Jj and Trent had left at around 10am just before my parents came back. I was in my room when they arrived and didn't want to see them since I was still mad.
"Bumble bee, can I come in?" Dad called out.
"Yeah." I swiveled my chair to face him.
He walked towards me and hugged me tightly.
"We missed you." He said as he settled on my couch beside my desk.
"Mmh." I replied and continued with my homework.
"Hey, you can do that later. I'm talking to you." I closed my laptop and faced him.
"Baby, we're sorry. You know how our jobs are. We can't always be around."
"I think you mean, you can never be around. When was the last time we had dinner or brunch or even breakfast together. Daddy, sometimes I feel like I get in the way of your jobs. It's like you only come back because you remember you have a child." Now I was fuming and letting everything out. He looked really hurt but not half as hurt as I am everyday they're away.
"Honey, you can't say that," my mom walked in. "We love you more than anything in this world."
"You have a strange way of showing it. Do you even know how many birthdays you've missed? Since my 9th birthday, that's eight years ago. But who's counting, right? You always miss the important days and think that buying me gifts makes it okay. I would give up every luxury I have just to spend a day with you guys." Now I was in tears as were both of them.
"Baby, we're so sorry. We didn't know it hurt you so much." My mom hugged me as we cried together.
"Bumble bee, you always act okay but we should've known." We had a long bear hug and finally I felt some relief.
"Here's what will happen. I'll take a leave of absence tomorrow for a whole month." Dad declared.
"Yeah, and I will handle my business from home. We'll extend Sean's vacation and I'll help Maria around. Your dad will drive you to school, I'll make breakfast and pick you up. We'll plan the evenings and weekends later. You like that baby?" Yes, I loved that.
"Yes, but I still get to hang out with my friends, right?" My mom pouted her lips.
"But they've always had you, we want you to ourselves now." We laughed and spent the rest of the evening watching comedies together.
Monday.
I woke up to my alarm clock and the sweet aroma of banana pancakes. I took a quick shower and walked to my closet. I settled on a purple mid-thigh skater dress, a denim jacket and black puma sneakers. I put my hair into a neat tight bun and put on some lipgloss.
Walking into the kitchen I had to pinch myself. My dad was sitting at the counter reading a newspaper having a cup of coffee and pancakes while Mom was behind the stove expertly flipping pancakes in her pink apron. I had bought it for her years ago but she hadn't gotten the hint.
I took a picture of them for later. We looked like a normal family for once.
"Morning parents?" I greeted happily.
"Morning daughter," they replied at the same time.
I kissed them both on the cheek then settled beside dad. The pancakes were delicious and I ate to my fill.
"Okay, baby, you can't be late on a Monday. I packed your lunch." I was beyond surprised.
"Really?" She nodded as she handed me the brown bag with my lunch. I kissed her cheek again and left with my dad. He even opened the door for me.
"Feels good to be a princess, huh?" Dad asked as we drove off.
"You have no idea." I put on some rock music and dad and I sang along even attempting to scream. It was fun to have them.
"Here we are. Have a nice day at school." I closed the door behind me.
"I will. See you later. Love you." I blew him a kiss.
"Love you too." He blew me a kiss and I watched him drive off.
When I turned around, there were students watching me. It was creepy. I think it's because I was driven to school in a yellow Lamborghini. I hadn't noticed because I was too busy enjoying my time with dad.
I walked past the nosy students and bumped into Trent. He smiled widely at me and I blushed.
"Hey, beautiful." He stroked my cheek and I felt hot.
"Hey, Trent." I said, breathlessly.
"Let's get to class. Is that your dad who dropped you off?" He asked.
"Yeah. He and Mom decided to stay home for a month so we could hang out." I said happily.
"You missed them a lot, didn't you?"
"I really did." I turned to face him and found him staring at me adoringly making me blush. "What?"
"I've never seen you this happy. You've always seemed happy, but this is a whole new level." I blushed even more.
I turned to walk away and he held my hand as we walked into school, almost everyone watching us and whispering but I really didn't care.
The bell rang and the day went by as usual.
A whole week had passed and my parents were staying true to their word. In the evening, mom would pick me up from school and we would go shopping at the mall and then go home, make dinner, have dinner, play Monopoly and sometimes watch movies. I didn't think anything would bring me pain. But life isn't fair, is it?
