There was always you

21 | The mother f*ing brady bunch

Adira Bowen

March was such a drag to be in the city. Though one would presume spring, growing up on the East Coast you knew it was the opposite. Sometimes March was the worst month of winter.

I couldn't believe I'd been with Rhys for 5 months. Having to finally explain things to my mom was scary. But it had to be done, and to my surprise, she was happy for me. Noah already knew, he always had.

But things felt like they were moving at a secure pace. We'd known each other as friends for years, lovers for months, and then as us, as Adira and Rhys. A new step in our relationship, one that's been waiting to happen for years.

I finally spoke with Lucy about the details of it all. Apologizing for steering her away from me, especially with a wedding on the way. She'd finally been able to come back and have dinner with the both of us.

Rhys had a wicked kind of charm, one that would win someone over simply with just a few words. They'd all met Rhys hundreds of times, but as my boyfriend it was different. I knew my mother knew it was different.

But being back here today for her birthday with Rhys, made it all so much more real. Birthdays with Mom were a personal and family event. One that she invited Rhys to this year. My ex was invited after two years of dating me.

We flew into Boston for the day, the four-hour drive just didn't seem worth it. But the way my heart raced outside my front porch was a new feeling. I think it's because it mattered, this was different. I was bringing Rhys home rather than a dinner in New York with the parents.

My mother personally invited him and my father wanted to talk shop. Whatever that meant, Noah even seemed excited.

Like the charmer he is, Rhys stood with a bouquet of daisies in hand for my mother. When the door swung open before I could touch the handle, she smiled in delight. Gasping at the sight of the flowers she clutched her chest in a go-to move.

"Oh Rhys you shouldn't have!" Pulling him into a tight hug she hands me the bouquet. Of course, she'd hug the man in my life before me, "We've missed having you around, tell me how are you?" As we step into the house I roll my eyes as I leave Rhys with my eager mother.

I step into the kitchen fixing up the flowers in a vase and chopping the stems, "Where's the lover boy?" Noah teased as he munched on a bag of Fritos watching me intensely.

"Trapped in the living room by the birthday girl, poor boy" I muse placing the vase down and centering the flowers perfectly.

I hear the floorboards creek and that's when I know they've made it to my bedroom. Closing my eyes I sigh and exit the kitchen heading up the stairs, "Oh and she was so little in this, my little papoose!" I open the door knowing exactly what to expect.

In her hand, my mother held a frame of a naked photo of me stashed in my child-like room. The walls were scattered with band and movie posters and the bed was stocked with stuffed animals. This definitely looked lived in, it was a relic in time in itself.

"Exposing me to my boyfriend now are you?" A grin spread wide against my mother's face with my words.

"You were just such a cute baby, it would be a shame not to share that with the world. I mean Noah was ugly as a child, no hiding that. But my golden girl was precious from the start!" She placed the frame down and walked over pulling me in for a hug.