Aunt Maggie told Amie everything about Jayda. She filled up everything in her daughter's life that Amie missed.
"You two could get along so well." Her eyes water and tears were threatening to roll down.
"Does Joe know?" She was interested in the child's welfare. They were both victims. Aunt Maggie shook her head. The threatening tears finally fall.
"He's a sweet little angel. I can't bear to hurt him."
Amie was so carried away. She can't help herself from feeling sad and cried with Maggie.
"Oh, Aunt Maggie, I wish there's something I can do." She sniffed her nose and wipe her eyes too.
"You're so sweet. I'm so proud of Bern raising a daughter like this." She smiled while tears pouring out of her eyes.
"I think you help her raised me too." She giggled. That's actually true. She had known her entire life.
"You think so? Your mother had been a parent to Jayda too, except Tim he was just one step ahead of everyone." She laughed, her gaze like in a trance, probably picturing out his son.
After they made out from the time they haven't seen each other, they went to a toy store to shop for his grandson Joe's birthday.
"Honey, you don't need to buy expensive toys, just the regular ones." Pointing at a wooden car.
"But maybe he won't like it." She said, thinking to buy him a video game. Kids his age would want to have Playstation.
"He didn't own many toys, so he'll be happy to have one."
Amie was not sure if she would commend Aunt Maggie's parenting style or would pity Joe. She didn't want to question how she raised Joe, so she shrugged her shoulders off.
She brought a remote control helicopter, not too much, but she knows the kid will enjoy it.
"Friday afternoon, just tell your boss we have another client meeting."
With too many years of friendship, she thinks her mother's slick ways influenced Aunt. Words were trapped in her mouth, so she nodded her head despite her hesitation.
"Oh, wait, did you have your driver's license?" Aunt Maggie indeed knows her too well. Her mother didn't allow her to learn to drive until she's in college.
"Yes, I had it after graduation." But she didn't have to buy a car because her mother said, it's better to be broke with no liabilities. They shared the twenty-year-old Nissan car her dad owned, but mostly she took a bus daily.
She will buy her own car if she had enough money, plus the apartment Calvin lent her was close.
"I'm fine Aunt, my apartment is two blocks away from work."
Aunt Maggie frown and she shook her head.
"No, Jayda would be happy to let you use her car."
She took her right hand and squeezed it. They needed no words to express how the lady felt.
She inhaled and nodded.
"You should bring it home tonight, so you will know how to get here on Friday."
Aunt Maggie's home was on the outskirts of town. Everyone came this way they won't miss the Gordon's Hills signage on the entrance of Aunt Maggie's family property.
Aunt Maggie pulled down the car windows, and she smelled the fresh pine that was soothing her tired nerves.
"I like it here."
"Why not stay here?"
Aunt Maggie genuinely wanted her to stay. Her eyes were almost pleading. She felt pity for the woman who couldn't have a decent conversation with her own daughter anymore.
"I can sleep over the weekends." She smiled brightly to at least show her sincerity.
"Yey!" Her cheerleader's voice was echoing inside her SUV.
They drove past a vineyard, it already had ready to harvest fruit in it.
"You should visit the weekend we'll be harvesting these, it'll be fun."
"Yeah" Her eyes were not in front but stayed at the vineyard that was now behind the car.
"That's a double Yey! now we only need to convince Tim." She almost said it to herself than talking to Amie. The Tim that her mom talked about but never met, just like aunt Maggie, Tim was a person that was part of the household too.
At first, she was excited to meet him when she didn't have friends. Too many postponed meetings made her get over the excitement.
This time, though, her curiosity got her. She wanted to know how Tim looked like. She would know finally it on Joe's birthday this Friday.
They haven't got out of the car yet when a little boy came running their way, speeding like a rocket.
"Mama! who's with you?" Curious, his grey eyes stared at her, but still out of breath, he reached out for Aunt Maggie's hands reservedly.
"Joe, this is Auntie Mimi, she's Mommy and Mama's friend." Aunt Maggie sat down to level with. Joe nodded and beamed sweetly.
"Go give her a hug."
Amie automatically sat down and let the boy hug her. He had two dimples that were like someone she tried to recall but can't.
"Aunt Mimi?" His innocent voice was ringing in Amies' ear.
She copied his action earlier. She nodded.
"Mama, can I marry Auntie Mimi?"
Both women burst out laughing, living the young child astonished with their response.
"Oh, honey, first, you are too young to marry, second Auntie Mimi has someone else to marry."
It took several seconds for Amie to comprehend what the elder lady just said. She didn't know how to react she just shut her mouth.
"Where's your mom?"
Maggie wiped the sweat of her grandson on his forehead.
"At the porch, spending time with the ducks at the pond."
She would want to laugh at the kid's choice of words.
"Can you bring Auntie Maggie to her?"
"Yes! of course."
He tried acting like a grown-up. He took Amie's hand and lead her to the back of the huge mansion. They designed the concrete that looked like limestone, or maybe it was limestone. There was a circular crystal tower attached to it. The grand staircase was visible outside.
Joe hurriedly brought her to the porch, but she saw the side of the house, which has twenty-six windows up and below with corresponding decks that separated the windows. She guessed that these are balconies of each room.
How lucky her mom was to make friends with the rich.
"Mommy! Mommy, Auntie Mimi is here, come meet her." He never left Amie's hand until they stepped up to a gazebo that was surrounded by flowering white and red roses.
"Hi, Jayda, how have you been?"
She read somewhere else that everyone should act normally to the person who had a condition like this.