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My mom has always been like this, all heart.
She’s a tiny lady with the kindest face and purest soul I’ve ever known. Her dark brown eyes smile up at me as I step back to look at her.
“You look good, Mom.”
“You look good, too, Ash.”
She hugs me again, and my heart swells.
“How’s Kate?”
“She’s good. She’s at work at the moment.”
My mom and sister live side by side. I bought them both a house ages ago, they’re two separate places but connect easily, so they’re never far away from each other.We set everything up for Kate so she doesn’t have to worry about accessibility.
Kate has a boyfriend, Kenny. I met him the last two times I was here. They work together at Life Foundation, helping people with disabilities. Kenny primarily helps kids with rehabilitation, while Kate manages a lot of the organization’s administrationand is a qualified counselor. I’m happy for her, glad to see her thriving, and having met a nice guy is a wonderful thing for my sister to experience at twenty-five. It’s been a long time coming.
“I can’t wait to see her.”
“We were all on the edge of our seats watching the final,” Mom goes on. She watches every single game I’ve played.
“How’d I do, Mom?”
She squeezes my cheeks together and kisses both of them. “You did so great, baby. You made us all so proud!”
“Who did you have over here, the entire neighborhood?”
“Yeah, of course.” She laughs. “Any chance to show you off.”
“I’m glad we won then,” I muse.
I love mom’s bungalow, and the way we have set it up to be close to Kate.
They both need their space, but mom can be there if Kate ever needs her, and vice versa. I don’t think there’s any chance that they would ever move. Not that it’s ever been on the cards. Though, I want to buy a holiday home somewhere in Florida. I will retire here eventually, for sure.
“You were always going to win,” she tells me. “I could feel it, Ash. It was your time.”
“It certainly was.”
“I’m sorry we couldn’t be there.”
I kiss mom on the head as she walks over to the kettle and fills it with water to make us coffee. “Don’t be silly. I know it’s hard, and I don’t want you traveling back and forth.”
Mom works part-time as a florist but has always wanted her own business, since we were kids. She’s worked in various admin jobs over the years when Kate and I were at school. She really got into floristry after I moved away with dad. I think she threw herself into it to give her a distraction from what was going on at the time.
She’s only gone from strength to strength. Not to mention, she’s been a pivotal person in my sister’s life to help her in the early years of her life. And I guess that part never truly ends, as mom always worries about her, even when she’s doing fine.
“I’m glad you’re here now,” she tells me. “I’ve made your favorite casserole.”
“I knew I could smell something good.”
My mom can’t stop feeding anyone who comes into her house if she tried. She’s always been this way.
“And you said you’re going to Miami on Friday?”
“Yeah, I’m meeting a friend of mine. Plus, I have that charity game at one of the local rinks. Coach Carter wanted us guys to do some off-the-grid stuff in our downtime.” It’s good for the team and publicity. But that’s not the reason I do it.
I haven’t told Maddison I have a game lined up on Saturday that I want to bring her along to. The goal is to raise money for a local youth team, the Miami Gliders. Some pros get together in a celebrity game to raise funds for them and other local schools in the area. Then, the kids get a turn on the ice and play with the pros afterward.
