The Birthday Gift

Ava looked around the huge flower bed for a tiny space to plant the lily seedling in her hand. Her love for gardening was passed down with her mommy’s gene. Whenever the kids her age played in the parks, she quietly squatted around the garden, tending to the plants. When the vulnerable baby flowers that are unable to survive without someone’s care grow up to stand tall and proud, she feels a sense of accomplishment. However, her emotions did not stem solely from the satisfaction of seeing them grow, it's the attachment she felt towards them. From the moment her little hands put the delicate plants inside the wet soil, a feeling of responsibility arises with it. And how could it not when she had seen for herself how differently the flowers that are tended to differently grow up to become?

Her dainty hands deftly used a small shovel to dig a hole and buried the roots of the lily inside. It was the day before her birthday, one that she was secretly counting days for. Her papa had told her that this year, he would give her the best birthday gift ever, so every five minutes her big eyes darted towards the huge iron gate from where he could come anytime.  Because her papa never lied to her, she knew her gift this year would be very special. 

Ava was handling the soil and humming the song she had recently learned at school when the iron gate opened with a loud creak. Hearing the familiar sound, she jerked her head and nearly got whiplash from her own pigtails. A shiny black car smoothly entered and pulled near the parking space. Wiping the dark mud on her hands on the white skirt she was wearing, she bolted towards the moving car. She knew her mommy would scold her after seeing the stain on the new skirt but she didn’t want to hold the gift with dirty hands. 

Donned in a black suit, her papa alighted from the car. Ava’s eyes lit up like the stars. She couldn’t help but smile every time she saw her handsome papa, the one that loved her more than anything or anyone. Apart from her desire to have a younger sibling to play with, he had always fulfilled her every wish. She always told her mommy that when she grows up, she would marry someone like her papa. 

With a smile on her lips, her mommy also came out while wiping her hands on the kitchen apron. Ava secretly laughed at how she got an excuse to call out her mommy if she was scolded for wiping her hands on her clothes.

Her attention went back to her papa who she thought looked a bit haggard that day. Moreover, he didn’t have anything on his hand, no gift. For a moment, she thought he forgot to bring it but quickly brushed off that thought. Although whenever he came home late, she would hear the heated arguments of her parents, and her mommy would call him a liar, Ava knew that her papa was not one. How could a man who had such high morals lie? It must have been because the gift was too big. Yes, that must be the case. She stood a few feet from the car with both her hands balled into fists in front of her chest as if doing that could control her building anticipation.

Her papa lowered himself like he was taking something out of the car. Ava’s big watery eyes unblinkingly looked at the door where he papa’s body was half inserted, her breath held inside with jittery excitement and nervousness. The afternoon sunlight directly descending upon her head and forming the beads of sweat on her forehead didn’t bother her in the slightest bit. 

It looked like something was coming out of the car. Her mind ran through a number of things that could possibly be inside. The fairy dress that she saw at the shop display? Or maybe a garden for her new dollhouse? But she could never have prepared herself for what came out. 

It was a boy. Not something she had imagined in her wildest thought. He looked to be like five years old, much smaller than her. Wearing a clean short-sleeved shirt and cowboy romper, he stood with the small of his back resting on the car door. His big blue eyes nervously darted around the strange environment and finally settled on the ground like he was fearful of meeting anyone’s eyes.  

Ava couldn’t quite explain her feelings at that moment. The little boy had a distinct similarity to her papa, especially those beautiful eyes. She noticed it at instant because she had the same blue eyes that seemed to be deeper than the ocean, the one that was admired by everyone whose sight fell on them and the one she took immense pride upon for inheriting from the man she looked up to.    

For a moment, she was so invested in looking at him that she forgot about her papa until a shrill voice brought her back to reality. She recognized the voice belonged to her mommy who sings her lullaby every night. But at that moment, the voice didn’t sound like the one which lulled her to a good night’s sleep. It sounded heart-wrenchingly sorrowful, a mix of fear, anger, and rejection. Curious, Ava glanced at the woman who had one of her hands covering her open mouth while the other shakily pointing at her papa. Tears were gushing out of her wide hazel eyes like a broken dam. She had never seen her mommy look that way. Unable to decipher what it meant, her eyes followed the pointed finger and stopped at her dad whose straight back was hunched at that moment. Looking closely, she discovered something she had never seen before - an apology in her papa’s proud eyes.

Those same eyes, filled with guilt, slowly trailed to her. Ava didn’t understand why her dad was looking at her that way like he had done an irreparable damage. 

She thought the adult’s world was so complicated that she couldn’t comprehend anything. So she took her attention back to the little boy who looked lost and nervous. His chubby little hands were shivering lightly as his fingers fiddled with the pocket of his romper. She turned her head to tell her parents that their behavior was scaring the boy when she saw her papa slowly moving towards her mommy in slow steps, who in turn lunged at him with a cry of agony. Hearing it, the boy who was standing behind her papa stumbled back with a startle. Ava ran towards him without thinking. But it seemed her movement further agitated the boy as he looked at her with wide eyes like that  panicking deer caught in a headlight. 

Standing before the boy, her ears ignored the loud voices of her mom and dad as she crouched down and helped the boy to his feet. When her hands touched his skin, her breath was stuck to her throat. It was so soft and fragile like her favorite cotton candy that she was almost scared that it would melt under her touch. The light trembles on her palm, she couldn’t recognize whether it was her own or his. The feeling was just too familiar like she had felt it many times before but couldn’t discern where exactly. Only when she saw herself reflected in his clear blue orbs did she realize what the feeling was. It was the same one when she held the fragile seedlings and put them inside the soil. 

A light smile bloomed on her lips, gradually spreading to her whole face. Ava didn’t know what the little boy understood but as if infected by her smile, his baby pink lips slowly curled up into the purest smile she had ever seen. Indeed, her papa didn’t lie to her. She got the best birthday gift ever.