Three days. Three days my only daughter had gone with out talking to me, it was tearing me apart. It was amazing how we could be living in the same house and she could be acting like I wasn’t there.
She would wake up, eat breakfast in silence and leave for school. She would come home, do her homework and ignore me. During dinner she would look past me, as if I wasn’t there. I didn’t even know how to apologize.
I wasn’t fit to be a mother.
On the third day, Sam was watching T.V. and pretending that I didn’t exist. I was watching from the kitchen, thinking of a way to get her to talk to me. It’s not like with little kids. With little kids you can put your foot down, send them to their room for attitude, demand they never treat you like that again. But teenagers can think for themselves, they think like adults, and they know when they have a reason to be mad. You can’t talk down to teenagers because they will pick up on it and resent you for it.
A commercial blared onto the screen, “Coming to a store near you...” What I needed was forgiveness, a fresh start so maybe I wouldn’t mess up so bad this time. “And don’t miss Brent ’s new CD, A Roll of the Dice, which he is promoting on tour with his band...” The voice faded as I walked into the other room, my mind shifting from my daughter to Brent; actor and musician. Typical.
I grabbed the mail from the box and was pleased to find a postcard from Brandon. On the front was a snow-covered mountain surrounding a lake.
To my girls - I’m writing you from Colorado where I landed this morning. I’m reporting at the Colorado Neurological Institute tomorrow. They have a groundbreaking new study on music and endorphins. It’s rather interesting - i’ll send the story once it’s done. Montana was great, there’s nothing more exciting than wildfires, let me tell you. I ended up singeing my sneaker by getting too close. Lesson learned - I guess. Well, that’s all I have to report (get it?). I hope to here from you soon.
- Brandon
p.s. Sam, how did you do on your French presentation, you never got back to me. Je suis inquiet
Katie, I have some news, I’ll talk to you sometime next week.
I always liked getting postcards from Brandon, it reminded me that we were a family, however skewed and atypical a family we were. We had been roommates the last two years of college and when I found out I was pregnant we had tried dating a little.
Sixteen Years Earlier
“Our child should have a family, don’t you think?” Brandon and I strolled across the campus after lunch one afternoon. He looked at my stomach affectionately. My body was a swollen, rounded orb that I hated. I was supposed to be enjoying my senior year in college not pregnant. I wasn’t ready to be a mom. Sometimes I felt like I couldn’t even take care of myself.
“Well, of course, I think so, too,” I said. Brandon put his arm around me awkwardly. It felt heavy around my shoulders, uncomfortable. He must have felt it too because he put his arm back by his side. We’d been trying to date for months but I know neither of us felt it. I looked down at my stomach again, this baby was destroying our friendship.
“Well,” he muttered and then paused. He stopped and kneeled down like he was tying his shoe. I waited but he didn’t tie his shoe, instead he pulled something out of his pocket and looked at me.
“Katie,” Brandon began slowly, holding out in front of him a little blue, velvet box. My stomach clenched together as I realized what he was doing. He said it, “will you marry me?”
I just stared at him in disbelief. Why was he doing this? He was ruining it. I didn’t want to marry him.
“Brandon,” I said shakily, I wrapped my hands around his and the little box but I did not open it. “Brandon, I don’t love you.” His face broke so I added hurriedly, “you don’t love me, either!”
He was still on the ground, looking defeated, “I- I do.”
“No, you don’t,” I pulled him up off the ground. “You don’t have to do this just because- because you think you have to.” We both looked at my stomach and I added, “I’ll be fine.”
“You shouldn’t have to do this alone. You always try to be so independent but this time...” he trailed off.
“I won’t be alone,” I grinned at him and wrapped my hands around my swollen belly. “I’ll have my best friend.” The word swam through my head, I’d never really thought of Brandon that way, it fit him perfectly but I’d never thought of having another best friend.
He beamed and hugged me. It was the first time in months he’d hugged me and it hadn’t been forced. Maybe this will work out, I thought. Maybe something in my life will work out how I want it to.
(If you still need help though, feel free to ask) 
