Page 110 of To Love or to Lose
“No other intentions.” Dad interrupts our laughter. “We’re just happy to finally be home.”
“Hey!” Mom slaps him in the chest. “Don’t give away the surprise.”
“What surprise?” I ask.
Mom’s grin is bigger than I’ve ever seen as she bounces on the balls of her feet. “We’re back until the summer!”
“What?” Gwen asks in shock, already jumping in the air and hugging Mom again. The only time she pulls away is to ask, “Are you serious?”
“We’ll be here full time until June,” Dad confirms.
Tears form in Gwen’s eyes as my feet cement themselves to the floor. I’m stunned.They haven’t been home for that long since I was in middle school. Until this year, Gwen and I had nannies and chefs living in our house because of how little our parents were home.
My heart stings as I think of all the times I was Gwen’s age, wishing for them to come home for longer than a week. It was safe to say prioritizing has always been one of their greatest strengths, and I was never their priority.
“Genny?” Mom asks, coming up and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Isn’t that exciting?”
I blink harshly, breaking myself out of the daze I was in. “Yeah, it’s good, Mom.”
“We’re going to be here for everything!” She grabs me by the shoulders, looking me in the eye. “Spring break, prom, graduation.”
Tears fill my eyes at the idea of Mom and Dad being here every day when I come home from school, eating dinner with Gwen and me.It’s everything I’ve had to learn to live without.
“It’s really great.” A fake smile fills my face. “Really, really great.”
“Oh, honey,” Mom coos. “You’re going to make me cry.”
“Let’s stop the tears while we’re ahead.” Dad smiles, clapping us both on the shoulder. “We’re going to dinner.”
“Did you guys know Gen is sharing Valedictorian?” Gwen mumbles through her mouthful of noodles.
We were going to eat at a restaurant tonight but decided against it after some deliberation. Instead, we ordered takeout from Gwen’s favorite Chinese restaurant, and are eating it at the dining table.
“I heard something about that,” Dad answers as he wipes his mouth with a paper napkin.
“With the boy staying at the Callaghan’s, the one you went to homecoming with, right?” Mom asks.
“Yes, his name is Jameson,” I tell her, picking up a rangoon with my chopsticks and taking a bite of it.
“He’sreallycute,” Gwen says. I discreetly kick her under the table.
“Oh, I know he is.” Mom directs her words toward me in a teasing tone.
“And he’s going to Oxford.” My sister adds before I can answer.
That grabs Dad’s attention. “Oxford, huh?”
“Yeah.” I sigh, mostly because this is not what I was expecting to be talking about at my family dinner. “He wants to be a doctor.”
“This boy just keeps getting better,” Mom jokes, poking me in the arm.
I shrug. “He’s fine.”
“You should invite him over for dinner sometime,” she suggests, making me glare at Gwen from across the table.
“I don’t think that’s the best idea,” I tell her. “We are technically still competing for the position.”
“Is that why you’ve suddenly become best friends with him?” Gwen smirks.
