3.23 Into the multiverse

Over the next few days, Dad and I visited many properties. He left no stone unturned as we went from Evergreen Harbor to San Myshuno, and even all the way to San Sequoia and Oasis Springs. Space was something we knew we couldn’t afford but secretly wanted. But the further away we got from home, the bigger and less expensive properties became. When we saw one particular home in San Sequoia, we realized our secret wish could come true. I loved hanging out with my dad and looked forward to living with him again, but I didn’t want to be in his face all the time. Dad loved that if Alessia ever wanted to come back home, we had space for her.

The previous owner upgraded the house to sell quickly, and Dad and I could not believe our luck. They replaced the floors with plush carpet upstairs and premium LVT downstairs. The woodgrain pattern looked so realistic, I thought it was just stained wood. They even renovated the kitchen! Too bad they couldn’t do the bathrooms as well, but replacing plumbing was a big and expensive job. And beggars can’t be choosers, amiright?

Originally, the house had four tiny bedrooms, which surprised us both because the house was not that large. But Dad knocked down the walls upstairs to make the two smallest bedrooms one ginormous suite. I felt like he deserved to have that space. After all, it was his house, not mine. But he insisted I take it, stating I’d soon want privacy when my friends came over. Plus, he was getting old and soon would not be interested in climbing stairs constantly. The master bedroom was smaller than his old one, and I felt bad about him squeezing everything into such a small space while I slept in this presidential suite. But he didn’t have to twist my arm much, and I got over it quickly once I saw the space, heh.

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I had almost forgotten his love for making things by hand and hoped that project inspired him to get back into wood working and fabrication when he retired. He didn’t talk about it much, but Mama told me about how she got started in the candle business. It was originally his dream for a family operation. He taught her how to do it when they first got married, and she was a natural, he said. She loved making candles so much and ran with the business idea, setting up a shop on Plopsy, buying dyes, and planting soybean seeds. But she got pregnant with me quickly, and of course Alessia came soon after, so she pressed pause on the business. The divorce put the kibosh on Dad’s dream, but he couldn’t deny her talent and passion for it and gave her his blessing to continue without him.

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Once it was clear we could move in soon, I enlisted Mama’s help to furnish my room—help as in I needed her to pay for everything, heh. She didn’t bat an eye, of course. The house came with basic living and dining furnishings, so Dad wanted to pick up a few things to jazz up the place. Since he was already going shopping, I went with him so we could get the entire house done in one trip. That meant I had to invite Mama to tagalong, and I quickly realized the error or my ways. She was good at first, not saying anything and only responding when I wanted her opinion. But by the time we were done, I had a full picture of what my life could have been like had my parents not divorced. Mama went from silent approver to shopping adviser to full on design diva. Not only did she begin making selections for my room, but also picked out things for things for the house—things Dad was supposed to be shopping for. He would tell her she didn’t have to get all that stuff and that he was taking care of it. They kept having little spats where Dad would say something about not needing her help and being able to buy his own decorations. She’d come back saying she never said that, and he put words in her mouth. But in the end, Mama would get the last word by yelling, “I just want my son to be comfortable!” Despite Dad’s failed attempts at getting her to stop buying things for his house, he knew no one could stop her from making over our house and turning my room into the sickest bachelor pad in town. She loved me so much and always made sure we wanted for nothing. I think that bothered Dad sometimes.

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During their fights, I imagined this would be my experience in my alternate reality if I wanted to go to university. My parents would go shopping with me for my dorm room, and she’d go overboard, buying up every single item she saw while Dad tried and failed at making her be sensible. Truthfully, if I had to live that reality, I’d probably be sick of those fights. But since the opportunity was stolen from us, I kinda enjoyed them.

When the shopping saga ended, Mama was kind enough to come back to the house and set up everything she bought. I knew Dad was secretly glad for that, seeing as neither of us had a knack for decorating. Honestly, I didn’t know if I did or not. It’s possible I could have inherited that from her. I’ve never had the opportunity to find out. When everything was all put together and in place, not even Dad could deny how good our house looked despite how much she overstepped. We were two broke dudes with no style. Without her, our house would still look like a monochrome Safehouse. But she breathed life into it and made it a home.

We were all pretty hungry afterward, so Dad made dinner and invited her to stay. I imagined it was his way of repaying her kindness the only way he could, despite being ready for her to go home. I’d never been alone with my parents before. It was nice and reminded me of when we were all in Mt. Komorebi. If she came to visit me often, how would he handle it?

Before going home, Mama pulled me aside to give me a nice sum of money, saying I wasn’t going to be able to do as I please living on Dad’s income. And as she repeated all day long, she wanted me to be comfortable and not feel like I was giving up anything to live there. Her parents bought her a house and gave her a large sum of money to live on while she figured out what to do with her life. She couldn’t afford to buy a whole house for me, but definitely wanted to give me the same opportunity to live stress free while figuring things out.

“You’re always so good to us,” I said.

“I’m your mother! It’s against my nature to be any other way… Don’t forget about me, okay?”

“Why you talking crazy?”

“I’m just saying! You got your lil’ girlfriend-“

“She’s not my girlfriend!”

“You got your lil’ friend, and your business is about to blow up… You’re gonna be busy. Just…come say hi and from time to time, okay buddy? I miss your cute face already!”

“You know I will. Don’t worry. I love you, Mama.”

“I love you too. So much. More than you’ll ever know. And I’m proud of you!”