Family comfort

I am crying on Mom's shoulder. Even though I am not related to this woman by blood, it does not matter. She is still my mother in every way that counts. She is the one that took care of me my whole life and she is the one taking care of me now. Every Christmas, Mom hangs up decorations that depict all kinds of beliefs just so the heritages of both of us kids would be honored whatever they may be. She has a hug for all occasions. She has one for when we are happy and one for when we are sad. This helps me so much right now since I just had to tell one of my best friends Bree that I won't be coming back to work. She started crying first which immediately set me off. I don't know how Mom does it, but she seemed to sense that I needed her and showed up at my room soon after.

"Br-Bree..." I try to explain.

"Sh!" Mother quiets me after stroking my blonde hair. "You can tell me about it after we get this straightened out."

My dear mommy helps me into my room and shuts the door. She hands me a tissue box and sits on my bed with me. If I wasn't crying so much, I would notice the bookcase on the other side of the room which is right next to the desk. My childhood bear is resting on the second shelf. If Mom wasn't here, I would want to hug him now. I am also not able to see the pink sheet on my bed or my poster of Carrie Underwood on the wall. It makes me feel so much better just to have this woman in my life. It takes me about five minutes to finish crying and about another minute to blow nose. I then look up at Mom when I am ready to talk with her.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Mom asks.

"I called Bree at her home and told her that I won't be coming back to work," I explain.

"I can see why that would be so emotional," Mom consoled me while patting my back.

"Bree started crying first and that set me off," I continued. "I didn't want to make that call, but I knew that Nick would have told Bree for me tomorrow if I hadn't. My friendship with Bree means too much to me to let that happen. I had to tell her myself."

"That was a mature thing to do," Mom acknowledges me while kissing my cheek. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks," I respond with a hug. "It always makes me happy to hear you say that."

"Feeling better?" Mom asks me.

"Yes, you're the best, Mom," I compliment. "You always did know when I need you."

"Actually, I came to talk to you about Holly," Mom corrected.

"Oh..." I nervously let out. I start to worry that my loving mother was having second thoughts about me moving in with my girlfriend.

"It is just that I am afraid that the two of you will get on each others' nerves after a while," Mother told me. "I think that you should each take up a hobby to keep that from happening."

"Is that why you knitted so much?" I ask curiously. "So Dad wouldn't bug you?"

"That is one of the reasons," Mommy replied with a seemingly innocent grin. It was a grin that I knew wasn't that innocent.

"Okay, I'll suggest that to Holly the next time I talk to her," I agree.

"I want you to know that I am very happy for you and Holly," Mom comments while putting her hand on my shoulder. "I know that you two will be good for each other."

I cannot help but give my female parent a hard hug because I am so happy.

"I think you should come downstairs since there is someone else who is worried about you," Mom orders.

"Got it," I obey while walking to the door and opening the it. I go down the stairs to find my brother Dylan looking up at me. I can tell that he must have seen at least some of my crying episode because of the way his face is scrunched up.

"Hey," Dylan sighs while nodding at me.

"Hey," I repeat while standing next to my brother.

"You okay?" Dylan asks while hugging me.

"Yeah," I reply while returning the hug. "I just told my best friend at work that I won't be back. We both got emotional because of it."

"I'm glad that's all it was," Dylan responds while letting go of me. "I was worried."

"I appreciate that," I comment while patting my brother on the back.

"Well... if you're s-sure you're okay, it will time for me to go to Avery's house and have dinner with her parents in a couple of hours. "Are you sure you won't come with me?"

"When I was in high school, Wyatt wanted me to meet his parents for the first time," I explain. "I asked Mom to come with me just like you are asking me to come with you now. I am telling you the same thing that Mom told me. Trust me. You will be a lot better off if you go in alone."

"Got it," Dylan sighs in defeat.

"However, I will give you the first key to success," I offer.

"Yeah?" Dylan squeaks while seeing a glimmer of hope.

"I want you to remember what I am about to tell you when you have a job interview," I hinted.

"Okay," Dylan pressed.

"I want you to remember these two words," I ordered. "Firm. Handshake."

"That's it?" Dylan wondered with both of his eyebrows raised.

"Just shake hands like you mean it," I elaborate while demonstrating the process for my brother.

Dylan and I played Wii games together for the next hour. Our favorite was Super Smash Bros. Dylan was always better at that game than I was. It was probably because I had not played the game in two years. There just was not much time for me to play video games when I worked for Piquant Press. I won the last game, but I think that was because my brother had other things on his mind. After the game, my little brother looked at his watch and headed towards the door looking like someone had kicked his dog.

"Cheer up!" I command. "It's not like you are going to the electric chair!"

As soon as Dylan leaves, I laugh out loud because I realize that I had the same look of hopelessness when it was my turn to sit in the hot seat. I got out my phone and shared the irony of the situation with my girlfriend Holly. I also shared Mom's suggestion about hobbies.