3 months later-

"Christy!" Bonnie opened the front door, "oh good, you're here."

Christy closed her laptop and her law book and asked, "What's up?"

Bonnie was beaming from ear to ear as she stepped into the apartment. "I've got a surprise for you."

"Oh boy," Christy already sounded close to hyperventilating as she went through the process of steeling herself to whatever was to come, "You lied about my age, you lied about my dad, you lied about Aunt Jeanine...you stole Adam's handicap placard and copied it, you stole Jill's silverware," she took in a deep breath through her nose, "okay, I'm ready. Hit me with it."

"No," Bonnie waved her off, "I have a feeling you're going to like this surprise."

"That's what you said when we lived on that hippie commune in Argentina," Christy said.

"Trust me, I've gotten a lot better at this since then. Come on outside."

"Oh no, Mom, what is it?" Christy asked as she stood up.

"Just come with me," Bonnie said, "trust me, you'll like it. Close your eyes."

"Mom," Christy rolled her eyes.

"Close them."

"Fine!" Christy huffed and let Bonnie lead her outside.

They got right outside the door and stopped.

"Well?" Christy asked.

"Open them," Bonnie said eagerly.

Christy opened her eyes and then her eyebrows furrowed together in puzzlement. Standing in front of them was a white women's bike that had undergone some modifications.

"It's the bike from the courtyard," Christy said.

"Yep," Bonnie replied.

Christy wasn't getting it and elaborated slowly, "The bike from the courtyard...that's been there ever since we moved in six years ago."

"Yep, and now it's yours," Bonnie told her.

Christy blinked. "What?"

"I finally got around to asking all the tenants if any of them owned this bike, nothing," Bonnie said, "so I decided it was up for grabs, and it was in too good of condition to just throw in a dumpster. So I got it all zhuzhed up for you. This is now your bike."

Christy slowly turned her head to look at her mom and asked, "Huh?"

"I wanted to do something nice to surprise you."

"Oh, well, I'm definitely surprised," Christy said a little unenthusiastically.

"I've been working on it every day while you're at law school," Bonnie explained, and gestured to all the new features, "I got the seat lowered to accommodate your petite size. I got the no-flat tubes in your tires. A basket on the front and back to store stuff in. Metallic streamers on the handlebars, and I even got you a bell that lights up and changes colors."

Christy gave the bike a second look over and it started to occur to her, "You really spent some time on this."

Bonnie nodded excitedly. "I wanted to kind of make up for all the times you didn't get anything as a kid." She started to look a little nervous as she asked, "How'd I do?"

Christy looked the bike over again and asked, "Are these baseball cards in the spokes?"

"Please, I'm married to a very successful bar owner, only the best for my daughter now, Pokemon cards, check it out," Bonnie pointed to the cards in the back spoke, "Pikachu!"

In spite of herself, Christy could feel a big smile forming on her face.

"Oh wow, Mom, this is...it's unbelievable. I don't know what to say...thank you."

"You're welcome, I thought that this way we could ride together sometime, I still have my bike from the four months I lost my license and had to pedal my ass everywhere."

"Oh yeah," Christy said in a cynical tone, "those were the good ol' days."

"Hey," Bonnie said, "can you take a break from studying and we can go on a quick ride now to break it in?"

"Oh...I suppose so," Christy replied.

"Good, now, as your mother, I have to insist you take the proper precautions, and put on your helmet first."

Christy folded her arms in puzzlement, "I don't have a helmet."

"You do now," Bonnie took one out of the back basket on the bike.

Christy took the pink helmet and turned it around and did a double take when she saw the stickers on it.

"My Little Pony?" she asked.

"I remember you watching that cartoon before our stolen cable got cut off," Bonnie said.

Christy examined the picture closer and her eyes got big as recognition set in.

"Baby Lickety Split!" Christy exclaimed as she jumped and hugged Bonnie. "She was my favorite! Thank you, Mom!"

"You're welcome, am I off the hook for that pony I promised you now?" Bonnie asked.

Christy pulled back and asked, "How'd you get this?"

"I printed a picture off the computer and double taped it, that horsey's never coming off," Bonnie said proudly.

"Let's go!" Christy exclaimed.

"Now you're talking!"

Bonnie paced back and forth tensely in front of their apartment door. Just when she thought the waiting was going to kill her, she saw Jill coming with two bags.

"Did you get everything?" Bonnie asked.

"Yes," Jill said in a tone mixed of annoyance and disgust, "Dairy Queen ice cream and Thelma & Louise."

"Oh thank you," Bonnie heaved a sigh of relief as she took the bags, "you're a lifesaver, Jill."

"Bonnie, you rushed me off the phone so fast I didn't find out, what's all this for?"

"Oh, Christy and I were riding bikes in the park, and this jackoff made fun of Christy's helmet, so my brilliant daughter tried to flip him off and instead she flipped herself over the handlebars."

"Oh my God," Jill's eyes widened, "is she okay?"

"She sprained her ankle and the rest of her's banged and bruised in places, but she'll be fine," Bonnie said.

Jill thought of something else and asked, "Why was he making fun of her helmet?"

"It's a long story, I just figured as lousy as she's feeling right now, a little non-alcoholic pick-me-up might come in handy."

"Where is Christy?" Jill asked.

"Inside on the couch," Bonnie answered, "I got her ankle wrapped and elevated."

"Wow, you really are a good mom," Jill said in awe.

"I'm working on it anyway," Bonnie said as she moved to open the door, "thanks, Jill."

Bonnie stepped inside and saw Christy still sitting on the couch with one leg stretched straight out, the ankle wrapped in a compression sock and resting on a pillow with an ice pack over it.

"Hey," Christy said uncertainly, "what's that?"

"I figured since you can't go anywhere right now," Bonnie answered, "we'd eat ice cream and watch a movie."

"DQ?" Christy asked hopefully as she pushed up on her hands for a better look.

"Yep, I got me a hot fudge sundae, and got you the banana split."

Christy asked skeptically, "Standard?"

"Nope, customized, instead of the traditional strawberry-pineapple-chocolate toppings I specifically ordered strawberry-cherry-marshmallow."

Bonnie handed the plastic ice cream container and red spoon to her daughter, who looked at the frozen dessert in awe.

"You're the best mom ever," Christy said as she pulled the lid off.

"I learned from the best daughter ever," Bonnie said poignantly.

The two of them shared a look for a second before Bonnie switched gears and asked, "Now, who wants to see an oily Brad Pitt?"

"Ooooh! Me me me!" Christy raised her hand.