Page 123 of We Are Yours

Kraven chimed in, “Only because we put a stop to it.”

“Great,” I remarked. “We’re back to two against one again.”

Kraven shrugged. “We’re just trying to protect you. Why is that so hard to understand?”

I shook my head. “You don’t need to protect me from her. She’s your mom.”

“You’ll learn,” Julius bit out. “The first lesson is always the hardest.”

My eyes went wide, suddenly defensive of her. “She’s respected all your wishes, and the only reason she’s coming tonight is because it’s my birthday. You know how she feels about them.”

Julius reminded. “It’s ten at night. What time are we expected to eat?”

“Maybe something's wrong. I mean, she’s not answering her phone, and that’s not like her.”

Julius nodded. “That’s the definition of her.”

“She’s never not answered me.”

“You’ve only known her a minute,” Julius scoffed. “But I knew it wouldn’t take long for her to show you her true colors.”

“Well, I’m not giving up on her so easily. I think there’s something wrong.”

“Isla—”

“Julius, just let her be. It’s her birthday, alright?”

He reluctantly let it go, but not before he added, “How about we at least sing you ‘Happy Birthday,’ and you can open up our gifts?”

“No,” I softly spoke. “We can wait for her.”

It was my big one-eight. I’d been looking forward to becoming a legal adult for as long as I could remember. Now the day was finally here, and we were in the living room, waiting for Melody. My emotions were all over the place. I refused to believe she was standing me up.

The clock on the wall ticked, though.

Tick, tock.

Tick, tock.

Tick, tock…

Every second that flew by mirrored the beating of my heart, pounding its way out of my chest. The candles burning around us tested my patience, too. Julius pretended he was scrolling his phone while Kraven did the same, each on opposite ends of the couch, me in the middle like always.

The living room felt smaller than usual, the walls caving in on me, starting to feel like a damn fool. Balloons were scattered around, and a cake was waiting in the fridge. All of it was just making a mockery of the evening that I had so much hope for.

Julius’s jaw clenched every time I saw him glancing at the door from the corner of my eye. I kept picturing her coming through the door with flowers, a gift, and a huge apology for being late. I pretended as if this wasn’t the first time I trusted and relied on someone to show up for me.

And not just someone but their mother.

I never had anyone care about my birthday, and she made such a big deal out of ours. I never expected a celebration, a gift, or even someone saying happy birthday to me. It was just another year, another age older, another, another, another…

No one ever sang me “Happy Birthday.” There were years when I didn’t even remember my own. I made myself think it didn’t matter, and now it mattered more than anything, all because I put my trust into a woman who didn’t deserve it.

I couldn’t sit there anymore. It felt claustrophobic, invasive, like the walls could read my thoughts or something. Throwing it back in my face that I should have listened to them from the beginning. That I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up and relied on a woman who abandoned them.

What was I thinking?

I tried to keep myself busy by straightening up the kitchen and starting a new load of laundry. However, my thoughts kept getting worse.