29. Chapter Twenty-Nine #2
My sister waves, but that’s all she is getting. Khloe is a little shy, but she’ll warm up to Luna eventually. I know she will.
I love that Luna doesn’t pressure her. I set Khloe on her feet and she runs inside, Tuffy hot on her heels.
Luna weaves her arm around my mom’s and begins to answer her questions as to how I got home last night.
“Hey, now. That’s private information. She has girlfriend rights, you know? She doesn’t have to answer.” I wag a finger in my mom’s face, and she laughs as if nothing’s changed.
But everything has changed.
Soon she won’t be able to hear me tell her how much I love her.
I hug her before she has a chance to walk away.
“I love you, Mom,” I rasp harshly in her ear, crushing her small frame against my chest.
Luna steps around us and begins to quietly set the table, giving us a moment to ourselves.
My mom pushes me away, wiping her eyes. “There, that was our moment, but now we shift perspective. Yes?”
I nod my head. “Yes, ma’am.”
This is classic mom. She’ll allow you to sit on your pity pot for a moment, maybe two, depending on the severity of the situation. But then she makes you find another way of looking at it. The good. It’s always there. It’s just sometimes harder to find than others.
“I would like to hear your voice as much as possible.”
“Of course.”
“So, let’s talk about your brother.”
“That was a trap,” I accuse, laughing. I stepped right into that. But honestly, tell me I don’t have the best mother ever.
So, for her, I revert back to being my whiny teenage self. She loves that shit.
“He’s being mean to me, Mom. And I didn’t do anything to him.”
She sits me down at the table just like she did when I was a kid.
“The answer isn’t to be mean back.”
I slouch in my chair, because I know she’s right. My outburst at the warehouse didn’t help anything. It only made things worse. For everyone. “I understand.”
She pats the side of my face. “I know you do.”
Dad joins us at breakfast a few minutes later with Khloe sitting on his shoulders, Tuffy following behind.
“I smell something good,” he says, sniffing the air as if the wafting scent is pulling him toward the table.
My mom smacks him in the stomach. “You don’t have to be so dramatic about it.”
“What?” he says, winking at me.
We all know. Well, all of us besides Luna. It’s highly unusual for a good smell to come out of mom’s kitchen. She tries. Lord, the woman tries.
“Thank you for making breakfast,” he says, looking at Luna and then me. “I was sleeping like a rock.”
“How do you know I didn’t do it?” my mom asks, pretending to be hurt, but my dad and I know better.
“Baby,” my dad says, and I roll my eyes.
“No. It’s fine. I know you don’t mean to hurt my feelings.” She pretends to inspect her nails.
I can already tell you what happens next. He takes her hand and offers her whatever she wants. Let’s hope it’s nothing inappropriate.
She claps her hands. “Kelsie and I want to take the kids to Disneyland.”
“No.”
“Dan,” my mom says, placing her hands on her hips.
I draw a circle around my ear before pointing it at my parents. Luna covers her mouth, trying to hide a giggle.
“You can come too,” my mom says.
“No thanks. The last time I was at Disneyland I wanted to put a bullet in my head. Can’t do it,” Dad says.
“Tank can go with us then.”
He crosses his arms over his chest, thinking about it. “When you’re outside of the room, he has to remain within five feet of you girls and the kids. You move as a group.”
“Twenty, and deal.” She holds her hand out to shake on it.
“Fifteen, and that’s being generous.”
Mom shakes on it, knowing that’s as good as she’s going to get.
He’s not normally quite this possessive. He lets mom live her life, but I know he’s scared for her now that her hearing is going.
I don’t know how I didn’t notice it before.
The way her lips move as she listens as if she’s trying to put together all of the pieces of what we’ve just said. The tilt of her head as she turns her ear toward whoever is speaking to her.
I wonder how long she’s known. When did it start? Is there nothing they can do?
Dad reaches over and silently takes my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. He’s not trying to get me to stop feeling whatever I’m feeling. He’s just letting me know he’s here.
I know my father well enough to know that he’s looked at every option. He’s more than likely still searching. And if there is no cure … you can be damn sure we’ll be having a fundraiser soon to fund the research for one.
Dad tells me about mom’s condition as she listens on.
When they’re finished, I’m devastated. There’s nothing that will stop her from losing her hearing.
“But Luna has offered to teach us and anyone in the club sign language. We were thinking about getting together at the warehouse for lessons.”
I look at Luna. She’s been quiet all through breakfast.
Of course, she knows sign language. How else would she have communicated with her mother?
I’ve done a lot of things over the years to disappoint my parents, but I’ve also done a lot that’s made them proud. This is the proudest I’ve ever seen them.
They’re happy I chose Luna.
I waited for the perfect girl, trusting she’d find me, or I her.
She smiles and dips her head, clearly humble about all of the attention we are giving her.
“Ah, that’s a great idea, but what I’m wondering is if I get private lessons,” I say, embarrassing her and my mom like they did me earlier.
Mom throws her napkin at me. “Carson Ray.”
It makes me laugh.