May
in Seattle, of course, brought rain, like the rest of the year. It didn't
damper anyone's mood however, except Aunt Cindy.
"Rain
always makes my knees hurt," she grimaced. "I broke 'em when I fell off a my
cycle workin' at Jam Pony back 'bout twenty years ago. Now they hurt when it
rains, practically every day thank ya very much."
It was a common complaint
streaming out of her mouth. Aunt Cindy would even walk with a limp purposely
just to prove her point if need be.
With
June at our backs and finals creeping up, school was a living hell now.
Teachers screamed at us when a task wasn't completed in an orderly fashion,
homework piled up, review sessions filled our schedules and between all that,
my swim team and track meets almost every day and sessions with Doctor Barnaby
three times a week, I was lucky to get home before nine o'clock. Luckily I had
Gina with me in five out of eight classes or I might not have survived. We sat
together and passed notes, making side comments and jokes about the teacher's
lesson. We were on the swim team together and sometimes we did homework
together at either her penthouse or mine.
One
day I came home after an exhausting swim meet around seven-thirty and collapsed
on the couch. The coach was in a bad mood today and made us swim lap after lap
after lap. Every muscle in my body was throbbing. Daddy wheeled over and looked
down at me.
"Hungry?"
he asked.
"Ugh,
please…no food," I grimaced. "My stomach is all knotted."
"Did
you eat anything today?"
"I
had a small lunch," I admitted.
"Well,
come on then. Up and at 'em. You can't have dessert if you don't eat dinner."
"Dessert?"
I sat up, mildly interested.
"Oh,
for that you get up?" Daddy laughed. "C'mon. You know you want to. You always
love my cooking." He tugged on my sweatshirt sleeve and I stood up off the
couch and followed him into the kitchen. "I made a roast chicken."
My
stomach growled, Please feed me!
So I sat and Daddy served
me, "What's the dessert?" I asked. "Aunt Cindy get a cake?"
"It's
not food," he said.
"Then
why is it dessert?"
"Because
it's a treat that comes at the end of the meal. Eat up or wait till tomorrow."
"But—"
"No
more questions," Daddy smiled. "Eat."
"Three
more," I begged.
Daddy
relented, "Fine. Only three, yes-or-no answer."
"Is
it bigger than a breadbox?"
"No."
"Can
I wear it on my head?"
"Maybe…if
you practiced real hard."
I
stabbed a piece of chicken with my fork and thought of a third question. "Does
it have to do with Mom?"
"I'm
not answering that," Daddy gave a tight-lipped smile.
"It
does! I can tell!" I laughed. "What is it?"
"Eat,"
Daddy insisted. "Or you will never know and I'll just keep it locked up…"
"Daddy,
quit teasing!"
"Clean
your plate and I will."
I
ate fast enough without choking myself. I didn't realize how hungry I was until
I actually took a bite.
"And
you didn't want to eat," Daddy smirked playfully.
"What
I wanted was to find out what you found!" I could barely stand it. "Tell me,
c'mon!"
Daddy
pretended to ignore me and wheeled himself into his bedroom and came out with
an ancient VHS tape in his lap. "This thing still works. I tried it when you
were at school." He handed it to me.
I
read the label on the tape and grinned widely. "'Max's 21st," I read
out loud.
"It's
a home movie of your mom's first birthday party. I found it in a box in the
closet. I thought you would enjoy it."
I
hugged Daddy hard and kissed his cheek over and over again in thanks. After all
I'd put him through these past few months he was still willing to discuss it!
"How
do I put it in?" I asked. I handed the tape back to Daddy who wheeled over to
our television and pressed a few buttons and popped in the tape.
"Now
just press play here…" Daddy muttered. "Okay. Take a seat, show's on."
I
sat on the couch and propped my head up in my hands and kept my eyes on the
screen.
The
video began with Mom blowing out the candles in the living room of the
penthouse and people singing happy birthday. I recognized Bling and Aunt Cindy
there but no one else had a familiar face.
"Happy
birthday, boo," Aunt Cindy hugged Mom while everyone clapped. While no one was
talking, Daddy narrated, pointing out things I might not have recognized.
"Your
mom never knew her real birth date and everyone thought she should have one.
Everyone who knew where she was from, anyway," Daddy recalled. "So she picked
April twenty-seventh because she said spring was her favorite season and April
was the month spring usually was in swing. And from then on that was her
birthday."
"But
she knew how old she was, right?" I asked, watching my mother's face glow as
brightly as the candles on that cake as she opened her gifts and laughed. I had
never seen my mother in moving pictures or hear her voice.
"Yeah,
so on her twenty-first, she chose a birthday for herself," Daddy said, moving
some stray curls away from my face.
I
smiled at Daddy and watched the video. Aunt Cindy was behind the camera now,
filming Daddy and Mom on the couch surrounded by balloons and remains of gift
wrap. Mom had her head in Daddy's lap, using it like a pillow.
"So,"
Aunt Cindy's voice said. "Max finally has a birthday. Tell me, what's it like
to be another year older an' still yet another year wiser?"
"Tiring?"
Mom laughed.
"You
get used to that," Daddy on video sighed. "Welcome to the depressing world of
birthday parties. Another wonderful way to remind you how old you're getting."
"Shut
up, Logan," Mom smacked Daddy lightly on the arm.
"Now
that ya got b-day, boo, when's y'all gonna get married?" Aunt Cindy asked.
"Sometime
in the next millennium," Mom said sarcastically. "I don't think marriage is the
Manticore thing to do."
"You
ain't there no more," Aunt Cindy reminded her. "Logan get yo' sorry ass on the
floor down on one knee and propose to my boo."
I
had to laugh. Aunt Cindy really hadn't changed.
"Not
today, Cindy," Daddy slid off the couch and stood up. It was humbling to see
him at his full height. He must have been wearing those bionic legs—the
exoskeleton—he had been talking about. "Give me the camera."
"No,
I ain't done yet! I still gotta talk about what y'all gonna name the kids!"
Aunt Cindy laughed. The camera's view went kind of crazy and then turned off.
"I
practically had to wrestle with Cindy for that thing," Daddy laughed.
"Is
that it?" I asked sadly.
"No,"
Daddy said. "I think there's some more on here…I used this tape for tons of
things." His tone sounded sly, like there was a surprise at the end.
The
camera turned on again and focused on my mother. She waved into the camera and
said, "I hope this thing's on. Is it running, Logan?" She looked up at
supposedly Daddy. I recognized the setting as Daddy's bedroom.
"Yeah,
it's on. Go ahead, Max," Daddy's voice from behind the camera.
"You
sure?" Mom looked skeptical. "The little light thing isn't on…"
"Max,
it says 'recording.' I'm watching the screen. I'm not that blind."
"Sure
you're not. Okay, if it's all running smoothly, you can leave," Mom insisted.
"I kind of want to do this myself, okay?"
"Huh?
Okay…close the door?"
"Yeah,
just set the thing on the dresser or tripod or whatever."
"Whatever,"
I heard Daddy mutter. Then he walked out and close the door. Mom sat on the bed
and took a deep breath.
"Okay,"
she said. "This is going to be my…little video message to you, my baby." She
stood and turned so she could show her profile. She was wearing a black turtle
neck shirt and gray sweatpants and clearly was eight or nine months pregnant.
"So far you don't have an official name
yet because your dad and I chose not to know if you were a boy or girl but if you
are a girl your name is Eva and if you are a boy you'll be Zack."
She sat down again. "God, now that Logan's gone I really don't know what else
to say. But I will say this: if you're ever in need of a job, don't work at Jam
Pony." She burst out laughing. "No, no, I'm kidding…I actually just wanted to
let you know that you're going to be born into a world that I never had. One
full of family and love and endless care. I doubt you'll ever go hungry either
because your dad is one of the best cooks I've ever encountered…and I haven't
encountered a whole lot. Someday when you're old enough I'll tell you what I
really mean. I didn't really have…the world's best childhood and I'm hoping you
will.
"Even though by the time you see this you'll be a big kid, I want you to realize no matter what you do I'm always going to love you and I hope that you will love me back. You're very special to me even when you're right here," she pressed her hands to her stomach and then wiped away some tears. "Before you got here I had two other babies inside me that died before they were even born…and you're due in about a week and I can't wait for you to come." Mom wiped her eyes again and stood up and turned the camera off. The tape ended there. Daddy wheeled over to the television set and pressed stop. I didn't realize I was crying until I touched my cheek and felt that they were wet.
"Thank
you, Daddy," I said. "That was the best dessert I've ever had a taste of."
