The sun peeked slyly through the windows. She groaned and rolled over to one side, cracking open an eye to peek at the warm invitation. She heaved a sigh and rolled onto her back; she glanced at the clock. It read back 6:30. She shook her head and rolled out of bed—cursing her ability to be up with the sun. Her cat heaved a growl and glared out of one eye—unhappy at being disturbed. She chuckled and reached out to stroke the offended beast. The cat responded with an enthusiastic chorus of purring. She smiled and stood up, stretching out. Taking a deep breath she realized that she wasn’t the only one up; someone else had gotten up and brewed some coffee.
She stood in the doorway of her room, savoring the gentle, warm pulsing of sunlight on her back and shoulders. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath—holding in all the smells and sounds of the house. The scent of coffee energized her and woke her other senses, preparing them for the long day ahead. She could hear the distant orchestra of sleeping that drifted through the walls and danced down the stairs, reaching her ears in the basement. She let her mind wander, and found that she was curious about what her family was dreaming about.
She opened her eyes and began to walk to the bathroom. She frowned—trying to remember what her dream had been about. She reached the bathroom and started brushing her teeth. She glanced at herself in the mirror, smiled, and then went upstairs.
She walked softly across the wood floor into the kitchen. In the soft morning light everything looked fragile—almost as if a single breath would diminish its nostalgic beauty. She peered further around the corner and saw her uncle pouring himself a cup of coffee. She tip-toed up behind him and caught him in a bear hug. He reacted quickly—throwing his arm behind her and catching her in a one-armed hug. She buried her face in his chest and breathed him in. He nuzzled her hair roughly—she could feel him smile.
“Good morning, Sunshine,” he said. She could hear the smile in his voice. She smiled.
“Mornin’,” she replied, muffled by his shirt. She pulled away from him and looked into his amber eyes. His smile broadened.
“Are you ready for today?” he asked, stirring vanilla cream into his coffee.
She grabbed a glass out of the cupboard and pulled the orange juice out of the fridge. She glanced at the eggs, “Do you want some eggs? And, no, not really,” she added as an afterthought. She grabbed the eggs and set them on the counter.
She heard him stirring his coffee. “Sure, I’ll take a couple. What’s wrong?” He sat down across from her and the stove, watching her.
She took a long drink of her orange juice, mulling over what she wanted to say. “What do you think is bothering me?” She topped off her orange juice and set the carton back in the fridge. He was quiet for the time being while she looked around the kitchen for a good egg pan and spatula. After she found what she was looking for she looked over at her uncle and chuckled, “C’mon, Uncle Teddy, I’m not that hard to figure out,” she teased.
“No, Ellie, you aren’t. But you’re also a girl, which makes a big difference,” he smiled and took a drink of his coffee.
“How do you want your eggs?” Ellie asked, opening the egg carton.
“Surprise me,” he said. She shrugged and continued on in the kitchen.
He took a sip of his coffee and watched her. She met his eyes briefly. The sunlight spilled across his face, making his eyes glow like liquid gold. She stood motionless, rooted to the spot, for a moment.
“I think,” he began cautiously, “that it’s the wedding—simply because you’re too excited for our road trip.” She nodded, that was true. He continued, “What I can’t figure out is why. You’ve shown nothing but support and excitement during the whole process,” he made an enveloping gesture with his hands.
Ellie sighed and cracked an egg. “It was one thing for Mom to get remarried—she deserves to be loved that much. She deserves a second chance. But, my dad,” she paused, then violently seized the next egg, “is a completely different situation!” The egg shattered in her hand, sending debris into the pan, and onto the floor and herself. She looked up at her uncle—expecting him to rebuke her for her negligent actions.
Instead he was looking out the window. His smiled disappeared—she felt a distance open up wide between herself and him. Then he looked at her. She felt her breath catch—his eyes were sad, forlorn, almost lost; his eyes pierced straight through her heart. “I’m sorry,” she stuttered, “I forgot about—” he held up a hand, she stopped.
“Don’t,” he began stiffly, “don’t worry about it.” She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. He put his head on her shoulder.
They jumped when they heard a door open upstairs. She unwrapped her arms from around him and walked back to the stove to clean up her mess. He watched her walk back—the raw feelings in his eyes dissolving into that black place where such things are hidden. He cleared his throat and whispered loud enough for Ellie to hear, as footsteps were heard coming down the stairs—into the doorway of the kitchen, “We’re not done with this conversation just yet,” he raised his coffee mug in a salute and drank. She rolled her eyes and smiled. Then she spoke to the newcomer, “Good morning, Grandpa. Sleep well?”
Her grandpa smiled and yawned, “Of course I did. Did you, Sunshine?” Ellie smiled and nodded then went and gave him a big ol’ hug.
“Couldn’t have slept better. Want some breakfast?” She gestured towards the eggs. He nodded in affirmation and opened the fridge.
“Mind of I add to the menu?” he asked, holding up a package of bacon.
“Good idea, Frankie,” Teddy said over his cup of coffee.
“Well, good morning, Teddy! I didn’t even see you there. How long have you been up?”
“I was up long enough before Ellie to brew some coffee,” Teddy replied simply.
“Did you two catch any worms?” her grandfather enquired looking from her to her uncle. Ellie gave him a blank look. Teddy chuckled.
Ellie caught on and replied, pointing to the eggs, “I prefer poultry.”
“Well,” Teddy jumped in, matter-of-factly, “that means more pork for us.”
“If you prefer clogging your arteries that way,” Ellie countered quickly. Her uncle smiled and her grandfather laughed. She smiled in spite of herself, while cleaning out the pan.
She set the pan on the stove as her grandpa sat down next to her uncle, also with a cup of coffee. He took a sip then looked at Ellie, “Your grandmother was right behind me, and I’ll bet she’d love some eggs.”
Ellie chuckled, “Maybe I should make something more filling?” Uncle Teddy and her grandpa shook their heads. She held up her hands, “Alright—just throwin’ it the option on the table.” She smiled again, and picked up some eggs. She listened to her grandpa and her uncle strike up a conversation about the latest happenings in golf and a possible game between the two of them.
After awhile her grandmother came downstairs smelling soft and gentle. She turned on the radio and danced over to Ellie. “Morning, mi hija**.” Ellie smiled, and gave her grandma a hug. ‘At this rate things are going to be difficult to get done,’ she thought.
Uncle Teddy must have heard her thoughts. He got up, with his coffee in hand, and set up a pan next to her pan. Either that or he remembered her intense dislike of handling any sort of raw meat.
A short while later the four of them sat down and ate their breakfast. Ellie was careful to etch the details into her memory and savor the moment. The sunlight wandered in—harmonizing with the warm feelings that puddled around everyone and shown in their smiles and eyes. Ellie let her mind wander. She finished her orange juice and excused herself from the table to go and shower.
She walked into the bathroom and turned the radio onto the oldies station. She smiled and turned the shower on. She undressed and got in, letting the steam relax her. She smiled when Neil Diamond sang ‘Hello Again’ and even started singing along when The Beach Boys came on. She let the coconut, vanilla, and jasmine seep into her, cleansing her anxiety and anger.
Ellie climbed out of the shower after rinsing and wrapped a white towel around her. As she walked by the mirror she stopped and gave herself a solid look before smiling and walking back to her room.
She was putting on her shorts and belt when she heard someone coming down the stairs. She ran over to the closet and was able to grab a shirt before she heard the knock on her door. She paused with the shirt in her hands, “Yes?”
“Are you decent?” the voice was muffled through the door, but it was definitely male.
“Not quite, uh…hang on a second,” she said distractedly, spraying on some perfume and throwing her shirt on. She ran her fingers through her hair and flipped it, then opened the door.
Uncle Teddy smiled at her. “You smell good. May I come in?” Ellie shrugged, slightly unsure.
“Yeah, I guess so—as long as you don’t mind me finishing getting ready.” She turned around and walked back into her room.
He chuckled, “Of course I don’t mind—I’m used to it,” he finished offhandedly. Ellie smiled, and then thought sadly, ‘But it’s been awhile…’ He sat on her bed, extended his legs, and put his hands behind his head, fully reclining himself on her pillows. Ellie finished drying her hair and pulled out her hair curler and straightener and turned them on. As she was waiting for them to heat up she turned to Uncle Teddy, “So.”
“So?” he replied, looking away from the ceiling and meeting her even gaze.
“You came down here for a reason…” he nodded. She continued, “Well, might I ask what it is?”
“Yes, you may,” he said, smiling.
She rolled her eyes and sighed, frustrated, “Why did you come down here…into my room?” He sat up and looked at her innocently.
“We didn’t finish our conversation earlier,” he replied simply. “I told you that we would.”
Ellie sighed. “What is it that you want to know?” She turned back to the mirror and started straightening her hair. He moved to the edge of her bed—leaving only about two and a half feet between them.
“I would like to know, Ellie, what’s wrong—what’s hurting you,” he paused, almost uncertain of himself. “Since the accident…I’ve found that the only will I have to live…is…” She stopped straightening her hair and turned to look at him. Her eyes were stinging and his were brimming with tears. He took her hand tenderly in his, “…is you.”
Ellie remember that night in her sophomore year as if it had just happened moments ago.
There had been an accident…Uncle Teddy had been at work—working some big breakthrough on an important project late into the night. Her Aunt Allie—who was four and a half months pregnant with a little baby girl—had gone to take her uncle dinner. A drunk driver had swerved onto her side of the road—colliding head on with Aunt Allie-killing her and the baby. Her Uncle had been lost and broken for a long time. Ellie dropped all of her extra- curricular activities in order to spend more time with him and so that he wouldn’t be so lost and lonely.
Eventually he came around—and he became a father figure to her—he certainly treated her like he would have his own daughter. She appreciated that—he acted more like a father to her than her own dad had. Her dad had left Ellie and her mom when Ellie had been between one and two.
It was almost as if Ellie and Uncle Teddy completed each other.
Ellie fell back into the present. Uncle Teddy still had her hand. She let go, stood up, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He held onto her arms, and spoke quietly—trying to keep the tears at bay. “When I see you hurt, I hurt…Ellie, you’re all I have,” he whispered.
“Uncle Teddy, it’s nothing I can’t get used to,” she spoke softly, feeling her voice shake. A tearing sensation ate at her chest, and a tear slipped out of the corner of her eye. “I can’t be daddy’s little girl forever…” she whispered—almost choking on the words. She tried to shake it off and chuckle, “I’m glad that you’re coming with me tonight…I don’t that I could do it without you.” She paused, feeling bile rise in her throat, “It’s not like he deserves me there anyways—he’s never been there for me…”
She let go of Uncle Teddy as he stood up. He placed his hands gently on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. “Ellie. He’s trying to make an effort.”
“I don’t care! Why bother—I leave for college in less than three weeks! He had eighteen years…” She glared over his shoulder at the empty space above her bed. Then she crossed her arms and turned her back to her uncle, glaring at her reflection in the mirror. “It’s too late,” she muttered darkly. She heard him sigh, she looked down at the floor.
“Ellie,” he started slowly. She turned around, and uncrossed her arms. He took her hands in his and peered down into her eyes, she looked up at his amber eyes. “There’s always room for second chances…” She stared evenly at him. “Ellie, I’m proof of it—you saved me from myself and the demons that I was struggling with. Without you I would probably be six feet under…” He let go of her hands and took her up in a tender hug. “You love your dad deep down. And you want him to love you like he should—like you deserve to be loved. Give him a chance to—it’s taken him eighteen years to step up to the plate—he’s new at the whole father thing.”
Despite herself, Ellie began to cry. Raw feelings were eating away at the inside of her. Feelings that she had buried, and had kept buried for years—her own demons.
“Let it out, Ellie—I’m here for you,” he cradled her in his arms. She gave in and cried until there were no more tears to shed. Uncle Teddy held her and cradled her until the last of her dry sobs had dissolved into soft hiccups.
He smiled at her, “Should we finish getting ready?”
“Yeah,” she said grudgingly, “I guess I should give myself a second chance to get ready.” They both laughed. He went upstairs to go get ready while she finished.
They drove his flashy black Ferrari to the wedding. Ellie couldn’t remember most of the wedding—it was small and everything happened just as it should have.
She remembered that at the reception she and her Uncle Teddy only mingled with the other guests long enough for Ellie to dance with her dad in the father/daughter dance—which she enjoyed.
After the father/daughter dance they wandered off on their own, Ellie’s arm tucked into her uncle’s. They walked along quietly—taking in the dusk with all of their senses and with one another.
They walked through most of the garden, enjoying the young night unfolding around them and delighting in the beauty of the garden surrounding them. They found a gazebo—nestled safely in the heart of the garden—that overlooked everything in the city that lay sprawled out in the valley before them. The moon began to peep over their shoulders while the sun set in front of their eyes.
They sat for awhile on a swinging bench. After some time they got up and slow-danced to the music that was calling to them innocently from the reception.
Ellie laid her head on Teddy’s chest—listening closely to his heart. “Uncle Teddy?” she called softly. He set his cheek gently on her head.
“Yes,” he answered gently.
“Thank you,” she closed her eyes, listening to his heart, “for giving me a second chance.”
“No,” he whispered into her ear. “Thank you.”
* German, meaning ‘rescue’
**Spanish meaning ‘my daughter’
