Summer had hit full force, and with it that all-oppressing heat that seems to suck the life out of everything. At least, thatās the way I feel about this ālovelyā place I call home. Phoenix has its moments, of course, but Iāve always been more interested in gentler, more loving climates. And thatās why my wife and I were so excited about our trip to Idaho. My sister lived there with her husband and seven children. Yes, you heard me right. She actually gave birth to seven children. The oldest is twenty and the youngest had her eighth birthday a month ago. It still amazes me that she could handle so much and live to tell the tale.
Iāve always been very close to my sisterās children. I was just finishing kindergarten when I became an uncle for the very first time. As the youngest of six, I had always wanted a younger sibling. In fact, Iād always felt this compelling desire to have a little sister. It was almost as if there was a part of me left unfinished, some empty spot in my chest that longed to be filled. Iāve told my mother on various occasions that she must have messed things up, that she should have had another child.
I guess it was that desire that pushed me to be the best uncle ever. Instead of hanging out with the adults, I played with my nieces and nephews. No matter how tedious or childish the games were, I always gave them my undivided attention. I suppose it helped a lot that I was so much closer in age then all of their other aunts or uncles. Either way, I have a pretty serious bond with all of the kids, and Iām especially close to my seven nieces.
Iāve often thought about the uniqueness of my relationship with my nieces. If you were to observe from the outside, maybe see us together going to the movies, you would never guess that I was their uncle. For one thing, I look too young. But thereās something a whole lot more significant, and itās pretty rare to see this between a niece and her uncle. They literally treat me as if I was their boyfriend. Now I donāt want you to get any goofy ideas, and start thinking that there was ever anything inappropriate between us. For one thing, four of my nieces are too young to even be thinking about that sort of thing. The three oldest, though, are definitely at the age where it seems that the thought of boys is permanently fixed on their brains.
Anyway, the point is that I love my nieces and am extremely protective of them. We are physically very affectionate towards each other, and it is not unusual to find them sitting in my lap, hugging me, holding my hand, kissing me, or basically just getting as close as they can. I guess that these seven beautiful girls have taken the place of the little sister that Iād always wanted, and I have to admit that Iām very happy with the way things have turned out.
Well, Iāll get back to the story now. My wife and I were invited to spend an entire week up at my sisterās house. My brother-in-law is a translator for one of the big electronics companies. I think itās actually Hewlett Packard. He speaks Italian and some Asian language that I canāt remember at the moment. Anyway, because of his job, heās often sent overseas. My sister invited us to come and keep an eye on the family as she had the opportunity to go with her husband to Japan for the week. She would never have asked such a thing of us if it werenāt for the fact that her children had been begging her for the past month. They thought it would be a lot of fun having us there, and it had been almost a year since weād seen each other.
My wife and I jumped at the chance, even though it would be a bit of work, as the younger children could get a little wild. Either way, we were really excited to get out of the heat and I couldnāt wait to see my nieces.
āIām sorry Jason. I just canāt get the time off. Three employees have either quit or been fired this past week, and there isnāt enough to go around.ā
It felt as though Jewel had just dropped a rather heavy, dense object on my head. How could this happen to us? Here we were looking forward to a nice vacation and her District Manager wouldnāt give her the time off.
āYou canāt just call in sick?ā
āI donāt think sheāll go for the idea of me planning for a week of sickness ā especially when it happens to be the same week that I requested off.ā
āI know, Jewel. Iām just a little desperate here. How about I call in and tell her that youāve been kidnapped or something? I could even steal you myself. That way, it wouldnāt be a complete lie.ā
āLook, my love. Why donāt you just go without me? You already have the time off from work, and I know how much family wants to see you. Besides, I donāt think your sister will be able to find anyone else at this point.ā
Now, I hadnāt even thought of that. Sometimes my wife amazed me with her generosity. But how could I possibly go off and have fun for an entire week while she suffered at her job? It felt pretty wrong. On the other hand, though, we had promised to help my sister. And I knew that my wife was right about my family being disappointed if at least one of us didnāt show up.
āYouāre kidding, right? How could I be away from you for an entire week? Youāll get so horny that youāll intentionally break something just to get a repairman to come by.ā
Jewel laughed at that, although she purposely put this little twinkle in her eye as if to say, āThatās exactly what Iām planning.ā
āThereās really nothing to argue about Jason. Itās settled. Youāre going to Idaho without me and Iāll try not to break too many things while youāre gone.ā
And so thatās how I found myself in my sisterās house, reading through this āten-pageā list of things that I had to know about. It sure is complicated running a home with seven children, especially when you add to the mix all of the animals and neighborhood friends. All the same, I was pretty excited to be there.
My first day was Monday morning. After a quick flight and a little drive from the airport, it was about 10 oāclock. I received the usual hugs and kisses and stories about insignificant things that had just happened. It seemed to me that theyād been having a pretty fun summer, and I only hoped that I could help to make things even better.
My oldest niece is Kalie, and sheās about nineteen. The second oldest is Heidi and I suppose sheās around eighteen. Iām not very good on keeping track of all the birthdays, especially considering how big my family is. I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised when I saw those two. I mentioned earlier that it had been about a year since weād seen each other, and itās really amazing what a year can do. Heidi had grown her hair long, learned how to use the makeup a little more sparingly, and found a few curves that I didnāt know were possible.
Kalie, on the other hand, was as amazing as ever. Iām not exaggerating when I say that she knew how to seduce a man from birth. Sheās one of those naturally flirty women, although you could never point to anything specifically and say, āThere! Thatās flirting!ā I just couldnāt quite figure her out. Every way that she moved, talked, touched, and looked at me screamed sexuality. She was like that for as long as I could remember, so it was something that I just tried to go along with. Itās pretty hard, though, considering how amazingly beautiful she is. Sheās a blond with naturally rosy, full lips, and a blush to her cheeks that seems to be a permanent fixture. I donāt know much about the complexity of breast sizes, but hers were constantly at attention, swaying as she moved, never letting you keep your eyes away for even a second. How could a child be so voluptuous?
And then there was the way she dressed. I might have been able to control my hormones if sheād walked around in a tent, but that was far from reality. I think she probably borrowed her eight-year-old sisterās T-shirts. I could just see her in her bedroom at night, cutting her clothes away from her body with scissors. There couldnāt have been any other way to remove them.
I lied earlier about there being seven children to take care of. My oldest nephew was actually in another country for the summer, working in some type of internship. I usually spent a lot of time doing things with him as our interests mirror each other. With him out of the picture, I spent most of my day hanging with Kalie and Heidi. With Heidi, though, it was a touch-and-go sort of a thing. She had a boyfriend, or two or three, and was in and out of the house regularly. I think she was loving the fact that her parents were gone for a week, and especially loving that I could be won over so easily. I really was a softy when it came to my little nieces. Iād do most anything for them if they asked.