When I entered the house with my new coffee maker under my right arm, Claire, Aunt Danielle, and the grandparents were in the living room. When they saw me enter, they all regarded me with the very same sad look Claire had given me in the morning. I turned to get up the stairs, but Aunt Danielle sensed my reluctance, sprang up from the sofa, and stood in front of me.
“Tim...” she started but didn’t come very far.
“Nope.” I just said, as I walked around her.
“But, Tim...” Claire called after me this time, in a pleading voice.
“No.” was, again, all I said as I walked up the stairs to get into my room, although a tad more insistent than the previous time.
“Pumpkin! Please! Talk to us!” Granny called after me.
“If I didn’t talk with any of you about Tess when she had just died, I sure as hell won’t do it now.” I called down the stairs before entering my old bedroom and closing the door.
The next few days came and went quietly. Don’t get me wrong, I was tempted to take their offer to talk. I was angry they ignored my obvious troubles before I moved out, and they were now trying to do the right thing. I just simply couldn’t talk about Tess yet, and seriously didn’t expect
I had absolutely no motivation to attend, but the family managed to coerce me into it. They achieved that by showcasing a noteworthy deviation from their usual tactics. There were no demands, no ultimatums, and nobody tried to simply drag me along as a last resort. Instead, the grandparents showed up in my room after my refusal of Claire’s plea for my participation had left her close to tears again, and told me that it would be important for me to be there. They hinted that it may have something to do with the things I pointed out when the grandparents visited my apartment.
Of course, my lacking eagerness to attend this get-together was noticeable when it came to interacting with me. At least Uncle John’s sense for tradition, that suddenly manifested at last year’s Thanksgiving dinner, thankfully didn’t resurface. I had already pictured myself sitting at that table, telling everyone how thankful I was for the invention of Coffee Makers.
They still made a seemingly honest effort to try and include me in the conversations they had, asking for my opinions on every single topic that came up. Problem was, I simply didn’t have any opinions on those topics. I went to school as a loner, so I was out of the loop of current events that the teenagers would find interesting. And ever since Tess died, I fully focused on whatever project I was involved in at work, leaving me just as uninformed about topics the adults would find interesting. In essence, I had no idea what they were talking about, while they had no idea about the topics that would have interested me. The “geek stuff” as Aaron still liked to call it.
While I wanted to appreciate their efforts, too much had happened for me to just forget about it and play happy family. The fact that Logan was still running his interference game whenever one of the Women showed an interest, while nobody but me seemed to notice, also killed any inclination I might have had to return their effort. This was how the evening was progressing, until they inadvertently caused it all to go to shit.
“I’m sorry it’s so late” Aaron suddenly said after dinner, as he handed me a little envelope. “I admit, we really didn’t know what to get you. I hope this is Okay.”
I looked at him slightly confused but interested. Then I opened the envelope, and my interest was replaced by utter disappointment. They actually did it! They actually got me a $100 Amazon voucher!
“Wow ... thanks.” I replied in obvious disappointment. “What’s this for?”
They shared a short look, then Claire answered.
“Honey, we’re sorry we forgot your birthday. I promise we’ll do better.”
It was remarkable how sincere she sounded while handing me a present that proved, yet again, how prevalent their disregard for me was.
“Sure. Forgive me if I don’t hold my breath. You had the same resolve last year, after all.” I responded, as I dropped the envelope back on the table, making sure they knew how little it was appreciated. I fully planned on just leaving it there when it was time to leave for the parents’ house again.
“Kiddo, I know it’s coming late.” Grampa said, before throwing a disapproving side glance at Aaron. “And I admit, it’s not what I would call an especially thoughtful gift. But they are trying. Can you at least not dismiss them completely?”
I looked at him in disbelief.
