AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hello?” Nick yells, opening the front door and poking his head inside.
“Come in! Come in!” I hear my mom bellow from inside.
I walk in behind Nick and see my mom and her sister, our Aunt Sheryl, coming toward us.
“Hey, mom,” I say as she hugs me.
“Hey, birthday boy! It feels like just yesterday I was dropping you off at kindergarten. Now, look at you, a full-grown man.” She removes her arms to wipe away the tears ready to fall from her eyes.
“Mom, please don’t cry.”
“Let me see him,” Sheryl says, pushing my mom out of the way.
“Hey, Aunt Sheryl,” I choke out as she squeezes the life out of me. Nick is sitting on the couch enjoying this spectacle.
“Look at how big you are! You need to stop by more often! And where’s this beautiful girlfriend your mom was just telling me about?” she asks, looking behind me.
My beautiful girlfriend.
“Oh, Sorry. Natalie is spending some time with her family today before the party tonight. I promise I’ll bring her by another time.” I reply. “Where’s Uncle Harry?”
“Aww, that’s too bad. I was so looking forward to meeting her.” Sheryl’s displeasure is obvious from her facial expression. “And your uncle is off puttering around with his boat, trying to fix something on it. Who knows?” She throws her hands in the air and rolls her eyes. “He should be here shortly, though.”
“Well,” my mom starts, “I know you’re busy today, so let’s go into the dining room and start opening presents. And when Harry gets here, we can have dinner and cake.”
We all follow her lead into the dining room where I see an abundance of streamers hanging from the ceiling, an enormous fancy-looking cake taking over the center of the table, and a giant birthday banner covering the far wall.
Just as I take a seat at the head of the table, Mark walks in.
“Hey, happy birthday, kid!” he exclaims.
“Hey, Mark. Thanks. It’s been a while. How are things?”
“Oh, everything’s good. No complaints here. Always something keeping me busy.” Mark looks over at my mom, who is beaming with delight that he’s here. He sits in the empty seat beside her, wrapping his arm protectively over the back of her chair. “But how are things in Boston? Is Tom a better boss than me?” he inquires with a wink.
“Nah, Tom’s great, but I’d say you don’t have to worry about your position on the boss-rating meter anytime soon,” I say, which gets a good chuckle from Mark. “Thank you again for helping me with that.”
“Oh, that was nothing. Tom was short-staffed anyway, so it worked out for everyone.”
“Tom told me everything you said about me. If I didn’t know better, I might think you like me,” I joke.
“What can I say, kid? I guess I have a soft spot for you.”
The two of us share an understanding look as I’m reminded that the man sitting in front of me helped me become the man I am today. Even if I had tried, I couldn’t have picked a better guy for my mom.
It’s silent for a moment until my mom speaks. “Well, these presents aren’t going to open themselves.”
“Here.” Nick throws a horribly wrapped, round object at me, and I immediately know what it is as I catch it mid-air.
“Gee, man, how did you know I needed a new basketball?” I ask sarcastically.
“You haven’t even unwrapped it. For all you know, it could be a golf club,” Nick protests.
“You’re right. Let me just …” I rip the wrapping paper off, revealing an orange basketball. “Wow, what do you know? Definitely a step up from last year’s gift, though.” We all laugh.
“Sorry, I didn’t have time to wrap this.” Mark pulls out a solid black piece of luggage from under the table. “I’m told it’s the best of its kind. It has an anti-theft lock and a charging outlet for your phone.” He looks at my mom before continuing. “It ties in with your mom’s gift.”
“Here.” My mom pushes a white envelope toward me.
