by Natalie Dean
“Oh goodness,” Mrs. Miller said as she sat. “I am so looking forward to this. Thank you for inviting me, Theodora.”
That was one thing Teddy could never convince the woman to do; call her by her nickname. But still, she didn’t mind the older woman using her full name. It was delightfully old-fashioned in a way. And although the woman still sometimes struggled with the paths her sons were taking, or with understanding certain lifestyles that were foreign from her own, Teddy would always appreciate that she at least tried.
“I didn’t know you had an appreciation for the arts,” Sterling said, leaning over to kiss his mom’s gray hair.
“That’s because I ended up with sons who all liked to play football, lacrosse, or swim. I had hoped that one of you might be like your middle cousin and have more artistic ability, but I suppose y’all came out alright.”
Her eyes twinkled mischievously at that, and Sterling sputtered in mock offense. “Just alright though. Don’t butter me up too much, Mom.”
“If you’re really so worried about it, maybe one of you could finally get married and give me some grandchildren to dote on, and I won’t have to rely on lovely community productions.”
Roman nearly choked on his water, and Andre laughed outright. He was supposed to have a date for the night, but unfortunately the flu had her bedridden as of two days earlier.
That was one of the things she was happiest about. After a lot of gentle persistence, Jamal had gotten his wish and Andre had agreed to a single date with his mother. Well, one date turned into two, two turned into four, and four turned into a weekly habit. They were taking it slow; they’d both been through so much, but it made Teddy’s heart glow to see Andre happy again. In love. She was pretty sure that he had given up on ever having a life outside of his children and the shop, and she couldn’t be more grateful that he’d found the motivation to try again.
As for Roman, he wasn’t dating anyone as far as she knew, but he was taking online business classes. The shop was doing so well that he was talking about looking into a secondary location. Maybe even branding. It was all above Teddy’s head considering everything she had on her plate, but it was so wonderful seeing her brother have dreams. Ambitions. Something to talk about excitedly at the dinner table each night.
Because they still ate dinner together. They were still a family. They weren’t any lesser for having found more to their lives than just each other. If anything, they were more. And healthier. Definitely happier.
“Where’s Silas?” she asked, looking around. She’d seen him arrive, but she was so busy laying out the snacks, drinks and making sure there was appropriate signage on how to find the bathroom that she hadn’t seen him beyond that.
“He’s helping with the performance,” Mrs. Miller said, pride written plainly across her features. “Apparently the lighting guy had some sort of hand injury, I think it was? So he needed someone to handle, I’m not sure I got this part right. The ropes?”
That made sense. “Wow, I hope Dymtro is alright. I didn’t know he was hurt.”
“He should be fine, probably just a little tender.” The lights began to dim, and the older woman sucked in an excited breath. “Oh, it’s starting!”
A quiet fell over the twenty-odd tables in the room. Technically the wide, open space they were in was a gymnasium, but it had been built with the idea of having multiple uses. Which was why there was a stage inset into one wall, complete with a beautiful cobalt curtain and all the sound equipment they could ever need.
The Millers really had gone above and beyond, even if their patriarch didn’t seem to get it. Her whole neighborhood had a place for intermural sports teams, community productions, holiday dinners, events, and an emergency shelter in case of disasters. It was a boon to them, a way to enrich the lives of the entire town and would continue to do so for generations. She wasn’t sure Silas even understood just how much he had added to everyone’s lives, but hey, she could spend the whole rest of the year reminding him.
Or maybe the production would do a better job of it, because the youngest kids were marching on, dressed up like robots in costumes that Teddy knew were made of meticulously painted cardboard boxes courtesy of Mr. Abadi. Turned out the older man had been an artist back in the day and, although he couldn’t assemble them himself, he certainly could decorate them. They did a very short but adorable number about building blocks and being a team. Teddy wasn’t sure she quite got it, never having a younger sibling herself and being blissfully out of the loop when it came to young people entertainment, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
After the young ones, it was the older kids, the ones just about to hit their teen years. They were all different kinds of animals, some costumes more elaborate than others based on what Mrs. Sanchez could scrounge/make. Although the new community drama program had a grant—courtesy of the Millers—she and the other heads were still relatively frugal. Teddy didn’t blame them.
The animals didn’t really have a dance, but rather told a parable about all the animals and who was the mightiest of them all. Jamani was in that one, and she ended up being the mouse that was declared the king over all the others, having won all their tests. She rocked the roll, of course. But Teddy had never doubted that she would. The whole thing was cheesy, naturally, but that made it perfect, and everyone applauded when they took their bows.
The teens after them were different. There was a young girl that sang, her voice high and lilting, angelic as it washed over them. Teddy closed her eyes and listened, feeling her heart swell with every note. After her was a band composed of four young men and a single girl, combining the beautiful, haunting notes of a violin and the steady support of the cello with metal-like melodies from the guitar and some real thrashing from the drums. It was an intense sort of juxtaposition, but Teddy found herself liking it. If only because it was her kids from her community finding a safe space to explore and perform.
She wasn’t crying. She wasn’t. If there were a few tears in her eyes by the time the last group came out to do an excerpt from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, well that was just because it was dry in the gymnasium. Maybe she would ask Silas to get her a humidifier for Christmas.
When the final group marched off, then everyone came back for the curtain call, she was on her feet and applauding loudly. She wasn’t the only one either. Aunties. Uncles. Grandmothers. Grandfathers. Tired moms who worked too hard, tired fathers with the weight of the world on their shoulders. Sisters who took care of their siblings when there wasn’t anyone else to do so. Brothers who knew what it was like to step up and be the man of the house. Old. Young. Black. Hispanic. White. Immigrant. Citizen. All of them clapping for their children. Clapping for their future.
Okay, maybe Teddy was crying. Because how could she not? It was her community, her family, all able to celebrate the potential of their loved ones together. When she was a kid, she had dreamed of a place like the very one she was in. And now she had it. Now they all had it.
The cheering went on for a long while, some of the kids giggling, some of them waving. The older kids, meanwhile, were having stronger reactions. Some crying, some bowing repeatedly. She knew some of what they were going through, just a bit. She remembered what it was like to be young and poor and feel like the whole world was against them. Being appreciated for what they were, for what they could do, could do wonders for a growing soul.
Eventually, however, the cacophony did die down and she lowered herself into her seat. She picked up one of the deviled eggs that she had completely forgotten about during the show, finally nibbling at it.
“You know,” she said, once she swallowed. “This was a test more than anything. Considering how well this went, I’m sure Mrs. Sanchez will be comfortable doing an actual play at the end of the summer. She said if there’s enough interest from adults in the neighborhood, she would like to open casting to the whole community.”
“That would be lovely, wouldn’t it?” Mrs. Miller said.
B
ut there was something off about her tone. Something near teary. Sure, Teddy was in near tears, her throat still narrow from all the emotion, but why would—
The lights, which had come up for the curtain call, dimmed to nearly being off. Alarmed, Teddy turned back to the stage to find there was a single person there, standing in the spotlight.
Silas.
“Hello, everyone,” he said, his voice loud but with a slight tremor of nerves to it. What was he doing? “I’m sure all of you know this by now, but I wanted to recognize the woman who made this all happen. Without her, this community center never would have been built, and I would not have had the pleasure of getting to know this beautiful neighborhood and all of the wonderful people in it.”
What was he doing?
He took a step off the stage and the light followed him, a shining beacon through the open space. Everyone was quiet, and Teddy swore each of them could hear the confused thundering of her heart.
“But there’s more you should know. Ms. Teddy Parker didn’t just encourage my family to invest in your town. She encouraged me to invest in myself. To open my eyes to all the potential I had to change the world. About the worth of community, and kindness. That there is more to life than a dollar sign.
“And I cannot tell you how much she had improved my life. Made it better. Better than any right it had to be.” He was still walking toward her, and a chorus of awws sounded from all over. It had taken a while for the folks in her area to feel comfortable around Silas, and then the other Millers that would visit. But after a year and a half, they had managed to win a good number of the denizens over.
Especially the young ones, but that was probably because Silas always brought new toys and gadgets with him every time he stopped in at the community center.
“I don’t know what my world would be like if Teddy hadn’t popped into my life, armed with a baseball bat and ready to throw down for my honor—”
A titter from the others. Perhaps her baseball bat had grown into a bit of a legend. It wasn’t her fault it was the easiest to grab method of defense that she’d had in her possession since her softball days of high school.
Silas continued, “But I know my world would be a darker place. An emptier place. Teddy is my light. She reminds me to be a better person. To do more. To be more. And most of all, to open myself up to all of the love and kindness that we can find in each other.”
He reached her, and goodness if his gaze didn’t still have the ability to take her breath away. “To trust each other.”
And then he was kneeling, reaching into his pocket to pull out a little cobalt box that matched the curtains of the stage. With his thumb, he popped it open, and she was staring not at a diamond, but a beautiful jewel of amethyst.
Teddy hated diamonds. She thought they were plain, and it was only the shrewd hoarding of the De Vries family that made them valuable. She didn’t like that people died for them either, enough to make ‘blood diamonds’ a common term. Her father always thought she was being dramatic every time she got on that particular soapbox, but apparently Silas had listened.
Because amethyst was her mother’s birthstone. And amethyst was Teddy’s favorite color. She didn’t care much for jewelry, but the only necklace and bracelet she owned were both silver with amethyst accents.
Could he be any more perfect?
“Theodora Parker, will you marry me?”
So much flooded her, too much to single out and think about. But she could sort it later. All she had to worry about at the moment was saying yes.
“Yes!” she cried, nearly flinging herself into his lap. “Yes, absolutely, yes. Yes!”
She was laughing. She was also crying again. Maybe Silas was crying too. But that was alright because she was so happy that she might just burst at the seams. Somehow, he slid that ring onto her finger, and then they were kissing. Kissing while everyone cheered around them. Bringing hope for good things to come for the entire community.
Because, as far as the future Mrs. Teddy Parker-Miller was concerned, her future was full of more hope and possibility than she could ever imagine.
She couldn’t wait.
* * *
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About Author - Natalie Dean
Born and raised in a small coastal town in the south I realized at a young age that I was more adventurous than my conservative friends and family. I loved to travel. My passion for travel opened up a whole new world and new cultures to me that I will always be grateful for.
I was raised to treasure family. I always knew that at some point in my life I would leave my storybook life behind and become someone's mother, someone's aunt and hopefully someone's grandmother. Little did I know that the birth of my son later in life would make me the happiest I’ve ever been. He will always be my biggest achievement. The strong desire to be a work-from-home mom is what lead me down this path of publishing books.
While I have always loved reading I never realized how much I would love writing until I started. I feel like each one of my books have been influenced by someone or something I’ve experienced in my life. To be able to share this gift has become a dream come true.
I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I have enjoyed creating them. I truly hope to develop an ongoing relationship with all of my readers that lasts into my last days :)
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