Page 53 of Forgettable in Every Way

I walked over to Mom, wishing to be closer to her too. Simon had let it slip my mother was the one who had been telling him my whereabouts. She had no idea how much that meant to me. Honestly, I didn’t believe she had it in her. Maybe I was wrong about her in more ways than one.

I took a seat next to her and took her delicate hand in mine, realizing how similar our hands were. I couldn’t remember the last time we’d held hands or shown any physical affection.

She squeezed my hand as if she didn’t want to let go.

“Thank you for playing matchmaker,” I started off with.

Mom’s face pinched. “That was to remain a secret. I will have to have words with Simon.”

“Don’t be too hard on him. Besides, it means the world to me that you helped move things along.”

She placed her other hand over our clasped ones. “I could tell there was something special between you two. Something your father and I used to have,” she choked out.

“Used to?” I questioned uneasily.

Mom’s eyes filled with moisture. “A lot of water has built up under the bridge over the years. Sooner or later, that bridge was destined to flood and crack.”

“Bridges can be fixed.”

“Sometimes,” Mom whispered.

“Do you want to fix it?” I had to ask.

“Julia, it’s not that simple.” Her voice crackled with emotion. “We grew apart a long time ago. The repairs would be extensive. There’s a lot of pain on both sides. I just never imagined we would end up like this.” She sniffled.

My heart hurt for Mom and Dad. I was no Dr. Phil, but all I could think to say was, “Maybe if you remembered how it started and why, that would help. I’d love to know.” I realized I didn’t know much about how my parents met or how they fell in love, other than it happened while they attended the same college.

Mom looked out into the distance, her hands shaking, as if those memories were in a locked vault she hadn’t looked into for a long time and wasn’t sure she wanted to reopen. Eventually, though, she sighed , granted my request, and unearthed tender feelings from long ago.

“We were both on the debate team, all four years during our undergraduate studies.”

“Really?” I had no idea.

She offered me a weak smile. “Yes. No one could debate like your father. His logic and the way he constructed his arguments were second to none. I always told him he should have been a lawyer. He considered it.”

“So, did you travel together to tournaments?” I grinned, thinking of all the possibilities.

Mom nodded. “It wasn’t as romantic as you probably think. For the first few years, we were only friends. Your father was very studious and focused on his academic goals. Traveling with him meant meticulously going over notes and drinking a lot of coffee. But ...” She paused, and a serenity washed over her. “During one trip to Seattle, the roads iced over, and we got stuck at the cutest inn. I couldn’t take it any longer and I went to his room and told him how I felt.”

I leaned back, surprised by this news. “That was brave of you.” It was like her version of my photo album. Maybe someday I would be brave enough to ask Simon about it. Obviously, he never read it. My guess was Penelope probably threw it away.

“You do crazy things when you’re in love, and I was smitten with your dad. He was so driven and handsome.”

“What did he do when you told him?” I was almost afraid to ask, knowing how my brave moment hadn’t worked out so well.

Mom’s cheeks turned a nice shade of pink. “He pulled me into his room, and let’s just say we didn’t study.”

“Well, okay,” I sang.

“It was one of the best nights of my life.” She smiled. “I knew then I would marry him.”

“What changed?” I had to know, fearing the same could happen to me. The way Mom spoke about my dad left no doubt she had once been very much in love with him. I imagined he used to feel the same way.

She gripped our clasped hands tighter. “Julia, I don’t know. I guess it was lots of moments of not putting each other first while the resentment kept building. And we continually swept things under the rug until the rug became so dirty, neither of us recognized why we picked it out in the first place. He got dismissive, so I got demanding,” she admitted. “It’s been a vicious cycle, and you got caught in the middle of it all,” she cried. “I know you feel forgotten. I never meant for that to happen. It’s just, I couldn’t deal with it all, and you, my sweet daughter, seemed to do so well on your own. I didn’t realize how much we were hurting you. I was hurting so much, I didn’t see it.”

A few tears trickled down my cheeks, so much of my life making more sense than it ever had. It was almost like Dorothy figuring out she could have gone home anytime by just clicking her ruby-red shoes together. If only I’d spoken up earlier, I would have known I wasn’t invisible. Not to say my parents shouldn’t have handled things differently. But I wasn’t the only one in pain.

“Please forgive me,” Mom begged, tears now streaming down her face. “I’ll do whatever I can to make it up to you.”

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