Ohai! It's me, Blue-Winter-Angel! I'm sorry it took so long for me to post this. In all honesty, I completely forgot it was my turn - whoops! Marie has pretty much explained the important stuff already, so I don't really have anything interesting to say, except that she's a pleasure to write with... when we actually find time to write. We're doing our best to find time to plan out and hopefully start working on Pulvis again, but with her being in her last year of school and me job hunting, and not to mention that we live in different countries and there's a huge time difference between us... well, it's tricky.
Anyway, I got given the wonderful task of writing about Warren packing up to move out of home. I've written Warren in first person before, but it had been a while, so to be able to get back into his head after such a long time was a wonderful experience. He's just as lovely - if not a little difficult - as I remember. Also, for those of you who don't recognize Michelle, she's a character from my series. She's all kinds of lovely.
Enjoy!
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"Where do you want these, honey?"
I sealed the box in front of me with a strip of tape and looked up at my mother who was holding a collection of photo frames from my desk. "In that box over there." I nodded toward an open box by my bedroom door. "There's some bubble wrap in there if you want to wrap them beforehand."
She smiled and crossed the room to the aforementioned box. "Bubble wrap? You're being awfully careful with these things."
I chuckled and reached for another box, half filled with books. It wasn't so much the frames I was worried about, but the photos that resided behind the glass; precious moments of my life that had been frozen in time with the simple push of a button. If it was within my power to protect those keepsakes, I would.
"Oh, look at this one," mom said, holding up a delicate frame with one of my favorite photos inside it.
I smiled at the close-up shot of Jamie's face. She was all bright eyes, smiles and loveliness. My chest constricted a little as I stared at her picture, her throaty laugh echoing in my ears.
"She's such a wonderful girl," mom continued, turning the photo towards her and gently touching her fingers to the glass before reaching for the bubble wrap.
"Yeah, she is."
If there was one thing about this move that I wasn't looking forward to, it was being separated from Jamie. Not that we were never going to see each other, but I had become so used to seeing her every day and holding her during the night. Things were going to be different now, and while I knew we would be fine, it would definitely take some getting used to.
I let my thoughts wander as I finished filling the next box, sealing it with tape and writing BOOKS on the side. We had been packing for the last few hours and were close to being finished.
I still couldn't quite believe I was done with school, let alone moving away from home. I was also set to start my new job early next week. It was definitely a step up from my job at the Paper Lantern. I was still a waiter, mind you, but the pay was better and there were a few cool perks that came with the territory. I was very much looking forward to living by the beach, as well. While I was nervous about living on my own, I was looking forward to having my own freedom and independence.
Besides, I got the feeling I wouldn't be on my own for more than a few days. My friends would no doubt be over whenever I wasn't working, and possibly even when I was.
They had all tagged along when I went furniture shopping the week before, Will's logic being that if he was going to be hanging out at my place, he needed to be surrounded by furniture that wasn't completely ugly. The best part was that comment earned him at least an hour of relentless teasing from everyone else, with suggestions that he should study Interior Design once he graduated.
I was shaken from my thoughts by mom's loud exhalation as she finished taping the box and stretched her arms high above her head. "Well, that's pretty much everything." She glanced at me from the corner of her eye. "Was there anything else you wanted to take?"
I looked around the room and couldn't help but be startled by how empty it looked. I had gotten a new bed so the one here would stay just in case anyone needed it, but apart from that there wasn't much left. It was a little sad to see it in such a state; this had been my room since I was a toddler. It had changed as I moved through different phases of my life and had always been my sanctuary when I needed time to myself. I wasn't expecting to feel quite so emotional about leaving it all behind. But, as I had to keep reminding myself, I wasn't leaving it forever. It would always be here, waiting for me whenever I needed it.
"Warren?"
My head whipped back to mom who was watching me openly now, a knowing smile on her face. "Pardon?"
Her eyes crinkled a bit at the corners as her smile grew. "Was there anything else you wanted to take with you?"
I pursed my lips in thought, mentally scanning the house for anything I wanted to have in mine. "No, I think that's pretty much it." At least my new place wouldn't be without a mother's touch. She had given me almost a dozen of her paintings to hang up on the walls. Jay would be thrilled; she was a big fan of mom's work.
"Okay. Do you want to take this down to my car now or wait until tomorrow?" She glanced at the boxes scattered around the room and shook her head. Perhaps Layla would let us borrow her car, or Jamie could use her parents', otherwise it was going to take at least two trips to get all this stuff to the apartment.
"I suppose we could move some of it downstairs," I replied. "Although it's not necessary right now. We can always do it tomorrow when there are a few extra hands around the house."
She chuckled to herself and waved a dismissive hand. "I think I've had enough heavy lifting for one day. It's getting late, anyway. What do you feel like for dinner? We could always eat out."
I rose from the bed and followed her as she left the room and made a beeline for the stairs. "Eating out is fine. I can go by the diner and pick up some burgers or something," I offered.
"That sounds great, although you don't have to go just yet. Sit down and relax, honey. Do you want a drink or anything?"
"Some juice would be nice." I watched as she took the last few steps and wandered into the kitchen. Golden light spilled out from the fridge as the door opened and I smiled to myself as she shivered from the cold air. She often joked about needing to wear a jumper when she opened the fridge; I didn't see what the big deal was. Jamie's skin was cold, too, yet I didn't complain. In all honesty, the contrast in temperature was kind of nice. To her, my skin was burning hot, yet she was the soothing balm to my overheated body.
We balanced each other out rather nicely.
Mom and I sat in silence at the kitchen island, sipping thoughtfully from our drinks and staring aimlessly into space. I loved my relationship with my mother; for a long time we were all the other had and that had brought us together and forged a bond stronger than what most boys had with their mothers. Nowadays we were part of a huge, yet absolutely wonderful miss-matched family.
It was nice to know that even though I wouldn't be living here anymore, mom still had the Strongholds to keep her company. She and Josie were the best of friends. There was little in the world that was more important to me than my mother's happiness, so it was great to see the sister she'd found in Josie.
God, I was so sentimental today.
I grimaced and drained the contents of my glass before looking over to mom who surprisingly enough, had tears in her eyes. I was out of my chair in an instant and walking around the island to place my hands on her shoulders. "Hey, what's wrong?"
She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Sorry, honey. I just got to thinking about how this is pretty much your last night here and it got me feeling a little emotional." She gave me a weak smile and my heart lurched as her bottom lip quivered. "I can't believe how much you've grown. I don't think I'm ready for you to leave."
"Oh, mom," I sighed and pulled her into my arms, feeling the warmth of her tears soak into my shirt. She was so small and fragile, her head barely reaching my shoulder. "It's okay. You know I won't be far away."
"I know, I know," she sniffed, her voice cracking. "No mother wants to be separated from her child, but I know that this is what you need." She leaned back to look up at me. "I'm so proud of you, Warren. You've become such an amazing young man and I know you'll go far. It's just… every time I look at you, I still see the toddler playing on the mat in front of the TV, the ten year old with the scraped up knees, the seventeen year old who was just discovering the joys of first love." She hiccupped and I felt the backs of my eyes sting with the threat of tears. Mom had always been a crier, but this was really getting to her and the raw emotion I saw on her face was heartbreaking.
"Mom…" I felt my lips pull down at the corners, my face working to keep my own emotions in check.
"I'm sorry." She laughed at herself and rubbed at her eyes. "I guess what I'm saying is, no matter where you go or what you do, you'll always be my little boy."
I took a shaky breath and pulled her close, resting my chin atop her head as she wrapped her arms around my torso. "I love you, mom. I don't tell you enough, but I do."
"I know you do, Warren. I love you, too." We held each other for a little while longer before she pulled away and leaned back against the island. "Okay, that's enough of that. How about we go get ourselves some dinner, huh?"
I smiled at her, grimacing a little as she reached up to ruffle my hair. Despite getting a little teary, her words were exactly what I needed to find the courage and strength to go out into the world and do my best. Her faith gave me hope for the future and all that came with it.
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