Page 61 of The Twelve Months of Christmas
“You’re getting through it beautifully,” Sunny assured her.
“Early days,” said Mia.
She was right. They had a long road ahead of them.
They took some pictures of Mia and Arianna—one of them hugging, one of them toasting each other with their coffee mugs, and another only of Mia. Then mother and daughter relaxed while Sunny worked on getting the video up on YouTube and the website as well as all the other necessary social media. She also posted their pictures everywhere, with thoughtful captions and tags.
“You two are going to become celebrities,” Sunny predicted.
“I don’t want to be a celebrity,” said Mia.
“Me, either,” said Arianna. She’d never been interested in looking for the proverbial spotlight.
“Well, you are going to get a lot of followers, so be ready,” Sunny told them.
“I do want followers,” Arianna admitted. “It doesn’t do any good to put out information if nobody sees it.”
“They’ll see it. And they’ll go back and check out all the other information you’ve been sharing.”
Still, this wasn’t exactly the way Arianna wanted to get more exposure.
“I don’t want to take advantage of what Mom’s going through,” she said to Sunny when Mia was in the bathroom. “I don’t want to pimp her out.”
“You’re not pimping your mom out,” Sunny said. “You’re giving her a chance to feel useful instead of like a burden.”
“Okay, good point. I see that. Still, let’s make sure we do some other posts and segments that don’t have anything to do with Mom’s cancer.”
“Of course,” said Sunny.
At that point Mia joined them and it was time to head to the salon.
“Hello, you two,” Michael greeted them. “Mia, you’re lookin’ good.”
“Not for long,” Mia said.
The words revealed so much. She’d kept a brave face and was getting out in front of the chemo, but it didn’t mean she was looking forward to losing her hair. Arianna wanted to cry but her mother didn’t need that.
“You’ll still be lookin’ good when we’re done,” Michael assured Mia.
Sunny got busy filming as he went to work. Arianna stayed out of the frame, surreptitiously wiping at tears and watching as her mother’s hair fell to the floor.
“I’m going to save a lot of money on haircuts and products,” Mia joked.
“I’m gonna go out of business,” Michael joked back. “I still expect you to come in and see me, you know.”
He finished trimming Mia’s shoulder-length hair to less than an inch, then got out his shaver. When he’d finished, Arianna had to remind herself that this woman she’d never seen before was her mother.
“Lucky you. You’ve got a great shaped head,” Michael said.
“Lucky me,” Mia repeated, her sarcasm showing what she really felt about her luck.
After filming Mel doing Mia’s makeup, Sunny sped the video up in editing, showing Mel transforming Mia’s face. By the time she was done, Mia looked like a glamorous mannequin come to life.
Sunny slowed down the video at the end to focus on Mia’s delighted reaction. “I feel pretty.”
“Oh, so pretty,” sang Michael, and everyone laughed. “You’re a good example of how to make the most of what you have,” he said, then added, “You’re beautiful even without the makeup, Mia.”
It was so true.
