A Song of Change

Chapter 41
The Neighbours:
We walked further into the living room to see a man and a woman sitting on the couch, they looked to be around the age of sixty or so. They both looked up at us was we walked toward them. "Why hello, you must be Mr. and Mrs. Rosenfeld?" The woman said as she stood up and reached out to hug me. Before I could react I had been engulfed in the smell of peppermints and mothballs, the woman's shaky hands patting my back. She pulled back with a smile that brought the wrinkles around her eyes up.
She had short, curly brown hair with touches of grey and dark brown eyes. Her tan completion had age spots precariously placed and around her eyes the skin was wrinkled but her eyes themselves still shone brightly. "My goodness! What a tiny thing you are and so very pretty too!" The woman gushed as she played with my hair. I could hear Julian chuckling under his breath and when I looked he had a hand to his mouth as if he were trying to cover up his laughter.
The woman then turned to him and reached up, pinching his cheeks, "Oh and what a strong and handsome young man, I could just eat you up!" The woman held her hands to her cheeks as she looked us up and down. "Sweetheart, I think you may be frightening them?" The man said, appearing at the woman's side. "Oh pish posh! I've done nothing of the sort, I'm just properly welcoming this lovely young couple. Now when are you due? I just love babies!"
I stared at the woman, taken aback by her blunt statement, before turning to Julian who had choked on his laughter and now looked as if all the blood had drained from his face. "Martha!" The man exclaimed, "Have you no shame?" The man shook his head at his wife. "Now, now Edmund don't be so uptight, its only natural for them to have…"Martha started before her husband interrupted her. "Martha, may I have a word with you?" "But I was just…" she started again. "Now Martha," Edmund said, now grabbing ahold of her elbow and dragging her away to the kitchen.
"I say we leave before they come back," Julian leaned in and whispered to me. I nodded my head in reply and we all but ran from the room and out the sliding glass door to the backyard. "Well that was an awkward topic," Julian said as he guided me over to an apple tree in the far corner of the yard. I couldn't help but laugh at the old woman's bantering, "They seemed nice though."
Julian nodded his head before dropping down and sprawling himself on the grass, beneath the shade of the tree. His hair sparkled from the slivers of light that shone in through the canopy of leaves. "Hey Annabell?" Julian asked with his eyes closed. I joined him on the ground and laid back, looking up through the filigree, "Hmm?" "What… what would you do if I said that I did want a baby?" Julian asked with complete honesty.
I could feel Julian's gaze on me but I kept mine glued to the tree above us. I wanted to have a child with Julian. In all honesty I would love to have a child with him. Just imagining a little girl or boy stumbling around our house and hearing them say mommy or daddy for the very first time made my heart skip a beat. But are Julian and I really ready for all of that now?
I turned my head to look at Julian and was meet with expectant grey eyes. "I would say that I would love a baby but can it please wait? I'm not ready to be a mother just yet." Julian's eyes softened into understanding and he placed a hand atop my stomach. "When the time comes, you will make an amazing mother," he whispered to me under the shade. I reached for his hand and interlocked our fingers, "You'd be a great dad."
A wide smile grew on his face and he sat up, drawing me with him, "Let's go meet the others." Julian stood up but before he could go any farther Hayden ran to him, grabbing ahold of his free hand and puling him with her. "Julian! Julian! Come on, you've got to meet mommy," she giggled as she continued to pull him along. He glanced back at me with that goofy grin of his and I waved to him as they rounded the corner of the house.
I shook my head as I laughed at the irony of it all. If we had a girl she would most certainly be the death of him. "So, you're Mrs. Rosenfeld?" A voice said from behind me. I jumped in surprise and turned around to see a boy who looked to be around sixteen years old. He had black, wavy hair that touched the tops of his ears and skirted across the back of his neck. He had dark brown eyes that blended well with his tan skin.
A smirk was in place when he saw my reaction, "I'm Camden Pines." "Oh you can call me Annabell if you want?" I suggested to the boy. "Is that suppose to be a privilege? If everyone else calls you that then it doesn't make me anymore special by saying it," Camden said as he examined his hand, "I think I'll call you Mrs. Rosenfeld if you don't mind," he got close to my face when he said this before turning around and walking back to where ever he came from.
Why was he so bitter and why in the world did he have to take it out on me?
I let out an exasperated sigh before heading in the direction in which Julian and Hayden had gone. As I rounded the corner I saw Julian, Hayden, and a woman standing on the front lawn. The woman was holding Maureen and the two were talking excitedly back and forth.
"Annabell!" Julian called as he waved his hand, "This is Amelia," he said after I had joined them. "Its so nice to finally meet you," Amelia said, offering me her hand which I gladly excepted, "You have no idea how much Jamie has been talking about the two of you. We don't get much newcomers here."
Up close I could see that she had light blue eyes and medium brown hair with bangs cut across her forehead. She was still holding Hayden on her hip and it seemed as if she could do this for hours without fail. "Your family is just so beautiful, it seems like you guys are always smiling," I said after realising that she too had a smile upon her face.
"Thank you…" Amelia had started before being interrupted by a yawning Hayden. Hayden's little hands were fisted up as she rubbed her eyes and snuggled into her mothers side, letting out another yawn not long after the first. "I think its someone's bedtime," Amelia laughed as she shifted Hayden into a more comfortable position.
I looked up to see the sky was fading and the sun was bleeding out colors against the darkening sky. "If you two want to stay longer you are more than welcome to but I have to go get this little girl ready for bed," Amelia said before walking toward the front door.
I looked up at Julian for his opinion on whether or not we should stay longer and found my answer in his eyes. I grabbed his hand and led him over to our house after seeing how tired he looked. "Did you have fun?" I asked as we walked through the front door. "Yes, yes I did. How about you?" He asked with heavy eyes.
I giggled a little at seeing how worn he had gotten from playing with Hayden. "Very much so," I said as I opened our bedroom door. I walked over to the dresser and got out a pair of pajamas for both of us but after turning around I realised I would only need one. Julian was sprawled out on his side of the bed, he still had his shoes on.
"Julian," I whispered, holding each letter, "Are you going to put pajamas on?" When I got no reply I crawled onto the bed and leaned in close to him, "Julian?" He mumbled out an incoherent reply and cracked one eye open. "Julian?" I asked leaning in even closer to where our noses almost touched. "Annabell?" He mumbled under his breath. "I love you," I said placing a quick peck on his lips before backing out of the room with my pajamas.
After getting dressed I came back into the room and shut all of the lights of before crawling into bed next to Julian. I turned onto my side so that I could see him and I eventually fell asleep to seeing Julian only in what the pale moonlight allowed in the pitch black room.