2024- December
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This would have been the best tea for the gossip column, but I knew better than to leak the fact that my daughter cheated on two boys, both of whom were close friends who trusted her completely.
I'm quite surprised she even told her parents of all people about this.
I don't know whether she is regretting her decision, or plans to use whatever little information she received to write her research paper on it, because judging by the looks of her discussion with her similarly logic-driven father, it was the latter.
"So, let me get this straight, I need a consent form signed by them to use them in the research paper?" Aurelia asked, gesturing a little bit as she spoke. "And I need to have a bunch of clauses and stuff in it on the specifics? No problem..."
Her father, my husband looked at me with a stare that said, 'Please help me with this child...' and 'Well, don't just stand there!"
But I knew him well enough to know that he was secretly a bit impressed with his daughter's scientific mindset.
Okay, maybe not just a bit.
"Yes, you're right." Xeno answered her, adjusting his favorite tie, which hung from his neck. He always wore it, but didn't know how to tie it on his own.
"Now, you should start soon, shouldn't you? Your friends are all out at their homes for the holidays, so you have time." I sighed, adding to his statement. I went up closer, and shook my head slightly. "Remind me to teach you how to tie this,"
I took the tie off his neck, then proceeded to put it back on and that was when I noticed that we too, had a vacation like the students. "You don't need your tie now, do you?"
"My neck always feels kind of naked without it, Fluora," he explained. "Same reason you never take your watch off, or why you want to put your wedding ring on almost immediately after you exit the shower.
I rolled my eyes. I had a lot on my head anyway, and the sulphur in me was not helping my cause. Aurelia dumped months worth of assorted memories for me to think about, among test papers, project corrections and the list goes on...
My mood switched from 'hey, what's up?' to 'danger: radioactive mom, beware the sulphur' in almost no time at all. I couldn't pinpoint it though. Was it the fact that my daughter broke two of her best friends' hearts and their friendship? Was it the fact that my husband had a PhD and yet didn't know how to tie a tie?
"Mom," Aurelia signaled, waving a have jokingly in front of my eyes. "Earth to mom, do you copy?"
"Uh... oh, I'm sorry, I was just thinking." I replied sheepishly.
"About what?" she asked, naturally curious.
I had no answer. Now it was my turn to glare at Xeno for help. He stood there, a bn slight concern on his face. Something about his sudden lack of a tie seemed off with his neck, as if it had been exposed to sunlight after decades.
It seemed like a grand reveal, although he hadn't taken off the topmost button of his shirt. That was the only thing keeping him from looking even the least bit casual. He looked up, then saw the anger in me... then my fear.
"It's Ferris's birthday, and she feels bad for missing so many of them..." Xeno explained to his daughter coolly.
"Okay, but didn't we go there just a month ago, with Alithea?"
Sometimes I found it difficult to believe that she was eighteen years old, old enough to drive and vote. Her mental age proved otherwise.
"True, but... well... uhh..." I ran out of words.
"It's alright, I need a break from this place anyway..."
“Thank you,” I said, feeling a small measure of relief. “Now, let’s get ready. We don’t want to be late.”
As we prepared to leave, a sudden wave of anxiety washed over me. I hadn’t thought about Ferris’s brother-in-law, in years. We had broken up right after college graduation, and I hadn’t seen him since. The thought of facing him again made my stomach churn.
“Mom, are you okay?” Aurelia asked, noticing my hesitation.
I forced a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just… thinking about old times.”
Xeno gave me a knowing look. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to, Fluora.”
“No, I need to,” I insisted, trying to convince myself as much as them. “It’s Ferris’s birthday. I can’t let my past get in the way of celebrating with him.”
Xeno raised an eyebrow. “Is it about...m?”
I sighed, realizing there was no point in hiding it. “Yes, it is. We didn’t part on the best terms, and I haven’t seen him since.”
“Okay... 'him', you have tea to spill in the car." Aurelia's eyes perked up.
"I suppose so... it's just that I'm not sure what's going to happen."
"You don’t have to do this if it’s too hard,” Aurelia said softly. "I learnt the hard way that I should have just told them both I'm not interested and we'd have been fine."
“I know,” I replied, feeling a lump form in my throat. “But I need to face this. For Ferris, and for myself.”
Xeno stepped closer, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “We’ll be right there with you.”
I nodded, grateful for their support. “Thanks. Let’s just get this over with.”
We headed into the car in about an hour, then we were all set for the short road trip. As I expected... and dreaded, Aurelia spoke up. "Mom, spill the tea. Who is this 'him' you parted with on bad terms?"
"It was your uncle's brother in law... well, I guess that also makes him my brother in law." I explained, my eyes on the rear view mirror, watching Aurelia.
"Wait, Uncle Ferris is married?!"
"Yes, but his wife and children had gone out for that weekend, now pay attention."
"Oh, I thought he was like a Jedi, and decided not to marry at all. I mean, he is a bit old, so..." Aurelia went on. Now I was imagining my little brother with robes and a lightsaber.
Regardless, I know from experience that forty-five is not that old. And I, three years older than him, am not that old either. He got married three years before me - I got married in 2005, and he, in 2002.
"Well, he is. I've actually only met my sister-in-law once." My thoughts drifted off to the young woman... well, a bit older now. We met at the wedding, and I made her swear that she would be there for him no matter what.
Ruby was quite pretty, with expressive dark brown eyes and a friendly composure. She met my brother online after he graduated college, found out that the other lived in the same town, and next thing I knew they were planning their wedding. We, too, hit it off about as well as an alkali metal and a halogen would. Yet, I haven't seen her in over two decades.
"I can't believe that in another timeline Alithea would have probably been my aunt." Aurelia said with a loud laugh. "I'm glad she's with her family now."
Ferris and his love life was the least of my concerns. On the day of the wedding, I got a great shock. I stood on the side beside Ferris, watching as Ruby walked up the aisle, the bridal march playing solemnly in the background. I watched, my glance shifting between the bride and the groom, when I caught sight of her brother.
"No way..." I whispered to myself that day as a sea of memories washed over me.
Her brother was my... ex, before I left for college.
【
A/N:
Ooh what's gonna happen next?! Find out! Till I write it, here's a new science teacher quote.
Context: Biology lab, teacher was showing us the bones for anatomy. One random guy, colloquially known where I'm from as a 'chapri' made some dumb joke, when the bio teacher heard it.
"One fibula is coming for you now," she scolded him jokingly, while we all laughed some more. Good times. 】
ns 15.158.61.50da2
