Sisters

It was just after ten o'clock when Sabrina pulled into their driveway. She let Beulah out of the car, and walked to the pool, where she knew she'd find everyone. The girls were in the water, and her parents were sitting on deck chairs, chatting with them. Sabrina's arrival was met with excitement and squeals of delight. Candy leaped out of the pool and hugged her, and Sabrina was instantly soaking wet, and then she hugged and kissed Annie, and all three girls laughed with delight. Annie said it had been worth the trip all the way from Florence just to see her, and she said Sabrina looked great. She had cut her almost-jet-black hair, which hung just past her shoulders and had been longer before. As a child, Annie always said that Sabrina looked like Snow White, with creamy white skin, dark blue-black hair, and big blue eyes, just like Candy's. Their father's eyes were blue. Both Tammy and Annie had their mother's green eyes. And her mother's hair was as red as Tammy's, although hers had always been straight. She wore it short now. Tammy was the only one in the family with wildly curly hair, and she had hated it growing up. She had ironed it for years. Now she just let it run wild, in a mane of soft curls. Sabrina had always been jealous of Tammy's hair. Sabrina's was thick and dark and straight. And like her sisters, but in a totally different way, she was a beautiful young woman. She had long legs and a trim figure. She wasn't as tall as Candy, but she was tall. Tammy was tiny, like their mother, and Annie was somewhere between the two and of average height, but she was an unusually pretty girl too.

“So what's with this guy Charlie?” Sabrina asked Annie, as she dangled her feet in the pool, and her mother handed her a glass of lemonade. She looked thrilled to have three of her girls at home and the fourth one only hours away. This was what she loved best, her entire family in one place. She looked lovingly at her husband, and he smiled at her. He knew how much it meant to her. He leaned over and kissed her. After nearly thirty-five years, they were still very much in love, and it showed.

They had had their arguments over the years, though never serious ones. Their marriage had been stable since the day they married. Sabrina wondered sometimes if that was why she was hesitant about marriage. She couldn't imagine being lucky enough to have a marriage like theirs, and she didn't want anything less. If anyone was likely to be a good husband, Chris was, but she couldn't imagine being as good a wife as her mother had been for all these years. Jane Adams seemed like the perfect wife and mother to her. Sabrina had said that to her once, and her mother was stunned. She said she had the same insecurities and flaws as everyone else. She gave Jim the credit for how good their marriage was, and said he had been the perfect mate. It was easy to see that in retrospect, but she said that when she got married, she had been scared too. Marriage was a big step, but she had told Sabrina she thought it was well worth taking the risk.

“So tell me about Charlie,” Sabrina insisted. “How serious is it? Are you two getting engaged?”

“Hell, no,” Annie said lightly. “Not yet anyway. He's a great guy, but it's only been six months. I'm twenty-six, I don't want to get married yet. You first. How's Chris?”

“He's terrific,” Sabrina answered, and then they were all distracted as Candy's tiny Yorkshire terrier barked furiously at the basset, and Beulah, looking terrified, hid under a bush, while the Yorkie, wearing a small pink bow, kept her at bay. On her way out, Candy had stopped to pick her up at the place where she boarded her. She had missed her too much while she was in Paris, and was delighted to have her back. “My dog is a total wuss,” Sabrina said, laughing at her. “I think she has self-esteem issues or something. She's very neurotic. She gets depressed.”

“Wait till Juanita attacks her,” Candy said, laughing. Even Zoe, the Yorkie, was afraid of her.

“How was Paris, by the way?” Sabrina asked her.

“It was great. Everyone was going to St. Tropez for the weekend. I'd much rather be here.”

“Me too,” Annie said, beaming. “We all would,” Sabrina said, smiling at her parents. Everything around them seemed so idyllic and peaceful. It reminded them of their childhood, and being safe, loved, and protected again. She always felt happy here.

They sat outside and chatted for another hour, and then their father went to bed. Their mother was staying up to wait for Tammy. She wanted to be awake to welcome her. Sabrina went to put her bathing suit on and joined her sisters in the pool. It was a hot balmy night, the fireflies were dancing, and it was warm in the pool. Eventually, they went back into the house and changed into their nightgowns at nearly one o'clock in the morning. Their mother put sandwiches and cookies with more lemonade out on the kitchen table.