Happy 33rd birthday, Owen!
I got ready for school early this morning so I’d have time
to meet up with Rowen at her house and give Owen his birthday present then
instead of waiting until we went out to dinner at the Inn. They were still having a special birthday
breakfast when I got there, and we had time, so I got to have a little visit
with Rowen, her parents, and brother while they ate; and then I helped with the
clean-up too before Rowen, Patrick, and I needed to get to school.
While Owen’s birthday was the top Emerson family news today,
Rowen and I found out just before classes started that the story topping the
Grade Seven grapevine was that Michael and Lisa had broken up. The official word was that they’d mutually
agreed to the split, and the fact that they were both sad and upset all day
seemed to back that up. Neither of them was
talking about it in public, and if they were confiding in their best friends;
those conversations stayed private. I
wasn’t anywhere close to Michael until music class, so it wasn’t until then
that I knew anything more.
He was really having a tough time dealing with his first
‘real’ break-up. Vanessa and her friends
would say this is his second, but he never really thought he was dating Vanessa
in the first place; and never considered her his girlfriend. Today, I could sense the sadness, and that
was mixed in with a healthy dose of guilt for finally coming out and admitting
to Lisa how he felt about her. Lisa may
have agreed that she didn’t want to date someone who didn’t love her the way
she loved him, but Michael knew it was his fault; and he really hated hurting
Lisa – especially since they’d been friends since they were toddlers playing
together in the Sunday morning nursery at church.
Michael hadn’t wanted to hang out with anyone at lunch, and
had gone for a solitary walk outside instead.
After school, he went straight over to the Inn
instead of hanging out with the couples club for a while like he normally
would; though I guess he won’t be interested in doing that again anytime
soon. Lisa had her best friends with her
both at lunch time and after school, and while I tried to stay completely out
of her way; the occasional looks she directed my way were even frostier than
usual; and I didn’t need to use my empathy to know that she was directing a lot
of the blame for how things turned out with Michael toward me.
If that would take some of the heat off of Michael; she can
blame everything on me.
With that going on today, I wasn’t feeling much like playing
after school, but after getting our homework done, Rowen and I went for a long
bike ride that gave us lots of time to chat; and I felt better by the time we
got back to town and needed to split up so we could get ready for the dinner at
the Inn. Mom, Ehlana, and I had some
hair and dress-up play time while Dad and Ethan had a little father-son
time. We walked to the Inn,
and got there about ten minutes before the guest of honor and his family
arrived. That gave me time to wander
back into the kitchen to distribute some hugs with Jacob, Jake, Stephanie, and
Rebecca. Michael wasn’t in the main
kitchen, and the vibes I was getting in particular from Rebecca and Stephanie
told me that he was still having a tough time; so I went looking for him in the
back rooms after asking Rebecca where I could find him.
What happened next would normally be classified as deep in
the tweeird zone, but today, it was just me helping a friend who needed
me. Michael was sitting at the table in
the back room, leaning on his elbows, and staring vacantly at his computer
screen. He didn’t even notice me until I
pulled one of the chairs close to him and sat down. He took one look at me, lost it, and the next
thing I knew; he was holding on to me for dear life; and I was hugging him back
and doing what I could to comfort him.
Stephanie came into the room a few minutes later, but
stopped just a couple of steps inside the doorway; we exchanged a look that
told her everything she needed to know; and she left again. Since nobody else bothered us, I’m sure she
made sure that we were left alone.
It took a while before Michael was ready to let go of me,
and then we just sat close together; I held his hand; and we talked about
everything that he’d needed to say, but hadn’t been able to do that with anyone
else. My contribution was mostly
listening and understanding, though when he’d talked himself out; I did manage
to get a couple of sad smiles out of him by suggesting some friend-recovery
ideas that might help both him and Lisa to deal with the awkward stage that is
a problem with nearly every post-dating friendship in a small town.
Don’t make a big deal of this, but once I was sure he’d be
okay, I hugged and kissed Michael before letting him get back to what had so
far been an unsuccessful attempt at doing his homework. The birthday dinner was already in progress
by the time I got back to the dining room, but Mom had ordered my food for me,
and Stephanie assured me that she’d bring it right out for me when she hugged
me before I sat down at the kids’ table next to Rowen. Mom basically knew what had been going on
through our connection, but giving Rowen the update had to wait until
later. Miranda had a warm,
hug-from-behind that she shared with me shortly before Stephanie returned with
my meal; and there were more hugs directed my way on a regular basis for the
rest of the time we were at the Inn.
Since I’d started eating late, Rowen, Patrick, Ethan, and
Ehlana were all closer to being finished than starting; and I’m fairly sure
that Owen was invited to open his birthday gifts before we had cake and ice
cream to give me time to enjoy my food without needing to rush it. Everyone in the dining room joined in for the
birthday song, and since it wasn’t really all that busy at the Inn; there was
enough cake for everyone who wanted a piece to have some.
The post-dinner party wrap up took a while, and I took that
opportunity to check in on Michael again just to make sure he really was doing
at least a little better. Yes, I had
another hug for him; but again, don’t make that into something it wasn’t. He’s still sad, hurting, and feeling guilty;
but I was able to help a little, and that’s all that matters to me.
When we left the Inn,
Rowen, Patrick, and their parents were all surprised with the news that Owen
and Patricia were being given one last birthday gift – a kid-free night. I went home with Rowen to help her pack an
overnight bag and get her flute, computer, and school gear; and then we had
more hugs and kisses for her parents before taking Patrick in tow and heading
over to my house. Dad needed to get some
work done, but once we had Patrick set up in the room across the hall from my
lounge, and Rowen’s things in my room; we had time to play before Ethan and
Ehlana would need to go to bed. Patrick
wanted to play video games, so Rowen and I took turns competing against
him. I had Ethan helping me while Ehlana
happily cuddled in Rowen’s lap; and I was again reminded that Patrick could
actually be fun to hang around with when he wasn’t hanging out with Scott and
they were busy spending all of their time trying out their latest pranks and
jokes.
Mom came up to the lounge to get Ethan and Ehlana when it
was time to get their usual non-bath night bedtime routine started, and Rowen
and I took a break from the gaming to help her with that. Patrick only stopped long enough to get in on
the bedtime snack, but then he was only allowed another half-hour or so of
gaming after that little intermission before Mom ordered all of us to go to
bed. I don’t know if Patrick decided
that he couldn’t possibly face the guys at school in the morning and admit that
he’d been a perfect angel tonight, but there was some reason why he needed to
bug us while Rowen and I got ready for bed.
One close call was all either of us needed to get us to take turns
getting changed in my bathroom instead of the bedroom; though I doubt Patrick
realized how close he came to seeing me without my shirt on during his first
attempt to scare us by sneaking in through the lounge.
He eventually did go to sleep, and Rowen and I were able to
have a nice long girl chat that was mostly about what had happened with Michael
and Lisa; and everything that had happened at the Inn
tonight. I’m sure that Rowen had some
thoughts about why I was the one person Michael felt safe enough with to share
all of that with, but she kept those thoughts to herself tonight. I’ve been doing a little studying while we
talk too, but didn’t get all that much done.
We’ve been winding down our chat for a while, and I switched to getting
this, and my usual nightly computer checks, done once I saw that Rowen was
running out of steam and ready to call it a night. I’m not sure whether I’ll be getting off to
sleep anytime soon, but I’m going to put my computer away now, turn out the
lights, and at least let Rowen get some quality down time.
If Rowen wasn’t taking it easy on me tonight, I’m sure she’d
have a theory to explain why I’m wound up tonight, and you’re probably thinking
the same thing – that I’m crossing over and don’t want to admit it.
You’d all be wrong about that – I’m not crossing over.
What is going to keep me awake is the fact that everything
that’s happened tonight has made me love Michael – and Miranda, Stephanie, and
the rest of his family – more than ever before.
I know Mom and I have lived in our new home for nearly three years now,
but after spending so many years on our own, with nobody we could trust enough
to love like we can love our family and friends here, and nobody to love us
back like that; moments like this are exhilarating, heart-warming, and more
than I’d ever been able to hope or dream about for us.
This would normally be the time when I write about not
dreaming of bunnies or puppies, but for tonight; I’m okay with dreaming about
how wonderful and amazing my reality here in Witch Falls is – even if it will
be a while before I get around to doing that.
Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging
out!
