As in most stories, the beginning requires a certain amount of exposition to set it up. This first chapter does not have a lot of sex. But if you will just read and enjoy, there will be more action in the subsequent chapters.
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Sabina couldn't help but laugh. John was doing his best to imitate a buffoon as he jumped around and made faces. Sabina's laughter seemed to float on the breeze and she clapped her hands in delight. The more she laughed and clapped, the livelier John's actions became until he finally flopped down in the clover, panting and red-faced. She eventually got her amusement under control and stood up from the large rock she had been sitting on. Grey eyes merrily looked at the 6-year-old boy as his red face slowly returned to its normal color. His brown hair with its stubborn cowlick was sweaty and in its usual disarray. She reached a hand out to him, and her long blonde hair swung forward to make a curtain around her round face with its sprinkle of freckles across her nose.
"Come." She looked at him with a smile. "Your Mother will be wondering where we have disappeared to."
John looked up at his aunt with utter devotion. He loved her with all his heart and couldn't understand why everyone laughed when he proclaimed that when he grew up he was going to marry Auntie Sabina. He thought that she was the most beautiful lady in the world, except for his Mother. He jumped up and took his Aunt's hand and the two begin to walk back to the house.
Sabina knew that Rachel would be glad for the time that she had spent with the child. Like most children, he never liked to take a nap, but hopefully now he would be tired enough to sleep for a couple of hours. Rachel was in her third month and she and her husband, Sander, were hoping that this time they would be blessed with a daughter. But Rachel seemed to be tired lately, just getting over a slight congestion and Sabina had her resting as much as possible. Sabina's visit had only been for a fortnight but she was trying to help out where possible. And a 6-year-old boy can be very wearing on the nerves, and stamina. Sabina didn't mind.
They walked along the dirt road with the little boy chatting up a storm, telling her all about the new bug that he had seen yesterday. But she could tell that today there would be no argument when the mention of sleep came up on their return to the house. Then she would be able to get some work done while both John and Rachel slept.
"Quiet," she cautioned John. "Mommy may be asleep. We don't want to wake her, do we?" John looked solemn and began making a big deal of sneaking into the house with Sabina. Since she could not hear any noise, she suspected that that was true. She got a mug of water for John, and he slurped it down noisily before giving Sabina a grin. But she could see in his eyes that the little boy was tired. She ushered him into his bedroom and as he sat on the edge of the bed, she removed his shoes. He was still chattering away and Sabina gave a little yawn, hoping that maybe the child would get the suggestion.
"Tell me a story," he asked and Sabina began telling the story that was John's favorite. It was something that she had made up, but John loved the tale about a pirate named Captain Long Drawers. Just a silly story, but in only a couple of minutes the little boy was asleep. She tucked the blanket around his small body and quietly left. Checking into the other bedroom, she could see her big sister asleep on her side, softly snoring. Probably in another week or so, Rachel would be back to normal, at least until it got closer to her delivery date. Sabina braided her hair, grabbed her hat and headed outside to work in the garden. She hoped that she could get just a bit of work done while they were both asleep. Sander would be gone for another week so the majority of the hard work would have to wait until his return. However, despite her slender build, Sabina was stronger that she looked. She walked to the far end of the field and began to work, pulling weeds and grass growing between the rows of tender shoots. The sun beat down on her, and her hat provided very little comfort against the afternoon heat so Sabina pushed her thoughts to other things.
Sabina and Rachel had grown up in a very loving family. Both her Mother and Father had provided a nurturing childhood and though there had been an 8-year gap in their ages, they had always been the best of friends. When Rachel had married Sander, Sabina was happy for her sister, but sad to see her move away. The birth of her nephew John was a joy to the family. Now everyone now looked to her, expecting her to marry one of the local young men. As she reached her twentieth year, her parents began to suspect that their younger daughter would become an old maid. And it wasn't that she disliked men, but to her the local young ones all seemed so immature, so childish, or so boring. She didn't know who she wanted, only that she had not yet met the man of her dreams.
It wasn't that she was ugly. But next to her sister, Sabina had always felt like a washed out version of her sister. Whereas Rachel's chestnut-colored hair was thick and rich-looking with waves and curls running down her back, Sabina's hair was pale blonde, straight and long. It refused to curl no matter how hard she tried. Her grey eyes were pale compared to the rich brown of her sisters. Rachel had taken after their Mother, but Sabina looked just like her Father's Mother, though the woman had died before Sabina had been born so she only had her Father's assurance that she was the spitting image of Clara Mearth.
Sabina looked at the sky overhead and figured that she still had another hour's worth of work to do before she needed to head back to the house and start the evening meal. By that time Rachel would be awake and even John could help her prepare things. She turned back to her work, pulling the weeds and humming a little tune under her breath.
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