The Bad Boy's Snowflake

Chapter 22: Thank You, Sweetheart

The three of us: Sadie, Macy, and I, grab a cart and head toward the back of the store. As we walk past things that I need, I grab them of the shelves or tell Macy or Sadie to go down an aisle and grab things. I'm finished shopping a lot faster than I usually am, even though I have crutches. I'm also a lot less lonely. 

After we finish, I head up to the cash register that Zoe is reading a book at. She smiles at me and whips out her blue notebook. As she flips through it, I can see all the things that I've "bought" over the past few years. Rows and rows of different foods, drinks, and snacks zip by until she comes to a blank page. I begin to pull my items out of the cart while she writes it all down as fast as possible. She gives me another hug and a wish to say hello to Sam for her.

Sadie, Macy, and I go out the door, but before I crutch completely outside, I can see Mr. Lagransky  at the door of his office. He has a sad look on his face. I smile at him, and he heads back into his office.

"So what was that about?" Sadie asks as soon as we are in the car.

"What do you mean?" I ask, pretending I have no idea what she's talking about.

She puts the car in drive and pulls out of the parking lot. As soon as we are on the highway she moves her eyes to glare at me through the rear-view mirror. "You know exactly what I mean, Catherine."

I lower my eyes to my hands. "I don't think I do."

I can feel her glare through the mirror and have a feeling that she would punch me if she wasn't driving. Her driving is what she really needs to focus on, anyway. We've only been driving for five minutes and we've already almost hit two other people. They definitely were not happy and had quite a few things to say with one of their fingers.

"Fine," Sadie sighs. "I guess we'll just have to real shopping then."

I attempt to tell her that I can't. She asks for five good reasons why not. I attempt to give them to her. "I have cold stuff that needs to go home."

"We can drop it off and then go," she counters.

Dammit, I need something good. "I haven't spent a lot of time with Sam lately and I don't want him to feel neglected."

"He is literally going to be playing Xbox all day, Catherine."

"He can't feed himself."

"Sam is a smart kid. Plus, he feeds himself almost everyday anyway."

She's right god dammit. "I'm on crutches. It would take us forever."

"I have all day, and so does Macy. We can take as long as you need," she smiles. She knows that she's won this argument. 

I make a feeble final attempt. "I have homework?"

This time it's Macy who  speaks. She turns around in her seat and looks at me skeptically. "You have homework? Really, Catherine? Out of all the things you could have said, and you say homework?"

"Yes?"

She shakes her head and turns back to the front. I can tell that Sadie is holding in her laughter. "I am so disappointed in you right now, Catherine Spire. I honestly don't even know what to say."

"It's a valid excuse!" I argue. "Honors and AP classes give you a lot of homework."

"Homework that you do on Sundays," Sadie replies. Macy nods.

"Well what if I was turning into one of those people who-" I stop. We pull up to my house, but there's already a car in the driveway. It's my mother's car. 

Sadie pulls up to the sidewalk in front of the house. "How about we help you with the groceries?"

All I can do is nod. 

The three of us get out of the car and start bringing in the groceries. I fumble with my keys once we reach the front door, but we eventually make it in the house. My mother is sitting on the couch in the living room, working on her laptop.

"Hey, mom," I say weakly.

She turns at the sound of my voice. Her face lights up. "Catherine! I've missed you!" 

She comes over and gives me a hug, careful not to touch my crutches. I give Sadie and Macy a confused look over my mother's shoulder. She finally pulls away and looks at the grocery bags we're holding.

"Oh you bought groceries!" she smiles. "Great! I'll just take those and then you girls can be on your way."

She starts to take the bags from Sadie and Macy, but I stop her. "Actually, I was just coming to drop the groceries off. I was planning on spending the night at Sadie's. Is that all right?"

My mother looks shocked for half a second, but she quickly regains her composure. "Of course that's all right. I just need to speak with you before you go, so I'll just take these groceries and we can talk while putting them away."

She takes the bags, and starts toward the kitchen. I glance worriedly at my friends before following her with the rest of the bags. When I walk in, she is already putting away the groceries. I set the bags I'm holding on the counter and start to put away the food I bought. Mom doesn't speak at first, and neither do I.

"What happened to you leg?" she finally asks, without looking at me.

"Um," I answer. I can't tell her that I got into a car accident because she's probably seen my car in the garage, and she would have probably gotten a call from the insurance company if it had actually happened. She turns around and looks at me expectantly. "I fell down the stairs."

She raises her eyebrows at me and gives me the same look that the doctor did. "You fell down the stairs."

"Yes," I answer slowly.

She starts to laugh, and it throws me off guard. "My sure-footed soccer player fell down the stairs?"

"What?" I exclaim. "You're sure-footed soccer player? Mom, just last week you slapped me because I wasn't good enough!"

Her eyes darken and I realize what I just said. She is definitely going to kill me. "Look, Catherine. I know I have been a bad mother ever since your dad left. I realize what I did was wrong, and I feel horrible about it. I came back here to make it right because I realized that you're my only daughter, and I don't want to lose you after you leave for college."

I stare at her with my eyes narrowed. I don't believe a word she is saying.

"I know that this is probably hard to believe," she continues. What an understatement. "But while I was out of town I met this guy. He asked me out, so we went to dinner. He began to ask me questions about my life and about you and Sam. I realized that I knew absolutely nothing about you. Then I realized what I had done to you before I left, and I just-I'm so sorry, Catherine." She begins to cry. "I know that fixes absolutely nothing, but I feel so bad. I'm here to make it right. At least as right as I can."

I am so taken aback that I don't even know what to do. "Wait, what does that mean?"

She looks up at me through her tear-filled eyes. "I'm staying in town. I'm going to be your mother again."

"I-I," I answer. "I don't know what to say."

She sighs. "I thought that was the case. You don't have to say anything. Just give me a chance. Please."

"O-ok," I answer hesitantly. "But one mistake and I'm turning you in to the authorities."

She takes in a sharp breath, but nods. "That sounds fair, I guess."

I sigh. "Well, welcome home, Mom."

She smiles. "Thank you, sweetheart."