Five years later...

"Uncle Andy, please, for the love of heaven and Earth, put the AC on full blast! I'm not kidding! We are melting! Melting!" Juliette Wakelin screeched dramatically over the bellowing laughter of her twin brother, Jude.

He just could not help himself. The heat did not become his twin, Juliette, nor their younger sister, Lenore. The Wakelin men, however, flourished in the southern heat. Bring on the sun was their motto. They luxuriously walked through their small three bedroom home with their shirts off all summer long.

Outside of this house, ordinary women would secretly want to fling themselves upon their glistening chests, but Juliette and Lenore only saw these mystifying beings that could withstand unbelievably high temperatures, and they wanted to slap them, incredibly hard!

"Ugh! Shut up! It isn't funny," Juliette moaned, fanning her thin and loose-fitting floral dress in and out with the tips of her slender fingers. Sweat was beading down and she couldn't stand it any longer. She got up and headed toward the bathroom.

"Oh, no, no," protested Lenore, "I want to get in there first! I need a shower more than you do! Look at me!"

Juliette rolled her eyes, that had notably very sweaty lids, and then looked down a few inches onto her sister's face.

Lenore's dark brown bangs, almost black, were plastered with sweat across her forehead. Her thick black eyeliner, though waterproof, was beginning to slightly smear and fade to a grey color. Her mascara was also no longer on her lashes. It gave her the appearance of a pitiful goth raccoon.

Juliette sucked in a laugh quickly, before Lenore could pick up on it, and let out a sigh.

"Fine, Len, it's all yours," Juliette said, motioning to the bathroom that contained the only shower in the house.

Unfortunately, they didn't have a bathtub, and for Juliette, the pond beyond their backyard was off limits. The mosquitoes would make a delectable meal of her lightly tanned skin.

That was the one good thing about summer around here. Her usually rather pale skin would redden under the summer sun and then slowly tan into a beautiful and rich tawny apricot. Len's skin did the same, whereas Uncle Andy and Jude's skin reached a darker shade of coffee mixed with cream. Again, no shirts, a better tan.

Reasons to bubble and simmer at her twin were absolutely endless this hot summer.

"Alright, okay," the screen door slammed shut behind Uncle Andy as he entered the house. He had just been outside, in the front yard, working on a 1970 Datsun 510. His thick dark waves passed just below his ears, and in the summer heat his hair was even more unmanageable.

He had gotten into the habit of rolling up a bandana and tying it around his head to keep his hair out of his eyes whenever he worked on a car. Smudges of grease speckled his face and bare chest and arms. He was wearing his favorite pair of jeans that were torn at the knees.

    "Girls, your loving uncle is now," he shouted since he figured it was Len that had just turned the shower on, "putting the AC on! Full blast!"

    "Thank God!" Juliette beamed.

    Len, though it was muffled, shouted something with great appreciation.

    "Alright," Uncle Andy clapped his hands loudly once and tugged at the bandana on his head and slid it off, his waves falling forward. He pushed his hair behind his ears and looked at the kids in the living room. "What should we have for dinner?"

    "Pizza!" Len shouted. No problem whatsoever hearing that.

    "That's cool," Jude said absentmindedly, sprawled out on one of the two couches. He was zoned out watching a program about true crime. A forensic pathologist was discussing a horrifying case. A dead woman's fingernails were being tested for DNA.

    Uncle Andy looked over at Juliette. She was laying sideways on the other couch with her laptop opened up in front of her on the cushion.

    "Julie, just give me a minute to wash up and then I'll come help you get dinner ready," he said.

    "Okay," Julie said. She shut her laptop, moved it onto the coffee table, and headed into the kitchen behind her.

    Andy closed his bedroom door behind him and quickly changed into a pair of gym shorts, though he never once stepped foot inside of a gym. He was blessed with a fast metabolism and a tall frame. His cardio was practically working day and night on cars.

There were many things he enjoyed, reading was one of them, as well as taking his nieces and nephew out to see a movie when possible, but cars he loved.

He knew how they worked, and he knew how to fix them. The sounds of his car shop were just as sweet to him as the peppy melodies sung by the birds outside his window in the mornings. Having a deep understanding of what he loved was very important to him.

     After washing his hands and face, Andy joined Julie in the kitchen. They laid out three pre-made pizza doughs on the counter top. He got a jar of pizza sauce out of the cabinet above him, twisted the lid open, and handed it to her. She began to ladle the bright red sauce onto the dough while he rummaged in the fridge for cheese.

Len walked into the kitchen, fresh-faced and beautiful, wearing a black tank, dark purple lounge shorts, and flip-flops.

    "There's my sweet baby Lenny," Uncle Andy stretched his arm out for a hug. Lenore gave a sheepish smile, as always when human contact was involved, and gave her uncle a hug. He rustled her damp hair and she gave a little groan in protest.

    "Hey," she reminded her Uncle Andy, "Be sure to use that vegan cheese we got at the store."

    Andy got out two bags of shredded mozzarella cheese, one vegan and one not. He opened both bags and began to sprinkle the cheese on top of the sauce. One pizza had only vegan cheese on it, while the remaining two had regular cheese.

Julie had already begun chopping up some mushrooms and green peppers. Len joined in and grabbed a half of an onion left over from the other day out of the fridge and walked over next to Julie.

    Jude sauntered in lazily. He never helped with the cooking, but he always showed his appreciation for the food and the cooks. He sat at the kitchen table and got his cellphone out of the pocket of his jeans and began scrolling through his messages with a contented smirk.

His post-graduation high had yet to wear off. He had no plans on attending college in the fall; he only intended on working full time at his uncle's car shop, and he was already taking full advantage of taking out the girls from town he knew would be leaving soon to be freshmen at the University of Wherever.

Both he and the girls were on the same page. Summer flings and no strings attached. Last month it was Amanda, and this month it was Rachel.

     It was not long before the kitchen became unbearable again. Juliette and Lenore went back into the living room, and Uncle Andy got the first two pizzas out of the oven and then put in the final one. He ripped off two sheets of aluminum foil and loosely covered the hot pizzas.

He opened the fridge and got out a beer. Jude handed him a bottle opener. After taking the cap off, Andy took a peek into the living room, and then he passed the beer over to Jude with a wink. Jude took a long swig and handed it back to his uncle with a toothy smile.

     Once the last pizza was finished and slightly cooled, Andy called the girls in for dinner. He was on his second beer by then, and the kids each began to serve themselves. He always waited to get his food until last.

Though all the kids were healthy now, there was once a time when he worried about their weights. Their once too thin frames walked about the house, saddening him. Out of habit, he let them look over what was prepared first and take what they wanted, before he got anything for himself.

Once his nieces and nephew were seated at the table, he grabbed himself a paper plate and helped himself to three large slices of pizza. One vegan, because he was curious, and two regular.

    "Hmm," Andy said between bites, looking over at Len, "Not too bad, sweetie. I like it. I'm surprised it melted this well."

    "Yeah," Juliette nodded and smiled. She had also taken a vegan slice and bit into it.

    Len turned her head to look at Jude. She blinked, awaiting his response. The others turned as well.

    "Hmm," Jude chewed, his mouth full of food. "Yeah. It's good."

    They all had a laugh. Pretty much all foods were good to Jude.

    "No. I really like it!"

    More laughter around the table.

     Once reviews on the vegan cheese had ceased, the discussion turned to Juliette's choice of major. She was still debating on sociology or English. Psychology interested her as well. Uncle Andy was hoping she would choose English, if only because he would look forward to conversations about novels he had not read in many many years.

Lenore was also going to be a freshman, but in high school.

    "I wish I had failed my senior year so I could have stayed behind. I don't trust those slimy high school guys," said Jude, getting up to walk over to the counter for another slice.

    "Um," Julie opened her mouth after she finished off the piece of pizza in it. "Excuse me. But weren't you one of those slimy high school guys?"

    Again laughter all around the table. Jude gave a weak frown, sat back down, and leaned toward Juliette.

    "Hey! I guess I was one of those guys, but I wasn't slimy." He smiled wide, showing his obnoxiously straight teeth, which were surprisingly still rather white after picking up the habit of smoking cigarettes his senior year.

    "I had my reputation to uphold."

    Uncle Andy snorted into his beer bottle with that and almost choked on his pizza. Lenore patted his back until his coughing eased up. He nodded his head and put his hand to his mouth, setting his almost empty beer bottle onto the table.

    "Oh, you mean," he said after wiping tears from his amused eyes, "your reputation as the Blanesville Casanova?"

    Jude was horrified. He hated that nickname. Juliette spread it all over school for the past two years. It was over the top and old-fashioned.

    "If you mean my reputation as the most sought after senior male, then yes!"

    Lenore and Juliette were beside themselves in deep, guttural laughter. Jude's brow furrowed into the deepest of frowns while he crammed another bite of pizza into his mouth. Uncle Andy shook his smiling face and finished up his pizza.

He looked at each giggling niece, and his very annoyed nephew, and his heart yet again filled with even more love for his kids. In his mind and in his heart they were his kids. They called him Uncle Andy, but they fawned over him and confided in him, and fought with him, as if he were a real father.

For the past five years, filling in the shoes of both his deceased big brother, Michael, and his sister-in-law, Rose, was a daily struggle at times. But within those struggles were really good bits like this.

     Lenore's short bob had now dried pin straight and she was trying her best to breathe in and out slowly to avoid a tummy ache. Juliette ran her fingers through her long dark hair, and then fanned her face with her hand between lingering giggles.

Jude's brow had since relaxed and he was now checking his phone again, peering through some errant strands of the same variety of wavy hair Andy had to tame, after having heard the ping of a new text.

Juliette and Lenore rolled their eyes in unison, and Andy gave them a quick look. Alright, girls, you've had your fun. The girls got up and cleared the table, and Andy leaned back in his chair drawing the last swig of his beer. He was completely full and not just full of pizza.

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A/N: Sweet reader,

Have you enjoyed this peek into the Wakelin household?

What are your first impressions of each family member?

Wanna make me smile? Vote and comment, please!

XO,
Leanne