Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
It wasn’t completely smooth sailing from there, and she’s had her ups and downs, but she’s been working hard, and we’ll continue to support her. And for the first time since my dad left, I feel like I’m getting my mom back. I can’t even begin to describe how good that makes me feel.
She waves at me now from the crowd, her eyes bright and full of life, a sharp contrast to the dull, vapid glare I used to get from her. I wave back as my heart swells with warmth. I’m so caught up in the moment that I almost miss the cheers behind me from my class signaling it’s time for the cap toss.
But as everyone else around me moves, I move too.
I reach up, snatch my graduation cap from my head, and hurl it high up into the air above me, along with everyone else’s.
Everyone screams, the families clap, and I somehow manage to snatch my cap as it’s falling back down. I’m keeping it with my gown and my diploma. After everything it took to get me here and after the enormous amount of work I had to put in to get through these last four years, there’s no way I’m losing any of those three things that I know will be so special to me when I look back one day.
I thread my way through the crowd over to my family. Jameson hugs me first, but everyone wraps their arms around me pretty much at the same time.
“Congratulations,” he whispers into my ear. “You did it, baby. You did it.”
“Thank you,” I melt.
“Honey, I’m so proud of you,” my mom says, and I can hear in her voice that she absolutely means it. I want to burst into tears, because it’s still hard for me to even process her saying things like this to me. Just a few years ago, I was supporting her and dealing with her illness, thinking she and I would never have a normal relationship again, and now here she is talking to me like she’s my mother and I’m her daughter again. It’s incredible.
“Thanks, Mom.” I smile, futilely fighting back tears. “That means a lot.”
Jameson reads the situation and loosens his grip on me so I can embrace her.
We hold each other for a long time, sharing the moment. I can’t even imagine what’s going through her mind right now either. She isn’t a huge talker, my mom. She never has been. At least not when it comes to her emotions. But she’s getting there. Part of her program is opening up and sharing with family, in this case me, and she’s trying. I can only hope that one day she and I will be able to have a normal mother-daughter relationship, and we can look back on that troubled time in our lives as a little hiccup in an otherwise happy life.
She pats me on the back as we both wipe tears from her eyes. She turns to Charlie, who is looking quite overwhelmed in Jameson’s arms. He’s not used to big crowds like this.
“You’re proud of your mommy today, aren’t you?” she asks, smiling. She’s very good with him, and he really likes her. Charlie nods. “It’s a very big day for her.”
He instinctively reaches out for me, and I smile at Jameson and take him. I’m absolutely overwhelmed with my love for Jameson, but there’s nothing in this world like a mother’s love for her child, and just holding my son against my chest makes me feel a kind of bliss I can’t even describe.
“You know, if I watch any more of this, I think I’m gonna cry,” Eliza says from beside me. I laugh and turn to her. As usual, she has the perfect timing needed to add just the right amount of levity to the situation.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Jameson replies.
I pull her in for a hug and close my eyes, feeling the love from these people wash over me like the warmth of a warm summer breeze. It’s something I thought I would never feel again after Jameson left. After my father and he vanished, I was sure I would never leave Boxhurst. I was sure I would never study medicine. I was sure of a lot of things. And now here we are, living in Boston during the school year, happy together, working toward a goal and growing as we move on together in life.
Just goes to show you that you don’t know everything, even when you think you do.
We make our way back to the car and drive back to the manor. Jameson has a moving company coming to the apartment we rented in Boston tomorrow to bring my things back, but for now, it just feels good to get back to the house.