It took me a grand total of two hours to realize that my dad was never coming back home when he left. I kind of always knew he wasn't going to come back. I mean, who would come back to a possibly drug-addled wife who may or may now be a prostitute. Or a couple of odd children, one of which whose name is literally Frankie Finn. But it's when he came back and took all his things, that's when I knew. And I mean he took everything. From trophies to cleaning supplies to every little thing he brought into our house, including the good memories we had with him. I came home from school to an empty house and a mother who disappeared for a week.
It's been three years since he left. Mother came home and left again. She does that a lot. I can't count the number of times I used to call the police searching for a missing mother, only to find her passed out in a motel room a few towns over. My sister and I probably would've been taken away if it weren't for the fact that my mother has an incredible way with words and can and has talked herself out of many legal situations. We became quite familiar with one cop, Sgt. Wallace. He was almost always the cop they sent to us whenever anything happened. This continued for about a year, until mom started leaving for a longer amount of time and I started growing up and caring less. Eventually everyone cared less too. Sgt. Wallace stopped asking about Mom, or coming to find her at all. Eventually everyone just stopped worrying about the Finn family.
That kind of made thing easier on me though. When people stopped worrying is when people stopped asking the questions that I didn't have answers to. The town grew out of it as I grew up
Mother would leave for weeks at a time, which is why I was so surprised to find her home when I got home that day. Not only was she home, but she was up and functioning and cleaning the house. She'd only been gone for two days so seeing her like this was odd. I entered the house extremely cautious that maybe she had a psychotic break, but she actually seemed stable. She had on sweatpants, and a shirt that was way too low cut for a 46 year-old woman. Her hair was thick and dark and pulled back into a ponytail. I stood in the doorway for a prolonged amount of time, just watching her wash dishes. I must've had a stunned look on my face because when she turned to me she laughed.
"Hello, Elliott." She smiled at me. It was a sickeningly sweet smile but it warmed my heart all the same. I fought it for a moment but realized there was no harm in smiling back.
"Hey, mum. You came home?" I threw my bag and keys on the table and leaned against the closest chair. A chair that didn't look to have the ability to hold any weight due to it's complete lack of structural integrity but could apparently support my structured weight.
"Yeah, I have something to tell you and Frankie later on. It's not important right now though, love." I smiled again at love. She's been calling me love for as long as I can remember and it's one of the things I miss most when she's away. I leaned over and did something I didn't think I'd ever really do again. I hugged my mother and kissed her on the forehead. I did it mainly out of love and slightly because I wanted to make sure she wasn't running a fever or sick. She wasn't. Which meant she came home out of love, and that was when I felt the most happiness.
Dinner was later, around 8 pm. Mum made us spaghetti with stale bread buns. It wasn't gourmet, but it was heartfelt and I loved it all the same. Frankie even came out to eat with us, and thankfully, never mentioned the curling iron from this morning. We talked the entire time about how school was and how Frankie's volleyball was going. We spent a good hour telling her all the stories she never bothered to ask about before. Even thought she came home sometimes, it was never really a social visit. She spent most of the time in bed or taking anti-depressants that I'm pretty sure were not hers. This was different. This was a family now.
"Okay, so now that you're both here, I have something very important to discuss with you guys." Mum beamed brightly which automatically brightened the room. I missed that.
"I get the feeling it's good news." replied Frankie. Her reddish-brown hair was left pin-straight and fell past her shoulders. "You look happy." Frankie finished her thought by flipping one side of her hair over shoulder. A habit I found annoying but I chose not to comment on it right now.
"It's wonderful news, darling." Mum took a sip of her orange juice, which was the first time in a long time that it has been anything but wine. "I know I haven't been the greatest mother, and I'm not exactly winning any caretaker of the year awards, but I think I have a great chance of fixing all of my mistakes and regrets by making it up to you guys."
"Mum you shouldn't be so hard on yourse-" I started, but was interrupted.
"Let me finish, love." I failed to hold back a grin. Mum continued. "I've been hiding something from you, but for a good reason. I wasn't sure if you guys were ready to know, but I think it's time you find out. I believe it will make everything so much better for us right now. And there will be no more leaving or long trips away from home. It'll just be us." She paused, which nearly killed me.
"Well, what is it?!" Frankie was on the edge of her seat and I could tell couldn't wait much longer. Mum smiled from ear to ear as she said something I was almost positive I would never hear.
"I'm seeing your father."
The whole room dropped, including my heart.
