure you don't wanna play?"
"Not right now, maybe later. I'd rather work on my tan now."
"Well, while I'm thinking of it, I wanted to ask your opinion on what color my bridesmaid dresses should be. Just think about it. We can talk later." She smiled and headed off to play with the boys.
"Okay, here we go. SETH COHEN, SERVEMASTER SUPREME!!!" He bellowed as he hit the ball." The ball traveled over the net, Ryan returned it. Seth hit it again, Anna completed the rally. The ball bounced back and forth, first to Ryan then to Seth, then to Anna, then to Ryan again.
As Ryan sent it back, Seth focused on what was going on behind them. Tanned and beautiful, behind him was walking, Summer Roberts. God, she was beautiful. The ball bounced past him and out. Ryan and Anna high-fived.
"I can't believe you haven't heard back from Harvard yet. You're other schools are just gonna dump you. You've done all you can to hold them off from making a decision."
"I know Dad, but I'm not so sure Harvard is the right thing for me anymore. I think I'd rather stay here. Go to UCLA, be close to the new baby and work on my surfing lessons." Abby sighed.
"Is that really what you want? Can you get the education you want at UCLA?"
"I think so. I mean from everything I've seen, maybe it's a bit of a party school but a girl can use a little party every so often." Sandy furrowed his brow at that and laughed.
"I suppose I did a bit of partying myself as a youngster, I shouldn't be so critical."
"You, partying!! Haha! That is SO funny!" Seth mocked him. "Honestly, you should have been a comedian. That would have killed."
"I'm not kidding. You're mom and I were in love during the sexual revolution you know."
"Ewww----too much information!" Seth covered his ears. Abby grimaced.
"Honestly, Dad. Yuck. So did not need to hear about that."
"Well, where do you think you came from?" Kiersten chimed in from the passenger seat.
"It's not like I needed to hear about it though." Abby retorted.
"You were such a cute little baby and such a cute little toddler. Do you remember those pigtails I used to put in your hair?"
"Mom, I was like three or something. How could I remember that? Even if I did, I'd be traumatized for life." Abby rolled her eyes.
"You were the cutest baby, seriously. I had so much fun taking care of you. You were a little girl for me, unlike Seth, which is not to say that I don't love you Seth; it's just that I had always wanted to have a girl."
"Thanks, Mom" Seth rolled his eyes, "Really feeling the love."
"Anyways, you were absolutely adorable. I pampered you like the little princess I wanted you to be. It was so fun." Sandy pulled into a parking spot at the mall. They all got out and started inside.
"Well, I'm looking forward to being a big sister. I've always been the little one, it'll be cool." Abby smiled.
"Me too." Kiersten replied. They all made their way into the climate controlled shopping Mecca.
"Ryan, it looks wonderful! I can't believe it. All the walls are up and everything is solid. It just needs to be decorated and the fixtures added. It's so exciting." She turned around and embraced him gleefully.
"I'm glad you like it." He smiled.
"I LOVE it. Can't you just picture it? Dresses here, pants and shirts over there? A register there, the catalog next to that. It's going to be heaven, Ryan."
"The decorators are going to be here on Saturday, and the fixtures should be in on Sunday."
"It's incredible." She stood staring at a blank white wall, envisioning what it would look like. He walked behind her took her hands in his and wrapped his arms around her in a protective hug. He kissed her neck and she closed her eyes. This was what life was supposed to be like; love and happiness.
"I really like this crib much better. It's sturdier and I like the shade of white." Kiersten said.
"Shade of white?" Sandy asked.
"There are shades of white?" Seth chimed in.
"Of course there are, silly. This is a much purer white than that one over there."
"Whatever you say, it's your choice."
"You aren't interested in the well being of your own kid now, Sandy?" She snapped.
"I am, but it's really just a crib. Pick whichever one makes you the happiest." Sandy replied.
"This is cute, Mom." Abby held up a mobile for the crib. It had fish and bears and bunny rabbits dangling from it.
"Oh, that is cute." Kiersten replied. "You had one kind of similar to that. I don't know whatever happened to it. Probably gave it to charity."
"Is it all right if I go check out the record store across the mall?" Abby asked.
"This is family bonding time." Kiersten pouted.
"But, it's boring."
"Yeah, it really is." Seth added.
"Fine, go over there. We'll meet at the front entrance in an hour. We're going to a nice restaurant for dinner." Kiersten conceded.
"Okay, see you later." They replied and out the door they went. The trek to the other side of the mall took a good fifteen minutes as it was a huge building. Abby and Seth exchanged light conversation on the way but as soon as they hit the door they split. Abby went to the pop section and Seth headed over to the indie rock side.
He began flipping through CD's. Several Death Cab, Modest Mouse, The Thrills, Maroon5---what the hell were they doing in there? Dashboard, Guster, SOCO all the big names. All stuff he'd heard already. So, he brought himself to venture into the "rock" section which mostly consisted of crappy hard strumming guitars from what he had heard but a little browsing never hurt anyone. He began looking, starting at A and ending up skipping over to M through O. There were surprisingly a lot of bands under that section. Another person was browsing on the adjacent side of the waist height CD bins. Seth was never really much of a talker, especially with people in the "rock" section, so he kept his eyes focused on the music.
He read the track titles of a random CD, completely determined to focus on anything but her. The CD looked like crap, so he put it back down and picked up another with a cover that caught his eye.
"Hi." He heard a familiar, soft voice speak. He looked up and his heart skipped a beat.
"Hey, Summer." He smiled with his sexiest smile.