When I get to the kitchen, Audrey and Gustov aren't there, which is strange because it's Tuesday and Audrey always makes veggie tacos on Tuesday. Gustov usually helps her if he's home. He's almost always home, unless he's surfing. He spends more and more time out in the water. Which is good. He looks better. He's lost weight and gained muscle. He's got some color. He looks like life is slowly being breathed back into him. I think being on the road kills him. He's a different person at home. I can see that difference now.
I hear the TV playing in the living room. Children's voices. Laughter—innocent and pure. Laughter so transparent that the happiness housed inside is undeniable. When I enter the room, Audrey and Gustov are sitting on the sofa. Gustov is stretched out along the length of the chaise on one end. His arms are bent at the elbows and his hands are resting behind his head. He looks peaceful and happy. I've never seen that look on him. He's smiling slightly, looking content. Audrey is sitting on the other end of the sofa. Her legs are pulled up under her to one side. She's still wearing her work clothes, which is unusual; she usually changes as soon as she gets home. She's smiling, too. The same contented smile that Gustov is wearing. It amazes me how much they look alike: same blond hair, same kind eyes, same tall, almost intimidating stature that somehow doesn't scare you because while confident, they're some of the warmest people I've ever met.
They don't know I'm in the room with them. The sound of a little girl's voice pulls my eyes to the TV screen. She's tiny with a head full of messy golden waves that fall down the center of her back. She's giggling like she doesn't know what sadness is. "Get him, Gracie!" she yells.
A boy, much bigger than the girl, runs into the scene. His light blond hair is long and pulled back in a ponytail and his skin is tanned from the sun. He's wearing a pair of swim trunks and holding three water balloons in his hands. He's running after the little girl. She's screaming and the sound is pure joy. She's trying to get away from him when he yells, "You can run, but you can't hide, Bright Side. Besides, Gracie's on my team." He looks off-screen. "Aren't you, Gracie?"
A voice comes from someone off-camera. Her answer giggles its way out. "I'm on Kate's team." And with that, a little girl walks on screen and pelts him right in the chest with a water balloon.
He looks stunned, but his answer is shocked laughter. "Gracie, I thought I was your favorite? What was that about?"
A sharp hoot of laughter comes from what I assume is the camera person, because it's louder than the others. "Way to go, Gracie! Get him!"
The boy turns to face the camera. "What the hell, Ma? Whose side are you on?" He's still laughing when he says it. Hearing him say that and seeing his face, I realize this is Gustov. He looks like he's thirteen or fourteen years old.
The camera person, who I now realize is Audrey, laughs again, but says, "Gus, language." She's scolding him, but she's not scolding him at the same time. It's obvious Gus has had his mom wrapped around his little finger his entire life.
The second little girl smiles up at him apologetically. "Sorry, Gus." Her voice is young and innocent. Then she looks at Audrey, into the camera, and her face lights up. It's the first time I've noticed she has Down syndrome. "It was fun though," she says mischievously.
Just then the other girl, the one with the wild hair, races back in and fires three water balloons. One hits him in the side of the head, and two smack him in the back. "Damn right, Gracie. It is fun." She shrieks when Gustov turns on her and chases her down the deck stairs to the beach sand below. This video must've been shot right here in back of their house. I recognize those stairs, that beach.
She's quick and out runs him for a while, but his long legs cover more ground than hers. When he catches her, he tackles her down to the sand. She's squirming beneath him and putting up an impressive fight. When he stands, she's in his arms. She's laughing, but she's pounding her fists against his chest. "Put me down, Gus! So help me God, if you don't put me down you're going to be sorry. I know where you live, I'll take you down in your sleep, dude."
He laughs. "I dare you, Bright Side. I. Dare. You," he says, before walking out in the water and dunking her under. He releases her quickly and struts out of the water like he's proud of himself.
She surfaces and sprints out behind him. He's not expecting it when she jumps on his back and takes him down to the sand. Though I'm trying to watch undetected, I laugh. I can't help myself. I want to cheer for her. Serves him right. I like this girl.
Audrey and Gustov both turn at my laughter. Audrey pauses the DVD player with a remote and smiles at me.
"I'm sorry," I apologize, suddenly feeling like I'm intruding on a very private moment.
"Nonsense," Audrey replies. She pats the sofa between them. "Come sit down."
I've watched TV with Audrey before, but never while Gustov is in the room. I shake my head. "I don't want to intrude."
Gustov tosses a throw pillow into the empty space between him and Audrey. "Too late, dude," he says. I would take offense, except the way he's just said it is teasing. He sounds like he did in the video. Or the way he does with Franco.
And for some unknown reason, I find myself taking a seat on the sofa and hugging the pillow to my chest. I'm nervous, but I also feel lighter. Maybe it's the fact that Audrey and Gustov are both smiling, that they're both happy watching these old home videos.
Audrey hits play again. The dark screen remains for a few seconds.
The next image is the girl they called Gracie sitting at Audrey's dining room table in front of a platter of cupcakes. The frosting is pink. There's a candle in each cupcake. She looks older. I count the cupcakes and candles. Seventeen. It sounds like three or four people are singing "Happy Birthday" to her. She's singing along with them. When the song finishes, she claps her hands.
The blond girl walks up behind her, the one Gustov called Bright Side, although Gracie called her Kate. She's older too, and while she was cute before, she's stunning now. Her hair is still long and unruly, but it's one of the things that makes her beautiful. She looks free. She looks happy. She looks like nothing could ever hold her down. She puts her hands on Gracie's shoulders and bends over until her mouth is at Gracie's ear. "Make a wish, Gracie," she tells her.