Some women gossiped to themselves as they walked past me. I found Mom staring at the cooler without moving, obviously listening to what those women where saying.
"Mom?" I called.
"Oh, hey, sweetie. Thank goodness you're here," she replied but didn't turn around to look at me.
I knew she was wiping away her tears.
"Mom, don't let whatever they say get to you," I said to her.
"They're right. I might be trying too hard; and who knows, one day, you might come to find me frustrating too," she preached.
"I don't even know who my mother is, and you've never mistreated me, even once," I reminded her. "You have always been my mother. And you always will, okay?"
"Okay," she agreed as she took in a deep breath and exhaled. "You and your father are too good at things like this."
I hugged her. "You're also good at being a mom."
"Huggies!" Sophie announced as she hugged us too.
"I don't know what's going on but I want in," Dad said and hugged all of us.
My extended family was made up of different people, both the fantastic and the bizarre, but they were my family. And I, theirs.
The End