Birdie's Book - Andrea Burden [46]
“We all make mistakes, sweetie,” Mo told her. “That’s how we learn, right? Never too late to fix things.”
“Hey, Mom?” I asked. “Why aren’t you in England?”
“I thought it would be nice for me to spend New Year’s Eve here,” she said, very softly. “With you and your grandmother. And it is nice. I am actually happy. Though I wish your dad were here now. He’s probably terrified as to what we’re all up to.” She laughed and hiccupped. “But he is coming, Birdie, on the train tonight.”
I stared at her. My mom’s auburn hair hung around her forehead and cheeks in perfect wavy tendrils; her earrings were the expensive crystal pair from Prague. But her eyes didn’t look so perfect. Traces of mascara were smudged along her bottom lids, and the whites of her eyes were red from crying.
“Wow” was all I could say now.
I looked closer. With my new kind of spring-seeing, I could see that my mom really was happy, like when tears have washed away a lot of sadness.
“So your mom is quitting her job,” Mo announced, bringing us all cups of tea.
“Huh?” I said. “What? When?” How could that have happened while I was dreaming?
“Soon,” my mom answered. “As soon as I find an environmentally responsible company to work for. I was just telling your grandmother … on the ride here, I had a hit of sudden clarity. I had gotten so far removed from who I really am … from who we really are, we Arbor Lineage women…” She shook her head. “Anyway, I made a lot of mistakes, and things are going to change.”
“They already have,” said Mo.
We all sat there at the kitchen table, not needing to say a word. It was a warm, comfortable silence. I think we were each trying to comprehend what had happened.
Then Mo, who can never stay still for very long, jumped up from the table and went to fill the red kettle with water. “More tea?” she asked.
“Sure,” Mom and I said together.
Mom is another one who needs to be busy. I noticed she was quietly wiping the tabletop until every spot was gone. Some things never change.
I wanted to tell them about Aventurine. But there was so much to tell. I got up and walked over to the eyeglass window. I peered out through the pink octagon-shaped lenses at the snow. Maybe everything was rose-colored, I thought. And maybe I didn’t have to share every detail. Maybe even if I’d been on an Arbor family quest, some special magic in the world was just for me.
Instead of talking, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the Singing Stone. I raised it to my lips. Just as I began to play, the teakettle started whistling. But the song of the stone was louder and brighter. It completely drowned out the whistling with its melody even before Mo took the teakettle off the burner.
Mo and Mom turned. Their eyes were huge, and they both had big smiles on their faces.
“I knew it! I knew it!” shouted Mo as she turned off the stove. “Let me see it. Let me see that Singing Stone!” Mo raced over and took the stone into her hands and held it like a baby bird in a nest.
“Oh, Birdie, I’m so proud of you!” my mom said then, coming over to wrap me in her arms. Her embrace felt as warm as Dad’s hugs, as comforting as I remembered her hugs being when I was little. Did I actually have two parents now, two real parents? I wanted to just stay there, having my mom hold me, for the longest time.
Mo was still shaking her head in amazement, holding the stone. When she passed it back to me, there were tears in her eyes.
“Come on, let’s move in by the fire,” she said.
“Better yet,” Mom piped up, “can the tea wait a few minutes? Before it gets too dark, let’s the three of us go for a walk under the moosewood trees!”
“Grand idea!” Mo exclaimed.
“Grand idea!” I agreed, teasing Mo by mimicking her voice as I said it.
“Oh, and who’s so smart now that she’s been to Aventurine?” Mo teased back, raising her eyebrows. “We’ll never hear the end of how she saved the family