Forever Changed

“I hope so,” she said, closing her door.

“It’ll be fine,” I mouthed as she pulled away.

I grabbed my own crap from the car and headed upstairs. I was pissed that our day had been ruined. For our sake, I hope I was right, that Lacey’s mom wouldn’t say anything.

I was determined not to let Lacey or her mom ruin the holidays which were going to be stressful enough anyway. Mom and Megan were ready and waiting by the time I got home. I thought Megan was going to barrel over me the way she ran at me like she was launched from a sling-shot. She was obviously excited.

“You look cute, Peanut,” I said, taking in her Christmas Minnie Mouse shirt and matching hair bow. "Let me stow these in my room and then I’ll be ready to go,” I said, holding up my bags.

“We have time,” Mom said. “Did you have fun today?”

I gave an apprehensive laugh. “Well, as much fun as you can have at the mall the week of Christmas,” I said, heading for the stairs.

“You think that’s bad, wait until we get to Disney,” she teased.

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” I called down the stairs.

I stowed the bags in the back of my closest and snagged my favorite hoodie from its hanger and headed back down the stairs.

“Peanut’s shirt is really cute. Looks like someone was busy today, huh?” I teased my mom as we headed out. She had mad sewing skills and probably whipped up the one-of-a-kind shirt and bow in less than a few hours.

She laughed. “What’s the Magic Kingdom without a Mickey or Minnie shirt?” she said, pulling out of the driveway.

“You did a good job,” I said, fiddling with the radio until I found a song I liked.

“I could have made you one,” she teased.

“Umm no, I’m good, but thanks. So what time are Grandma and Donna going to be here tomorrow?”

“Around dinnertime,” she said grimacing.

“Why are they coming again?” I asked confused. We normally spent New Year’s with them on our way home from skiing in North Carolina every year.

“To make my life hell,” she muttered for my ears only. “They said they didn’t want us to be alone.”

“Well, that ought to be a zip-a-dee-do-da time,” I joked, turning up the radio.

“Oh clever,” she said sarcastically.

The parking lot for the Magic Kingdom was packed. We cruised along with the long line of cars that snaked through the lot, following the waving directions of the multiple attendants that guided everyone to the available parking spots.

“You’re in charge of remembering where we parked, Peanut,” I teased. “Simba-65, remember that or we’ll have to walk home later.” Mom and I both grabbed a hand and we swung Megan up onto the tram and we slid across the row of seats. The cool wind whipped our hair into our faces as the tram roared toward the ticketing center. I zipped up my hoodie, wishing I had thought to bring gloves. I reached over to zip up Megan also, but Mom had beaten me to it. We looked at each other and smiled. It was so nice to have her being the mom again.

The night was as fun as I hoped it would be, so much fun in fact, that I didn’t think about Lacey or her mom once the entire time. We avoided the bigger rides since Mom didn’t like the roller coaster-type rides, and Megan was too short anyway. Instead, we rode the People Mover a couple of times, and then the Haunted Mansion. We had to watch Mickey’s PhilharMagic Show, and of course ride all Megan’s favorites in Fantasy land. Finally, we secured our spot on Main Street to watch the parade while drinking hot chocolate. Mom even bought us Mickey Mouse mittens for fun.

We were all exhausted by the time the grand finale float glided by us. Mom and I took turns carrying Megan out of the park as we followed the crowd to the Monorail. She was out before we had even pulled out of the parking lot to head home.

“Can you pick up your grandma and Donna from the airport tomorrow afternoon?” Mom asked once we had merged onto I-4.

“Sure, I have plans in the morning, but should be good to go afterward. What time does their plane land?”

“Six, I think. What do you have planned for tomorrow?”

“Just hanging out and stuff,” I answered truthfully since Maddon hadn’t divulged where we were going.

“You know, I’m going to want to meet these new friends eventually,” she said, emphasizing the words.

“I know Mom,” I said, looking out at the blackness that cloaked the landscape.