Putting the Pieces Together

3: Making Up

"Come down for dinner!" Mother yelled from downstairs. Rose jerked her body from surprise and fell out of her bed. Ugh, that was going to leave a nice bump on her head. That didn't matter right now though.
"Um... I'm still packing Mother!" Rose shouted back trying to get out of dinner.
"You can pack later!"
"Are you sure? There's a lot of stuff!"
"Uh-huh, the food's gonna get cold you know!"
"I'm not that hungry really!" Rose's stomach grumbled as she said it.
"What about later?"
"I can eat it later!"
"It'll get cold!"
"I can heat it up!"
"Rose stop avoiding me and come down!"
"Bu-"
"-Now!" Rose grumbled about her mom under her breath and stomped down stairs. Mother was placing the bowls of pasta on the table as her daughter turned the corner. She stood up and wiped her hands on her apron looking strangely at Rose.
"Good choice. Come over and eat a meal with your mom now," she quipped. Rose sat as far away from her mom as she could on the couch as she dug into her meal. Her stomach growled again as she ate. Mother looked at Rose no doubt thinking about how she said she was quote on quote 'not hungry'.
A now normal awkward silence filled the room as each person ate their meal. Mother was fidgiting around a lot for some reason too. After dinner was almost done, Mother finally sighed and opened her mouth looking nervous,"Rose honey, I know your mad at me for moving us here, but you need to get over this. This new life should be considered a new start!" She tried to finish cheerfully. Rose stiffened.
"How can this be a new start when He is here Mother?" Mother's shoulders sagged.
"Well, maybe you could make amends with your-" she was cut off.
"I'm not even speaking to him unless he comes himself," Rose sounded very determined.
"Fine, but could we at least make up? Like you could call me Mom instead of Mother, and we won't give each other attitude," Mom sounded very uncomfortable as she said this. Rose looked at her mom surprised. She actually cared about their relationship? Mom continued,"We could even introduce ourselves to the neighbors and make some friends! Maybe the nice couples I saw have kids around your age. W-" She was cut off by Rose's upheld hand. She had to have a moment to take all of this in. Make amends? Make friends?
"We won't fall back into our ways if we do this right... Mom?" Rose asked. She didn't want to get more hurt by a failed attempt of fixing things.
"Of course not honey!" Mom assured,"I am determined to fix things this time." Both of them stared at each other for awhile as Rose thought about the proposition.
"Fine Mom. It's time to fix at least this problem." Mom broke into a wide grin as they looked at each other.
"Great! Now let's go meet some people," Mom said excitedly. She grabbed Rose's wrist and pulled her out the door. Rose was so surprised, she just let herself be led around. This was going to be a strange transition for sure. Now it was time to introduce herself to the neighbor!