Mom, Dad’s Getting Married Today. My Anniversary Call From The Future Chapter 09

Mom, Dad’s Getting Married Today. My Anniversary Call From The Future Chapter 09

Only after she confirmed it did I finally dare to wrap my arms around her.

I held her gently-afraid to squeeze too hard, but unable to let go.

“Ruby. Thank you.”

Without Ruby, there would be no me today.

I pushed down the ache in my throat and smiled. “Let me take a good look at you.”

Ruby pulled back reluctantly, her eyes red as a rabbit’s.

I reached out and smoothed her hair.

Her face still had that soft baby roundness, her eyes round like mine.

Ruby let out a quiet laugh, a little hum coming through her nose.

“Mom, did you already crush that trash and tear that other woman apart?”

I laughed out loud at her little fists pumping through the air.

“Yep. I chased all the bad people away!”

We looked at each other, laughing harder and harder-until tears started falling from both of us.

Ruby tried to hold them back, forcing a smile.

“Mom, last night I dreamed Grandma was knitting me a sweater. Pink!”

“She said she’d have it ready for me to wear this winter.”

I nodded, my voice tight. “And then?”

“Then I dreamed Grandpa was teaching me chess.”

“I finally won three games, and he said it didn’t count-he was just being stubborn!”

She was chattering away like a little sparrow.

But at the end, Ruby laughed again-and the tears spilled over.

“Mom…”

Her voice broke.

She wiped at her face furiously, but the tears just kept coming.

“I’m sorry, Mom. You suffered so much because of me.”

“If I’d been a boy, maybe Dad wouldn’t have been so cruel to you…”

I held her hands tight, shaking my head, my chest already too full to speak.

“It’s not your fault. Listen to me. The ones who were wrong are them.”

“You are my precious, precious treasure.”

I held her hands as tightly as I could-but I could already feel her warmth fading.

Panic rose up in me. I looked at her carefully.

“If I’ve done all this… will you disappear?”

Ruby shook her head.

Her voice suddenly sounded far away, like it was coming through a layer of water.

“Mom, I’m going to tell you a secret. I’ve been with you since the day you were born.”

I was already crying so hard I couldn’t speak.

Ruby’s voice trembled as she went on.

“So I’ve known you for a long, long time. Before you even met Dad, I was already waiting to be your daughter. No matter who Dad was, I was always going to be your child.”

I could hear my own breathing-quick and broken.

“Ruby… I’m sorry…”

Her voice grew softer, like wind from far away.

“Mom, don’t cry. From now on, you’re free.”

My face went pale.

I tried desperately to hold onto her.

But suddenly-everything was gone.

I opened my eyes.

My mother’s worried, pale face filled my vision.

She was wiping the tears that kept falling from my eyes, her own face full of tenderness.

“Sweetheart… you’ve been through so much.”

I threw myself into her arms and sobbed-I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

My mother’s eyes were red too, but she held me like she did when I was little, patting my back gently and

humming a lullaby.

“Hush, little baby, don’t say a word, Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird…”

Her soft voice echoed over and over.

Outside the window, the sunlight crept from the foot of the bed to the wall, bathing the whole room in gold.

My mother still couldn’t walk.

The doctor said her recovery was going well-the bone was knitting-but she needed at least another month.

She sat in her wheelchair with her feet dangling, like a child whose toys had been taken away.

I pushed her down the hall to catch some sun.

On the way, she complained about my father the whole time.

“That man deserves to stay in that hospital bed. I told him to cut down on smoking, and he hides on the balcony to do it.”

“I told him not to stay up all night grading papers, and he stares at the screen till dawn.”

I sighed. “Mom, Dad listens to you sometimes.”

She swatted my hand lightly, barely a tap. “Smart mouth.”

We rounded the corner.

The door to his room was half open, and inside, my father’s voice carried-

loud and clear.

“I said I’m being discharged! I’m leaving today!”