My Heart's in Alabama

17 - Matt

By the time our food gets delivered, we eat, and clean up about an hour and half has passed. I have 3 missed calls from Kiersten and about a million texts from Whitney and Bridgette threatening my life if I don't pick up the dang phone.

I should be excited to call her back. I should be jumping up and down to tell her I'm coming home. But I'm not. I'm worried, almost scared to tell her. The way things have been going, I doubt she'll see it as good news. She'll be too cautious to be excited. Because she won't believe it's actually gonna happen.

Maybe I don't tell her. Or anyone. I'll make it a surprise. Yeah, for sure. I think I'm onto something here. Kiersten will be so happy we're together again she won't give it a second thought how I got there.

And what better birthday present than a surprise visit from your big brother? I could jump out from the couch right before he opens his presents and give him a big ole bear hug. Man, he'd totally lose his mind. Carrie and Marcie too. I bet they'd jump right in like a dogpile giggling and screaming until they can't hardly breathe.

I smile to myself at the thought. Never in my mind did I think I'd miss my little siblings jumping all over me and the chaos of back home, but here I am dreaming about it. It's a strange sort of heartache that I can't quite explain. It feels so far away, but yet like it's right out in the living room. I play it over and over again in my head. Their laughs, their smiles, and their playful spirits. The memories and the feelings are so strong, it's like I'm already there.

And they're not memories from the last four years. They're memories from before...well you know. My mom and dad are both there, in my memories and in this fantasy of my trip going home. Except it's not going to be a memory or a fantasy. My smile grows wider as the realization hits me. It's going to be real. Me, my brother, my sisters, my dad, my mom, we're all going to be there celebrating Drew's birthday, together as a family.

💚

Day by day, the excitement that I kept deep inside my chest gets bigger and bigger. I tried to keep it concealed, after all, I know if I spoke a single word of this to anyone I know they wouldn't believe me. They'd try to talk me down and prepare me for the worst. But they don't know what I know. My mom promised me. And she keeps promising me. I check in every once in a while, just to be sure and, guess what? She says yes every time. This is happening. I'm going home!

Every time I talk to Kiersten, she wonders why I'm in such a good mood. My dad, my friends, and my siblings too. I just tell them I'm finally getting the hang of it out here. Only a minor lie. I am kind of getting the hang of it. I have a few favorite spots to eat and I charted out a good running path in the park. But it's really the thought of home that keeps me going. Call it rose-colored glasses or homesickness or whatever, but man, I cannot wait to be back in Alabama.

"Hey ma," I say as she passes by my desk on the way to the copier. "There's this really cool burger place I saw that's on our route back home. It's a little out of the way, but it's got jalapeno popper cheese fries and those fancy milkshakes with an entire piece of cake on the side of the glass. Can we go?"

My mom looks up from her papers briefly and says, "yeah, of course, honey. Whatever you want."

"Cool," I say.

She gives me a little half smile, then returns quietly to the papers in her hands and heads back to her desk.

"And mom?" I say as she's about to close the door. I know once that door closes and she picks up the phone, that's the last I'll hear from her until the end of the day.

"Yeah?"

"I think I know what I want to get Drew for his birthday. Can we go to the store when you're done?"