Page 20 of What Comes After

And, of course, endless amounts of my favorite meals.

Nothing was better.

It was at that moment when the doorbell rang.

“Looks like the party is about to start,” my mom said. “Why don’t you go answer the door while your dad and I get the rest of the food squared away here, Devyn?”

“You really didn’t have to do anything else,” I said to her as I turned to walk out of the kitchen. “Dad’s brisket and your mac and cheese would have been sufficient.”

“We love that you love them, sweetheart, but there’s a variety of people coming here today,” my dad noted as I moved toward the front door. “We have to have options.”

I knew they were right, but it didn’t change my opinion on the whole matter. Even if I disagreed, I chose not to argue with them. That was mostly because I opened the door and was thrilled to see that the very first guests to my party were Theo and his parents.

A bigger smile than had already been there formed on my face.

“Happy birthday, Devyn,” Mary said. She had one free hand and used it to reach out and pull me in for a hug.

Theo’s dad, Scott, had his hands full, but he didn’t hesitate to offer birthday wishes as well.

I thanked the both of them before they moved toward the kitchen to greet my parents. As they went, I couldn’t stop myself from feeling grateful to have Scott and Mary in my life. They were like a second set of parents to me.

Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I looked away from where Scott and Mary had walked and back in the direction of the front door. More specifically, I looked at Theo.

“Happy birthday, Devyn.”

“Thanks, even though you already said it to me yesterday on my actual birthday,” I replied.

“Yeah, but today is your party, so I’m not going to not say it.”

Feeling happier than ever, I jerked my head in the opposite direction and said, “Come on. You guys are the first ones here, and I want you to try my favorite foods before everyone else arrives.”

“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Theo returned.

I let out a laugh, recognizing the fact that my best friend’s appetite as of late had changed. Theo ate a lot more than he used to. It wasn’t that I spent every hour with him and knew his eating habits, but I was around him enough to notice. We used to come home from school and go to his treehouse to do our schoolwork, but this year, it was different.

When we walked out into the kitchen, I said, “Theo needs to try your brisket, Dad. And he needs to taste the mac and cheese, too, Mom.”

“He’s family, Devyn. He doesn’t need to ask. Grab a plate and help yourself to whatever you want, Theo.”

“Thanks a lot, Rhonda.”

Yes, Theo called my mom by her first name. He did the same with my dad, and I did it with his parents. We’d known each other all our lives, and calling them Mr. or Mrs. McCormick was far too formal. It would have been the same for Theo with my parents.

After grabbing a plate for him, Theo took it and loaded it up with brisket and mac and cheese. He didn’t hesitate to dive in, and once he took his first bite, his whole face lit up.

“It’s the best, isn’t it?” I asked him. “It’s my favorite food.”

His mouth full, Theo nodded his agreement and said, “So good. Now, whenever I smell your dad smoking brisket, I’ll just think of your birthday.”

That right there was it.

Knowing how I’d felt when I first tasted the food and seeing Theo’s reaction, I felt confident in my recent decision. This very meal was what led to me having an idea as to what I finally wanted to do with the rest of my life.

I wanted to do this.

I wanted to go to culinary school and learn how to make meals that people would eat and ultimately wind up associating with a feeling or something significant in their life instead of just saying that it tasted good.

Nothing made me happier than to know that Theo would smell my dad smoking meat and would think of me.

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