Maria, Nathan and Edward had finally arrived at the house. Maria dropped her keys on the table and settled down on her favorite armchair with a loud grunt as if she felt exhausted on a level beyond the physical. Edward eyed his mother for a second before sitting down on the couch. So many things had happened since the day he had decided to delve into his mother's past. He had questions of course, however remembering his uncle's words at the hospital he bit his tongue.
Nathan on his own right sat down next to Edward, his leather jacket still on and his eyes avoiding Edward, yet stopped, firmly planting themselves onto Maria's frame. She looked almost sunken, unlike the woman exiting her room. Nathan couldn't help but wonder how come Maria was never able to see the light. He missed the woman she used to be, however felt like he had no say in how she led her life.
The silence in the room was more than the three of them had bargained for. It was heavy and suffocating. Someone needed to do something about it.
"A rum and coke please."Nathan's assertive voice broke the silence.
"Right away…"Maria spoke almost out of instinct as she got up. It was as if those words had awakened something very primal in her and she was grateful that her customer service instincts had woken up in order to silence her mind.
She got up from the arm chair and slowly walked towards the kitchen, but not before throwing Nathan a look of gratitude, for breaking the tension.
Edward turned towards his uncle with a questioning expression on his face, which prompted a smile out of the man with the leather jacket.
"Son…in this world we humans are plagued by our own minds. We think and once we start we cannot silence the voices inside of our heads. We run through scenario after scenario of situations that could have gone better or worse and we try to prepare ourselves for times where we will not be able to take the time to think. We like to strive to achieve greatness and slowly we start losing ourselves in that. The human mind is the most powerful weapon and yet the hardest wall to break when it comes to making decisions. In times like these the only things we humans are able to respond to is our basic instincts."
"Base…instincts. Like what?"
"Like…when you feel overwhelmed and the voices of the outside world fade. What do you do then?"
"Something that relaxes me…like a hobby?"
"Exactly. I triggered your mother's instinct to care for others by asking for something simple. That way she gets her mind off of today and I get a drink."Nathan said with a low guttural laugh.
Edward smiled lightly as he was beginning to unpack the words coming out of his uncle's mouth. The atmosphere in the room had finally lit up once his mother entered the living room with a bottle of rum and a bottle of coke along with a glass for everyone. Edward felt acknowledged for the first time in a while as he saw his mom entering with a glass for him as well. He relaxed a bit more now noticing that the pained expression on his mother's face was gone.
"You're twenty now, might as well stop hiding behind my back and have a drink with the grownups. " Maria said with a warm smile as she began pouring the rum into the glass in front of her sun. Somehow this simple action sent her back years ago, only for her to remember a glimpse of her first date with Logan. The memory of his face warmed her heart, and relaxed her shoulders.
"To new beginnings."Exclaimed Nathan excitedly, lifting up his glass into the air, and with a loud clink the three took a swig of their drinks.