Snowfalls, Fires and Family - 1. Chapter 1

Staring up at the house that he had spent a good part of his younger childhood before his family scattered, Tristian pursed his lips. He knew that he was the first one to arrive being the one to own the house since their mother had passed, at least outside of his aunt. Their father hadn’t wanted it and hadn’t put up a fight beyond getting a few things that had been shoved into the basement.

He could still remember the fights that had happened beyond the front doors of the large Georgian Colonial house before their father had left. He could remember the downwards spiral that their mother had gone until he was nearly seven years old. The pretty two-story front with white trim around the windows and doors, and pillars lining the front hid some dark history.

Shaking his head, he dug around in a pocket, hunting for keys. “When did I find a gumball?” he asked himself, blinking a few times at the round pink ball that he had pulled out of the pocket. Shaking his head, he shoved it back into another pocket, knowing that he’d probably forget about it until he was doing wash and checked the pockets for change. Finding the ring of keys that his aunt had given him at the will reading nearly a month ago, he walked up the path, up the stairs and between the pillars, to the door.

Finding the key, he unlocked the brand new, heavy duty lock and pushed it open. Stepping inside, shifting his duffel bag on his shoulder, his eyes flicked around the hallway, noting that it had changed since the day he had walked out of the house to go on to a new life. Where once it had been rich cream-colored wallpaper, it had been stripped and replaced with a soft coral colored paint.

Looking down at the side table that spanned about three feet of the wall, long but thin, he noticed that it had been stripped, sanded down and varnished in the last year at least. “Aunt Tabby did tell me that mom had started to restore furniture as a money paying hobby,” he mused, rubbing his fingers over the table.

Shaking his head, he hung the keys on the hooks that hung over the table and slung his duffel bag onto the floor. He would take care of it later, wanting to make sure that everything was in working condition as his aunt had promised him.

Walking down the short entry way, he turned right and walked into the formal living room, flipping on the lights.

He blinked in surprise at the fact that it had been stripped of the furniture that he could remember being there and that the floors were fake instead of the dinged up wood that had been down. “Must have been where she did the restoration work inside,” he mused, heading for the rather large dining room that flowed into the redone kitchen. “She must have been a busy little bee after she lost us. So much changed after she got out and she wanted to show it?”

His lips thinned as his thoughts tried to go down the dark path that they were begging to take. He shook his head and flipped on the lights in the kitchen. A note sat on the bar countertop, most likely from his aunt Tabby.

Picking it up, he was proven right.

Tristian,

The house has been cleaned top to bottom like you asked me to get done. Everything has been cleaned, appraised and is just waiting for your decision on what you want to do with the house. Maria was talking about renting it out and retiring to the cottage that was left to your sister Karla before she passed.

Karla has already decided that once she can get away with it, she’s selling the cottage and putting the money down to get a new condo for herself. Her current one has been fixed up and she has a buyer, but she wants to move into a better building. Something to do with an ex and, her fiancé and her wanting a new condo with better security..

Anna has decided to just take her share of the liquidated estate, which included all the furniture that your mother had refurbished and was selling, her retirement accounts and the various stocks that she had, and go about her life. She will be at the house for Christmas but do not expect her to drink.

Her words, not mine. I’m guessing she still remembers the last time the two of you were in close quarters with alcohol.

Marco and Brian both are reluctant to come but would like the money to put to their own schooling, so they will also be there.

“None of this surprises me really,” he said to the letter, leaning against the bar.

All the lawyer and myself need to know is what you’re going to do with the house.

As I said, the house was cleaned from top to bottom. The mattresses are new. Maria had them replaced in the last couple of months to prepare for Christmas, and the sheets are also new.

I’ve gone through the house and packed away the pictures and various other Knick knacks that will most likely trigger a response for everyone, so you can go through them later. They’re all in the basement or attic for the moment.

Yes, I used totes. Don’t give me that look. I can still wash your mouth out with soap.

Tristian snorted and shook his head. “Aunt Tabby, always threatening with the damn soap.”

You have about two years to really decide what you want before the held money for the various taxes start to run out. So, take your time, kiddo, but don’t put it off. I suggest at the very least renting it out.

It would be a good source of income for you when you go back to school for your last couple of years.

I’ll see you tomorrow to help set up the house for your sisters and brothers. And to drop off the rental car that you wanted. If you need me, just give me a call. The electricity and such is all good until February so don’t worry about having to pay for that this month.

“Thank God for Aunt Tabby,” he said, folding the letter in half. Turning to the fridge and opening it, he found that she had been nice enough to drop off butter, mayonnaise, various deli meats and cheese, and some fruits.

He did a check of the cabinets and found bread, oatmeal, raisins and various other little things that he needed for his diet. One that he had kept since he was a younger ever since he learned that he was bordering on pre-diabetes. She had made sure that if it came down to it, he would be covered for a couple of days at the least. Being snowed in was a very real possibility with where the house sat.

Making a quick sandwich for himself out of turkey, swiss, some mayo and a bit of mustard, he put it on a paper plate on a whicker plate holder, added some chips to the side, and grabbed a bottle of juice from the fridge. Cleaning up after his preparations, he left the kitchen, turning off the lights and checking outside, noting that the sky was heavily overcast.

“Need to check out the wood situation,” he mused. “No need not to do that right now though. Saw some wood in the living room. Should be good for tonight if needed.” Grabbing his duffel bag from the front hall, careful of his plate, he swung it up onto one shoulder and headed up the stairs with a huff. He had a lot to do, and rather very little time to do it.

But first he wanted to claim his own bedroom before his siblings would start to arrive the next day. He figured they’d start to show up kind of late in the afternoon but still.

When they were growing up, there was only three usable bedrooms for them all. Anna and Karla had shared a bedroom while Tristian, being the youngest, had his own, with Marko and Brian sharing the third. Compared to his sibling’s rooms, his own had been kind of small. A fourth bedroom had been the guest bedroom while the fifth had been their parent’s bedroom.

There were two bathrooms that guests and the siblings had shared, a third being their parents.

Considering each room as he looked into them, he decided that since he owned the house, he was going to claim the main bedroom for the simple fact that he didn’t want to deal with his siblings beyond what he had to. And that included sharing a bathroom.

Their relationships had been far from normal for a very long time. Even before they were taken away from their parents and scattered amongst other family members.

Pushing open the pocket door to the master suite, he stood in the doorway, seeing that there was nothing to remember his mother, father, or stepfather anywhere in the room.

Through the second doorway, he saw that the bed was a simple platform bed, one that his aunt would have bought for staging a house or for herself. It had matching dresser, vanity, and side tables. In the small meeting area that made up the front half of the halved room, there was a cushy loveseat with two chairs that fit in the space just right. A small reading nook was just off the side, making him hum.

He had been told when he had asked his aunt that Karla’s, Marco’s and Brian’s father had used it as his small personal office. His and Anna’s father had used it to keep his personal stash of first edition books away from kids.

None of them were allowed in the room and if they did…

Shaking his head, he moved further into the room and dropped his duffel bag inside of the second door before he sat in the window seat. Reaching up, he shoved the curtains aside. He found himself looking out over the backyard, noting all the changes that it had gone through during the time that he had been gone.

Gone were the flowers and pretty things that his father had preferred, instead replaced by a vegetable garden that was sleeping except for the winter vegetables that most likely needed to be harvested. He could see several boxes that he had a feeling were herb boxes from his position, and wondered where all the food from their mother had gone off to. She most likely had a full refrigerator and freezer when she had passed.

His aunt hadn’t said but he supposed he could ask her in the morning.

Shaking his head, he ate his food and moved to start opening the curtains of the house and put his clothes away in the dresser.