Human Novel 35

Chapter 35
Chapter 35 “a mother’s love endures through all.” 7 Washington Irving
For a moment, we were both frozen. Her eyes roamed over me like she was taking in every new
freckle or strand of hair that had grown since we’d seen each other last.
And I was doing the same. She definitely looked older than the last time ’d seen her, and yet, she
didn’t look quite as tired as I remembered. There was a youthful glow to her, a spark in her eyes that
Pd never seen before. Although it was clearly her, the amount of life in her felt unrecognizable. This
was not the tired, strung-out woman I’d spent the first eleven years of my life with. This was
someone else.
“My God,” she whispered, “You look…so grown up.” Her eyes had been watery before, but now,
she was actually crying. There was a tight feeling in my chest. Every part of me was overjoyed to
see her – and yet, a tiny voice continued to whisper in my head. She abandoned you, remember? She
didn’t even bother to call.
Still, that little voice seemed to fade into the background when she clasped her arms around me and
squeezed.
The warm feeling in my stomach spread all the way to my toes. I was hugging my mom. In the
flesh. And she smelled exactly like I remembered – like the vanilla perfume she always wore.
“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you,” she pulled back and I
saw the tears streaming down her face. She had missed me?
The fear of rejection that I’d had about coming here, that my mom was going to turn me away,
seemed to evaporate. I felt like I was a little girl again, clinging to my mother. She had missed me as
I’d missed her.
“Come on, May,” Steve interrupted, sliding a bowl of mac and cheese toward me, “Why don’t you
give the poor girl a moment? She’s got to eat. She’s been traveling all day.”
“Of course,” mom said, smiling at me with teary eyes. She cradled my face like she was afraid I was
going to disappear right in front of her. “I just can’t believe you’re here. I was worried that…” She
didn’t finish her sentence, but instead, looked away and pulled out a chair.
But she didn’t need to, | knew what she meant. She was afraid she’d never see me again.
But why was she afraid? All she had to do was pick up the phone or swing by for a visit.
Thad every intention to ask her, but after another stomach growl, my body reminded me of its
priorities. Food first, answers after. Ishoveled mac and cheese into my mouth and had to hold back a
smile. How could something so simple and easy taste so good?
“How was work?” Steve asked, taking the seat opposite my mother. She continued to stare at me
like my poor table manners were the best thing she’d ever seen.
“Oh, it was fine,” she tore her attention away to look at Steve, “Same as usual.” Just then, I noticed
she was wearing scrubs. Steve had said she was coming from work, so she must work at a hospital
or doctor’s office
that’s defi
When I used to live with her, my mom had bounced from job to job but she was usually too strung
out to keep anything for too long. She certainly didn’t look strung out now. She looked clean, and
that was a way I’d hardly ever seen her before.
he hospital now
“Oh, you’d be proud, Clark,” Steve boasted, “Your mom went back to school a couple of years ago
and got her CNA license. She’s been working at the local hospital ever since.”
shly. “Oh, it’s not
“It is, May,” Steve smiled, and I watched him take hold of her hand, “You should be proud of
yourself. I know I am.” I stared at their conjoined hands and a realization suddenly washed over me.
Steve had said my mom was staying with him and that he was seeing someone ~ God, could my
brain work any slower? (7
mom. ‘My mom is see
dating? I know that was nev
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The confusion on my face must’ve been evident because Steve actually chuckled. “Oh, right,” he
said, “This must look a little odd, huh? Me and your mom together?” |!
his going on when I was around?” I wracked my brain, trying to remember moments
and I didn’t get together until about five years ago. It was af
“But I’d had a thing for your mother much longer than that,” Steve said, “I just didn’t want to
overwhelm her.”
“More like you were waiting for me to get my life together,” mom rolled her eyes. There was a lot
to process here, but all I could think about was —
ed. “And you’re dating Uncle Ste
All the anger and rejection that I’d been feeling earlier rose back to the surface. Clearly, my mom
was doing just great on her own. She went to rehab, had a steady job, and was even dating Uncle
Steve. She had – as she’d already pointed out – gotten her “life together.”
me clean? Was I such a burden that she needed to discard me so that she coul
se tasted like l
My mom sighed. She wasn’t crying anymore but there was a sadness in her eyes that I hadn’t seen
before. “Clark,” she said, “There’s a lot I need to tell you. There are things I couldn’t tell you
before, but now that you’re here, I can actually be honest with you. I know you must be angry with
me -”
“Oh, really?” I spat out, “Look, I’m glad that you were able to get clean and pull yourself together.
Really, I am. And if you had to drop me off at dad’s for a little while to do that, I would’ve
understood. But that doesn’t explain why you never came to visit or bothered to call. You just
disappeared from my life! You abandoned me.” Now that I had opened
ling these past seven years was pouring out of me. My mom sat there in silenc
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be missing out on the complete story. Head over there to dive into the next chapter—it’s all free!
her figure to me for eleven years, and then you disappeared just like her. D
for me to go…that it might actually be good to see you after all this time,” I said, “Bu
if she was my mom. If that wasn’t enough for her to pick up the phone for th
“Clark!” She shouted after me, “Wait!”
Her eyes were wide and pleadin