Chapter 11
Happy Birthday
Sammy
I wake up feeling anxious. I will receive a letter from my mom this year. I’ve seen my father hand it to me. Mo-mo will ask me if I need her to read it to me, but I will read it for myself.
I’m a big boy now. In all honesty, I understand a lot more than everyone thinks. I can’t wait to see what my mother has said.
It is my hope it will help with the visions I’ve been having. Things have been different. It’s all changing.
“Come in,” I say as a knock comes from my bedroom door.
The door opens and Dad walks in. He’s holding the letter and smiling. Mo-mo walks in after him with my favorite breakfast on a tray. I can’t help smiling when I see her.
There’s this light that shines around her. As if her love glows in a soft-pink color that surrounds her. The soft hue grows to a darker pink when she’s trying to protect me and my family.
That’s when the dark crown appears. The dark crowns are always around the heads of the people I feel most comfortable with. Mo-mo, Dad, Uncle Uri, Uncle Misha, Uncle Logan, Auntie Val, and the list goes on.
However, I have come to think of the darker pink as Mom’s passion for us. She may not be my birth mother, but she loves me. She has loved me from the start.
“Happy birthday,” she sings as she places the tray across my lap.
“Thank you. This is my favorite. Thank you, Mom.”
“You’re welcome.”
Dad sits down on the side of my bed. I eye the letter in his hand, nervous about what it will say. I have to fight the impulse to grab the letter and tear it open.
That would be rude. I have manners. I’m not a rude person.
“Happy birthday, buddy. You have a full day ahead of you. Are you excited?”
“Yes, I am. I would like to talk to everyone about my gifts. I believe I have answers for everyone today.”
Dad chuckles. “Sounds a bit last minute but I’m sure we’ll all do everything we can to make it happen.”
“It will be just as it should be. Is that for me?” I ask, pointing to the letter, not able to wait any longer.
“Yes, your mother left this for you just as you said,” he says and hands it over.
“Would you like me to read it to you?” Mo-mo asks.
“No, it’s time I start to do things for myself. This is important for me to grasp.”
“Okay, I’ll give you some space.”
“No, no. You both should stay. After I read this, I will have things to say. Things you both should hear.”
“Oh, okay,” Mo-mo says and moves to take a seat at my desk as she faces us.
I take the letter and tear it open. There is a faint hint of my mother’s scent as I pull the letter from the envelope. A smile comes to my lips.
I miss her. I guess that’s why she’s been in my dreams and visions so much lately. It’s like she’s trying to guide me to something.
Sammy, my sweet boy,
Happy birthday. I hope this day brings you great joy. I know things have been a little confusing for you lately. Unlike everyone else, for you, time doesn’t exist. However, at the same time, it’s most important to you.
In the last few weeks, you have constantly been standing in the past, present, and future all at once. It’s been way more than the seconds and minutes you used to glimpse in your visions.
Don’t be afraid. I know it’s been overwhelming. Your sisters won’t come fully into their gifts as early as you have. They have only been showing signs of them because of you.
The gift in the boys always awakens earlier and is greater in their abilities. It is the reason they can’t handle it. However, you will not lose your mind like the men in our bloodline before you.
You are special, Sammy. Your gift will prepare a table before you. You question a lot of what you have seen yourself do in the future and the roles of others around you.
You wish to change a lot. While I do believe if no one else, you will be one to change the outcome of much, you will not be able to change it all. This you will have to accept.
I know you have been feeling lonely, as so many of your friends are either so much younger than you or so much older. It won’t always be this way. You are not the burden you think you are to the adults.
They want to help you. You need their help. To protect those you love and to effect the change you will be able to make, you need to learn from them.
Don’t be so hard on yourself. Your gift is changing and that’s for the best. Begin to explain your gift to your father and Mo-mo. They want to help, and they will once they understand more about what’s going on.
Everyone will pitch in to support once your father and Mo-mo understand. They will be your help until your sisters and the others are old enough to take their place. You should have a brother now whose name starts with an E. He will be special to you. You mean the world to him.
I love that for you. He’s one of your best friends. It is important not to treat him or your other best friend as babies. Their young eyes will see what you don’t see when your eyes are turned within.
Fear not. Your greatest desire to have a love of your own like your father and uncles will come to pass. My sweet boy, I know what you plan to ask for this birthday. In years to come, the one you are preparing for will love it.
Do not fear the man soaked in red with your father’s face. Yes, that is you, but you are not the monster you’re making up in your head. The woman to your right will be your Mo-mo. The ones on your left will be the hearts of the ones closest to you.
Then there is another. I wish I could tell you more, but that’s not in my realm of understanding. I believe it to be a lesson I’m not to take from you.
The key is to trust what you see, hear, and feel. As I said, your gifts will be great. You will see and understand more than I ever could and your ability to see so much will allow you to effect change.
Be wise with what has been given, my little prince. You are on the path to becoming king. Everything you will do will be done out of love.
The one to your right will love you still. You are more alike than you know. Stop worrying about whether your deeds will make you unworthy of love. Look around you. They all have love and still remain the men who will teach you to become who you are meant to be.
What you become is up to you, my sweet boy, but it will be great. That much I am sure of. Talk to your parents. It is time.
With all my love,
Mommy
I sit staring at the pages in my hands as I process the words in front of me. She was like me. She could see things too.
That’s the only way she could write this. I feel a bit lighter as I gain that understanding. Lately I’ve been feeling like such a weirdo.
I sigh. “I have always been nervous to tell you how my gift works. You all trust me when I speak, but I don’t know if you will continue to do so once you know how it works.
“That makes me afraid. I want to keep you all safe. I don’t want you to lose trust in me, but my first mommy says it’s time I start to talk to you and explain,” I say as I find my words.
Dad places his hand on my head and I start to feel calmer inside under the weight of it. I look up at him and search his eyes. When I see he’s not angry with me, I smile.
“You can always talk to us. You have earned our trust over the years. Your words have saved all our lives at some point.”
I nod and take a deep breath. Taking a glance out the corner of my eye, I see Mom watching me closely like she always does. She will know the moment I’m overwhelmed.
Trusting her and Dad, I begin. “I’m no longer seeing in seconds and minutes. It’s as if I’m seeing things that have happened in the past and will happen in my future.
“Not just my future, but the future of everyone around me. Everything is different now,” I murmur and ball my fists at my sides.
“How so?” Dad asks.
“When I was younger, things weren’t as clear as they are now. I never really understood what I was seeing. I just knew when something dangerous was coming and that I needed to warn you guys.
“The feeling would get stronger until the visions came in seconds and then minutes. That night, when Mom came to pick me up from Grandma and Grandpa Mairettie’s, I felt danger was coming.
“I needed to get to her to warn her. Then she took me home to her place and I felt we were in danger there. It wasn’t until a few minutes before they were on their way to the garage to harm us that I saw what the danger was.”
“But you see more than that now?” Mom says in awe.
“Yes. Before I could sense and see trouble meant for you and Dad. Then I started to see smaller things about others. Decisions they needed to or should make, things like that.
“However, about two years ago, I started to see why those decisions should be made and what would happen if they were or weren’t.”
“Is this for everyone you come in contact with? Do they have to touch you or something?” Mom asks.
“I think that’s how it worked with your mother. She touched people and saw stuff.”
“No, it doesn’t work like that for me. If I’m around, I see things. No, it’s not for everyone. Well, it didn’t used to be. I think that’s changing too.
“It used to be mostly those who would mean something to Dad. At least that’s what it felt like. Like they were important to him, so I knew things about them.
“What happened during the war was different for me. I thought it was a one-time thing as it hadn’t happened again until recently. At that time, I knew you guys needed to know what I saw because none of it would go away.
“Once things were over, it stopped. In the last year, I’ve felt something change. When I step into a room, I see and hear for everyone around me. Then there are the numbers and Jess,” I explain.
Mom’s eyes go wide, and it seems like she’s holding her breath. I fight not to get overwhelmed. I don’t want to start humming and distract them from what I need to tell them.
I release a heavy breath and start to cut into my fruit and French toast. I don’t like syrup. The fruit on top makes it as wet as I like.
Mom makes it perfectly. She understands just how I like it. Today it’s better than perfect and makes me happy.
Mom, being Mom, picks up on the fact that I’m starting to reach my limit. She gets up and comes to sit beside me.
Then she wraps her arms around me and kisses my cheek. I miss when she was taller than me and could kiss the top of my head. Those kisses made my world better.
I slouch down and rest my head against her chest. She then kisses the top of my head. I sigh as everything in me settles and begins to feel right in my world.
Dad places a heavy hand on top of one of my legs. “You don’t have to do this now. We can talk more later,” he offers.
I shake my head. “No. It’s okay. Jess and the numbers started when I was about five. She would draw the pictures with numbers hidden in them. At first, I don’t think she knew what she was doing.
“I could see the numbers, but I don’t think she knew they were there. I would hear to sit by her and look at the pictures. That’s when I started to find the numbers as I held the pictures.
“Once I found the numbers, I would see what they meant and what they were for in my mind. I don’t know how, but I just knew what they were for. Phone numbers, addresses. Almost always for Dad’s friends in times of need.
“I would know the order to place them in and how to use them and when. When those people came to our house and I called everyone to come help, Jess figured out the connection. That’s also how I was able to help in Ireland.
“She doesn’t know when she’s doing it. She’s honestly just drawing. I’m the one who knows which pictures are for me.
“I find the numbers. I think … I think someday she will know which pictures and when to bring them to me. I’ve seen her do it when we’re bigger.”
“Have you seen anything else about the future?” Mom asks gently.
I nod. “Yes. The man soaked in red. He’s drenched in blood.”
“Who is he?” Dad asks.
“At first, I thought he was you.”
Dad’s brows shoot up into his hairline. “But you don’t anymore?”
“No. He looks just like you, but he’s not you. He’s me. I’m the man soaked in blood. It’s not my blood.
Dad nods and visibly relaxes. “Okay, do you know whose blood it is?”
“The men from the shadows. My enemies and those they love.” I shrug.
For the first time, it all clicks into place and settles. I’m resolved to the path I’ve seen and know I will take. This is who I am.
“They will come for what’s mine and I will show them who I am.”