“My love, you have grown up to be such a beautiful lady.”
Mom was always a mother figure to Lily, growing up. In fact, my mom and her parents got along so well that, sometimes, I found they were closer than Lily and I were.
Standing at the front of the car, the rest of the crew sees the moment Lily and Mom are having and decide to give them a moment alone and run down to the beach. Which is only a couple of footsteps away from Mom’s property. I stand back and let them hug it out.
“I’ve missed you,” Lily mumbles into her shoulder, grasping her just as tightly.
She pulls back to inspect my girlfriend’s face. “I bet I missed you more,agapi mou. My soul feels like it’s finally healed.”
Mom spots me over Lily’s bare shoulder. “Don’t just stand there. Come here, my boy!”
Amused, Lily turns and watches me approach. They both throw one arm open, inviting me into a group hug. Taking the two most special girls into my sides and holding them like the world might end and this will be our last hug is free therapy.
“How did you manage to catch this one, Elijah?” Mom jokes as she steps back and appreciates seeing us as a couple for the first time. “Do your parents know you’re together? We placed bets when you guys were five. I thought this would happen sooner, but, boy, does this feel amazing to see.”
Lily’s body goes quickly from happy and carefree to weak and surprised. With a hand around her thin waist, I keep her up.
“Did I say something wrong?” Mom asks, frazzled.
“Leonidas, what the fuck?!” Trinity screams in the depths of the ocean.
My brother runs to her after throwing her in. Flabbergasted, she brushes wet hair out of her eyes. Flapping her arms, she jumps and tries pushing his head down into the waves but is unsuccessful.
I try to get my train of thought back.
Lily shifts uncomfortably on her feet. “Um, they don’t know.”
“Why?” Mom’s mouth drops open. “We should call them right now and tell them!”
With wide eyes, I shake my head rapidly. “Mom, can we please drop this?”
She pouts, grasping both our hands in a motherly embrace. “They would be so happy though. We always hoped you two would get together.”
“I would call them in a heartbeat for you, but I can’t.”
“Did you lose your phone?”
Oh my God. Please, someone, come up and deck me in the face. This is torture.
“N-no. I can’t call them because they’re dead,” Lily stammers, quickly ripping the Band-Aid off so it hurts less.
I assume nothing could ever make that sentence more tolerable.
Mom gasps, grief written across her face. “Lily, they passed away? Oh my God, both of them?”
Nodding, Lily is unable to form words.
“How did this happen, and when?” Mom cries out, trembling with the sudden news of her long-lost best friends’ deaths.
Watching my mother cry and Lily holding back tears is like a sword through the chest. This will never get easier for anyone.
A tragedy lives on through generations.
Pulling my mother into her arms, Lily holds my mom’s shaking body, lending her a shoulder to cry on when she probably needs one the most.
I haven’t seen Mom cry in years.
She’s always been the backbone in the family, even when I get mad and hold myself back from asking why she never shows us when she’s upset. Or when she continued to stay with my dad without any emotion on her face, like all the torture she endured was a walk in the park.
