Page 115 of Falling Like Snow

Mom stares at me for a second before throwing her arms around me. “Thank you for opening up to me.”

Still holding my flute, I hug her back. “Thank you for being the best mom.”

She squeezes me, then lets me go. When she sits back, her face is wet, making tears prick at the backs of my eyes. “Don’t cry again or else I’ll cry.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just… it’s been so hard doing this whole parenting thing alone—trying to balance having a career while making sure you have what you need, physically but also emotionally—and keeping up with all your activities and being present.” She shakes her head. “I didn’t think I could do it without your dad. And I’m so happy and so proud of the person you’ve become.”

I wipe away the salty tears now streaming down my face. “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m proud of you, too. I know it was hard—even if I am the easiest kid in the world—but you did a great job.”

Mom flings her arms around me again, just as the front door opens.

“We’re here!” Aunt Annie calls, stomping her boots on the entryway rug and leaning into the living room entrance. Her smile falls at the sight of us pulling apart, still crying. “What happened?”

Ellis appears next to her. “Who died?”

Mom barks out a laugh. “No one—”

“Except Joe,” I interject.

Mom laughs at Ellis’s and Aunt Annie’s puzzled expressions. “We’re just being sappy. Come on in.”

We scoot over to make space, and the four of us squish onto the couch.

“I have to say, When Harry Met Sally is not only my favorite Nora Ephron movie, but it’s my favorite rom-com in general,” Aunt Annie says. She leans forward and pours herself and Ellis some sparkling grape juice.

“Mine too,” Mom agrees, grabbing the remote.

“In that case, I have pretty high expectations,” Ellis says.

Mom gives her eyes one last swipe. “Everyone ready?”

“Yep,” we all say in unison. Mom presses play.

Except that I had no idea what When Harry Met Sally was about. So when these two people meet and slowly become friends after chance encounters over twelve years, my stomach knots because I’m reminded of Asher. And when I realize the movie is about whether men and women can ever just be friends, my eyes well up again because of course they can, but I don’t want that. And when Harry appears at the New Year’s Eve party to tell Sally all the reasons he loves her, I can’t contain my sobs.

Mom startles. “I know it’s romantic, but I don’t know if it calls for all this,” she says, gesturing at my blubbering.

Aunt Annie and Ellis lean over to take in the mess that is me.

“Am I spending the night?” Ellis asks, using our code for I know something is up—do we need a girls’ night to talk about it?

“No,” I squeak. Then I turn to Mom as she pauses the movie. “You said I can have anything I want.”

“Yeah…,” she says, utterly perplexed.

“But I can’t have Asher,” I croak, my chin quivering.

The three women stare at me, wide-eyed.

“Y-you want Asher?” Mom stammers, jaw practically on the floor. “What happened to Micah?”

“Micah was a frog!” I cry.

Ellis squeals as she leaps onto her feet and jumps up and down on the couch.

“Finally!” she screams.

“No, not finally,” I say, wiping my face with my sleeve. “It’s unrequited. He doesn’t feel the same.”