After Bedtime

“Hmm, fancy meeting you here, Rylan,” says Priscilla from the door to our living room. She squints against the light, and her brown hair covers her face. She shuffles, instead of walks, to the couch tonight. 

I say, “Yeah, I was surprised when I came out of John’s room, and you weren’t on the couch. I’m even more surprised that I got to see almost a quarter of Burley State’s last game.” I turn the volume down on the television. She wouldn’t normally be much for watching a replay; she sure won’t be interested tonight. “Sounded rough back there with Theresa tonight; she’s normally not the one to fight sleep.”

Priscilla flicks the hair out of her face with a deep inhale. “I don’t know what got into her. She likes a nap as much as I do, but she wasn’t having it tonight.” Priscilla’s chocolate eyes recoil from the TV before she details bedtime with Theresa. Priscilla concludes, “I guess the evening was just too exciting for her.”

My eyes dart in Theresa’s direction at the end of the hallway. “I guess I could see that. It’s not like Mom’s birthday is every day; she was so proud of the card that she made you.” I say while patting Priscilla’s shoulder. 

If I didn’t know better, I’d say a grin thought about stretching across Priscilla’s lips. She says, “I could tell – even though half the macaroni was missing from Mom. Still, she’s getting better with the crayons. Did you spell ‘Mom’ for her?” I nod, so Priscilla’s eyes close as her head falls forward to nod with me. 

“I thought John did a good job with his card too.” I say, “He’s got a quick mind, and he was equally proud of writing all that for you.” Priscilla can only shrug at this point – might be all she has left for today. “That could be why he went to bed so easily. He’d done good work.”

After a snicker, she says, “Just like his father, huh?”

I laugh while trying to say: “Sure, there is a lot of me in that kid, but he’s undeniably yours too. I mean I never would have thought of putting all those birds on your card. He pays attention like you do.”

Priscilla draws out an exhale and scoots up on the couch. “It was a good birthday,” says Priscilla. “They just where me out; I can’t keep up with them for long – especially after a day teaching other kids. Several of the parents remembered my birthday too, so I got lots of apples and pens.”

My smile grows with each nod. “See,” I say, “you are making an impact. I know the job is hard, but you’re doing good work with these kids.”

“Yeah, I just wasn’t into it today.” Priscilla says with a shrug. 

One Last Present

I say, “Well, on that note, I guess it’s time for one more present.” I grab a piece of paper from the side table next to the couch and give it to Priscilla. She blinks at the list before a shake of her head. “It’s an itinerary,” I say. “I booked us an Airbnb just off campus for Burley State’s homecoming game in a couple weeks. We can go down, revisit campus, and enjoy the game while the kids stay with my parents.” 

Priscilla clicks her tongue as her head bobs from side to side; my eyes widen as the unexpected “gee, thanks” comes from her. After a sigh, I say, “You don’t like it, huh?” 

Her chin falls to her chest. “It’s not that I don’t like it; you know I love going to ballgames on campus, but we’ve come a long way since those days. We don’t know anyone down there anymore. Most of our professors have even moved on. The Airbnb looks great, and I know we’d have fun once we got down there though. So, thank you. We’ll see what happens this time.”

“Okay, what’s up?” I ask as my back sags against our grey sofa. 

Priscilla takes a deep breath as she says, “I’m sorry. I just haven’t been into this birthday. I can’t get excited about it. The job, the kids, our life in general catches up to me, I guess. There’s just a whole new routine to life. This birthday just makes me feel old.”

“What?” The question blitzes from me. “You’re anything but old. Sure, we’ve come a long way from lounging around campus, and we’re working harder than ever. Still, we have our own fun now, and I’m enjoying our life together.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong,” Priscilla says. “I love our life together, and all the years of it, but our life is not what it used to be. Now, it’s more watching the game with our friends, like the Abbots, with their kids as we drink wine and get angry about the price of milk.”

I manage a chuckle. “Well, there is lots to get angry about the price of milk these days, and I do love gameday with the Abbotts. John and Theresa seem to enjoy it as much as we do.”

Priscilla sighs. “Yeah,” she nearly whispers, “that’s just where we are these days.”

She hands me back the piece of paper as she puts her head on my shoulder. I wrap an arm around her shoulder after the piece of paper goes back on the table. We settle together with the sound of the kids’ noise machines in the background. 

My thoughts drift back to every conversation before today. I simply knew that this was going to be the best present; in fact – I was more confident about this gift than any earlier birthday. Yet, here I sit with Priscilla in my arms while she’s most disappointed about this gift. She wanted a get-away, and I delivered. She didn’t want to go too far though, so I kept it close to home. I really thought I nailed what she had in mind, but I clearly messed up. 

I knew she was seeing life differently these days, so I thought we revisit our old grounds with our new life. I never meant to add a reminder for her feeling down about these days. That was my last intention. Though, I do suppose I’ll just add this to that thing about the road to hell. I can’t believe I missed the mark this bad. 

Now, I’ve only added to her bad feelings instead of helping them. Well, at least, she’s still leaning into me. That’s nice. 

I don’t dare move on the couch. Priscilla is comfortable at last, so I surely don’t want to mess that up. If I can’t give a decent birthday present, I can let her enjoy her moment. 

Change of Plans

“Do you think the Abbotts would like a get-away too?” The question slips from me as I stare down the hallway at the kids’ rooms. 

Priscilla rolls over to look up at me. “I don’t know; why?”

“What about this: I booked a four-bedroom place, so there’s lots of room. I knew it was too big for us, but I wanted us to have as much space as we needed, and it was the only one available for that weekend.” Priscilla just nods, so I continue: “So, let’s say we change the plan and take our kids.” Priscilla sits up on the couch, looking at me. I say, “Even if we do that, there’s still two other bedrooms, right? So, what would happen if we offered the other two rooms to the Abbotts and their kids?”

“I don’t know, but I think I like where you’re headed.” Priscilla says with a hand on my knee. 

I see an idea forming, but the pieces resist fitting together, so Priscilla says, “I mean: They went to another college, so we could show them all the places around town. We might even go to that old pancake house, if it’s still open, on Sunday.”

“Yeah,” I say. “Plus, whose children don’t like a parade, so we could take everyone to the homecoming parade. Then, we could go back to the place and watch the game.”

Priscilla narrows her eyes at me with a smirk. “With a really good bottle of wine?” 

I laugh. “Yes,” I say, “someone out there has to want the tickets, so I could sell those, and we could afford a nice party in that case.” 

Priscilla wraps her arms around me. “That sounds like a great plan. Let me see what the Abbotts say.” Her phone is out in an instant with a message sent almost as quickly.

I ask, “What kind of wine goes on the menu?”

Priscilla smirks and says, “Oh, it’ll have to be red; that’s my favorite, and we’ll probably have pizza – for the kids.”

I nod with a sideways look. “Oh sure, for the kids.” I say with a wink. 

The alert notification on her phone announces the Abbots’ approval of the plan. Priscilla smiles for the first time all evening and settles back against me. “You know,” she says. “Thank you. I can’t shake the memory of my first syllabus assignment; do you remember that?”

I shake my head, so Priscilla tells the story. She came up with this great syllabus – or so I thought, because her work matched the rubric for the course. But, she wanted much more from that assignment. Apparently, I talked her through her ideas and kept going until she developed the idea that she wanted. She says at the end, “I felt so good about you that day, and I see that we’re working together to get ideas out of me. Thank you.”

Together At Last

I hug her this time, and we linger a moment together. “Oh, one more thing,” I say. “I hear that show on Netflix that you like has some new episodes. Shall we watch the first one tonight?”

Priscilla lays across my lap with a single nod, so I grab the remote. I give her one more hug and hit the play button. 

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