Page 2 of Liberating Bells
At my mom’s suggestion, we stop to grab a bite to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Over an abundance of chips and salsa, Mom and Derek ask many questions about work and life in Germany.
My life has taken a completely different course than I had initially planned. After moving to Germany right after high school, I started working at a company called Bates Industries, which offered me an internship that coincided with my degree plan.
As soon as I graduated with my bachelor’s and master’s degrees, I worked full time at Bates Industries as a structural engineer. I quickly became close friends with the company’s new CEO and assisted in helping the company grow to new levels.
Teddy just recently got married, so he moved Bates from Germany back into the US. It will be easier for him to run his company with its headquarters back in the same country as him.
This couldn’t have been better timing for me. I originally planned to stay with Teddy and Bates Industries, but with our clients spread out worldwide, I would have still needed to travel quite a bit. And at this point, my family needs me.
After all this started rolling, I took some time to contemplate what I wanted to do. At the end of the day, I only saw one option—I couldn’t stay with Bates Industries. I approached Teddy with the notion that I would be going off and starting my own engineering firm. To my surprise, he was more than supportive and offered to invest in my business to help kick-start the process.
It was one of those moments in life when everything seemed to fall into place perfectly.
Now that I’m officially home, I plan to start looking into renting office space and setting up an LLC so I can begin the venture of opening my own business. It will be a lot of work, but most things in life worth having are, so I’m willing to go the extra mile.
I fill my parents in on all my plans, and they are entirely on board. Derek’s mind starts going off with different ideas and suggestions. I nod along, wishing I had asked his opinion long before today. My stepfather seems to have an excellent business sense.
Once my family and I are all stuffed full of tacos and burritos, we head back out to the car. I open the trunk, rummage through my carry-on bag, and then shoot my sister a conspiratorial look. Thalia laughs and raises her eyebrows.
“Now I know you’re probably too stuffed for dessert, huh?” I tease her as I hold my surprise behind my back.
Thalia sticks her hands out in a “gimme gimme” gesture, and I hand over my treat. Her little mouth forms an‘O’as she observes her gift.
“Chocolate! Mommy, Ryan got me chocolate!”
I squat down in front of her so we look eye to eye. “Not just any chocolate,” I say, tapping the outside wrapper. “That’s German chocolate. Only the finest for you, kiddo.”
Thalia throws her arms around my neck and hugs me again. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! You’re the best big brother ever!” Then she turns to our mother. “Mommy, can I have it right now?”
My mom looks at the two of us with a soft smile and nods gently. “Maybe just a little bit. We’ve gotta get you home and into bed, young lady.”
I ruffle my sister’s hair and then load her into her booster seat again. When we arrive home, Thalia is passed out with chocolate smeared all over her face. I unbuckle her seatbelt and carefully carry her inside and to her room while Derek is kind enough to grab my bags.
Thalia’s room is awfully girly. The walls are a light purple with yellow and pink daisies stenciled throughout. Her bed has a canopy and a lot of stuffed animals strewn everywhere. Along the perimeter are twinkly fairy lights that give off a soft, calming glow.
I pull back her covers and settle her into bed, pulling off her shoes before tucking her in. Reaching over to her nightstand, I grab a tissue and wipe off the evidence of her chocolate coma.
Such a sweet little girl.
I watch her for a second, sound asleep, before I head back downstairs. I don’t see my mom, so she must have also called it an early night. Derek is sitting in the living room, a golf game on the television. With a glass of liquor in his hand, he looks up when he hears my footsteps.
“Hey, thanks for getting her settled in. Your mom was feeling the effects of the excitement, so she headed to sleep.” He nods down at his glass. “Can I get you one?”
“Sure.”
He gets up and pours me a glass before settling back on the couch. We both sip at the amber liquid, the heaviness of our new reality weighing over us and seeping into the silence. My throat feels thick as my mind spins with questions. Me and my family have been living with this new diagnosis for the last few months, but it still doesn’t make the harsh realization of how everything has changed any easier. I finally get the courage to ask my stepfather the first question lingering on the tip of my tongue.
“So, how is she?”
Derek sighs and takes a deep sip. Suddenly, he looks older, the lines on his forehead and around his eyes seeming deeper, more pronounced. “The chemo is scheduled to start on Wednesday. They diagnosed her with stage three. So treatment will be intense, but it’s still treatable.”
“Geez,” I murmur, chest tightening.
“Yeah, neither of us saw this coming. That’s why we’re so grateful you were able to come home to help with Thalia.”
My eyes burn, and I take another sip of my drink, hoping to dampen down the emotion threatening to rise inside of me. For so long, my mom was all I had. The possibility that I may have to face life without her burns in the back of my mind like a nightmare I can’t wake up from. Thalia, still being so young, only makes things worse and leaves a sick, nauseous feeling lingering in my stomach that nothing will ease.
I glance over at my stepfather. “Have you guys explained to her what is going on yet?”
