Mother's Day

Believe it or not, Mothers' Day turned out really well this year, and it was thanks to--you'll never guess--Tark!  We are actually on speaking terms today.

The day before Mothers' Day, I was still in a dither about what to get Mom.  I only had two gold pieces saved up, but I wanted to get her something really nice.  Then Tark knocked on my bedroom door.

He looked red-faced and a little self-concious.  "Hey, ummmm, Fiona, what are you going to get Mom this year?"

"Oh, I don't know," I replied, "how about a new son--one who doesn't do stupid stuff that embarrasses his family?"

"Look!" Tark exploded, "I feel really bad about that, OK?  I admit, it was stupid."

I just stood there with my mouth hanging open.  Tark admitting he was wrong?  Was the world ending or something?

Tark mumbled something and held out a small bag.  "Here," he said, "add this to whatever you've got saved up.  I think it's enough to get Mom some of that new rose water they have at Mary's.  I'm still grounded and that rotten tattlebug follows me every time I leave the house, so you've got to go buy it."
 He looked at me with eyes that actually looked a little remorseful.  "Please, Fi?"

Dumbstruck, I looked into the little bag.  There were five whole gold pieces, and a couple of silver coins as well. "Where on earth did you get this much?" I asked.

"I've been saving up for a new Whongol bat, but..." his voice trailed off.

I gulped.  I knew how much he'd been wanting a new bat for the silly game, but I had no idea how long he must have been saving up.  And now he was offering it all to do something nice.  For Mom.

"OK," I joked, "who are you and what have you done with my brother?"

"Dork."  He mock-punched me in the arm.

Using the excuse that I wanted to go out for a quick fly-around, I took his money and mine over to Mary's Rose Boutique, one of the most exclusive shops in the forest, and bought a big gold-and-crystal bottle of Mary's Rose Water, her latest new fragrance.  After wrapping it carefully in leaves I stuffed it under my coat as I went into our house. 

Later I knocked on Tark's door, and actually went into his foul room to show off the purchase.  You would not believe the mess Tark's room is in, and even if we had dumped the entire bottle of perfume on the floor right there and then, it couldn't have covered up the reek of adolescent boy.  Still, none of that really seemed to matter as we gloated together over our secret.

Mothers' Day dawned bright and lovely.  We made Mom breakfast, which meant cleaning up the mess Tark made when he bumped into the table and spilled a basket of robin eggs all over the floor.  Then we presented Mom with our gifts.  Deirdre's gift was a smug little cookbook called Cooking Without Killing--Eating Right to Protect Our Animal Friends.  Mom sighed at this latest attempt to convert the family to a meatless diet and picked up the package from Tark and me.

The look in her eyes when she opened up the box was worth anything Tark and I could have bought for ourselves.  "We combined our savings," Tark explained, blushing furiously.  "Happy Mothers' Day, Mom!"

There was a slight suspicion of tears in Mom's eyes as she dabbed the perfume on her wrists and held them out for us to sniff.  The scent was wonderful, and I immediately made plans to borrow some for the Spring Dance!  Mom couldn't say no when I had helped buy it for her!

Dad took Mom out for a romantic--eeeewwwwwww--dinner with just the two of them and they stayed out really late.  I don't even want to think about what they could have been getting up to. 

On his way out, Dad actually smiled at Tark.  Maybe things in our home are on the way to getting better.  Then again, Mom promised to try a few of the awful-sounding recipes in Deirdre's book, so maybe not.