a little visit

Sarah knew where she should be, at home. A barbecue was going on. They were missing out. She, Jake and Ezra. They were stuck in an old stuffy house with Ezra's mother.

It wasn't that she didn't like his mother, but this was not a baby friendly place. It was so dark, dusty, even musty. She sneezed as if she was allergic to the place. Sarah hadn't expected it to be so formal. It was as if his mother had held Ezra hostage here as a child. There were plenty of pictures of Ezra around. In fact, walls of baby pictures.

At first, she was pleased to look at the place as a museum, but to be stuck here for hours. How long would they be?

They'd drank iced tea, ate some cookies. It was very gloomy even with the sun creeping through the kitchen window. Then his mother told him about the gutters. Before she knew it, Ezra was on the roof clearing out leaves and what not.

It frightened Sarah. If Ezra was so near and dear to his mother, why on earth would she want him up on her Victorian style roof? She promised then she'd never put Jake in harms way. Did this old house mean that much to his mother?

"I dunno why you did it?" Sarah winced as they were packing up to go.

"It was the least I could do." Ezra's white Tee was so sweaty and grimy he had to remove it. Luckily, his mother had plenty of his old shirts.

"What if you'd fallen off the roof?" Sarah wouldn't let it go. Couldn't he see she cared loads more for him than his mom ever would.

"But I didn't." Ezra's smile dazzled her. She looked back at his skinny mother, all buttoned up on a hot day. How in the world could she be Ezra's mother? Sarah couldn't help but think she'd kidnapped Ezra as a baby and raised him as her own. His mother said not a word about Ezra's father and neither did Ezra. Not even a picture of his Dad, anywhere.

Of course, Sarah wouldn't dare mention it. She often wondered what she'd tell Jake about his own Dad.

Finally, they were safe in the car. Sarah really hoped they didn't do this on a weekly basis.