Chapter 37

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Alexa

M y heart drummed a frantic rhythm, gazing at the phone in my trembling hand.

"Hello?" The voice that had soothed countless scrapes and bruises of my youth crackled through the receiver, instantly dissolving the miles that lay between us.

"Mom!" My voice burst forth, a cascade of excitement washing away the heaviness that clung to my soul like the desert dust on the city's outskirts. "I got married!"

There was a pause on the line, a void where elation should have swirled, and my breath caught in my throat, heart pounding like the beat of a drum in sync with the distant sound of slot machines.

"Married?" her voice finally echoed back, tinged with a static of confusion that crackled through the wire. "Baby, can you—can you say that again?"

"I'm married, Mom," I repeated, the joy undimmed, conviction shining brighter than the boldest marquee. "I can't wait for you to meet him. It happened so fast, like a whirlwind. But it's real—I am married."

The silence on the other end of the line swelled, filled with the weight of words unspoken, heavy with the gravity of what had been revealed. My heart hung suspended in that moment, a pendulum poised between elation and fear.

"Married?" The single word fractured the stillness, her voice now a fragile thread, quivering with the impact of the unforeseen. Disbelief laced each letter, a shroud of shock enveloping the warmth that once colored our every conversation.

"Yes, Mom. Married," I reiterated, resolve wrapping around the confession like armor. "I know it's sudden, but when you meet him?—"

"This is… Are you sure?"

"More than I've ever been."

"When are you planning to come visit?"

"Very soon. We'll be driving down in a couple of days. I want you to meet him, to see for yourself how happy he makes me." My voice was a crescendo of yearning, each word painting a picture of the reunion I envisioned—a canvas of smiles and embraces, the warmth of a long-missed connection reignited.

"And there's something else. I've been putting money aside, saving up." My fingers twisted into the hem of my shirt, a physical manifestation of my determination. "I want to help you pay off the house."

"Alexa…"

"Really, Mom, I've got it under control." The good girl from the small town, once lost in the sprawling maze of Las Vegas, had found my footing. Now, I stood ready to extend a hand back to the one who had set me on my path. "It's my turn to help you."

"You don't know how much this means… to think of letting go of that job—the one that's been eating away at my nights…"

The image of my mom, weary from the relentless grind of a second shift, flashed before my eyes. I saw the tired slump of my mother's shoulders, the way her smile had begun to fray around the edges, worn down by the endless cycle of work and worry.

"I've seen you sacrifice so much. It's time for you to rest, to have the life you've dreamed of."

"Sweetheart, I?— "

"Please, just let me do this for you." The decision was not merely financial; it was my tribute, a symbol of the love and strength.

"Okay."

"I love you. I can't wait to see you," I said.

"Neither can I, sweetheart. This house has been too quiet without your laughter."

The sentiment wrapped around me like a warm blanket, comforting yet heavy with the weight of unspoken words.

"I have to head into work now, sweetheart. But I'll let them know I need the night off when you come in. Saturday?"

"We will be there that afternoon."

"Alright. I love you."

"Love you more," I replied.

The line went dead, but the warmth remained, because in two days, I'd step into the light of my mother's presence, and things would be back to how they belong.