"A-Andy! Something was... delivered for you!" Karen said with difficulty, just barely able to open the door to her house with a huge cardboard box in her arms.
"Thanks, Mo... Mom!" The tall dark haired young man exclaimed as he turned the corner and saw his mother struggling to carry a package half as tall as she was. He rushed to her side and without effort lifted the box out of her arms, allowing her to exhale forcefully, cheeks flushed. "Careful! This stuff is super heavy!"
"Th-thank you, Andrew..." She said as her arms dropped limply to her side. "It was on the porch and I... I didn't want to let it sit outside."
"No prob, Mom, but just let me know next time. I'm used to getting this stuff." Andy walked to box to the dining room table, placing it down gracefully. "I don't want you to hurt yourself."
Karen didn't know if she felt more proud or more helpless. Despite the struggle it took to raising her two children alone, Andy had turned out to be quite the gentleman, always willing to help her carrying groceries, move furniture or anything else that took muscle. He had gotten into fitness when he was a teenager and now at 21 he was a well built, six foot tall man, wearing tight shirts and shorts to tastefully display his physique. It only made Karen feel all the more weak that she needed her son to help her with basic tasks; after taking care of him for years, she didn't feel old enough to need his help as often as she did.
"Oh, you don't have you worry about me!" She lied, arms still sore from carrying to heavy box less than ten feet. In truth, she was much more out of shape than even she probably realized. Karen had never had much time for self care when her children were young, spending too much of it working various jobs and taking care of their home, and now it showed. She was in her early forties and the affects of aging and stress had already begun to show, a noticeable layer of flab visible under her slightly sagging skin. It was why she chose to wear loose fitting long clothes, which obscured her body shape while at the same time making her look older than she was. "What was it you got?"
"Well... whatever." Andy gave his mother a look implying he didn't believe her but chose to ignore it. He tore the box open and inspected the contents."I ordered some new supplements and stuff online, and I guess it got delivered early." Even though he had moved out recently, he still came by the house every weekend for dinner and to help with whatever needed helping. She even still let him use her address for packages and his old room to store his things, for which he was very grateful. "I didn't think I got so much though..."
As she let her dull brown hair out of the ponytail she had tied it in, Karen heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Wendy, her 16 year old daughter, was looking at her phone with wireless earphones on. Looking up, the bleached blond girl took out one of her earphones.
"Hey Mom. Meathead." She said, looking at her mother, then her brother.
"Wendy!" Karen huffed. She never liked her daughter's lighthearted insults toward her brother.
"Hey, Gwendolin." Andy said, glancing over his shoulder at her. Wendy shot him a quick mean look before moving her attention back to her phone. Karen did appreciate that her son didn't jab back so much as let things roll off of him (it didn't hurt that Wendy hated her full name and he knew that). Karen didn't know why her daughter and son behaved so differently to one another but she attributed it to him having to be the responsible older child that held the house down when they were kids while she had worked late when they were children.
"What the... well this is why it's so heavy!" Andy said. Karen looked at him to explain. "They sent me a bunch of stuff I didn't order." He lifted up a huge black jar with bombastic logos plastered all over it; even though he had no trouble lifting it his bicep bulged hard as he held it, which made Karen feel a bit better about how much trouble she'd had. "There's like, four whole things of this stuff. I never even heard of this protein powder."
"O-oh. Well, can you return it?" Karen asked.
"Where? That company doesn't exist." Wendy chimed in. "I searched 'Volparnuit' and got nothing."
Karen jumped slightly. Her kids were much quicker at things than she was- her daughter had already started investigating on her phone, even as Karen had thought the girl already tuned out of the conversation. "I hope it isn't dangerous..." The older woman mumbled.
"Nah, it's probably the same old stuff repackaged, companies do that all the time." Andy placed the jar back in the box. "I'll talk to the post office, they'll deal with it." He glanced at the kitchen clock. "...after work. Got distracted, gotta go!" He said, jogging to the door and grabbing his car keys.
"I'll save you some dinner!" Karen called to him as he ran out the door. He gave a quick wave and a smile and closed the door behind him. She watched as he peeled out of the driveway, fighting the instinct to tell him to slow down. "Well... Wendy, would you mind helping me bring groceries in? I meant to ask Andy but..." She trailed off after looking around and not seeing Wendy anywhere; she had apparently wandered off without her even noticing. Karen exhaled a petite sigh and went to unload the car, determined not to ask another child for help.