Chapter VIII

I Know Everything's Changing


And I know, everything's changing, but

We'll be strangers if we see this through…

- "One" by Ed Sheeran.


It was a beautiful thing.

After four hours of raiding the mall by nearly every store — broken up by a two-hour movie somewhere in the middle — they'd come home in success, each with the perfect little gift in hand and a big grin on their face. Holly, who'd started the day in a terribly-somber mood, had wound up having a fantastic time on what otherwise might have been a boring or lonely shopping trip.

Their game had gone off without a hitch, and had taken almost the entire six hours that they were out to complete. That was likely due to their shifting strategies, as it became just as much about making it impossible for the other person as it was about winning. All day, every time Holly had seen something she thought she would like, she quickened her step a bit and subtly turned the label away — even once having to toss the cutest stuffed animal over into another aisle when she heard him coming. Then that had become its own game, until they'd been caught by a store clerk and asked to leave.

After a long battle of the wits, searching high and low for Michael's perfect gift, turning away many viable options in pursuit of that one thing which would make his face light up the way she loved — after countless stores and many extremely annoyed shoppers passing by — she'd found it. She'd landed the perfect present.

It was for his office, whenever they should find employment again, and it looked like a lot of fun. She'd managed to find the ultimate desktop sports games — mini-basketball, hockey, bowling, and golf — all wrapped up in one. It even included a soundbox with bits of super-cheesy recorded commentary, which she knew he would love. And she'd found and purchased it without his noticing.

But ultimately, Michael had won the game, or so they'd both decided. At the end of the day, he'd presented to her a Counting Crows poster, from their 2008 tour - their first date that wasn't quite. She'd almost forgotten.

In that moment, receiving the sentimental item, she'd had no choice but to announce him the Ultimate Gifting Champion. That was when they decided to get some dinner and head home.

Now, as Holly pulled up in front of her parents' house once again, she looked at the clock fleetingly and noticed the time. They'd arrived here from the airport about the same time yesterday. The first twenty-four hours of their new life was complete.

"Congratulations," Michael said, as though he'd read her mind. She turned back to look at him as she fished around the backseat for the shopping bags. "First day, complete."

Holly raised her eyebrows in complete surprise, amazed that he'd been thinking the same thing as she. "Congratulations," she said with a smile.

Michael reached out to fist-bump her, and she did the same.

There were things neither of them could reach from the front seat, so they stepped out of the car and both walked around their sides, opening the back doors. They nearly knocked heads as they practically crawled into the backseat to retrieve the bags. Holly blew her hair up in his face playfully before inching back out of the car.

Together they carried the six or seven different shopping bags up the stairs to the front of the house, where they stopped to knock on the locked door.

"I hope Mom didn't cook for us," Holly said in realization, as she heard dishes clinking inside. "I should have called her to tell her we ate."

"If she did, we'll have leftovers for tomorrow."

Sucking on her lip, she added, "I'm nervous."

"I can be in the room if you want me to," Michael suggested, eyebrows peaked. "Make a few jokes to ease the tension. She hasn't seen my Donald Duck bit yet."

Though the mention of this idea did lift her spirits, she had to shake her head. "We should probably do this one-on-one. Are you okay to hang out with my dad for a minute?"

Michael nodded. "No problem. He'd probably like my bit."

"He definitely would," Holly said with another smile, looking at him with admiration. "Thank you for being so kind to him, by the way. I know it can be hard to talk to him when he's not completely together like today…"

At that, Michael said nothing, but leaned in to kiss her cheek — and did so lovingly, lingering long enough to tickle her skin and make her laugh, in spite of all nerves. He leaned in closer to brush his nose against her cheekbone, just a little Eskimo kiss…

Naturally, that was when her mother finally came to the door. Michael's head pulled back instantly, and his body shifted a whole inch from hers.

Mom's eyebrows could have hit the ceiling as she took a deep breath at the sight, exhaling slowly. "Welcome back," she said civilly.

Holly put on a grin. "Thanks, Mom."

Mom nodded, and opened the door for them to enter. Holly allowed Michael to go first, as he carried the heavier bags, and she filed in after him. "How was your trip? Did you find anything you liked?"

Michael jumped at that opportunity as he set the bags on the coffee table and turned around. "Just these bags," he joked with a straight face. "So we thought, 'hey, good place to put the bodies, right?'"

"What did you get?" her mother asked despite his attempt at a joke. Taking a seat by the end of the coffee table, she added, "Anything interesting?"

Holly, still visibly tense, sat down on the couch. Michael took a seat beside her, tugging the bags closer.

"Well, we started out in Old Navy and Michael looked at phone cases while I tried on some clothes," Holly began, shuffling through each bag to pull out items of interest, not including a Guardians of the Galaxy t-shirt which she didn't expect her mother would appreciate. "Then Marshall's, Kohl's, a few other places looking for new coats for both of us… which, which we actually didn't wind up finding," Holly admitted as she looked over at Michael. "I guess we got distracted."

Mom leaned back in her seat, chuckling. "I can guess whose fault that was," she remarked a bit pointedly.

Holly blinked over at her mother, unsure of how to take this. She turned to Michael, who remained silent.

Then, looking directly at Michael, Mom added, "It's always been near impossible to shop with Holly." She smiled slightly. "One time when she was little — I think in elementary school — we actually went a whole year without buying her a new coat, because every time we'd take her out shopping, she'd get distracted by some new toy or movie. And she had her father wrapped around her little finger, so we'd often end up buying it for her."

Holly shook her head. "He wasn't wrapped around my finger. He enjoyed those movies just as much as I did."

"Oh, he was, and he still is," Mom assured her in amusement. "And you'd be so excited to go home and play with the toy or watch the movie that we'd completely forget about the coat!"

She could feel Michael's grin coming her way as she leaned down to grab at another bag, smiling bashfully. "Well, I guess I haven't changed," she admitted, and pulled out the other bags. "Anyway, then we got lunch, and meandered through a few more places — Bath and Body Works, stuff like that. We saw Kung Fu Panda 2."

"Was it any good?" Mom asked curiously.

Holly nodded, and looked at Michael, who nodded. Then she reached for the largest bag.

When she pulled out the poster, her mother couldn't see what it was, and asked immediately, "You bought a picture?"

"A poster," Michael informed her with a grin, just as Holly turned it for her mother to see. "It's Counting Crows, the band. I bought it for her," he said with a little pride.

Mom then reached out to examine the poster more closely, seeming interested to Holly's surprise. "Counting Crows. Okay."

Holly bit her lip happily. "Well, it was the band I wanted to see with Michael for our first date, but we didn't get to. So it's just something sentimental."

Her mom looked over it more closely for a moment, silently, before handing it back. "That's sweet."

That had Holly stunned.

And clearly, Michael had sensed that now was a good time to let them talk. "Well, I'm going to go change," he announced a bit obviously, hand accidentally brushing up Holly's arm before pulling sharply away. "I'll take some of the bags."

"Thank you," Holly said as she watched him pick up the bags and leave the room in record time. For a moment, she wished he wouldn't go; but before she could stop him, he was gone.

That left her with her mother, who did not speak for a long moment. Her attention was instead turned toward the unveiled window, from which they could see some of the sunset colors that evening. Meanwhile, Holly pretended to be busy with something inside one of the remaining bags, and prayed that her mother would speak first.

But Mrs. Flax was a stubborn woman.

So Holly sighed and started. "I'm sorry for fighting with you, Mom," she apologized, and drew her mother's attention back to her. Holly averted her eyes awkwardly from her mother's. "I guess I'm just… I'm really nervous about this early period with Michael. I want everything to be perfect, you know, so he doesn't change his mind or… resent me, or anything."

Her mother nodded. "I understand."

"And you know, this stage — this is about where things have gone bad before, for me. So I guess I've been taking out some of my anxiety on you."

Holly felt weird, expressing these concerns out loud after keeping them in her mind for so long. She'd been feeling this way since Michael proposed, so to tell her mother now was like admitting to keeping a big secret. She didn't know why she felt guilty for it.

Mom took a minute to absorb this information, but once she had finished, she didn't seem angry. She reached out to take Holly's hand, even, as she replied softly, "Holiday, I… It's hard, for me to trust anyone with my daughter. That's something that's just going to take time. But from what I've seen, and heard from you, he does sound like he loves you."

"I know he does," she tried to insist, though it came off weak. "I know he does. I just still want him to be happy here."

Mrs. Flax smiled, huffing a little laugh. Holly offered a small, similar smile in return… then sighed.

"But I shouldn't have acted that way toward you this morning, and I'm sorry. This is your house, and I came here for you and Dad — not for me. I should act like it."

Her mother sighed. "Well, I was talking to your father, and he… made me realize I was being a bit unfair. You two are adults, after all, and I was treating you like teenagers. I'm sorry for that."

"It's okay," Holly said quietly.

Shifting in her seat, she continued, "It's a big change, to have your kid come to take care of you instead. To not have to parent your daughter when she's in your house again; to not be able to hand-pick who she winds up with, just to make sure… Because a mother's supposed to protect her kid. I didn't protect you from a lot of things."

"It's okay," Holly repeated herself, squeezing her mom's hand. "I'm okay. Everyone's okay. You've done a great job as a mother."

Mrs. Flax bit her lip. "You sure?"

"Yes!"

"Okay," she relented. "Okay, then I'll take that and… get off your ass, I guess."

Holly chuckled, leaning back in her seat. "Okay. I love you."

"I love you, too," she shot back, and they watched each other for a moment. Mrs. Flax blinked a few times, lips parting as if to say something else - but then she looked to the door.

"Well, Michael ducked the hell out of here. You wanna go get him for Pictionary?"

Holly looked back at the hallway. "I'll see if I can convince him."


Sorry for the late update - been moving stuff around a bit and haven't had a lot of free time. Thanks so much for every review; the fact that anyone is reading this is very much a reassurance. Anyway, see ya tomorrow.