Little things

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. They had been planning for this day for weeks –no months, maybe even years.

Malinda had met Matilda at a Christmas party at a friend’s place. Malinda being the introvert that he was, was head strong on not going to the party that day. He wished to stay home – away from the very many sweaty bodies stuck together in a place with deafening noise and too many people. He preferred being a homebody that evening, cozy and warm. But his dreams of the night shattered as two of his closest friends came for him and practically dragged him there. 10 minutes in the place just when he wanted to creep out, his eyes caught sight of an angel. It had been Matilda. They felt a spark and that was it. They dated, finding each other’s company entertaining and tolerable and one day Malinda got down on one knee and they were engaged. Matilda was so happy. He had been her first love and he was the one. And so, with family blessings and cheers of friends, they become Mr. and Mrs. along with a big bundle of dreams and love. The M n M couple rented their first house, a small annex and they were overjoyed.

Malinda was a banker whose pay was average and the work was heavy. He often came home too tired to lift a limb. Matilda had been so into gardening and she somehow talked the landlady into letting Matilda do whatever she wanted in the older woman’s mess of a backyard. She was kind enough to let Mattie work for free. Nevertheless sweet Mattie always remembered to give the old lady a basket of her produce and share her delicious bakes when Mattie baked. But life wasn’t easy on them. Malinda pay was just enough for the rent, the bills and food. The little left and Mattie’s income helped a lot.

Their dream was to move out from their extra tiny, cramped up annex to a bigger and spacious space in a better environment for their hoping-to-grow-big family. After many tiresome days, thrifty times and several heaty arguments between the two, the couple finally managed to save enough to buy a house of their own, a place for themselves. It had everything they had always wanted and in a peaceful neighborhood it was everything. Both families and friends of Malinda and Matilda came to help them.  The men moved the heavy things and the women packed and Matilda cooked for everyone who came.  

“Mattie, what’s this?”

Mrs. Peters appeared in the kitchen just as Mattie finished doing the dishes. To her surprise and even slight embarrassment Mattie’s mother was holding up a tiny right leg of a woolen sock. Mattie’s flushed face gave it away.

“OH! This is amazing. It all calls for celebration” she said hugging her daughter. This was also heard by a passing Mrs. Harris, Malinda’s mother who also joined the duo congratulating each other and this commotion attracted crowd and soon everyone was congratulating and hugged the future parents and each other.

“We wanted it to be a surprise, we wanted everybody to know at the housewarming party” You could hear the pride in Malinda’s voice.

And then nobody wanted to make Matilda tired. Ah beautiful family!

By the end of that evening everything was settled and Malinda and Matilda were to spend their last day at their annex. Sitting together with Mattie’s head on his shoulder Malinda spoke in a tender voice with a hint of something sad.

“Do you like it there?”

He felt a gentle shake of her head and a soft ‘yes’ and then felt her gaze on him.

“I do too, very much. It’s our place, our own. But is it weird that I feel sad and know that I'll miss this one? Even though it is a tiny annex. I even feel bad about leaving Ms. ‘Lady’.”

“Not at all love, we lived here for a long time. It’s only right to feel like that.”

“Yeah, this is fine. And so is our new place. We are okay. We did good”

They both agreed together.

The next day, their lives at the new house begin. They were so happy. It felt amazing to finally live somewhere they can call “theirs”. That afternoon, Mattie received a phone call from her Aunt Jessie’s lawyer. Huh?

Aunt Jessie was dead!

Confused; they agreed to meet up with Mr. Jenkins who wanted to see them immediately. Mr. Jenkins sat at the table with a black briefcase and from this he drew out a big brown very official envelope, set it on the table in front of him, interlaced his fingers together and looked at the utterly confused two people. After an hour of the bizarre conversation Mr. Jenkins left them dumbfounded. Mattie called her parents and they were just as shocked.

Aunt Jessie had written her mansion in Mattie’s name.

There were several reasons that threw its audience off.

One, this was February and Aunt Jessie passed away in February. Last year.

Two, Aunt Jessie did not have a mansion – or that they know of.

Three, to Mattie? Why? And why now?

Aunt Jessie was Mattie’s mother, Mrs. Peters’ elder sister. She was to be married so long ago but that arrangement broke off almost as soon as it began and Aunt Jessie remained that way forever despite the family’s nagging and eventually they dropped it. Aunt Jessie lived by herself. She didn’t favor Mattie or anybody else. She just lived on keeping mostly to herself. So it was a wild surprise to see Mattie inherit all her great fortune and the mansion. How Aunt Jessie owned it or kept it unknown for so long is a mystery. They got no clue.

So why did this come out now, 12months after Aunt Jessie’s passing?

It was a part of Aunt Jessie’s bizarre condition. Truthfully it does make some sense. In the will, Aunt Jessie insisted that Matilda (and Malinda) has to show some success on their own to inherit her mansion and Mr. Jenkins only accepted their buying a house as being successful. Makes sense?

‘What do we do now?’

There was an obvious big decision in front of them. Aunt Jessie’s mansion was in a huge place in a peaceful environment surrounded by a lot of nature. It wasn’t too far from civilization either. In fact it was like an oasis in a desert. This was the ideal place for them and their growing family. The mansion was huge and very comfortable and seemed like it was worth a good fortune. They wouldn’t probably be able to buy something like this even if they earned all their lives.

The rest of the world thinks they were being stupid and trying to be too smart, I’m sure. But I guess they saw an immeasurable value in their new house which was the pool of the blood sweat and tears of the two of them in contrast to Aunt Jessie’s huge mansion. It was so generous and kind of late Aunt Jessie but by then it was too late.