WATT9JA Magazine | Oct 2020

The day I'll never forget @ahanstasia

THE DAY I'LL NEVER FORGET.
Username: ahanstasia

It was a snowy morning, just some days before Christmas. Two days precisely.

Mom was getting the table ready for breakfast. She'd said she was going to spoil us silly with some pre-holiday meal, all through the day. And for her, it was going to be mashed potatoes and toasts as breakfast, spaghetti and coleslaw with some chops as lunch, and grilled chicken with veggies as dinner.

Nathan, my hot-headed brother was somewhere at the backyard, doing anything but helping to set the house ready for Christmas. My fair guess was that he was fixing his _brand new Toyota_, prepared to show it off to his friends and the boys across the streets.

I sat at the balcony, watching rains of snow hitting the road. Our house, just like those of our neighbours, were covered in white. But unlike ours, joy and completeness characterized theirs.

Mom had tried to lighten up the mood of everyone, me in particular. And I guessed, setting up this delectable menu was just an aspect of that plan of hers.

What she didn't know was that my happiness can never be restored. Not when, my family was on verge of tearing apart. Not when Dad was miles away from home, getting the divorce papers ready. Certainly not when the guy I believed loved me, broke my heart.

It was just too much. This Christmas was going to suck, no matter the effort Mom put.

"Hannah," Mom called. "Come get the door."

As I stepped inside, the smell of smoked fish stung me. It was Dad's undoing: hardly a day passed without his munching of that.

My eyes began to water. Everything reminded me of his absence, of the parental break off that loomed close.

I stifled the sob that threatened to break out, and shuffled to the door. I couldn't allow the delivery guy, or whomever it was, see me in tears.

For a second, my breathe seized. No, no, air was knocked out from my lungs. I couldn't begin to imagine the shock the gripped me. If this was how people felt before fainting, then no. It wasn't cool.

"Dad?"

"Pumpkin."

I rubbed my eyes, just to be sure I was in a dream. Yes, it had to be a dream.

He chuckled, and the manner he did so was too real to be imagine.

"Wha---what are you..." I stopped, trying to reassure myself this was happening. That it was actually happening. "Are...are you trying to come home? Is that what it is?"

He smiled. That same old smile he had each time he came back home from work. "I'm not trying to be back home."

My shoulders became crestfallen. I couldn't believe it. Why then was he hear? Wait, was it to give Mom the papers, and have the rest of his luggage packed.

"Why are you doing this? Why can't you and Mom settled whatever ill feelings you guys have? Why---"

"Shushhh." He placed his finger in my lips, and it took the whole of me to resist slapping it off. "What I mean is that I'm home now. Not trying to be home, or staying away. I'm here with the people I call family."

I guessed I didn't let him finish the statement, because no sooner had he said that than I crashed into him.

This was real! My dad was home! I didn't care that I was almost eighteen, stepping into adulthood or anything like it. But I believed this was the work of Santa Claus.

And just then, I realised something.

"What about Mom? And Nathan?" I was scared they wouldn't give a damn about the news. Nathan been indifferent about the separation, while Mom, well, she seemed cool with it.

"Don't worry about those two."

What did he mean by that? "Why?"

"Cos there's no need to worry."

I followed his gaze to meet Mom and Nathan, sitting at the dining, grinning.

They had known all along, especially the dork I called a brother. No wonder Mom had taken her time to make those meals, including Dad's favourite.

_Christmas, here I come._ I smiled with tears in my eyes, and walked hand in hand with my father.