Abound in Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

to sidestep them
all, when her left foot came down on one she hadn’t been aware of.
    “Hi,
Aunt Laura,” Krissy whispered.
    “Oh,
honey, I’m sorry for the noise.  Did I wake you?”
    “No.  I
can’t sleep.”
    “You
can’t?”
    “No, I
mean, I like it here during the day, but at night, I miss my own room.”
    “Well,
I can certainly understand that.”
    “I’m
glad you’re here though.  I’ll probably be able to sleep better with you in
here.”
    “I hope
so, honey.  Hey, I’m going to dash to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash
my face, but I’ll be right back.”
    “Okay. 
Hurry.”
    Laura
was in and out of the bathroom in record time, and soon struggling to get
comfortable in her old bed.  The deep indentation in the center had been bad
when she’d inherited the mattress from her brother years ago, and
unfortunately, it didn’t fit her any better now than it had when she was a
child.
    “That
bed isn’t very comfortable,” Krissy whispered.
    “You
are definitely right about that,” Laura agreed, as she struggled to turn on her
left side.
    “This
was your room, huh, Aunt Laura?”
    “Yes,
it was.  And this was my bed, and the one you’re in used to belong to your
mother.”
    “Actually,
Uncle Thomas replaced this mattress.”  Laura heard the little girl turn toward
her.  She could see her silhouette as she sat up and pulled her knees to her
chest.  “Aunt Laura…?”
    “Yes?”
    “Do you
know why my mom is gone all the time now?”
    “Honey,
I really don’t.”
    Her
niece was silent for a moment.  “Sometimes I don’t think she likes us anymore.”
    Laura
abruptly attempted to sit up, but found the mattress uncooperative.  It seemed
to sink down even further in the center, and her arms and legs splayed out as
she thrashed around, in an attempt to free herself.
    “Aunt
Laura!”
    “Honey,
I’m trying to get out of this bed so I can … get to you, so we can … talk.”
    “Oh,
okay.”
    She
finally managed to extract herself and hurried to sit beside her niece.  She
gathered her in her arms.  “Honey, I can assure you, your mother loves you very
much.”
    “So you
think there’s a good reason for her to leave us all the time.”  She sniffled. 
“She never used to leave us.”
    Laura
was uncertain how to answer her.  She didn’t even know her own sister, so she
couldn’t begin to fathom what would prompt her to suddenly abandon her two
children.  But for the child’s sake, she needed to reassure her.
    “I know
she has to have a very good reason,” she assured her.  “Don’t you doubt that
for a minute.”
    The
little girl took a tremulous breath.  “Kenny says Mommy and Daddy are going to
get a divorce.  He says they don’t love each other anymore.”
    “Oh,
sweetie…” 
    Again,
Laura didn’t know what to say.  She hated to tell her niece something that
might prove untrue.  She couldn’t very well promise the little girl that
everything would work out, when she had no idea what was going on.  She decided
honesty was the best policy. 
    “Krissy,
I wish I had answers for you, but I’m afraid I don’t.  I can tell you that your
mom and dad love you very much, and so does Uncle Thomas, and so do I.  Please
try not to worry.  Sometimes adults go through things that have nothing to do
with their children.  You need to know that whatever is going on between them
has nothing to do with either Kenny or you.”
    “That’s
not true.”
    Laura
glanced in surprise toward the source of the voice.  Kenny stood in her
doorway, his face downcast.  She could just make out his features, which were
lit by the dim light in the hallway.
    “Kenny,
are you all right?  Can’t you sleep?”
    “No.  I
miss my…”  He gave a beleaguered sigh.  “I like Uncle Thomas’ house, but it
isn’t home.”
    “I
understand.  Honey…”
    “Yeah?”
    “What
did you mean when you said…?”
    “That
my parents’ problems have something to do with