HIGH HOPES (TO & TW) | SCOTT MCCALL

A Gift From Dear Old Dad

THE BLARING SOUNDS of the alarm jerked me from my sleep. I slapped the dreadful button and sat up over the edge, my eyes still dazed from hours of being closed. Once I pressed my foot towards the cold wood, my toes recoiled as they pecked the freezing floor.

The occasional curse flew from my mother's lips and echoed throughout the house. I knew my curious mind wouldn't be satisfied without knowing the cause.

With a full mind, I tip-toed rushingly towards my bathroom, trying not to alert my sailor-mouthed mother that I was awake. If she was yelling profanities this early in the morning, she must be occupied with something else entirely.

After such bare necessities, I quietly exited and slowly began to creep down the stairs. The damp ends of my hair swayed behind my back, somehow itching the lower half of my back. I even made sure to avoid the squeaky stair that favored itself at the bottom.

"Fuck!"

I peaked my head around the wooden post of the railing, catching my mother's face just in time to see the large red splotch on her cheek dissipate into her skin.

From what I could only assume was oil, the pot on the stove made a loud popping sound once again. My mother jerked before releasing a quickening sigh.

The creaking sound of the wood railing broke her from her thoughts. She turned and glared in my direction with hard eyes. Once they landed on my own, a smile set in.

"Happy Birthday."

The small smile on my face slowly flipped into a frown.

'Another year without family.' I thought woefully.

"Come here, kiddo." She spoke with open arms, a smile daunting her brightening face. I moved from my spot near the stairs, moving quickly before engulfing her warmly.

"I miss them."

She squeezed me tighter, "I do too, but it's for the best. All we want to do is protect you. You need to let us do that."

She released me, but not before tucking a semi-damp strand of hair behind my ear. She smiled widely before turning me to the side and right in front of a large plate of powdered beignets on the counter. "Take your pick, birthday girl!"

+++

The morning was filled with laughs and smiles, and not once did I think about my scattered family.

"... I have some things for you, but since you have school," She slid a small, dark blue box across the table toward me. "I figured you could open one now and the rest later."

Upon opening the box, inside laid a note and a small leather flap. Picking up the note first, it read:

'Missing you always, Happy Birthday'

I grasped the leather flap and thumbed the swoosh that engraved it with perfect stitching. Overlapping thoughts ran through me.

It wasn't until I picked it up that my thought process stopped for but a moment. On the other side of the flap was a dangling key fob.

"Uncle Kol and Aunt Davina got me a car?" I spoke shockingly.

"... Not Kol and Davina."

I looked at her weirdly. If Kol didn't get me a car then--

"Aunt Rebekah and Marcel?"