Thuar Grá

Chapter One: Minor mistakes and changes

1.

I walked to the kitchen hesitantly because I could already hear them singing and as soon as I did get there, I was pushed back by an invisible force that managed to drag me all the way to the fridge. The force slowly uncovered its identity when I heard my mother's laugh erupt. "Oh we're going to miss you so much, Jam-nami" cried Mum and squished my cheeks in between her slender fingers. I pushed her hands away from my face and giggled uneasily. Dad walked towards us and lifted me in his arms, squeezing the daylight out of me before putting me down, gracefully. Trust my parents to be ever so..touchy. "Our Jam-nami's a big girl now, Gretchen. She understands why we're going", said Dad as he wrapped his arms around Mum who squealed with delight. "I know, David. I mean, there's really nothing to worry about. It's only two months" laughed Mum. An introduction of silence was put into the atmosphere as we all realised the reality of me being left alone for that period of time. Mum let out a noise of horror and immediately pounced on me, hugging me over and over again. "Oh my days, David! This is crazy! We can't leave our Jam-nami alone for two whole months! I mean, who's going to take care of her as well as we do? And what if Jam-nami gets hurt? Who would help her? We can absolutely not trust these neighbours of ours especially not that Hutton Johnson. The guy literally dumps all the unwanted leaves he cuts from his rose bushes in OUR garden and completely lies about how they just accidentally appear there. How can we be assured that he'd watch our only priced jewel? And oh my days, David don't even get me started on the possibility of burglars visiting! I would never be able to forgive myself if anything bad ha-". "MUM" I cut her off. I watched her slowly catch her breath back from all the rattling and placed my fingers firmly on her shoulder blades. Her eyes were so full of worry, it was heart breaking. "Nothing bad at all is going to happen to me. I'm going to be just fine, trust me. On the other hand, you and Dad are going to have the best twentieth anniversary anyone could ever wish for. Do you understand?" I said to her calmly. She nodded at every word but I could still feel worry swimming in and out of her. I had to make sure that she wasn't going to ruin it for both of them.

It was their twentieth wedding anniversary and they were going on a European tour which was suggested and organised by me. Well, of course I was upset that they were leaving but they deserved it. I wasn't going to allow them to do the same thing they did every single year(sending each other cupcakes with their initials iced on top) just because their various jobs kept them 'too busy'. Even on normal days, they hardly see each other because their weeks are usually very hectic and packed. This whole holiday was definitely going to help.

"I'm not a baby anymore, Mum. I can take care of myself. You guys need this holiday. You always complain about how you'd kill just to get one day off work and now you have the WHOLE summer! Don't wreck it because paranoia about my safety is hitting you hard" I preached to her. Mum sighed as she pushed away a strand of her finger, fuzzy hair away from her face, behind her ear. I smiled because that's exactly what I do almost every day since I unfortunately inherited her red, jungle hair and not my dad's normal brown hair. Dad turned Mum around to face him and breathed unto her face, "As much as I hate leaving Jam-nami alone, she is right, Gretchen. We do need this holiday. For the past few years we haven't had a single break for each other. It's always work, work, work. He'll, we have only public holidays to ourselves and I don't think that's good enough. I don't even remember the last time I touched you or made lo-". Hold on. Is my father discussing about his sex life with my mother in front of me? Awkwardoo the elephant just stepped in and he's huge. "I think we get the picture, Dad" I coughed. Dad looked up and realised that he'd gone way too far and passed me an apologetic look. Mum blushed so badly, she looked like a tomato. Mum turned to me me and asked whiles closing her eyes, "Are you sure you're going to be okay, Janeira?". Whenever she called me by my real name and not that hideous nick name that she and dad invented, I know she means business. I actually hate that name. Apparently, I was named after my great grandmother who was a very well respected lady and also Spanish or was it Mexican? Possibly even Puerto Rican or even..actually I really don't remember wha she is but because I hate the name so much, I've made my friends and everyone else I know, apart from my parents that is, adapt to calling me 'Ira'.