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A new day dawned as the Parson family rose from their beds. Lisa and Robert dragged themselves to the kitchen. Robert made coffee while his wife sat heavy on the chair, holding her head in her hands. Searching the cupboards, he located aspirin and shook out a couple tablets. She looked up at him through redden eyes, accepted the tablets and swallowed them without water. As the coffee perked, Robert rubbed her shoulders, pushing out the tension from the long hard night.
Bobby walked in, dragging his feet. Without speaking he pulled out a bowl and filled it with cereal. As he poured milk over the cereal, he spilled most of it over the counter. He grabbed a spoon and sat down at the table, mindlessly stirring his cereal.
Mary-Anne bounced into the kitchen, whistling the latest rock song and grabbed Luna’s dish, filling it with food. Setting it down on the floor, she called for Luna. She burst out laughing as Luna ran in, skidding to a stop in front of the bowl.
“Hey cat, you are too silly!” Mary-Anne giggled, reaching down to pat her cat on the back, “Hey Bobby, did you see that crazy cat! She just skidded on her butt!”
“Yeah, whatever, real cute Mary-Anne,” Bobby grumbled.
“Hey grouch pants, what’s your problem?” Mary-Anne asked, “Looks like someone slept on the wrong side of the bed!”
“Whatever, can someone make her stop?” Bobby whined, “She’s driving me crazy!”
Mary-Anne giggled as she moved over to Bobby and poked him sharp in the side. He jumped high, knocking over his cereal. As the milk splashed down the table legs, he yelled,
“You are a pain in the ass! Get away from me!”
“Bobby! There is no excuse for language like that in this house, apologize!” Robert stated sharply.
“Dad! It wasn’t my fault! She started it!”
“I don’t care! There will be no swearing in this house!”
“Shut up all of you!” Lisa yelled, “My head is killing me and I have no patience to deal with any of this today!”
“Mom, its not my fault!”
“Get to your room, right now!” Lisa yelled, “On second thought, just clean up the mess and take your shower. Then Mary-Anne can have hers and be ready when everyone comes over. Now!”
As Bobby started to protest, Robert added, “Do it now! You heard your mother! Move it!”
Bobby cursed under his breath as he cleaned up the mess. Tossing the bowl into the sink, he didn’t care if it broke or not. It’s always about Mary-Anne. Everything revolved around Mary-Anne. Bobby stomped up to his room, slamming his door so hard that a picture fell off his wall and smashed on the floor. He grabbed his clothes, jumped over the broken glass and went to the bathroom. Slamming the door shut, he proceeded to take his shower.
Downstairs Mary-Anne ignored everything. Whistling, she cleaned up the cat dish and made herself breakfast – eggs and toast.
“Mary-Anne, not today. I can’t deal with the whistling today,” Lisa stated, holding her head moaning, “My head hurts, just tone it down, ok.”
“Aw mum, it’s too beautiful a day not to whistle!” Mary-Anne replied, laughing she continued to whistle, “and I love this song!”
“Mary-Anne, you heard Lisa. Time to stop. I think you’ve done enough this morning,” Robert stated firmly, “And what is with this mood? Usually you sulk around here in the mornings. What’s up?”
“Hey, you all worried about today?” Mary-Anne asked, “Don’t be. My mum came in my dreams as an angel and said that everything is going to be okay because I'm telling the truth and everyone believes me.”
She walked to Lisa. Kneeling down, Mary-Anne reached over and gave Lisa a big hug.
“And my mum said you are the best substitute mum a girl could have.”
Mary-Anne stood up and smiled broadly.
“So you see, it’s a wonderful day! And Tracey, she was with my mum and said I was just to tell the truth. That you would all understand the not good parts. See, I told the moon to send angels and they did. So don’t cry ok. And don’t be worried ‘cause it’s all going to be ok.”
Lisa burst into tears and ran to her room. Robert looked at Mary-Anne, confused. Last night this young girl was sobbing so hard, Lisa had sat up for hours holding her until sleep finally arrived. Afterwards, Lisa cried for most of the night as Robert held her.
None of it made sense but then, Mary-Anne never made sense. All the years she had lived with them had proven this. She tended to be angry when happy events occurred and happy when tough things happened. She could burst into tears over a TV commercial, laugh over Bobby injuring himself and become angry when given a gift for no reason, except to show how much she was loved.
Watching her leave the kitchen, still bouncing and whistling, Robert shook his head perplexed. What had his family taken on? Would it be worth it all in the end or did he drop them all into an endless pot of hot water the day he agreed to bring Mary-Anne into their lives.
“Mary-Anne, you better be worth all this because I really don’t know how much more my family can take,” Robert muttered to himself, “I really don’t know if we can do this anymore.”
Shaking his head, Robert cleaned the rest of the kitchen and walked to the bedroom,
“Honey, it’s going to be okay. One way or another, it’s all going to work out in the end. We just have to get through today.”
He gathered his wife in his arms and held her tight. Silently sending a prayer to heaven, asking for angels to protect his family from the insanity that landed on his doorstep years ago – asking for strength to help him be there for his family today.
“We can do this, honey. Together. With the help of God, we’ll get through today.”
Lisa snuggled deeper into her husband’s embrace and whispered,
“I truly hope so sweetheart because I don’t know how much more I can take, Lisa sighed, I really don’t.”
© 2001
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