All Roses Have Thorns

Erin X

"Mom!" She ran through the doors to where her mother was sitting in the hospital bed.

Her mother looked up and closed her book. "E-"

Erin crushed her in a hug. "Merry Christmas! I missed you so, so much." She pulled away, but held onto her mother's hands.

"I missed you too, cherry blossom," she smiled, rubbing her thumb over Erin's hand. Feeling the bandage, she looked down and frowned. "What did you do now?"

Erin's father crouched down next to them, smiling as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, honey. Are you ready to go home?"

Her mother smiled back at him. "I'm more than ready."

Erin felt so much more alive on the drive back to her house. She didn't even care that she was sitting in the back, freezing her butt off. Her mother was coming back home, and their family would be whole again.

After they helped Erin's mother into the house, the three of them gathered in the living room and Erin sorted out all of their presents. First they opened the presents that their extended family had sent. All of their relatives had sent gifts and cards, wishing that her mother stayed healthy and felt better in the coming days. Finally, Erin passed her gifts to her parents. She gave the gift bag to her mom and the wrapped box to her dad. She gave them each another small bag. She smiled brightly, eagerly awaiting their reactions. "Go on! Open them!"

They opened the gifts she had first handed them. Her father held up the print. "Wow... this is amazing, Erin!"

Her mom pulled out the notebooks. "Oh, baby, they look so good."

The print was a drawing she made of the three of them, her parents on the sides, each with an arm around Erin and each other. Her mother was holding the notebooks, staring at them in awe. The first one had a drawing of daffodils and irises, her parents' favorite flowers, and the second was a sunrise on the beach, based on a photo Erin saw while looking through the sunset aesthetic tag on pinterest.

She smiled shyly, but anyone could see the pride in that smile. "Really? I was hoping you'd like them."

"Of course we love them!" Her mom smiled back. "Even if they weren't this amazing, we would still love them because you took the time to make them for us."

"Open the other ones," Erin laughed. "I'm sure you'll like these even better."

Her dad eagerly pulled his out of the bag. "Oh my god." He laughed, "This is the best gift I have ever received." He turned the mug to show it to his wife. On the side was a doodle of him flexing and wearing sunglasses with the words "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU'RE IN THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU" on the side.

Erin's mom snickered. "Wonderful." She picked up her own mug in her left hand. Channeling her inner game show hostess, she dramatically waved her right hand over her mug and then flattened her hand below it, as if she was making it levitate. "Check this out." It's a drawing of her holding the mug with that exact pose. Mugception.

"Did you give us custom meme mugs?" Her dad laughed and ruffled Erin's hair.

She just shrugged in response. "Maybe, maybe not. Who knows?"

»» — ⋆❀⋆ — ««

"Mom?" Erin sat down on the edge of her parents' bed.

Her mother closed the book she was reading and looked up. "What's bothering you, sweetie?"

"Well, let's say that I have been ignoring someone, but it's for their own good because if they knew the truth about me it would probably hurt them and-"

"This is about your soulmate, isn't it?" Her mother interrupted with a knowing smile.

Erin stuttered, caught off guard, "W-What makes you say that, Mom?"

"Well, soulmates are either the best or worst things to happen to you, sometimes a mix of both." She let out a small sigh. "I suppose you're old enough now to understand, so I should probably tell you."

"Tell me what?"

Her mother gave her a soft smile. "Your father and I... we aren't soulmates."

Erin stared at her in shocked silence.

"My soulmate got hit by a car..." she drifted off, her eyes turning glassy. "We were just kids, and we'd known each other since we were babies. We thought it was cool when our connection was first established. We got it earlier than most, when we were just in second grade."

"Mom, I'm so sorry." Erin placed her hand on top of her mother's.

Her mouth formed a sad smile. "It's alright. It was a long time ago. Your father... he either never had a soulmate, or his soulmate never responded. Fortunately, our parents accepted us despite the fact that we aren't soulmates. For others... part of the marriage ceremony is having one person sign "I do" on their wrist and watching as it appears on their soulmate's."

She sighed again and squeezed Erin's hand. "Whatever you are thinking about, you don't have to give your soulmate anything. They might not be the one for you, but if it feels right you can be honest. But don't feel obligated to love them. Does that make at least a little sense?"

Erin nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Mom." She gave her a hug and left the room.

Now she was seated on her bed holding a pink marker in her hand. Do it already Erin! You've been procrastinating for three hours already, damn it!

She took in a deep breath and pressed the marker against her skin.

I'm sorry Sierra

Merry Christmas

"Oh no, frickety frick no!" Erin rocketed off of her bed and ran toward the bathroom. She turned on the faucet and grabbed some soap, viciously rubbing the last five letters of Sierra's name out of existence. They were smeared beyond recognition, but she needed to get rid of them entirely, which she did a few seconds later.

But would Sierra put the dots together? Had she seen it? Of course she had, it's like getting a notification, Erin thought to herself.

She sighed and walked back to her room, grabbing the still uncapped marker.

I know an apology isn't going to make up for it;

But I'll make it up to you.

I promise.

Erin put the cap back on and sat back down on her bed.