“I am,” Anna replied with a gentle laugh. “One of those days.”
My mother asked Aaron only one question: “What’s your favorite subject in school?”
When he said art, she rolled her eyes and ignored him for the rest of the meeting. When the bill arrived, she paid only for herself.
In the car afterward, Anna glanced at me.
“She doesn’t like me, Jon.”
There was no anger—just clarity.
“She doesn’t know you,” I said.
“Maybe. But she doesn’t want to.”
Two years later, I met my mother at the old piano showroom uptown.
She used to bring me there on weekends when I was young, claiming the acoustics were “honest enough to expose your mistakes.” She called it her favorite place to “envision legacy,” as though the right instrument could secure greatness.
The air smelled of polished wood and memory. Pianos stood in perfect rows, gleaming and immaculate—like contenders waiting to be chosen.
“So, Jonathan,” she said, running her fingers along the lid of a grand piano, “is this going somewhere, or are we just wasting time?”
I didn’t hesitate. “I asked Anna to marry me.”
My mother’s hand froze in midair before falling to her side. “I see.”
“She said yes, of course.”
My mother adjusted her salmon-colored blazer, smoothing invisible wrinkles. Her eyes didn’t meet mine.
“Well,” she said carefully, “then let me be very clear about something. If you marry her, don’t ever ask me for anything again. You’re choosing that life, Jonathan.”
I waited for something—an inhale, a flicker of uncertainty, any sign that she might hesitate. But her expression never changed. She didn’t object. She didn’t argue.
She simply released me. And so I walked away.
Anna and I were married a few months later in the backyard of one of her friends’ houses. There were strands of lights overhead, rows of folding chairs, and the kind of laughter that belongs to people who don’t need to perform for anyone.
We settled into a modest rental with stubborn drawers and a lemon tree out back. Aaron painted his bedroom green and pressed his hands into the wall, leaving bright prints behind. Three months later, standing in the cereal aisle at the grocery store, Aaron glanced up at me and smiled. He said it without thinking—but I heard it clearly. That night, I cried into a stack of freshly folded laundry, realizing for the first time that sorrow and happiness could share the same space.
Our life was simple. Anna worked nights, and I took care of school drop-offs, packed lunches, and reheated dinners.
We spent Saturdays watching cartoons, danced barefoot across the living room, and bought mismatched mugs from yard sales just because they made us laugh.
My mother never reached out—not to check in, not to ask where I’d gone. Then, last week, her name flashed across my phone. She called just after dinner, her voice crisp and controlled, as though no years had passed at all.
“So this is the life you decided on, Jonathan.”
I paused, phone wedged between my shoulder and ear as I dried a pan, unsure how to answer.
“It is, Mom.”
“Well, I’m back in town after my vacation. I’ll stop by tomorrow. Send me the address. I’d like to see what you gave everything up for.”
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