Forever & Always

8. Gifts & Promises

I lean against Mom's doorway as Aunt D and Aunt Bria help her get on her wig and sigh as I hear the horrible crackles in her breathing that have just gotten worse over the past week. I bite my lip thinking about how weak she's gotten lately but the one thing that has given her some energy and excitement is looking forward to tonight's Christmas dinner at the Andersons. I watch my mom's two sister help her get ready in actual clothes instead of her usual pajamas or sweats that she has lived in for the past year and help put her makeup on to give her some color. As a little girl, I remember watching her get ready for dates with my dad before they split and it always made me day dream of the future of when I'd be as beautiful as her when she was healthy. I close my eyes to keep my tears at bay and take a deep breath before pushing off the door to walk up behind her.

"You look beautiful, Mom." I say as I place my hands on her shoulders and smile at her as she looks up at me in the mirror of her vanity patting my hand with her frailer one.

"Thank you, baby girl." She says and I lean down to kiss her cheek gently squeezing her in a hug. "Are all the gifts in the car?"

"The uncles are supposed to be doing that right now." I answer and adjust the oxygen tubes over her ears noticing she doesn't have earrings in. "I think you should wear your ruby earrings tonight. It'll look nice with your sweater."

"Do you still have them?" She asks and I nod turning to head to my bathroom where I last had the earrings I borrowed for a date a few nights ago.

"Hey, Lindz?" I hear a voice says and I look up in the mirror to see my cousin, Carmen behind me playing with some of her dark hair. "Can I borrow your straightener?"

"Yeah, it's right here." I answer pointing to the hair tool I use most often and reach over to turn it back on. "Just remember to turn it off."

"Okay, thanks." She says as she steps up to the counter and I pick up the earrings from a jewelry tray on my counter watching her try to straighten the ends of her hair that curl under.

"Is everyone else ready?" I ask and think of my younger cousins that came with their dad and my other uncle to help me, my mom, aunts and Carmen bake various cookies to bring with us to the Andersons as a contribution to the evening that Mrs. Anderson would not allow us to really bring anything cooked.

"Yeah, just need to get shoes on." Carmen answers and I head back to my mom's room with the ruby stud earrings to help her put them in before going to check that my uncles are putting the right things in the cars. I smile as my cousins CJ, McKenzie and Justin all play a video game that CJ brought from home and it makes me wish that I could go back to simpler times when it was more about the games I'd be playing or what movie to watch next instead of the stress of medical bills and Mom's chemotherapy. I tell them that we're leaving in a few minutes and look under the Christmas tree in the corner by the TV to double check the presents are all in the car except the ones for our immediate family. I push my hair back as I walk back to my room to slip my stocking covered feet in a pair of black heels and grab my coat to put it on.

I stop by Mom's room to help Aunt D escort her out of the house and into our SUV settling her oxygen tank in the floorboard by her feet. I smile at her before closing the passenger door and open the door in the back to get McKenzie and her younger brother, Justin in the backseat with Carmen climbing in at the last minute her hair now stick straight the way she likes it to highlight the purple streaks in her dark hair. I walk around the back of the car and pass the rest of my family piling into my Aunt D's minivan that parked behind the car nearly two hours ago. I get in the driver's seat and back out of the driveway after my Uncle Carlos driving the familiar route to the Andersons. I smile as I hear Mom singing along with the kids to the Christmas carols on the radio and can't remember the last time I've seen her so happy.