Before He was Rosy Cheeks

when a phonecall changes everything

Who knew that one simple ring from your phone could change the course of your life forever?
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For the boy, the morning of the day that changed, everything was completely routine.

He woke up to the smell of his father cooking breakfast, and as every Saturday, it was waffles and bacon. There were smiles all around the breakfast table (as his mother always insisted on starting their day together) and they were mainly directed towards one person.

Him.

It was his fifteenth birthday that day.

The family of five (he had twin sisters who were a year younger than him) took turns as they went around the table and shared their favorite memories with the boy, as they always did on birthdays. Their home lived in tradition, routine and in learning cultures. It was part of what made the boy so happy.

After everyone had finished eating and drinking their coffees and orange juice, they went to work on cleaning up so they'd have the day free to do as they pleased.

Though the boy didn't know it, his family had planned a surprise birthday present: a long weekend at a cabin up north from where they lived. It had been a long time (nearly three years) since they'd been there, and it had always been his favorite place to visit. So the four decided that there was no better time to go.

In order to keep the trip quiet from the boy, they reqruited some of his friends to invite him over to hang out, so that they could start all their packing (both food and clothing) and other gift wrapping. It was nearly impossible to sneak around without the boy figuring something was up; in fact he'd ruined many surprises for himself before. This year, they'd been determined to have him without a clue. As far as they'd known, he didn't even have a hint that anything special was going on this year.

The boy spent most of his afternoon playing video games, kicking a soccerball around his best friend's backyard and eating a lot of food he'd normally wouldn't consider even putting inside his body. And he had a lot of fun. He'd never felt like he'd fit in so much before with his friends, like he was starting to get accepted.  Which at the time, he considered it the best birthday present anyone could receive.

As he was making memories that he believed would last a lifetime, his family was hustling around. It took them four hours to get everything done and double, triple checked (they were a family of extreme precaution.) And when they were finally done, they launched their plan into action.

Their plan had a few bumps that still needed smoothing, like the fact that the boy's mom was angry with his father, because he wanted to take two cars so he could leave early during the weekend for work. Or that one of the twins wanted to come back with their dad so she could hang out with her friends. And also the fact that after they'd both made it halfway to the cabin, (his dad and the twins in one car, his mother and eventually the boy in the other), they realized that they'd left the boys suitcase fully packed on his bed.

Before they'd noticed their mistake, his mom left their house and went to pick him up from his friend's house. She nearly had to drag his dreading self from his elation that he'd found that day.

Meanwhile, the twins and his father were already on their way to the cabin, hoping to get there before the boy. They wanted to decorate the cabin for his birthday, as he usually spent the night before all of their birthdays hanging streamers and banners. He also gathered flowers for the girls in the house or had his mom order his father one of his favorite cigars (which was the only one he was allowed per year.)

When both cars were on the highway, one of the twins decided she wanted to find something in her bag, and as she dangled half her body over the backseat and into the trunk; she realized something. There was no dark red suitcase. She voiced this to her father, who believed she was playing a joke on him. But when the other twin went to check (who was always the serious one) and said the same thing, the dad almost slammed on the breaks. They knew the mom hadn't put it in her car, as the boy would've figured out exactly where they were going if she had (he had figured they were going out to their grandparents house for a dinner as they did some times.)