“Welcome to thirty! You’ll only get more exhausted from here,” my mother exclaimed, laughing. “We won’t keep you, dear. We know you are working today, and I’m sure you have plans at some fancy restaurant with Theo later. But we couldn’t let today go by without letting you know we love you and wish you all the best for this new decade in your life.”
I quickly played off my tears as being sentimental, caused by a multitude of reasons. As my father set the cake on the table, he galloped to the window to check out the mountain view.
“Thank you! I love you both so much. You’re so good to me.” I picked up my feet to retrieve the serving ware from my kitchen, grabbing a set of matching plates.
In the open concept condo that had little a footprint, I could see my parents shuffling around. My mother went to the record player. “I just love this record. I’m so glad you inherited my taste in music.”
“Patsy, you know you love my music, especially The Beach Boys. I remember you being the one to put on their Christmas album on the way over here.”
“Okay, fine. After thirty-one years of marriage, meaning I’ve had the chance to listen to them day in and day out, I’ll admit it: They are my favorite band. Happy now?”
As I smiled at their bantering, my heart stopped noticing the time was a quarter to noon. On a Monday. Another panic set in as I had yet to contact work that I was unable to do anything that day but be a sad lump on the couch. Knowing how strict they were about professionalism, I asked my parents if they would like a cup of coffee with cake. I turned the faucet on to fill my pot, swiftly texting my boss Patricia that I’d had a major personal emergency, and I couldn’t work that day. I apologized profusely, ensuring it was short, distinct, and clear, but not overly emotional to discourage any inclination on her part to pry or refuse. It was a fine line to tow, asking for a personal day when that day was already half over.
My mother was standing behind me in the kitchen when I turned around to the small island. “I brought the cake in here to cut. Don’t feel you need to entertain us, dear, if you’ve got something else going on…? It sure is good to see you, Claire. And if thereissomething going on, I want you to feel you can tell me.”
She must have been implying my appearance looked ragged and puffy. I’d never felt so awful in my life, so I was certain my looks matched that tenfold. “No, no. This is amazing. Do you want me to cut and serve the cake?”
She happily obliged and served it on three little blue plates with a white scalloped edge.
Pouring the coffee into matching cups with saucers made me feel better about my life. At least my house was in order. I took a sip of the hot coffee as I felt groggy and out of it;I need this to kick in fast.We all grabbed our coffee and cake and went to my dining room table directly on the other side of my kitchen wall.
“Oh, there’s one thing I forgot. Mac? The gift.” My mother reached for the gift bag that I hadn’t noticed before now, handing it to me. “Open it.” She was beaming her beautiful smile.
“You guys didn’t have to get me anything. That’s so sweet.” I reached in, finding a beautiful black cashmere sweater. It was classy and timeless, feeling stunning in my hands, and I couldn’t wait to put it on. “I absolutely love it! I’m eager to wear it right now!”
As I entered my bedroom, I fought against more tears. “Lord, please grant me the strength to get through this. I want to hold my composure... They don’t need to see my pain.” I took a set of deep breaths and put on the sweater in place of my baggy, formless t-shirt. Maybe it was the return to normalcy, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to admit it, but that form-fitting, dressy sweater made me feel better instantly and lifted my spirits in ways I couldn’t have imagined.
“There she is!” my father hollered as I stepped out of my room. I put my hands up and did a twirl for him as I had always done when I was a little girl, putting on my frilliest princess dress and modeling it for my parents. It was especially something that my father always got a kick out of.
“That looks like someone made it specifically for you, Claire.”
I gave my mother a hug, thanking her for such a lovely gift and saw that in my absence, she had lit the cake up with birthday candles.
“Now, for the cake.”
We all sat down for the fresh coffee and the beautiful raspberry and white chocolate cake, my favorite flavor. I blew out the darling little pink candles, robotically licking thefrosting off the bottoms, and dove in. “This cake is everything.” After taking that first bite, I couldn’t stop. “I think I’ll have another piece.” My mother looked at me with a wide smile when I said that. I had been on a pretty strict diet the last year, mimicking what Theo ate, which comprised little to no carbs, fats or anything mildly enjoyable. “This might be the best cake I’ve ever had.”
My father laughed in agreement. “It is quite delicious.” He winked at my mother. “You did good, Patsy.”
“What can I say? I know where to shop, Mac.” She got up and refilled her coffee, offering the same to us.
“I’ll take another cup, though there’s enough sugar in this cake to keep me going for a few hours, before I crash, anyway.”
She chuckled and returned to the table with the coffeepot, setting it on a placemat after refilling it. “So, tell us dear, where is Theo taking you tonight? I hope he is keeping up the tradition of ice skating, since you’ve gone for every birthday your entire life.” She put her hands under her chin, reminiscent of wanting to hear the popular gossip from a gal pal.
My mother was so cute with her flaming red hair and rosy cheeks. I could not upset her yet. I needed to put that conversation off for now until I could properly handle it without crying. While I hadn’t forgotten about my tradition of ice skating, I hadn’t yet considered doing it solo. “Oh, I don’t know. But I wouldloveto check out that new Italian restaurant in Corks Canyon sometime. Maybe all three of us could do that one weekend?” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t entirely transparent, either. I just wasn’t ready to relive what had happened. To my relief, they loved that idea.
“How about when we get back from Alaska? We are heading up there soon for the new ‘Badger Basin’ ski lift dedication at Mystic Mountain Resort, and your father is going to be testing it out repeatedly.”
She laughed, taking out her phone calendar to check the dates, and I looked at them with admiration.This is love.While my parents had different ideas of fun—my father’s ideal time was anything on skis, and my mother’s was anything with a crochet hook—they still were perfect for each other.
“We return right after New Year’s. Would that work, sweetie? That gives us a couple of weeks to make the plans.We could even get some hotel rooms and stay the weekend. I’ll bet Theo would like to climb that mountain in Corks. Mac, what is it called again?” My father pondered the question, but before he could answer, I interjected.
“Let’s keep it just the three of us. I never get you both to myself anymore.” My father gazed at me with a quizzical look, but didn’t push it. I was certain that was disappointing for him, as he loved Theo deeply, but it was what it was.
“Are you sure you’ll be alright for Christmas this year? We don’t want you to feel abandoned since we will spend it in Alaska.” My father watched me with every word he spoke.
“Yes, I’ll be fine. With all the work I’d been doing for the airport, I was actually looking forward to an extra day off that month.” My parents asked a handful of questions about the progress of the airport, and we shared many polite platitudes. After we finished our coffee, they got up to leave.
