Yes, presents.
When clearing out a house the other day, we found a stash of stuff in an upstairs wardrobe in the master bedroom. I think the kid’s parents were those super-organised type that buy Christmas presents four months in advance. There was a trove of stuff, and I demanded we each take something so everyone could give the kid a birthday present. Admittedly, we had to take the rolls of Christmas wrapping paper there as well, so he’ll have jolly Santa faces and red-nosed reindeers splattered all over it, but who gives a shit? The kid will get to open presents, and age-appropriate ones as well.
There were a couple of Lego sets, one of them pretty big as well, so it might have been a main Christmas present for one lucky kid. It was the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars. Charlie loves Star Wars according to Mark, so we gave that one to him to hand his boy. It’s only right the largest card and the fanciest present comes from his dad.
Other stuff was some smaller Lego sets (I chose Darth Vader’s Tie Fighter because, duh, it’s cool), a couple of board games, some art stuff, books and even a big tin of Swizzels sweets. Shit, I love those, so I’m glad me and Charlie are so tight. Parma Violets for the win.
After we’d set up the lodge and given it the full makeover, we stepped back, stared around, and nodded. There were many high fives.
Then Mark suddenly broke down into tears.
Not sad tears, Freya. He was just completely overwhelmed that we’d all gone to so much effort to give his boy one big day, that little slice of normal that would carve the biggest smile into his handsome little features. He started thanking all of us.
That was when Nate just shook his head.
“Don’t thank us, Mark,” he said. “We’re just doing what we’re told. The banners, the cards, the balloons, the presents… everything was Erin’s idea. I’ve seen her dig her heels in a few times since I’ve known her, but she was willing to walk through the fires of Hell itself to give Charlie this day. If you want to thank anyone, it’s all her.”
That just set Mark off more, which set me off, which set everyone else off. Mark just folded me in a bear hug, crying happy tears and thanking me again and again.
It was nice.
Mark and Charlie are awesome. He’s such a good dad, and Charlie’s like my adopted little brother now. I feel a duty to look after my little dude. To do something good for them both was amazing. Charlie gets to have a big celebration and be fussed over for his tenth birthday, and his dad can sit back and drink in those happy smiles, watching his kid just be a kid for a day. That is what it’s all about, Freya. Never underestimate the power a single act of kindness can have on someone.
Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. I can’t remember who said that right now, but it’s so true. We, as human beings, elevate ourselves through the act of lifting others, and those acts of kindness should be their own motive. We do them because it is right and good to do so. No agenda, no cost, and no expectation.
We are made kind by being kind.
Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, apocalypse.
Tomorrow, I will not write. Tomorrow is all about the newly minted ten-year old Charlie Reynolds.
And I’m going to spring my evil surprise on Nate.
This will be the best day of the apocalypse thus far.
See you in a couple of days, Freya. I’ll update you the day after.
Lockey’s gonna get her party on. Oh yeah.
OCTOBER 28th, 2010
PARTY ON, DUDES
Well.
It’s about 8pm and I decided to have an early night because I was so “tired” after yesterday’s shindig. I threw that in air quotes because it was only partly true. I came to my room to write as it’s going to take a while, and I am quite tired after drinking alcohol last night, but really, I’m being a coward and avoiding a whole bunch of awkwardness. I’ll get to that soon enough. First off, let’s get the good stuff out of the way before I get to the shit storm of my own making.
Charlie woke up yesterday and came downstairs to a collective cheer. When he saw the lodge all decked out, a pile of presents and cards on the table, and everyone hollering happy birthday at him, he positively beamed. He was so excited, his reactions to the cards and presents as he opened them so unashamedly joyful, that I knew the risk of hitting the party store had been worth it. Nate gave me “the nod” and my face started to hurt from the smiling.
The day went by with Charlie being fussed over. Mark still got some work done soundproofing the generator outhouse he’s built, while I sat with Charlie for about three hours as we worked on the Millennium Falcon.
There’s something therapeutic about building a Lego set. You kind of switch off your brain, idly chatting shit, and time just rolls by without a care in the world except finding piece A to attach to piece B. It’s relaxing. Also, chatting bullshit and joking about with a ten-year old lets me forget about the real stress of the apocalypse, even for just a little while.
As the day wore on towards late afternoon, it was time to get ready for the party. We would have music – courtesy of a laptop with speakers loaded up with tunes – we would have food, we would have sweets (Charlie insisted we help him with the big tin of Swizzels, oh no, what a terrible chore that would be), and the grown-ups would kick back and enjoy a few drinks. We never really relax, and we’ve collected a shitload of booze on our journeys
