Anna watched as her two young children hugged her sister. Kelly was kneeling down to their height, had them both scooped in her arms, and gave each a big smooch on their cheeks.
"Bye, Mommy. Bye, Aunt Kelly!"
"See you after school, Aunt Kelly!"
With those parting words, the kids ran down the driveway and into the waiting school bus. Their little cherub faces soon appeared at the bus windows, and they waved their hands frantically. Anna and Kelly both waved back as the bus rumbled off.
Anna turned toward her sister, taking both hands in hers. "Sis, thank you so much for staying here this week. I can't tell you what a relief it is, knowing you'll be here for the kids after school."
"Oh, no problem, hon" Kelly said. "I'm going to have fun with those two!"
To any passerby on the street, the pair were unmistakably sisters. They both had thin, athletic builds, smooth, olive skin, brown-eyes and long, dark hair. Anna was older by four years, a high-powered, marketing executive. She was dressed the part: black pencil skirt, matching jacket and white blouse. The leather belt cinched around her waist accented her slim hips and long torso. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and came midway down her back.
In contrast, Kelly looked like she had just tumbled out of bed. She had. She was wearing tight grey sweatpants, a pair of tank tops, one black and one pink, layered one atop the other. She wore no makeup, and her curvy brown hair came cascading down over her shoulders. She was a few inches shorter than Anna, but slightly more curvy.
"When does your flight leave?" Kelly asked.
Anna looked at her watch.
"In about two hours. The airport limo will be here soon. Come on back inside, and I'll go over the schedule."
"Airport limo? Why isn't Steve driving you to the airport?"
Steve was Anna's husband. They had been married for the past seven years. He was a construction foreman. Kelly thought that was a big contrast to Anna's jet-setting, executive lifestyle.
"Oh heavens, no. I can't get that man out of bed any earlier than 8:00 am. Honestly, the kids will be fine, Steve is going to be your biggest trouble this week. He HATES getting up in the morning. I usually start waking him up as soon as the kids are out the door, but I have to nag him every 5 minutes until he gets moving."
Anna strode to the foot of the stairs and bellowed, "STEVE! IT'S PAST SEVEN O'CLOCK -- TIME TO GET UP!"
Kelly heard a loud groan from upstairs and giggled. Anna frowned at her.
"Why don't you just buy him an alarm clock?" Kelly asked.
"No way," Anna help up one finger and waggled it back and forth. "Never again. You know those commercials where the guy smashes the blaring alarm clock with a hammer? That's Steve. He destroyed the last three alarm clocks I bought by smashing them on the floor or throwing them against the wall. There is still a big dent in one of the walls from his last morning rage."
Kelly yelped, "Yikes!"
Anna patted her arm. "Don't worry, he'll behave for you. But seriously, every five minutes, yell up the stairs. If you don't, he'll sleep in and be late for work."
Anna's high-heels clattered across the floor as Kelly followed her into the kitchen.
"Ok, you saw the routine we did with the kids. I have their routine written down in here, too," Anna tapped the top of a small notebook on the kitchen table. "They fetch their own breakfast, but you'll need to make their lunches. The afternoon bus drops them off at 2:35. You shouldn't need to do any grocery shopping. I bought enough for the next week. Dinner menu for each night is here on the counter, but feel free to mix any old thing together if you don't want to follow it. I bought some things to barbeque, so Steve can help with the cooking a couple nights. He's hopeless in the kitchen, but fantastic on the grill."
A car horn tooted from the front yard. Anna pulled back a curtain and peered outside.
"My ride," she turned to Kelly. "How do I look?"
"Sensational, sis." Kelly gave her sister a hug. "You have fun at the conference, and don't worry! I'll take good care of Steve and the munchkins."
"Don't do all of the work," Anna scolded. "Make sure Steve helps you around the house, too."
"I will," Kelly promised, following Anna to the door. The limo driver had already grabbed Anna's suitcases from the front stoop and loaded them into the trunk. He was standing by the sedan, waiting to open the rear door for Anna. Kelly sized him up appreciatively.
He was young, probably just out of college -- or more likely paying for college with this limo job, Kelly thought. She liked men in uniform, and this one had that athletic, sexy, confident look that she loved so much. She watched as the driver opened the door for her sister, and then caught him gazing a bit too lingeringly at Anna's ass and her long legs as she settled into the car.
"Ahem!" Kelly coughed. The driver snapped back upright looked at Kelly, then blushed profusely.
As he moved around to his side of the car, Anna's window rolled down. "Don't forget, you are Steve's snooze control. Every 5 minutes!"
Kelly laughed. "Go impress people! And get your driver's phone number, he's cute!" Kelly noticed the driver's face turn a brighter shade of red as he quickly climbed into the front seat.
Kelly waved as the car backed down the driveway. After the limo drove off, she stood for a few minutes, basking in the warm morning sun. She thought to herself, it's nice here "in the burbs".
Kelly lived about an hour away in the city; she was not accustomed to the quiet. The sun was shining, birds were chirpping, and a young couple waved as they jogged by the house.
"Good morning, Anna!" The man called out.
Kelly and her older sister were often mistaken for each other at all but family functions. Kelly waved back, and admired the man's sexy butt as he jogged down the street with his companion (girlfriend? Wife? Kelly didn't know, but his butt was cute).
The female punched the man in the shoulder, and Kelly heard her say in a high-pitched, mocking tone, "Good morning, Anna."
Kelly grinned.
"Yep, I could get used to life in the 'burbs," Kelly laughed.
Back inside the house, Kelly stopped at the foot of the stairs. She was just about to yell up to Steve, then decided that was silly. She would just go upstairs and wake him.
Kelly had been in her sister's house dozens of times. She knew the layout well. Up the stairs, kids rooms and her "guest room" on the left, master bedroom on the right. Kelly jogged up the stairs, and turned right. Just inside the bedroom door, however, she stopped abruptly.
