I sleep the entire flight because otherwise my mind would spiral and we can’t be having that. Once we land, I grab a cab and tell the driver to take me directly to Margot’s house, an address I know by heart.
Within twenty minutes, I’m at the door, my fist poised to knock and my heart directly in my throat.
Do it, coward. Get ready to grovel.
I knock. Hard. The door is wooden, and it takes a little extra oomph to make a strong sound but I think I did okay.
I wait, the butterflies in my stomach racing around like Mario Kart.
Ten seconds, twenty, thirty seconds pass. Nothing.
Maybe they didn’t hear me. The house should be full of people, even if Margot and Alex didn’t come home, Memaw always has neighbors and friends around to entertain.
I knock again. Louder. And I wait.
Thirty seconds, one minute. Two.
What the?
Turning around, I look in the driveway and for the first time, I notice there’s no cars in sight. There’s no way…
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I call number one on my favorites list.
“Hey, Dani. Happy Thanksgiving.”
“Yeah, yeah. Are you with Alex?”
“Yeah, we’re at his family’s lake house in Connecticut.”
“We?”
Margot answers hesitantly, like she’s not sure why my response is coming out so rushed. “Yes, we. Alex’s dad and brother and my dad, Memaw, and Arden.”
The breath hurries from my lungs, emptying them completely. I feel as though I can not possibly fill them again if I tried.
“We…,” I say resigned. Of course her family is with Alex’s family.
Margot is talking again. Apologizing for not telling her the plans. Apologizing for not being home for Thanksgiving. I rush her off the phone, wanting nothing more than to get back on that plane and fly to campus so I can bury myself in my sheets and never escape again.
Now, not only do I need to spend this weekend alone with my parents, I’ll be here for my birthday as well.
Kill. Me. Now.
I can’t help but compare the last two years. Last year, on my birthday, Arden surprised me by showing up at the bar and buying us all drinks. This year, I’ll be sitting on my couch, listening to my dad yell at my mom about the weather or the dinner she made or some other mundane fucking shit that he’s always nagging her about.
I can’t do this.
Just as I’m about to high tail it out of there, my phone vibrates with a text from my mom asking where I am. She must’ve been tracking my flight and saw I landed a while ago and yet I’m not home.
This is why I’m here. To see my mom. I can put my own feelings aside for one day to spend time with the woman who gave birth to me. With a sigh, I start down the path from Arden’s front door and head home.
Luckily, we live only a few blocks from each other so it’s a short walk.
As I wander up the familiar walkway, my front door opens and reveals the happiest face I’ve been in a while. My mother beams from ear to ear in the doorway and I can’t help but smile back.
“Hey, Mom.”
“My Danika,” she says, pulling me in for the tightest hug I’ve ever had. She throws the bags she took from me onto the shoe rack and pulls me in again.