The Alpha's Melded Mate

The One with Pancakes

I woke to my teeth aching from all the cookies the night before. I stretched, feeling the full-body release with the first stretch of the morning. 

Abbi was still sound asleep. 

I couldn't believe this was going to be it. My last day. 

My eyes stung and I pushed the heels of my hands into them to keep the tears inside. I wasn't going to cry. This was going to be good for me. I had to believe that. 

I got up and crawled out of the fort quietly. I had to brush my teeth, it could not wait another moment. I tiptoed up the stairs to the bathroom and closed the door. 

I grabbed my toothbrush and ran it under the water before squeezing the tube of toothpaste, loading it onto the toothbrush. 

It all seemed mundane, but it would be the last time I was doing it there. I looked into the mirror as I brushed my teeth, the counter that had countless products from my mom and me. 

I looked at the piece of paper still tapped over the hole in the wall from when I was younger, roller skating inside despite my mom's warnings. My toe stop had gone right through the wall and I had decided to glue paper over the hole so my mom would never know. When you really looked, you could see it.

To this day, I was sure she wasn't aware it was there. 

All the small things that I would never see again, the smells, the people... not that there were many, but there were good people I would miss. 

My throat began to close and I could feel the sting at the corners of my eyes. 

I spit into the sink and rinsed before running the brush through my hair. I had to push all those thoughts to the side or I wasn't sure I'd be able to go through with what I needed to do. 

I went into my room and looked at the clock. It was nearly ten, which meant we'd had roughly five hours of sleep. 

I quietly walked around and checked my mom's room. It was empty. She hadn't been downstairs either. I hoped to the goddess that she hadn't left because of me. I hadn't gotten the chance to say goodbye. 

No, she wouldn't do that. There was no way my mother would want to part ways without goodbyes. 

I made my way back down to the fort in the living room and crawled back in, laying back under the blankets and tucking the end under my feet and pulling the top all the way under my chin. The warmth encircled me immediately and I felt a sense of peace. 

I knew what was meant to happen, would happen today. One way or another, my new chapter would begin at sunset today. 

I was exhausted, and under normal circumstances I would probably be slipping back into sleep for another hour, but that wasn't the case this morning. My eyes wandered the fort we had built in the living room, wide open. 

I couldn't even blink. If I did then I'd probably miss something, like the hole in the red and black plaid blanket from when Mom had been wrapping presents and she snagged the blanket with the scissors while cutting paper. 

Or the one that looked like the rainbow puked up that my nana had knitted when I was a baby. 

Or my best friend just a couple feet away. The person who helped me through all the aspects of life that a parent just can't. For giving me someone to really connect with, who appreciated me despite the pieces that were different. 

The back door opened and closed quietly. I heard my mom walk into the house and set things down in the kitchen. 

I crawled back out of the fort and went into the kitchen.