MEETING THE FAMILY   Sierra leaned against the doorframe and crossed her ankles over one another with a glass of white wine in hand. Roman, Elijah, and her father were watching baseball with more fervor than she’d ever seen before, making her smile.    “They get along like a house on fire.” Karisa came to stand beside her with a glass of her own and gazed at the trio screaming orders at the television.    “I’m really glad about that.” She glanced at Karisa only to find her studying her intently.   “In all my years I've never seen my son so infatuated by someone.” Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully, “Not even Caralynn.” She added, grasping Sierra’

ENGAGEMENT PART TWO Sierra strolled along the shore, watching the sunset, leaving the chatter surrounding the fire in the background.  “Sierra.” Evan caught up to her, dragging her attention from the phone in her hand.  “Hey.” She smiled. “You miss him, huh?” Sierra blushed and nodded.  “He’ll be back before you know it.” He assured her, but she already knew that it was the time in between that affected her.  &

TOGETHER AT LAST Sierra and Roman flopped onto the couch, both exhausted from a day of moving. Roman was lucky to find a nice third-floor apartment across the road from the San Francisco botanical gardens which was only five minutes from the new hospital and a ten-minute drive to Sierra’s house.  The old lady who lived in the apartment had a stroke and had to be put into frail care, leaving her children with no other option, but to sell the apartment in order to make a down payment to the nursing home.  “That’s got to go.” Roman burst out laughing at the disgusted look on Sierra’s face. The floral wallpaper that spanned the walls in the living room was making her cringe, not even her grandmother h

ALWAYS AND NEVER THE RIGHT TIME Roman didn’t know why he felt so nervous, it was almost midnight and in the Leek household, everyone was sound asleep, apart from him. The little box in his hands taunted him as he watched the dark, star-lit sky, something about it unsettled him and he wasn’t sure why, but it had stopped him from opening it when Sierra tore the wrap off hers.  In the box was a little key charm with a note below it which read, “One moment holds the key to a lifetime.” She took one look at the charm and her eyes lit up, proclaiming that she would add it to her charm bracelet when she got home. 

THE ICE CREAM EXPERIENCE Sierra keeled over with laughter. A little Indian woman was teaching Roman how to make candy floss, but she scolded him endlessly because he kept eating it. They saw the little cart when they got off the cable car and Roman dragged her over with fascination.  “Okay, no more, no more, we finished now.” She lifted the stick and handed it to him, switching off the machine in the process. She looked worse for wear after the experience, but Roman was beaming from ear to ear.  “You’re the best Aunty Rashida.” He dropped a kiss on her cheek and handed a dollar bill to her husband with a salute in his direction before he took off towards Sierra. Grabbing her hand he yanked her to