Try {One | Alaric Saltzman}

Memory Lane

May was here. The first week past with that acknowledgement. The second welcomed her into her next year. The third would come with waves of confusion. But the fourth, the fourth took her parents.

It was not the fourth week of May. It was the second. It was her birthday. And she did not know the way she should feel, but she knew the way she did. 

She could not recall the year before as if it were just the year before. It felt further away, like a childhood memory she could never quite remember the details of. And that was all she wanted, to remember.

The light that flooded in through her windows, reflected off of the picture frames on her walls. They were reminders. Reminders that she wasn't alone. Reminders that she could get through the day. Reminders that happiness was possible, even when it seemed like it wasn't.

She looked into the mirror, surprising herself with the small smile that was already on her face. She expected the day to be hard. Now that it was here, she couldn't bring herself to feel the way she had for months.

Elena called her into the hallway. She was waiting with her hands behind her back and a wide smile. Her smile only grew as she revealed what she was hiding: a first edition copy of 'Little Women'.

"Happy Birthday!"

She pulled the book into her arms. "Where did you find it?"

Elena shrugged. "I know a guy."

"Thank you, Elena!" She hugged her tightly. "I've wanted this since-"

"Since the first time you read it?" Elena finished her sentence as a question.

She beamed, "Exactly!"

Jenna skipped out of her room, the gift she presented Abigail wrapped. It felt like a book in her hands; the pages leather bound and engraved with her initials. But it was not a book, it was a journal.

"I know you read more than you write," Jenna said as she met her eyes. "But-"

Abigail cut her off with a hug. "Thank you! I love it."

"I knew you would!" Jenna laughed. "Happy Birthday."

"Abigail," Jeremy said from behind her.

She faced him, realizing that he said her name through a smile only once there was one on her face. He was standing right in front of her now, as if he'd snuck his way around. Because he had.

His hands were behind his back, concealing the gift she knew he had not wrapped. It was the way Elena had given her her gift. The way she always gave them theirs. The way their father did.

"Happy Birthday."

He placed a framed drawing of their family in her hands. It was not a photograph that had been taken, but it was a memory captured by her brother in pencil. The five of them were sitting on the dock at the lake house, smiling with their arms around each other.

She looked up, her cheeks dry although her eyes were wet. "Thank you."

He pulled her into a hug. "You're welcome."

Abigail had lunch at the Grill every year on her birthday. It was customary, a tradition that would always be the same. It was, the same, in a way that made it feel like it was brand new.

"Thank you, Elena," she started. "I don't know how I could get through today without you, Jenna, or Jeremy."

"Well, I'm the one who is here. Those two left the moment he could." Elena smirked. "Thay aren't decorating for your party or anything."