Her Legacy

XXII. The Video

"You'll stay with me?'
Until the very end,' said James." J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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Chapter XXIII – The Video

Mom and I spent the day together on Sunday, without our phones.

On a normal day, she had the tendency to check up on work on weekends even though she had them off. The beauty of working in a clinic meant that she had set hours, and on call doctors took care of any emergencies, but being the concerned person that she was, she couldn't help herself.

I, like any other teenager, probably would have spent the day texting my friends and talking to my boyfriend, but I didn't. I sent Shea a good morning text to reassure him and then I left my phone in my room.

It was important to Mom that we have time together, binge watching whatever trash she found recorded on the DVR and eating food that contained approximately forty-three different preservatives. In her mind, we were starting fresh.

In mine, I was starting the long road towards forgiveness, adjusting to my new normal, and accepting that my life had taken this path without any of my knowledge.

Mom didn't mention Dad, and I didn't bring him up, but I did notice an addition to our collection of family pictures on the mantle when I came downstairs this morning.

My mom had about every class picture framed and displayed them proudly. Couple those with annual mall Santa pictures, vacation shots, and a picture of us at Mom's college and med school graduations.

The addition, however, didn't feature me for a change. It was of my parents. It seemed weird to even think of them as a plural. But I had parents, it was a thing now, and my dad was acknowledged in this house. The picture was their wedding photo, and I just about cried when I saw it.

I had waited for Mom to got to the bathroom to practically leap on it, to study it in great detail for the two minutes she would be gone.

They looked so incredibly young. Mom was rocking the late 90s off the shoulder ball gown, while my dad looked incredibly handsome in what was probably his prom tux. Their smiles practically touched their ears as they looked at the camera, while holding onto each other. They looked like high school sweethearts, and nothing could ever break them apart.

I had quickly retrieved my phone for a second, snapped a photo of them both and had set the picture as my wallpaper. My phone would have to be unlocked for anyone to see it, so there was no way Mom would know. I just wanted them with me, as lame as that probably sounded.

Mom ordered in take out for Sunday night dinner, and we finished watching a show where the couple all got married when they first met each other. I actually got super into it, but I suppose anyone would if they'd watched seven hours of the show in a row.

When it was time for bed, as we both had school and work in the morning, Mom thanked me for the day.

"It felt nice to just hang out with you, Sara. We haven't done that in a while."

"It was nice to hang out with you, too, Mom," I replied with a small smile.

"I promise, the truth from now on, okay? I won't ever lie to you again." With that, she kissed my cheek and retreated into her bedroom.

I went in the other direction and wandered into my own room. I picked up my phone and checked my messages and social media.

I only had one message from Shea, responding to my text this morning. I had a feeling he was trying to restrain himself.