Playing Super Hero, A Gifted and Talented Anthology

The Best Mother's Day Gift

Odds was really beginning to dread hearing the dinner announcements. They always seemed to have something in them that was either bad news or extra work for Odds. Today was no exception.

"For everyone who is in the Mommies and Daddies program, Mother's day is this weekend. Your Mommies and Daddies have been invited for a special Mother's day brunch when you will be able to give them the gift you made them. If you need help, be sure to check with your home room adviser." The loudspeaker crackled.

Odds sighed. Having been abandoned at birth at the hospital, she was one of the children that the Mommies and Daddies program focused on. The Los Angeles School for the Gifted and Talented was a boarding school where those with special abilities lived year round. Children with families often went home over the weekends if they lived close, but some of the students only had the school. To try and fill in the emotional gaps, social services and the school established a program that allowed adults to spend time with a child. Usually, Friday nights were set aside for this purpose. For some children, the Mommies and Daddies program worked out really well, even going so far as adoption.

Odds was one of those that the program hadn't worked out so well. She had some Mommies and Daddies who treated her as if she was a toddler, others who tried to use the program to take advantage of her special organizing ability, a couple who were too strict, and some who were struggling with other matters. A few times, she went with some of the other children as a group. A couple of those were done by her favorite teacher, Mr. Jacobsen. She enjoyed these activities more than the one on one meetings that felt like two sided job interviews. She found the high school students who did the program as part of a parenting class assignment to be rather fun, but more like older siblings. Odds seemed like an ideal candidate to be adopted through the program, but it hadn't worked out that way. It could be her history. Until four years old she was in a foster home that wasn't too concerned with her. When she wandered away, it wasn't even reported to authorities. She had spent the next three years with a group of street children who called themselves the Children's Liberation Army. When circumstances prevented her from staying with them she had gone to the school. She was a rather somber child at times and very independent. While she found it rather frustrating, the program counselor encouraged patience. After all, she hadn't even been at the school for six months.

She had been with her current Mommy and Daddy for several weeks. They were a nice couple in their early thirties and were very forthright. After a tense first meeting, both Odds and the Henleys decided that it wasn't likely they would be a good match. The Henleys told Odds truthfully that they weren't looking to adopt at the moment, but wanted to explore their options. Odds was fine with that. She was happy at the school and wasn't looking to change things. They also decided they would enjoy hanging out together. Since neither Odds or the Henleys had any expectations, it made their "dates" more enjoyable.

As she liked the Henleys, She had no problems with the idea of making a Mother's day gift. She didn't know what to make them. She wanted it to be bright, cheery and thoughtful. The Henleys felt a little sad to her and she hoped to cheer them up. It was important to her that the gift would be special.

She had been shown many of the projects the other students were doing and was feeling a little intimidated by it. Her roommate, Whiz, was working on a new household gadget for her mother. Technic was making something on the computer for her. She had seen the gifts of most of the other Techno-geeks; they loved to have her hang around with them. Golden Girl had made her school famous candy, which no one else knew how to make. Other Entrepreneurs had also shown her their projects as had many of the Prodigies. They all looked amazing and impressive.

She had already asked her homeroom adviser for ideas and had been given ideas on making macaroni art or other child like crafts. Whiz had suggested using her ability to create a gift, but she didn't think an organizer was very special. She sighed and fiddled with the oversized computer screen glasses that Whiz had made her.

They were pretty amazing glasses. They allowed Odds to see messages, do searches, and take pictures. It even allowed her to record videos. Thinking about the pictures that the glasses took, gave Odds an idea.

Odds had taken pictures of the Henleys during every one of their visits. Carefully she examined the photos and selected the best ones. With a little help from Technic, she put them into a book form and added a brief description of each visit. As her glasses didn't allow her to be in the pictures, she had Technic hack the schools security footage for images of the three of them together. Finding one of them she liked, she put the image at the back.

Upon printing the scrapbook, she looked it over carefully. She sighed. It wasn't a device that rinsed your dishes for you or an amazing piece of music. Hoping they would like it, she put it away until Mother's day.

When Odds saw the Henleys at the Mother's day brunch, she could tell that they were trying to hide their sorrow. Waiting impatiently for the time to give them her gift, she quickly ate her food and sat chatting with them at the table. After the meal, the Henleys motioned for her to follow them to a quiet corner of the room. Odds could clearly tell that they had bad news.

"Juniper," Mr. Henley said, using her given name, "we have some bad news. We have been trying to have a baby for some time, and have just been informed that we aren't going to be able to. We are thinking about adopting, but the doctors told us that we need to grieve for not being able to have the baby for a while before we consider it. It wouldn't be fair to any child if we rush into adoption."

Odds nodded. "I understand. So I guess this means I won't be seeing you anymore."

Mrs. Henley just nodded. Mr. Henley, seeing his wife wasn't able to speak, answered Odds. "Right now, we are still hurting from what we learned. We aren't ready and don't feel like we should visit for a while."

"That is okay." Odds said, trying to hide her hurt. "The school would have required me to switch Mommies and Daddies soon anyway. We both know they have the rule so that children can possibly meet the right family. I am glad you were able to spend time with me, though."

Mrs. Henley gave Odds a big hug. Odds suddenly remembered the scrap book. "I have something for you to remember me by."

Mr. and Mrs. Henley looked over the scrap book. Mrs. Henley's eyes filled with tears alarming Odds. "Juniper, this is wonderful. This is the best Mother's day gift I have ever received."

Odds felt abashed. "Thank you, but it really wasn't much. The other kids did much neater things."

Mrs. Henley looked at Odds. "This will mean the world to us."

Odds rushed over and gave Mrs. Henley a hug. "I know you will be great parents someday. I am sure you will have a child of your own very soon."

The Henley's looked at her sympathetically and left. Odds watched them go. After a few minutes she headed over to where the scrapbook was saved and printed a copy and put it in her room. She made sure it was safe from any of her roommate's projects.

Odds was relieved upon hearing the Mother's day announcements a year later. She was quite happy to say that just a couple days before; she had agreed to have the paperwork placed in for her adoption. She knew it would take months to a couple years but was excited nonetheless. As she was digging into her food her roommate walked over and dropped a letter by her place.

"There was mail for you on your bed." Whiz said, before sitting down.  "You will never believe it, it was mailed nearly three months ago.  They are so bad at getting letters to the students."

Odds opened the letter to find a birth announcement from the Henleys. They were pleased to announce their nine pound baby boy. Odds smiled and finished her meal.

After lunch the baby picture found a new home, in an old scrapbook Odds had.

Author'sNote: I know I mentioned a different story to be the next one posted, but I felt like doing a Mother's day piece instead. Ricochet will be showing up next week and is primed and ready to go. If you enjoyed the story, be sure to vote and I would love to hear your comments about the story and your mothers. Obviously there is some foreshadowing in this story. Hope you enjoyed.