One Little Chance (Sweet River)

Chapter 4

DECEMBER 23RD, 2023

M y Christmas tree was glowing in the corner of the room as the morning sun streamed through the window blinds. Mom poured me a cup of coffee in the kitchen while she asked, “How are you feeling today? It’s a big day.”

“It is a big day,” I said through an exhale as she placed the mug in my hands. “It’s also been a long time coming.”

She nodded affirmingly, then glanced down at her watch. “We’ve got a little time. Want me to pull out the scrapbooks?”

My eyes went wide. I hadn’t seen Mom’s scrapbooks since we were high schoolers. Not since the divorce. “Yes, please.”

I followed her to my bedroom where she’d left her bags. She walked over a canvas tote and slid out an armful of scrapbooks, pulling years’ worth of memories from that small tote bag.

“These were once the scary monsters under my bed.” She chuckled. “But when I moved into my new house and came across them, it got me pulling them out more.”

“Scary as you thought?” I asked as we spread the books out on my bedroom floor, plush gray carpet under us.

Her chin trembled. “Some parts, maybe. But you know what? Mostly they are precious. We made some good memories.” She opened the first page to baby pictures. “Little bald baby Orlando.” She turned the page. “That Christmas morning you got your bike. The time Uncle Joe dressed up as Santa.” I chuckled at my uncle wearing a big white beard.

I placed my hand on Mom’s. I rested my head on her shoulder. “We’re filling up more scrapbooks today.”

She flipped open one of the books. “There’s one I wanted to show you.” She turned a few more pages to a page with photos from when Jordan and I had to have been eight or nine. I was dressed up in a pretend wedding dress, a white towel over my head as a veil. Jordan clutched a ring pop in his pocket. His hair was soaked with gel like he’d tried to fix it for the occasion.

I couldn’t contain my grin. “I remember this day. We’d made a big deal of this pretend wedding.”

“You even got your dad to play the ‘Wedding March’ on the piano,” Mom said through laughter, her finger stroking the picture. “Orlando was your man of honor.”

“I guess I knew everything I wanted early on.” My eyes filled with tears but in a good way.