Waiting for a Star to Fall

Muriel and Lewis have a problem. Why were they home? Their kids and niece were turning everything upside down. What were they doing here in the first place? Tre, Kat, and Jules were all grown now. They had their own lives. Why did they come here? What was the problem now?

Lewis stood there, blinking. “Uh… What happened to you? When did you get so fat?” Kat frowned at her aunt.

“I’m not fat, I’m pregnant,” she said. The farmer stared at her with a stunned look on her face.

“What?” she asked. “By whom?”

“Travis,” Kat said. Lewis looked even more confused.

“Who is that again?” she asked. Her niece rolled her eyes.

“My ex-husband, Aunt Lewis,” she said.

“When did that happen?”

Kat sighed and shook her head. “How much time you got?” Lewis frowned. Oh. It was that bad, wasn’t it? The farmer sat down at the table with her pregnant niece. Kat took a breath and started unloading on her. It was Lewis could do to keep it together as she listened. How long was she going to have to put up with this mess this time?

Oh boy…

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Annie took a moment for herself while the morning shift was at its peak. Once the coast was clear, she wanted into the kitchen part near the exit. The woman picked up the phone.

“Hello?” she asked. “Hey, it’s me. Is Tucker there?” She paused for a listen. “Oh. When will he be back? No, no. It’s fine. Really. Really, it’s fine. Sorry for bothering you.” Annie quietly hung up the phone. She lifted her chin as she tried not to cry.

“Auntie?” Annie heard behind her. She took a deep breath as she wiped away her tears.

“Yes, Dustin?” she asked.

“We’re about out of coffee,” the boy said.

“I’ll be there in a second,” Annie said. She turned and walked back into the front of the café. She would have to try and call her husband again later.

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Muriel stared at Tre and Jules sitting across from her in the living room.

“What are you guys doing here?” she asked. Her kids looked at each other as if daring the other one to speak first. Muriel narrowed her eyes.

“What’s going on?” she asked. Jules stiffened up straight in her chair.

“Greg left me,” she said. Her mother looked confused.

“What?” she asked. Her daughter lowered her eyes. The uncomfortable look on her face didn’t make things any better. It was all the permission that Tre needed to speak up.

“Uh… Carla left me too!” he blurted out. His mother whipped her head around.

“Who?” she asked. Even Jules looked up just as confused. Meanwhile, their mom just sat there as she tried to process what was happening in front of her.

“What is happening here?” she asked. The children didn’t dare answer that.

Outside, Clyde and Lily were walking up the dirt path to talk to their poor confused friend about Lewis. They had no idea what they were about to walk into.

End