We found her sprawled out on the floor, laughing as the dogs leapt and stumbled and rolled over her, yipping and growling as they tried to adorable her to death.
Mom shrieked. “Oh my God, puppies!” She grabbed Dad by the arm with both hands and started shaking him, so that he disappeared off the screen with every push and re-emerged with every pull. “Hani, look!”
“I see them,” Dad said, laughing at her.
This was the Mom I knew and loved. This woman who got outrageously excited about small animals. The one who borderline assaulted my father whenever she was overcome with joy. It was nice to see a glimpse of her again. It had been far too long.
My stomach sank at the realization. Maybe I wasn’t the only one dealing with depression. We’d never been great, as a family, about talking about our feelings. Or at least the negative ones. It felt like it was past time we changed that.
A thought that I’d probably regret popped into my head. I switched the camera so my parents could see me again. “Did you want to come out and meet them?”
In response, Mom started crying. Like, face in hands insta-sobbing.
Holy shit.
Ella whipped her head up from the floor, all traces of humor gone.“Is she crying?”she mouthed.
I nodded and decided to step out of the room. “Mom, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said, waving a hand toward the screen. She was obviously not fine.
Dad slid an arm around her shoulders and dropped a kiss on top of her head. “She’s just overwhelmed. She’s had a rough couple of days.”
That sounded familiar. Was this the reason he’d been so defensive of her when she got pushy with me? The fact that I didn’t know made me feel like a jackass. First, my selfishness with Ella, and now this.
“Do you want to call me back later to talk about coming out here? It might be another week before I can host you. I still have to finish the spare room.”
“We’ll do that,” Dad said. “Love you.”
“You too,” I told him.
We hung up. I left my phone in the kitchen and went back to Ella and the puppies. Doodle bounded over to me and started attacking my left foot with his paws, slapping it into submission. I stopped where I was and let him have his fun, absorbing the sight and letting it balance out some of the shit of today. Ella’s present couldn’t have been better timed.
“Is your mom okay?” she asked.
I lifted my eyes to hers. “I’m not sure.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. She looked down at the Boots, who was sprawled out between her legs. “I made my mom cry once when I was in high school. Some horrible comment about how she wasn’t my real mom. I think it’s the worst thing I’ve ever said to someone. I felt like garbage for weeks afterward.”
“Yeah, this feeling is…not good.”
She nodded and looked up. Our gazes caught.
“Do you want to meet them when they come out?” I asked.
Her expression brightened. “Of course. I feel like your mom and I would really hit it off. It must be something about the way she inflates my ego to astronomical proportions every time I talk to her.”
I grinned. I could tell she was trying to lighten the mood, get me to smile, and I really didn’t want to deny her that.
“And your dad is pretty much the cutest.”
“I’m sorry, what? Now I need to compete with my old man?”
“Psssh. I said he’s the cutest, not -” she cut herself off, hard, her cheeks flaming red.
“Not what, Ella?”
She dropped her gaze to the puppy and reached out to ruffle his fur. I didn’t think she would answer at first, and then she said, “Come on, Ben. Youknowwhat you look like.”
