I decided to peek in on Callie who was surely in her room, playing on her iPad in bed away from the commotion of the guests.
As my fingers touched the doorknob to her room, the door swung open suddenly.
There was my beautiful sister.
She was riding piggyback on the shoulders of another beautiful woman.
My heart raced when I realized I was face to face with Allison.
CHAPTER 13
ALLISON
Once I realized, Cedric was not going to show up, I started to relax. I had told Bettina I would stay until 9:30, so I had a little over an hour more to go.
Callie and I had finished dessert and retreated back to her room to play Connect Four while listening to her favorite Laurie Berkner Band c.d. I had discovered the Connect Four game was a good way to teach turn-taking and patience. I was red, Callie was black and each time before she threw in a piece she would have to say ‘my turn.’ Then, she would have to look at me and say ‘your turn’, before I would put my piece in.
When we finished the game and I was cleaning up the pieces, I felt the weight of a hundred and something pounds on my shoulders behind me.
Callie had jumped on me piggyback style and was giggling infectiously. I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically along with her. I decided to humor her and stand up, allowing her on my shoulders. She got a kick out of being up so high and watching us in the mirror this way. We made faces like this at each other in the mirror.
Callie looked down at me from atop my shoulders and said, “Show Mommy.”
“You want Mommy to see piggyback, Callie?” I asked.
“Yes!” She laughed.
I opened the door thankful for the high ceilings in the old house.
I could never have been prepared for what stood before me when the door opened.
I stood there frozen looking into Cedric’s blue eyes, which were the iciest crystal blue I had ever seen them.
His face was flushed and his eyes wide; he looked just as surprised to see me, as I was to see him.
“Allison,” he whispered and smiled warmly looking into my eyes, blinking rapidly as if to process this.
I barely got the words out. “Cedric.”
The weight of this shock and the weight of Callie nearly dropped me to the floor.
“Show Mommy!” Callie yelled breaking our awkward silence. Cedric and I both laughed nervously, eyes still on each other.
Cedric’s hand reached past me and up to caress his sister’s cheek. “Callie, are you having fun with Allison?” he asked as he stepped aside, letting us pass down the hall into the living room.
“Bettina, Callie wanted you to see this,” I said.
Cedric’s mother, who was heavy into conversation, Caleb and the company all clapped unanimously at the sight of Callie on top my shoulders.
I then sat down on the couch so that she could climb off of me. It felt as though the weight that lifted off my shoulders transferred to my chest with the way my heart was pounding.
Callie and I walked back over to her room and Cedric was sitting on her bed, waiting for us.
Callie grabbed her iPad and sat next to her brother as he put his arm around her and kissed her on the cheek. My heart hurt with a bittersweet joy at seeing how tender this masculine man could be with his sister.
Bettina had said just to let Callie have some down time with the iPad for the rest of the night until bed.
I sat down on the other side of Cedric and as always, I was intoxicated by the smell of him. Aside from a brief moment during our car ride, we had never been this physically close to one another.