Pexy Sharacter looked up from her book when someone tapped on the window. She jumped back a bit but relaxed when she saw it was just her mother, holding up a sign that said, I'M HOME!
She opened the door to see her mother standing there, dressed in black pants and shirt with no socks. A look of surprise came over Pexy's face when she realized that her mom was wearing heels. Her mother was also carrying two bags of groceries and looked tired. She must have been working late again, and was going to go right to bed.
"I'm home!" Her mom called out, and smiled at her daughter when Pexy nodded. Her parents hadn't seen each other for months now, since one of Pexy's friends had moved to California. And this year, because Pexy and her parents didn't live in the same city anymore, they had decided to stay in touch via email until they were both more settled. It wasn't like either parent wanted their daughter living far away, so here they were.
They went through the front entrance together before turning down the hallway, and entered the kitchen, which was already filled with food. There was a lot more than usual.
Her mom set the bag of groceries down and kissed her forehead gently. Pexy grinned widely. This had always been their thing; they' never fought or made up while eating, even though they had both grown apart over the years. Sometimes they'd make small talk or discuss some minor things that happened during the day. Most times, they just sat in silence, drinking tea with honey and enjoying each others company, as long as they were careful not to spill anything.
"I brought you some chai," her mom said, smiling as she pulled out an envelope and handed it to her daughter. "It's your favorite."
Pexy smiled as she took the envelop from her mother, putting her arms around her mother, and hugged her tight. Their relationship was still as close as it was all those years ago, and it made her happy. Even if neither of them could really remember what the past few years had been like. Pexy had started high school almost three years ago and hadn't talked to her mom ever since. When they spoke online sometimes, they mostly discussed their daily lives and where Pexy was spending her time these days.
"Thank you, mom," she whispered after releasing her hug. She felt tears in her eyes, but blinked them away. She would be damned if she cried at dinner time in front of her mother. Especially when their conversations were interrupted by their hungry stomachs. She walked past her mom to open the envelope. Inside was a handwritten letter, and inside that was a photo of herself in front of an old statue in front of a church. She remembered taking it when she was about thirteen.
She had taken a picture of herself at the exact moment she had gotten on her bike and rode off into the distance, a huge smile on her face.
"You look beautiful," her mom had told her when she showed the photo to her. Pexy had been too excited at the time to notice anything else but the way the sunlight caught in her hair and turned it redder than normal. It made her look like an angel.
Pexy opened the photo album she had inherited from her grandmother and started flipping through the pages. There were pictures that seemed almost impossible to believe. Some were just pictures she remembered seeing, others were new.
Pexy stopped to find a picture of her and her grandmother at the beach at Disney World. It had been one of their first trips, when her grandma was only twenty. They had gone in the morning and stayed longer than expected, just soaking up the sun, watching seagulls fly over and enjoying the sounds of people laughing and screaming at the rides.
That was a long time ago. It felt as though it had only been yesterday, but now it was nearly ten years later.
Pexy sighed and put the album back down.